Post-Pandemic Touristification and Sociodemographic and Residential Vulnerability in Macaronesian Historic Centres: Angra do Heroísmo (Azores) and Vegueta–Triana (Canary Islands)

This study analyses, within the post-pandemic tourism context, whether differences in degree and stage of tourism development in heritage historic centres shape the nature and direction of the social, demographic, and economic transformations they undergo. To this end, using Angra do Heroísmo (Azores, Portugal) and Vegueta–Triana (Canary Islands, Spain) as comparative study areas, a mixed-methods approach is applied, based on official statistics and accommodation records for the period 2018–2025, as well as fieldwork conducted between June and August 2024 and between July and September 2025, including 31 semi-structured interviews with key informants. The results show a recent intensification of touristification in both Macaronesian island spaces, although its forms and perceived effects differ according to their previous tourism trajectories and residential conditions. In Vegueta–Triana, it is more clearly associated with saturation, commodification of space, housing pressure, and weakening of the residential function, whereas in Angra do Heroísmo, it is more closely linked to heritage-based hotel development and functional revitalisation, although concerns about housing and population loss are also emerging. The comparison shows that the effects of post-pandemic tourism growth depend not only on visitor volumes, but also on the depth and speed of change and on local governance capacity.