Porto Santo is keeping tourism as its main economic engine, but the City Council is trying to prevent the construction of new hotel units and present the island as a “refuge of the senses.” Mayor Nuno Batista said the island has clear limits, especially in terms of human pressure, and rejected any model based on mass tourism. He argued that Porto Santo, with about 43 square kilometres, can still support different organised and sustainable tourism approaches if growth is carefully managed. The municipality, led by the PSD/CDS-PP, is also promoting the island as a place visitors will want to return to rather than a destination built for volume. Batista said €16 million in municipal projects has already been approved under the 2030 community framework, with funds aimed at quality of life, heritage restoration and environmental sustainability. According to the Regional Directorate of Statistics of Madeira, Porto Santo reached its highest number of tourists in collective accommodation in August 2025, while the year as a whole saw 134,731 guests in the 26 hotel units, most of them from Portugal. The mayor also criticised the lack of year-round air links to mainland Portugal, saying the issue affects both residents and off-season tourism, and he stressed that immigrant workers from São Tomé and Cape Verde are essential to the local tourism sector.
