ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the phenomenon of second homes in Portugal. The growth of real estate promotion associated with residential tourism either by means of building planned tourist resorts or by using hundreds of thousands of vacant housing units within urban areas can be envisaged as still possible in Portugal. The National Institute for Statistics developed a definition of second homes based on two statistical data collection concepts secondary residence used for tourism purposes and family dwelling unit for secondary residence. In fact, despite the only recent adoption of the concept of residential tourism, already since 1969 it has been possible to sell a second home legally classified as a type of tourist accommodation. The author believes that the phenomenon of second homes should not be separated from two analytical frameworks that are closely interrelated: tourism and real estate market.
