Islands on the move: Non-mass tourism and migration in El Hierro (Spain) and Pico (Portugal)

This paper examines migration inflows in El Hierro (Canary Islands, Spain) and Pico (Azores, Portugal) and their relationship with tourism. It investigates how immigrants' work-life transitions are linked to tourism involvement, highlighting how migration reshapes the islands' economies. Immigrants contribute to shifting the productive model from pre-tourism structures to economies increasingly dominated by tourism. The analysis concludes that these islands do not fit neatly into traditional classifications of island tourism development. Instead, they represent a unique typology, marked by the early arrival of enterprising foreign immigrants. This shift is driven by both local conditions and global influences, such as globalization, digitalization, and EU membership, positioning these islands within a broader economic and social transformation. • International migration is key in the early stages of the islands' tourism life cycle. • El Hierro and Pico attract lifestyle migrants who settle as tourism entrepreneurs. • The islands also attract traditional economic immigrants and return migrants. • They do not fit existing classifications of island spaces by tourism and migration. • The islands form a unique typology, shaped by local and contextual influences.