After years of neglect, world famous thermal spa faces an uncertain future

While the Hévíz thermal lake and spa continues to be open to visitors, its world-famous central building has been closed due to structural issues, produced by years of neglect after the spa’s nationalization. Although the government promised solutions, so far, only businesses tied to government circles have benefited from public money spent to help the spa.

With its red-tiled spires rising out of a massive natural thermal lake, over visible steam in the winter, and water lilies in the summer, the Hévíz spa is one of the most iconic sites in Hungary. The thermal spa is regularly featured in brochures and advertisements promoting Hungarian tourism, including posters at Budapest Airport. In 2020, it was listed among the “European Best Destinations” by the EDEN network, established by the European Commission.

The lake spa is considered a national treasure – indeed, since the 2010s, it is fully nationally owned. This makes it even harder to understand how the building could have been neglected for so long that earlier this year, it became unsafe to visit, and had to be closed off, with renovation and reopening nowhere in sight.

No help despite nationalization

Since its creation in the early 1800s, the Hévíz spa has gone through several crises. In 1986, the building burned down, requiring a full reconstruction. A few years later, a nearby mining operation threatened to contaminate the lake, sparking massive protests from locals, which eventually led to the mine’s closure and a golden age of Hévíz tourism.

As locals told Átlátszó, the most recent problems started with the nationalization of the spa. After Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party came into power in 2010, they enacted a new law that centralized Hungary’s healthcare system, putting all public hospitals under full state control. Around the same time, the formerly independent-led Hévíz town council also became dominated by Fidesz.

The main building of the Hévíz thermal bath in 2012 (source: Wikimedia Commons)

Since the 1990s, the Hévíz spa – due to the therapeutic use of its thermal water – had been operated by the local rheumatic clinic, together with the town’s local government, which held a 26% stake in the operating company. Due to the nationalization law, this company was abolished in 2013, and the spa came under the jurisdiction of various government departments in Budapest responsible for healthcare.

“Everyone knew there were problems with the building, but the fact that it had to be closed so suddenly surprised everyone,”

– Péter Naszádos, Mayor of Hévíz, said to Átlátszó. As he explained, two static analyses conducted earlier this year confirmed that the central “lake building” suffered structural damage, and it was closed to visitors in March.

At the moment, the central spa building (which provides indoor pools on the lake) remains closed, while the natural lake can still be accessed via lakeside buildings and piers.

Failed campaign promise

Other, anonymous professionals also confirmed that the buildings’ structural issues have been known for years. According to them, it has been known for about 10 years that the main building needs complete renovation and reconstruction. A source who is familiar with the operation of the baths and asked to remain anonymous, told us that the last time major work was done on the building was in 2005. That time, however, new, heavy structural elements were built into the structure, straining the piles holding the buildings above water.

Experts already indicated in 2015-2016 that a complete reconstruction had become necessary due to the oxidation of the piles and the weight of the building. This would have required funds from the national budget, as the hospital alone lacked the money needed for such a massive project. However, despite the spa’s nationalization, no such investment was made by the government.

Péter Naszádos estimates that the reconstruction would cost upwards of HUF 40 billion (EUR 100 million), and could take 3 or 4 years to finish.

Two years ago, it looked like such an investment will be made: in late 2023, a government decree created a new nationally owned company (Hévíz Thermal Bath Operator and Developer Ltd.), gave it a seed capital of HUF 100 million (EUR 25,000) and tasked it with procuring funds for future developments regarding the spa. The mayor at the time, Gábor Papp, and the regional MP Bálint Nagy announced at the time that

“the government has approved a comprehensive health tourism development plan that will enable Hévíz to undergo a world-class renewal”

– something locals we talked to described as an unfulfilled campaign promise, given that it was made at the beginning of the years’ local and European Parliamentary election campaign.

Regardless, the Fidesz candidates lost the election in Hévíz, and in the meantime, the newly created company did not perform any visible activities. And, on the first day of 2025, a new government decree was published with little fanfare that revoked the points of the decree concerning developing the spa.

Spa entrance in July 2025, photo by Dénes Balogh

We asked the former mayor for comment. Gábor Papp said:

“Since I have not been the mayor of Hévíz since October 2024, I do not believe I am qualified to answer why the provisions of the government decision – development, takeover of operations, planning, etc. – have not been implemented, or what stage they are currently at. All information about the specified tasks can be found in the published and public government decisions.”

He also stated that he does not know when the last renovation of the lake building took place, and that as mayor, “he did not receive any official inquiries about the condition of the lake bath building from either the institution’s maintainer or operator.”

Oligarchs’ connections

In its first year of operation, Hévíz Developer Ltd. managed to spend most of its seed capital, over HUF 70 million (EUR 175,000). In a freedom of information request, Átlátszó got the nationally owned company to publish a list of its contracts. It shows that the company contracted with businesses with strong ties to regime members.

One of them is KBT Kft., a consulting firm known for its involvement in the Elios scandal,

one of the most high-profile corruption cases in Hungary. According to OLAF, the company Elios, which was owned by Viktor Orbán’s son-in-law, István Tiborcz, benefited from many fraudulent public procurement procedures, defrauding Hungarian and EU taxpayers with billions of HUFs. Many of these procurements were drafted by KBT Kft.

Another firm contracted by the new Hévíz public company was Mercarius, a car rental which made a fortune from other government contracts – often as a competitor, and sometimes partner of the M1 car dealership, a company of leading pro-government oligarch Lőrinc Mészáros. The two companies “compete” or run in consortium in public tenders so often that they have been reported for unlawful collusion.

Hévíz Developer Ltd. also signed contracts with two law firms connected to the brother of Minister of Economy Márton Nagy.

After Nagy became Minister, his brother Szilárd resigned from his position within the law firms. Regardless, the firms suddenly started receiving lucrative public contracts from the Ministry of Economy.

In a new government decree, about EUR 1 million has been earmarked for the spa, which of course will not be enough for rebuilding the central building. The decree also orders preparation for large-scale renovation, so a public procurement procedure may be in the works by late September 2025.

As a temporary solution, the construction of a new, smaller floating platform next to the lake building has been announced, which, according to our sources, is what the 1 million EUR will be spent for, although a public tender for this project has not yet been revealed.

What was the money spent on?

The lake and the adjacent health spa continue to receive visitors, but local business owners we talked to, whose primary income comes from tourists, say they have been struggling since the COVID pandemic. Traffic continued to drop due to the war in Ukraine, as Hévíz was a popular destination for tourists from Russia and other former Soviet states.

According to the mayor, the total number of tourists has been increasing in the last few years; however, more and more people opt for the newly built, large wellness hotels over the traditional small apartment houses the city was known for.

Some of these hotels have their own spas, most prominently, the Le Primore luxury hotel, which opened last year.

Le Primore is a massive 5-star complex just outside the town, with 285 rooms, several restaurants, and its own thermal pools – rich wellness tourists can spend their entire stay in Hévíz, or Hungary, inside the complex. While the old spa has been neglected, the government spent HUF 8 billion (EUR 20 million) to support Le Primore’s construction. Unsurprisingly, the hotel is also linked to István Tiborcz. The hotel’s parent company is a private equity fund – an institution unique to Hungary, which, unlike corporations, is not required to publish its owners. However, the fund is registered at the same address as a holding company owned by Tiborcz.

Lőrinc Mészáros’s Hunguest chain also owns two hotels in Hévíz, which since 2020 have received over HUF 1.5 billion (EUR 3.75 million) in government support.