Note 15 - Incentive Plans (Details Textual) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	2 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2021	Sep. 30, 2021	Sep. 30, 2021	Sep. 30, 2020	May 31, 2020
Share-based Payment Arrangement, Expense			$ 18,000	$ 18,200
Share-based Payment Arrangement, Nonvested Award, Cost Not yet Recognized, Amount, Total	$ 41,900	$ 41,900	$ 41,900
Share-based Payment Arrangement, Nonvested Award, Cost Not yet Recognized, Period for Recognition (Year)			2 years 9 months 18 days
The Weingarten Realty Noncontributory Qualified Cash Balance Retirement Plan [Member]
Defined Benefit Plan, Annual Additions to Each Participant's Account, Interest Credit, Percentage	4.50%
Defined Benefit Plan, Expected Future Employer Contributions, Remainder of Fiscal Year	$ 0	0	$ 0
The Weingarten Realty Noncontributory Qualified Cash Balance Retirement Plan [Member] | Other Income (Expense), Net [Member]
Defined Benefit Plan, Expected Return (Loss) on Plan Assets		$ 900	900
Defined Benefit Plan, Interest Cost			$ 300
The 2020 Equity Participation Plan [Member]
Common Stock, Capital Shares Reserved for Future Issuance (in shares)					10,000,000
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Number of Shares Available for Grant (in shares)	8,500,000	8,500,000	8,500,000