In the months of confinement, the question hovered over a society in shock: how would life change after the health crisis? There were exoduses to the countryside and those who decided to travel more. In parallel, teleworking ceased to be an exotic way of relating to their employees for many organizations. Adding everything up, in this context, a new concept of worker was born: the digital nomad. His work goes with him and he can be in a new and different place every day in search of the best life experience.
“He is a professional who, thanks to new technologies, normally works remotely and this allows him to travel and see the world,” explains Carlos Prieto Lezaun, director of the Digital Transformation Center of the International University of La Rioja (UNIR). “He seeks a balance between professional and personal life, without having to reside continuously in the same place,” he adds.
There is data that allows a robot portrait of this new profile to be made: they are ‘millennials’ and live independently. He study The 2023 State of Digital Nomads, from Nomadlist, points out that they are 34 years old on average. 55% are men and 45% are women, the majority —90%— have higher education and are —65%— single. Their income moves in high bands: 34% is between 50,000 and 100,000 dollars per year and 36% between 100,000 and 250,000. And, surprising as it may seem, the highest percentage (44%) are full-time employees. Only 17% fit into the ‘freelance’ category.
Antonio López Gay, a researcher at the Department of Geography of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and the Center d’Estudis Demogràfics, “this type of population was already arriving [a España] before the pandemic” and fits with a new model of migratory movement very much of the 21st century, that of highly qualified professionals who move for issues related to quality of life. Southern Europe has become a very desirable area for them.
In fact, as reported by some US media, it is not only that citizens are launching themselves to spend seasons in an area that is cheaper for them than their country and with a very desirable lifestyle —added to good weather— but that They are also already buying houses in Portugal, Spain or Greece, even though their work is still in the US.
«This is a new model of migratory movement very much of the 21st century, that of highly qualified professionals who move for issues related to the quality of life»
Antonio Lopez Gay
Researcher at the Center for Demographic Studies and the Autonomous University of Barcelona
Demographers, contextualizes López Gay, cannot yet quantify what is happening —they do not have data, which is what their scientific work draws on, to follow these movements of people— but they can see how this process connects with other urban changes that They have been seen throughout the last century. The 1910s was the great era of gentrification and touristification, and digital nomads —and how they impact cities— connect with that context.
For this reason, its existence is not a curiosity, but rather an important element for understanding what the cities of tomorrow will be like and how those of the present are already changing, something crucial in matters of sustainability and fair development.
In addition, these professionals have become a vein that the administrations seek to exploit. The plans that want to make countries and regions more attractive to digital nomads follow one another, with new laws —that try to regulate issues as tricky as where and how these professionals pay taxes— but also with ‘marketing’ campaigns that sell the promise of the dream destination.
The key to this obsession lies in what kind of professionals fit this profile. As Prieto Lezaun points out, “currently the professions that a digital nomad is dedicated to are well paid and this means that they have a higher than average purchasing power.” The vital philosophy of the digital nomad is that of “more working to live than living to work”, which leads, adds the expert, to their spending more than other population groups.
In Spain, for example, the Canary Islands have launched various actions to capture their attention —the island of Gran Canaria is, right now, the sixth most popular destination on Nomadlist, a resource website for nomads— and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria — As a study by researchers from his university points out, it has established itself as “a destination with great potential.”
At the country level, the Government approved last February a special visa for these professionals. It is included in the Startup Law and is intended for “holders who work for themselves or for employers anywhere in the world in national territory.”
“They have above-average purchasing power and governments want to attract talent; The Canary Islands is the best valued destination in Spain»
Pietro Lezaun
Director of UNIR’s Digital Transformation Center
As Prieto Lezaun points out, its objective is to attract international talent. “The main requirement is that the person applying for it must be a foreigner who works remotely, self-employed or an employee of a non-Spanish company that operates outside of Spain,” he points out. “In this way, they are allowed to pay a flat tax rate of just 24% on their income, instead of a progressive rate that can go as high as 48%,” he adds.
The interest that these professionals have in the destinations they are going to seems clear: their quality of life will be better and it will fit in with the dream experience. But what about the reception areas?
In Mexico City, which has become fashionable as a digital nomad destination for the rest of North America in recent years, its neighbors have begun to complain about the impact they have on rental prices, as has been reported in the international press.
In the same way, it includes cases such as the fashionable neighborhoods in the center of Lisbon or Athens that have become inaccessible to their inhabitants, but they are for American buyers. In fact, Portugal has just reformed its visa regulations to tackle the housing crisis.
The nomads have made it impossible for the real inhabitants of the city to afford it. So can digital nomads disrupt life in cities and drive out those who live there?
Over the last decade, touristification has already pushed up rental prices in those cities that are fashionable for travelers and these professionals could give new strength to the trend. But, furthermore, digital nomads will use the services of the city without really being a part of it (hence, ultimately, the big question of where do they pay their taxes).
The demographer Antonio López Gay is very cautious when making assessments because, remember, there is still no data with which to measure the changes that all this is entailing. “We, the academic researchers, also ask ourselves these questions,” he points out, although he recalls that “what the studies say is that they will accentuate the processes already underway in some neighborhoods.” After all, these nomads add more pressure to something that already existed. “Their ability to alter the city is very similar to that of tourists,” he says. The way they use spaces and resources are similar.
“It is true that the attraction of this type of professional is causing unwanted effects for its inhabitants in certain areas or populations, especially in terms of rental costs,” concedes Carlos Prieto Lezaun, who adds that “even so, the global economic impact is positive”.
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This expert believes that “the opportunity to attract digital nomads should not be missed”, although he points out that these potential negative effects must be controlled “so that the entire population accepts them as an opportunity and not as a threat”.
In fact, remember, the Startup Law encourages regularizing the situation of these professionals, which ultimately implies paying taxes in Spain. And, in general, the legislation already makes it clear that if you spend a minimum number of days in the country, you must pay taxes there, whether or not you feel like a nomad.
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