Every Wednesday night, the community of digital nomads meets in a bar in the center of Barcelona. Foreign professionals who work remotely for companies that are also foreign share the experience of living in the city for a few months or, at most, a couple of years.
“Does anyone have a room for rent available for the end of this year? Who’s up for a beach volleyball tournament in Barceloneta? Shall we party next Saturday?” These are some of his biggest concerns, which is why it emerges from the WhatsApp and Facebook groups through which they are organized.
The community has been around for over five years but has grown exponentially in size since the pandemic restrictions were lifted. There are no official data from the administrations, but the Nomadlist portal, used as a global reference, estimates the number of nomads in the city today at 9,600. That is eight times more than two years ago, when there were barely 1,200. Barcelona, ??together with Madrid, Valencia, Seville and, above all, the Canary Islands and Majorca, are the most attractive destinations in Spain.
Globally, the number of digital nomads has tripled in the last three years, exceeding 35 million workers, according to different portals. Nomads are primarily citizens of the United States, United Kingdom, Russia, Canada, or Germany. They work mainly in the technology, creativity or education sector and in 83% of cases they are self-employed, both freelance and business owners, according to Statista. Among their preferred destinations, cities in Southeast Asia (Bangkok, Bali) as well as European cities such as Lisbon or Berlin stand out in the top positions. Barcelona occupies position 81 in the ranking, while Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and Tenerife are among the top 30 favourites.
The popularity of teleworking after the pandemic and the facilities that many states have introduced to attract these professionals explain the exponential growth experienced in recent years.
According to a report by the consultancy Gitnux, a total of 45 countries have created visas for digital nomads. Among them, Spain, which, like Portugal, Germany or Greece, considers it positive to attract this type of worker since its socioeconomic impact is beneficial, even if only for a few months. “They bring talent to the country and favor consumption and the dynamism of the Spanish economy,” considers the lawyer Leonardo Cárdenas, from the AGM law firm, which advises people in the group. Indeed, digital nomads are highly-skilled workers with a university degree and a salary that exceeds $50,000 in 70% of cases, according to Statista.
When two years ago they began to conquer bars, coworkings and Airbnbs in different Spanish places, one of the concerns that surfaced in the country was their legal and fiscal situation. If they were citizens from outside the EU, they could spend three months with a tourist visa (which does not allow work) or they had to apply for a long-term residence permit. However, since the end of last year, his figure has had its own status. Through the so-called Startups law, the Government has created a visa for non-EU citizens (EU citizens have freedom of movement and establishment) valid for a maximum period of 4 years. In addition, a series of tax incentives have also been approved. Among them, the fixed rate of personal income tax of 24% for annual salaries of 55,000 to 600,000 euros stands out, a more advantageous situation than that of Spanish residents, whose rate is 45% or higher if they earn more than 60,000 euros a year. “To date we see that the regulation has had a positive impact. There are no cases of fraud, although it is also true that it is difficult to control it”, points out Cárdenas.
Despite the facilities, the Barcelona City Council is critical of this group. According to a municipal report, this “privileged floating population” drives “the process of gentrification of historic centers and increases tensions in the housing market,” he warns.
