Catalonia, a top destination for digital nomads?

Sun and snow, beaches and mountains, good food… What’s not to tempt digital nomads to Catalonia?

"I'm a UX designer for an Irish tech company called Keelvar," Nathan Dolan, who first moved to Barcelona right before the pandemic and has also worked from Granada, told Catalan News. "Our whole company is pretty much remote. We don’t even have an office anymore."

But why did he choose to move to Barcelona of all places? His friends, initially.

"I had friends that had moved to Barcelona straight away after university for the vibrant lifestyle that Barcelona offers," he said. "I wanted more. In terms of music and the art scene and the buzz around the city, it’s definitely a big hub for young people."

The digital nomad business

Places like CoImpact Coliving in the Catalan capital, a former hostel that changed its business plan after the pandemic hit, are increasingly trying to attract the growing number of people looking to work while they stay.

Núria Bernat, who works for CoImpact Coliving, says their customers are mainly from other parts of Europe, but also the Americas. They currently have around 30 people, mainly in their thirties, from 20 different countries staying there.

"We have a lot of people coming from northern European countries, like Finland, Germany or Sweden, so I think they like the nice weather," Bernat explained. "It’s very cheap for people from these countries."

But when people who earn more money than locals move in, it can also lead to gentrification, and it gives rise to tax issues - should digital nomads pay their taxes here? Or in the country the company or companies they work for are based in?

"Self-employed workers here have to pay a lot compared to other countries," Bernat said. "When some come here, they cannot stay more than 6 months because if not they would have to pay here. It’s a pity because we could have more people coming from abroad and staying here," she argued.

Getting residency paperwork in order can also be an arduous task, like it was for Dolan. "It was a struggle setting up the NIE for me coming from Ireland and not having a company in Spain that would give me a job offer," he said.

Always on the move

Catalonia is definitely trying to not only attract digital nomads from abroad - but also to encourage people from urban areas to move to smaller towns; in fact, the government even piloted a program, Catalunya Rural Hub, to attract tech talent to the Garrotxa area near the Pyrenees in an effort to stave off population loss.

The rural hub experiment lasted a week, and while guests and CoImpact Coliving normally stay for a few weeks or months, Nathan has been in Barcelona for longer. But digital nomads are always considering the next move.

"My apartment has a short enough lease so I have the option to extend it if like," Dolan said. "But I'm not sure, I mean, I did have plans to travel to Central America. I’m not sure what the future holds really but my options are open."

Podcast

For more, listen to the podcast below: Digital Nomads – the remote workers making Catalonia home (for a while)