The best destinations in the world to work remotely have been ranked by the Savills Executive Nomad Index, with Lisbon topping the list.
It's followed by sunny Miami, then Dubai, the Algarve region in southern Portugal, Barbados in the Caribbean and the Spanish City Barcelona, on the Mediterranean Coast.
The Savills Executive Nomad Index ranks 15 destinations for long-term remote workers. All either have a digital nomad visa programme, or equivalent, or in the case of the US and European countries, are already part of a large economic bloc that allows free movement of people for living or work.
They offer favourable climates year-round, a high quality of life and have established prime residential markets.
Fig 1 The Savills Executive Nomad Index 2022
Provided travel connections are good and high-speed internet is reliable, individuals and families are motivated to relocate and are placing a greater emphasis on health, wellness and overall lifestyle. Many of these large institutions are bringing talent from overseas and therefore paying relocation fees meaning the end users have a higher budget to allocate on their properties which is one of the factors behind rising prices.
Tech executives and entrepreneurs are also drawn by Barcelona's burgeoning status as a tech hub. @22 is a neighbourhood built where innovation, creativity, design and technology have replaced the old factories as the economic driving force. There are than 1,500 companies linked to the media, IT, energy, design and scientific research. Poblenou's industrial land was the setting for Barcelona's industrialisation and these days it is home to a knowledge cluster.
Mohammad Butt, Barcelona office director, Lucas Fox, said: "As the workplace has evolved post-Covid-19 to a new, more flexible hybrid-model, professionals are turning to what were previously holiday-homes markets into year-round ones.
"The modern executive nomad, a distant cousin of the freelance creative working from far flung parts of the world, now own an apartment in Barcelona, attends Zoom calls from an airy home offices, and hops on a flight back to London, for team meetings and training. Over the last 12 months, we have seen a 41% rise in professionals from London and the South East, buying properties in Barcelona.
"Real estate costs are low and there is a strong local talent pool. Companies are moving their headquarters to Barcelona including Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft specialising in the application of artificial intelligence technologies, and PepsiCo, which has installed its global digital centre in the metropolitan area of Barcelona, with a planned investment of 70 million euros. The area is becoming more and more international.
"The demographic of UK buyers is shifting to a new tech savvy generation who have higher levels of disposable income and want to reside in a higher quality of accommodation. This has led to clients also looking further afield to Diagonal Mar, which tends to have larger seafront properties with more amenities in the buildings to offer."
