The Portuguese archipelago of Madeira brings you its first digital nomad hamlet.
Digital nomadism is a term that came in colloquial use in the late 2000s to describe the practice of travelling the world while working from a laptop. An increase in the number of digital has been one of the effects of the pandemic - it is easier nowadays for more people to work from home, making digital nomadism a rising community. The pandemic has been a boon for freelance people who like to work from home, or any place - as long as it's not a boring 9to5 office. Because of the many lockdowns and quarantines, most people have been forced to work from their homes. It is truly the age of the digital nomad. And the travel and tourism sector has been quick to catch up on this trend with various hotels and resorts transforming into workspaces and offering discounted stays and offers. Even entire countries are pitching themselves as attractive work from home spaces Their travel and tourism departments are offering long-term digital nomad visas and making it easier for remote workers to become temporary residents. For instance, Dominica is offering a visa called Work in Nature (or WIN) that lets you stay in the country for upto 18 months. The visa is applicable not just for individuals, but families as well. In fact, the country is laying out a family bundle programme to encourage children to attend school on the island.
The island of eternal spring, or Madeira, had opened its doors to digital nomads in February 2021 whereby travellers were given access to a free coworking space, advice on where to stay, and permission to join the nomad's Slack group where weekly updates of a lively calendar shows up.
The town intends to serve aspiring nomads looking for settlement on the island for a few months. Some 4,000-plus nomads are already living in Madeira and Porto Santo.
The easily distinguishable characteristics of Madeira - like its steep hills swathed in banana trees and passion fruit plantations - make the place seem closer to Africa than it is to Portugal in terms of geography when compared to its other European counterparts.
Locals say that Madeira was monotonous before the nomads arrived, and the residents were bored without any inflow of new ideas or cultures. The younger generations were departing since there was nothing to do after a while - if you didn't work in tourism. However, there is now a bustling hub of activity where people come and go regularly bringing in a slice of freshness and opportunity for the locals. The island's economy is strongly based on tourism, and the prospect of longer-term visitors has provided a financial lifeline at a time when normal tourism had come to a halt due to the pandemic.