Missing a sense of community? Leave the city behind for one of Europe’s rural digital nomad hubs. The boom in remote working in recent years has turned major European cities like Lisbon, Barcelona and Berlin into so-called ‘digital nomad hubs’. But tensions are running increasingly high between local communities and those who have temporarily set up their laptops in town.
Whether it’s being priced out of the or cafe owners banning ‘ ’, locals are speaking out against the negative impacts. As these hubs feel ever more crowded and contentious, some entrepreneurs are taking the lifestyle in a more mindful direction in the countryside. Here, they’re not only welcomed, but generate a positive impact for rural communities.
While an overabundance of digital nomads and tourists local infrastructure in popular cities, many rural parts of Europe have the opposite problem. threatens the existence and vitality of small villages and towns, as younger generations especially migrate towards larger cities. “Spain is one the countries in Europe with the biggest demographic gap,” founder of co-living experience Juan Barbed tells Euronews Travel.
“Half our villages are dying, like in the terminal stage.” After years spent travelling and working between some of the world’s biggest cities, Juan was confronted with this decline when he returned to his grandmother’s village following her death. At the same time, he was moved by the community’s warm welcome.
He felt sure .