Excerpt from DailyMaverick.co.za
Ponta do Sol, a village of 1,800 people on the Portuguese island of Madeira, west of the capital Funchal, will unveil a centre providing Wi-Fi, workspace and accommodation assistance for several hundred remote workers.
Madeira has become a haven for a younger generation of “digital nomads” in search of quality of life, outdoor attractions, great weather and the island’s proximity to Europe – it’s a two- to three-hour flight from most European capitals.
The roads are world class, healthcare is good, fresh fruit and vegetables are in abundance and management of the pandemic leaves most European countries – including the Portuguese mainland – in the shade.
According to MBO Partners, a global consultancy, there are an estimated 41 million digital nomads worldwide based on the definition of those who are location independent, technology enabled, travel and work remotely with the blessing of their employers or are self-employed.
More than seven million are from the US and many are from Europe.
But the intersection of the pandemic and the advance of digital technology has opened the way to an acceleration of digital nomadism and a much wider spectrum of occupations, including lawyers, accountants, tax consultants, marketing agents and those in the fintech space.
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