Do you miss the sense of community? You can leave the city behind and head to one of the rural centers digital nomads Europe. The boom in remote working in recent years has turned major European cities such as Lisbon, Barcelona and Berlin into so-called “digital nomad hubs”. But tensions are rising between local communities and those who have temporarily set up their laptops in the city.
Whether it’s excluding them from the housing market or preventing cafe owners from using laptops, locals are speaking out against the negative effects.
As these hubs become increasingly crowded and controversial, some entrepreneurs are taking the digital nomad lifestyle in a more cautious direction in the countryside.
Here, they are not only welcome, but also create a positive impact on rural communities.
Revitalization of rural communities in Spain
While the overpopulation of digital nomads and tourists is putting a strain on local infrastructure in popular cities, many rural areas in Europe face the opposite problem.
Desertification threatens the existence and vitality of small villages and towns, as younger generations migrate mainly to larger cities. “Spain is one of the countries in Europe with the greatest demographic disparity”Juan Barbed, founder of Rooral Living Experience, told Euronews Travel. “Half of our villages are dying, as if they were in the final phase.”
After years of traveling and working between some of the world’s biggest cities, Juan was confronted with this decline when he returned to his grandmother’s village after her death. At the same time, he was moved by the community’s warm welcome. He was sure that other digital nomads were also seeking the sense of connection that he found there.
“We grew up with this narrative that success was in big cities. But now you have an infrastructure that allows you to work from anywhere,” says Juan. “We thought: what if we made it easier for people to experience what it’s like to work in a rural village? That’s why we created this association that works with small villages that are at risk of desertification to welcome teleworkers.”
He and co-founder Ana Amrein tested their idea in a few villages, with the aim of boosting rural economies and creating meaningful cultural exchanges. “We don’t just go to a village and start doing this. We make agreements with the city council, with local associations, with companies, with the community itself. We move at the speed of trust,” explains Juan.
The response from the first villages that welcomed Rooral was overwhelmingly positive: “When we asked what they didn’t like about having us in the city, they said we were leaving!”
Welcoming Digital Nomads to the Village
Rooral now has a permanent base in the Andalusian village of Benarrabá. Local resident Mari Angeles told Euronews Travel how happy she is that people from all over the world are discovering her village, which is usually never on the radar of foreign visitors.
“They interact wonderfully with our people,” she says. “I love it when they come to shop at our family’s small supermarket in the village and we chat. I really enjoyed a dinner we had together, where they shared with us what they loved most about the village: the sense of community, the deep relationships, the peace and the natural beauty.”
Rooral facilitates these connections with local residents, often elderly, through activities and events. It’s common to find visitors and locals sharing dinners or digital nomads learning about local customs, such as goat cheese making and cork extraction.
Teleworkers also volunteer their time in a variety of ways, from helping out on farms to offering digital skills workshops, such as an introduction to coding. “For the villagers, it’s great because[digital nomads]get to show off all their skills and welcome us with all the warmth that characterizes them,” adds Mari Angeles. “And for the young people, it’s great to be able to interact and see another perspective.”
Source: Euronews