Thousands of European remote workers have relocated to the Canary Islands

Remote working in the sun

Remote working in the sun Credit Pixabay

TOURISM was a major contributor to the economy of the Canary Islands until it effectively came to halt following the worldwide spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Despite promised financial support from Central Government, the regional government knew that it needed to find an immediate, possibly temporary, possibly long-term solution to help generate taxes as well as income for local businesses.

As more and more companies allowed or insisted that their staff work from home, the Canary Islands Government allocated €500,000 to try to attract a percentage of those home workers to move to the Canaries to carry out their work.

This concept was aimed at both companies and individuals with a promise of lower living costs than countries such as the UK and Germany as well as much better weather and to some extent is has worked as according to a report in El Pais, currently some 8,000 new foreign remote workers have arrived across the islands in the group.

These new workers have greater purchasing power due to higher salaries and area  god send to local hotels and holiday rental companies as well as businesses generally and the regional government is looking to continue to invite remote workers to the Canaries.

According to the El Pais article, the number of remote workers is increasing by around 10 per cent each month and many have indicated that they are very happy with this new arrangement.

The Society for the Economic Promotion of Gran Canaria (SPEGC) earlier this month launched the Practical Guide on how to settle in Gran Canaria for professionals who choose that island as a location for their professional and personal life.

This organisation which is sponsored by the Government of Gran Canaria is also encouraging tech companies in particular to consider moving their businesses to the island and will help with finding accommodation for staff and offices.

This is certainly proving to be an attractive option for thousands of remote workers and the regional government hopes that as working from home does become the new norm, those who are currently there will remain and indeed encourage work mates to join them.

Written by

John Smith

Married to Ophelia in Gibraltar in 1978, John has spent much of his life travelling on security print and minting business and visited every continent except Antarctica. Having retired several years ago, the couple moved to their house in Estepona and John became a regular news writer for the EWN Media Group taking particular interest in Finance, Gibraltar and Costa del Sol Social Scene. Currently he is acting as Editorial Consultant for the paper helping to shape its future development. Share your story with us by emailing newsdesk@euroweeklynews.com, by calling +34 951 38 61 61 or by messaging our Facebook page www.facebook.com/EuroWeeklyNews

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