Discover Spain’s busiest areas for rental homes and how the country is the latest trailblazer for remote working.
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Holiday home hot spots
Interested in renting out a holiday home in Spain? The corner of the country with the highest concentration of tourist rental accommodation is in the Canary Islands while the Costa del Sol (Málaga) has the highest number of holiday let units.
The Canary islands is a holiday home hotspot.
This is according to new analysis by Spain’s National Institute of Statistics (INE), which used algorithms to process data from key holiday rental websites. The results show how dense holiday accommodation is across Spain, showing it as a percentage compared to residential dwellings in each province.
Unsurprisingly, Las Palmas in the Canaries, which includes Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, came out top with 4.37%, based on a total of 24,062 holiday rental units. Two other provinces scored higher than 4%, namely Girona (Costa Brava) with 4.27% based on 21,600 units and the Balearic Islands (Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza) with 4.06% based on 26,507 units. Results for other popular provinces include Málaga (Costa del Sol) with 3.92%, Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Canaries) with 3.78%, Alicante (Costa Blanca) with 2.81%, Tarragona (Costa Dorada) with 2.33% and Cádiz (Costa de la Luz) with 2.3%.
In terms of volume, Alicante is second with 37,962 rental units, followed by the Balearic Islands (26,507), Las Palmas (24,062) and Girona (21,600).
By comparison, playing catch up with the more established tourist areas are Murcia (Costa Cálida) with 0.82% based on 6,952 units, Almería with 1.49% (6,460 units) and Castellón Costa del Azahar) with 1.58% (7,020 units).
Number one for remote working
Fancy working remotely from Spain?
The Spanish Costas is the most popular destination to live as a remote worker among Brits, according to a recent survey by a financial services provider.
Nearly a quarter (22%) of professionals in the UK said Spain would be their first choice when asked which country they would consider working remotely from. In face, this was greater than those who said they wouldn’t consider being a remote worker (20%) at all. The next most popular destination was the US (19%), then France (13%), Other (12%), Portugal (6%), Southeast Asia (5%), Latin America (3%) and Eastern Europe (2%).
Data from the Office for National Statistics shows that 44 per cent of Brits worked remotely (including UK) in 2023, with increasing popularity amongst professionals all over the world.
Looking closer at the results, a huge 46% said they would choose to relocate to Spain for ‘a better quality of life’, with the West Midlands (59%), London (49%) and Scotland (47%) the most likely to choose this as their main reason. Saving money and living a cheaper lifestyle was another popular incentive for UK residents, particularly those living in the North West (26%).
Those with children are most likely to say they would not consider working remotely from another country, but if they did they would choose Spain (23%) or the US (20%). Non-parents would be more open to relocating abroad for work than parents, who are concerned with the wellbeing of their children and families, schooling and leaving their friends behind.
The two main concerns about relocating to Spain were the cost of healthcare and language difficulties.
Launched in 2023, Spain’s digital nomad visa enables non-EU citizens to reside in the country while working remotely for a company or clients based outside the country. A portion of your income can be sourced from Spanish work. Conditions include proving a minimum income an income and having private health insurance. Your visa entitles you to three-year residency permit, renewable for a further two years. Find out more about the digital nomad visa requirements here.
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