Welcome to Ponta do Sol, a village on the island of Madeira with 8,200 inhabitants, made up of green valleys, a few restaurants, a rocky beach and its hundreds of “digital nomads” who have come to reconcile remote work and relaxation in the sun. .
Employed in teleworking, self-employed or freelance, these visitors reinvent the metro, work, sleep by favoring a sunny, affordable destination offering high-speed Internet access. A practice that has more and more emulated by a generation fed on Erasmus and facilitated by the explosion of new technologies.
The Covid-19 pandemic has only reinforced this phenomenon by attracting these new workers without a fixed office, rediscovering, during the confinement phases, the furious desire to flee the metropolises.
“Tourists are only passing through, while digital nomads stay here for several months and therefore consume locally. »Gonçalo Hall, entrepreneur
A digital nomad too, Gonçalo Hall has set up what he calls “The first digital nomad village” in just three months, with the close collaboration of the regional government of Madeira. Partnership with real estate companies and car rental companies, implementation of a Slack to facilitate communication in the community, free access to a shared workspace, offer of activities during the day (yoga, meditation, fitness, hiking , diving and observation of dolphins and whales on weekends)… Everything has been designed to facilitate the arrival and stay of workers until the deadline for the end of the project, June 30.
“I have the impression of no longer being on planet Earth, it’s incredible and motivating to be able to work in such an idyllic setting and to exchange with people from all over Europe”, rejoices Spela Tezak, a newly arrived Slovenian, after a year without travel, in Ponta do Sol, where bars and restaurants are open.
Compensate for the slaughter of tourism revenues
The goal of this village of digital nomads is also, not to say above all, to counterbalance the slaughter of tourist receipts, which normally represent more than 20% of Madeira’s gross domestic product.
“Tourists are only passing through, while digital nomads stay here for several months and therefore consume locally”, explains Gonçalo Hall. A godsend for Carla Pereira, waitress at the Caprice restaurant: “This is a very good initiative to fill the shortage of tourists due to the epidemic. In addition, they are really nice ”, she rejoices.
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