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British home-workers would like to live in Madrid, says study
27/08/2020
WITH working from home on the rise across the modern world and given a major boost by the pandemic, the need to live close to the office is rapidly reducing – and has already been floated as a possible solution to stemming the exodus of childbearing-age inhabitants in Spain's most remote rural parts.
Based upon the notion that, as long as an office employee has access to internet and a computer, he or she can work anywhere in the world, UK-based property insurer CIA Landlord carried out a survey to see which European cities Brits would choose to live in if they could carry on with their jobs from home.
The answers were based upon various criteria, but these included being able to make their money go further and increase their savings if they were still earning in pounds sterling.
And Madrid has come out top.
Its points in favour cover regular, cheap flights to and from various destinations in the UK, a wide range of restaurants and bars with great food at a low cost, and plenty to do off duty including arts and entertainment, culture, shopping and tourism.
The only downside to Madrid, among those surveyed, was the cost of rent – the average tenant in Spain's capital pays around €990 a month, a price that can drop to a third or even less out in the provinces, even in densely-populated, lively coastal areas.
Buying property in Madrid or anywhere in Spain continues to be a much cheaper option than renting, and although tenancies are on the increase, the country has a far greater culture of owner-occupancy than the European average, with the most recent figures showing that well above 80% of Spanish homes are lived in by people who either own them outright or have a mortgage on them.
This said, the CIA Landlord study found that for British home-workers living in London, the cost of renting in Madrid did not seem particularly high to them and even represented a significant saving.
If cost of living was the only consideration, the outright winner would have been the Albanian capital of Tirana, where the average monthly rental is £270 (about €325) and a one-way public transport ticket is about £0.30 (€0.36), but other criteria were also perceived as important and Tirana ended up fourth on the list.
This said, quality, good-sized rentals in large, bustling towns, coastal hotspots and provincial capital cities in Spain – let alone those in more remote areas – are easy to find for far less than the Tirana average; see over 1,000 properties for let between €100 and €500 a month here.
The Italian capital of Rome came fifth, based upon good food, attractiveness, atmosphere, efficient public transport and plenty to do – but the high cost of takeaway food, property rent and beer is seen as a drawback.
After Madrid, British home-workers would choose the Turkish metropolis of Istanbul – highly-valued for its off-duty entertainment and shopping, food choices, attractiveness, reasonably efficient public transport and safety, it also scored highly because of its low cost of living; lower than the Spanish average, although not by a hugely significant amount, and considerably lower than that of much of Britain, especially London.
But flights to and from the UK are far less frequent than those with any Spanish airport, and very expensive in comparison, making Madrid a more practical option.
Third, after Madrid and Istanbul, was the Hungarian capital of Budapest, where the major points in favour were affordable property rent prices and good, cheap beer.
Least popular of the entire list were the city-State of Monaco, the Swiss city of Geneva, and one of Europe's smallest capitals – that of Liechtenstein, Vaduz.
Although the latter perfectly caters for those who cannot decide whether to live in a capital city or in a village in the countryside, given that it only has 5,450 inhabitants, it was found, along with Geneva and Monaco, to have the highest rent – dramatically higher than even in some of the most exclusive parts of London.
As an example, the average monthly rent price in Monaco is €3,500.
Madrid, or anywhere in Spain, really
Madrid is certainly a sound choice, especially for those who are not keen on life in a country capital as such – the general consensus is that Madrid does not 'behave' like a capital, and 'feels' like Spain's answer to Canberra, Brasília, Washington DC, Rabat or Ankara, and that those seeking a lifestyle closer to that of London, Paris or Rome would find it in the lively, colourful and cosmopolitan Barcelona.
But if a variety of arts, entertainment, shopping and good-quality eating-out options – national, regional and international – as well as all useful services close at hand and an attractive setting are the main considerations, these can easily be found in any one of Spain's 50 provincial capitals, the numerous large and medium-sized towns outside of these, coastal belts and even small towns.
Coastal areas frequently offer the cosmopolitan, multi-cultural panorama of a major city, and even small villages have at least one bar or restaurant – in fact, in 2017, Spain held the European record for the most bars per inhabitant, a hazy definition which covers everything from coffee-and-cake shops to pubs to ice-cream parlours and sit-in bakeries, including those which serve meals and snacks, with one per 169 inhabitants; as many as Denmark, Norway, Ireland and Finland combined, one for every 1,000 residents in the whole of Spain in Andalucía alone, one for every 43 people in Mogán, Las Palmas, and enough that their takings account for around 15% of the GDP.
Also, Spain is, statistically, one of the world's safest countries, with violent crime very rare even in big cities and lone women saying they feel very secure walking home alone in the dark.
It is, additionally, one of the planet's most accepting countries when it comes to diversity – homosexual or bisexual residents, different nationalities, races and religions, single parents and other 'non-nuclear' family set-ups, and transsexuals are treated as part of the furniture and do not even stand out from the crowd.
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WITH working from home on the rise across the modern world and given a major boost by the pandemic, the need to live close to the office is rapidly reducing – and has already been floated as a possible solution to stemming the exodus of childbearing-age inhabitants in Spain's most remote rural parts.
Based upon the notion that, as long as an office employee has access to internet and a computer, he or she can work anywhere in the world, UK-based property insurer CIA Landlord carried out a survey to see which European cities Brits would choose to live in if they could carry on with their jobs from home.
The answers were based upon various criteria, but these included being able to make their money go further and increase their savings if they were still earning in pounds sterling.
And Madrid has come out top.
Its points in favour cover regular, cheap flights to and from various destinations in the UK, a wide range of restaurants and bars with great food at a low cost, and plenty to do off duty including arts and entertainment, culture, shopping and tourism.
The only downside to Madrid, among those surveyed, was the cost of rent – the average tenant in Spain's capital pays around €990 a month, a price that can drop to a third or even less out in the provinces, even in densely-populated, lively coastal areas.
Buying property in Madrid or anywhere in Spain continues to be a much cheaper option than renting, and although tenancies are on the increase, the country has a far greater culture of owner-occupancy than the European average, with the most recent figures showing that well above 80% of Spanish homes are lived in by people who either own them outright or have a mortgage on them.
This said, the CIA Landlord study found that for British home-workers living in London, the cost of renting in Madrid did not seem particularly high to them and even represented a significant saving.
If cost of living was the only consideration, the outright winner would have been the Albanian capital of Tirana, where the average monthly rental is £270 (about €325) and a one-way public transport ticket is about £0.30 (€0.36), but other criteria were also perceived as important and Tirana ended up fourth on the list.
This said, quality, good-sized rentals in large, bustling towns, coastal hotspots and provincial capital cities in Spain – let alone those in more remote areas – are easy to find for far less than the Tirana average; see over 1,000 properties for let between €100 and €500 a month here.
The Italian capital of Rome came fifth, based upon good food, attractiveness, atmosphere, efficient public transport and plenty to do – but the high cost of takeaway food, property rent and beer is seen as a drawback.
After Madrid, British home-workers would choose the Turkish metropolis of Istanbul – highly-valued for its off-duty entertainment and shopping, food choices, attractiveness, reasonably efficient public transport and safety, it also scored highly because of its low cost of living; lower than the Spanish average, although not by a hugely significant amount, and considerably lower than that of much of Britain, especially London.
But flights to and from the UK are far less frequent than those with any Spanish airport, and very expensive in comparison, making Madrid a more practical option.
Third, after Madrid and Istanbul, was the Hungarian capital of Budapest, where the major points in favour were affordable property rent prices and good, cheap beer.
Least popular of the entire list were the city-State of Monaco, the Swiss city of Geneva, and one of Europe's smallest capitals – that of Liechtenstein, Vaduz.
Although the latter perfectly caters for those who cannot decide whether to live in a capital city or in a village in the countryside, given that it only has 5,450 inhabitants, it was found, along with Geneva and Monaco, to have the highest rent – dramatically higher than even in some of the most exclusive parts of London.
As an example, the average monthly rent price in Monaco is €3,500.
Madrid, or anywhere in Spain, really
Madrid is certainly a sound choice, especially for those who are not keen on life in a country capital as such – the general consensus is that Madrid does not 'behave' like a capital, and 'feels' like Spain's answer to Canberra, Brasília, Washington DC, Rabat or Ankara, and that those seeking a lifestyle closer to that of London, Paris or Rome would find it in the lively, colourful and cosmopolitan Barcelona.
But if a variety of arts, entertainment, shopping and good-quality eating-out options – national, regional and international – as well as all useful services close at hand and an attractive setting are the main considerations, these can easily be found in any one of Spain's 50 provincial capitals, the numerous large and medium-sized towns outside of these, coastal belts and even small towns.
Coastal areas frequently offer the cosmopolitan, multi-cultural panorama of a major city, and even small villages have at least one bar or restaurant – in fact, in 2017, Spain held the European record for the most bars per inhabitant, a hazy definition which covers everything from coffee-and-cake shops to pubs to ice-cream parlours and sit-in bakeries, including those which serve meals and snacks, with one per 169 inhabitants; as many as Denmark, Norway, Ireland and Finland combined, one for every 1,000 residents in the whole of Spain in Andalucía alone, one for every 43 people in Mogán, Las Palmas, and enough that their takings account for around 15% of the GDP.
Also, Spain is, statistically, one of the world's safest countries, with violent crime very rare even in big cities and lone women saying they feel very secure walking home alone in the dark.
It is, additionally, one of the planet's most accepting countries when it comes to diversity – homosexual or bisexual residents, different nationalities, races and religions, single parents and other 'non-nuclear' family set-ups, and transsexuals are treated as part of the furniture and do not even stand out from the crowd.
Related Topics
You may also be interested in ...
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