Canary Islands 'a paradise for home-working employees'

The pandemic brought a sudden, enforced change in job practices, with everyone who was able to do so working from home during lockdown, and this has continued for many employees even after the confinement ceased.

Some parts of Spain are starting to see restrictions once again, but these are, typically, a ban on travelling into, rather than out of, the region where you live.

For that reason, residents in northern and inland parts who have holiday homes in coastal areas they use for summer and long weekends have been upping sticks and moving to them where their jobs allow them to – and if they work from home, they are not restricted as to where they live or stay.

And some workers who do not have holiday homes have even temporarily moved in where the weather is better.

The Canary Islands is swiftly becoming a remote-worker's paradise, according to its regional government.

“It's sunny, I can work well, I can carry on enjoying life and I feel safer than at home, in terms of the Coronavirus,” one worker reports.

Although far from untouched by the virus, the Canary Islands has seen some of the lowest contagion rates all year, and the smaller islands of La Gomera and La Gracia were permanently a step ahead of the rest of Spain when it was going through its four 'phases' of reopening post-lockdown.

At the very least, the incidence of Covid-19 is far lower on the islands than in large metropolitan areas such as Madrid, sparking many to make a temporary move.

Some have said that, as well as the better weather, they are getting to know other people who are remote-working and have shifted their operations coastwards.

The Canary Island regional government is cashing in on this, having suffered badly from the loss of traditional foreign tourism – its largest national group of holidaymakers from outside Spain is British, and with the two-week quarantine requirement still in place since early summer for those returning to or visiting the UK from Spanish soil, those who would normally have booked a beach break without a thought had to scrap their plans as they could not get another fortnight off work to lock themselves at home when they got back.

This means the influx of employees seeking a quieter, sunnier place to work, with the sound of the waves crashing on the shores as they do so, is very welcome in the region, and its authorities have even launched a campaign to attract more of them.

It has invested around half a million euros on a widespread campaign to try to coax up to 30,000 home-workers to the islands.

As well as its very-established network of hotels – and any hotel in Europe, these days, has free Wi-Fi – the Canary Islands are now focusing on setting up co-working spaces, such as disused offices and meeting rooms, with desks set apart, proper ventilation, screens, high-speed internet, and even comfortable private rooms.

Even in parts of Spain where the contagion rate is not as low as in the Canary Islands, working from home is safer in times of a viral pandemic than being in an office and in potentially close contact with people who also have families and social circles they mingle with, meaning even a case detected in a school classroom can suddenly affect an entire building – the pupil's classmates may catch it, pass it onto their parents, who in turn infect their office colleagues, who pass it onto their families.

And this heightened safety means wherever workers decide to set up a temporary home, they are far less likely to come into contact with anyone outside their bubble.

For those living in parts of Spain where daytime temperatures are now sliding into single figures and where deep snow is perhaps only a month away, it is likely that the pull of the Mediterranean, the south coast, and the Balearic and Canary Islands could be particularly great.

It may mean hotel or property-rental costs which, naturally, their companies will never consider as 'expenses', but not having to commute means some of the cost is offset by being released from spending money on petrol or train tickets.

Once the pandemic is over, or brought under control sufficiently for normal life to return, it is likely the home-working trend will continue and, with it, employees starting to reconsider whether where they live is where they actually want to live.

For many, the bright lights of a big city will still be thrilling, and the advantages of a giant metropolis – all services close to hand, a more modern way of life – mean they would never want to be anywhere else.

But for others, who only live in their cities or large, land-locked towns because they are handy for work, it might mean that now they are no longer restricted geographically, they decide they would far rather be near a beach or in a peaceful countryside location.