Both Malaga and Marbella are increasingly attracting digital nomads, entrepreneurs and professionals who are not location-specific because they work online. The emergence of a "tech-start up" culture in Malaga and the incalculable events hosted by Marbella throughout the year are just two of the reasons why both cities have experienced a small boom in digital nomad relocations.
Could you be a Digital Nomad?
Digital nomads work in technology-related professions, such as web-design for example or animation, but there are also bloggers, graphic designers, marketing experts and online language tutors these days who move to wherever the fancy takes them - the world is their oyster thanks to the Internet, and as long as a strong and fast online connection is available where they relocate to, they are not dependent on building up a "local" customer base, as traditional businesses are.
Some digital nomads only ever stay in one place for up to 6 months, while others move lock, stock and family barrel to a new location they've fallen in love with. They purchase a Marbella property to bring up their kids with a far better lifestyle, climate and environment than at home or move to Malaga to be part of the exciting new art or technology scene there.
One would be wrong in assuming that all of these professionals are young - the idea of being location-independent and self-employed is not restricted to the 20 to 30-somethings. There are plenty of older professionals who have become disillusioned with the rat-race back at home, or have taken their redundancy packages to start up their own business.
What all of them have in common is that they believe technology should be used to help us live better lives - a life that doesn't revolve around spending up to 10 hours a day in a stuffy office with constantly chiming telephones and office politics that would drive a saint to murder.
Why be a Digital Nomad in Malaga Province?
Andalucía is favoured in the digital nomads department, because there are more and more co-working spaces springing up in Malaga and Marbella, where like-minded individuals can rent a desk and high-speed Internet facilities, printers, telephones, even conference rooms and facilities, for a small amount of money for a few hours, a day or a month.
The Costa del Sol attracts digital nomads for the same reasons that tourists come to the Malaga Province: the fabulous nearly year-round sunshine, lower cost of living, amazing beaches, delicious food and outdoor lifestyle.
Leo Lara, a computer engineer who has worked in many different places, is a co-founder of MalagaMakers.com, a collective of technology entrepreneurs who have settled along the Costa del Sol. Leo believes cities like Malaga have a lot to gain from attracting digital nomads. The international group meets up regularly - most of their gatherings are held in English - to discuss their various concerns, successes and ambitions. The other co-founder, Maciej Książek, is a Polish software developer who met Leo during an eight month stay in Malaga, while he was working for a Berlin-based company and a client located in San Francisco.
Although Maciej has temporarily returned to Krakow, Poland, because he doesn't like the heat of the Andalucían summer that much, he plans to return to Malaga soon. Both Malaga and Marbella have something else that makes them so attractive to digital nomads: they are medium sized cities where it is still easy to meet new, like-minded people and make social and business connections with ease.
At present, neither Marbella nor Malaga are "top-of-the-range" for digital nomads, who typically flock to Asian cities like Bangkok or Chiang Mai, where the whole digital nomad movement began. Malaga currently occupies position 44 on the digital nomad favourite destination list. But Leo Lara believes, Malaga "fulfils the conditions to be a leader in southern Europe" in this niche and shouldn't be lagging behind Seville and Valencia. At present, there is no visible branding or commitment from official bodies to promote this trend. In the Portuguese capital Lisbon, however, authorities are doing a great deal to reap benefits of this phenomenon.
And it's easy to see why: attracting digital nomads means breathing new life into inner city districts, selling Marbella homes or Malaga properties that conventional homebuyers of holiday homes shun because they don't have sea view or aren't near theme parks, golf courses or beaches. Both cities still have a long way to go to rival Bangkok or Chiang Mai, but at least a start has been made.