London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 11, 2025

Work from home in Greece or Barbados? The Fight for Covid’s Digital Nomads

Work from home in Greece or Barbados? The Fight for Covid’s Digital Nomads

Like birds migrating south for the winter, a new species is packing up for the great trek: Work-from-homers looking for a sunny beach idyll with a good Wi-Fi connection.
“Digital nomads,” once a label applied to iPhone-toting millennials traveling the globe, are now an entire aspirational white-collar class to themselves. Working from home is one level of privilege, but being able to do so while escaping coronavirus lockdowns is another one entirely. One British engineer captured it perfectly from a rented windmill conversion in Portugal saying, “I forgot there was a pandemic.”

Countries of a sunny disposition, from tax havens to tourist traps, are competing hard to attract this new workforce aristocracy. For the princely sum of $2,000, you too can buy a Barbados “Welcome Stamp” to work remotely for a year on an island deemed a tax haven by the European Union. The Cayman Islands’ version, for people earning at least $100,000 a year, requires an upfront deposit of $1,469 in return for a two-year remote-work visa.

Even Greece is getting in on the act, targeting potential expats by talking up its track record fighting Covid-19, its climate and its tax incentives for workers who want to move there full-time. While similar to other European countries’ post-Brexit push to attract talent from abroad, Athens is especially keen to tap into the aspiration of work-from-the-beach. A top economic adviser waxed lyrical about the new utopia of remote work in comments to Bloomberg: “Technology means we can now choose where we live and work.”

The reality, though, is that the dream of the digital wanderer will soon hit some uncomfortable truths.

First of all, being an “Anywhere,” rather than a “Somewhere,” as David Goodhart termed the tribes of today’s populist times, is getting harder. Immigration restrictions were rising even before the pandemic, as seen in the Brexit backlash against free movement in the U.K. With the virus, we’re seeing travel bans extended in places like China. Nomads will find it tough to keep hopping back and forth between destinations with different health priorities, especially in a more epidemically conscious world.

Second, given the scale of the coronavirus-driven recession, which has blown a massive hole in government finances, those privileged enough to be able to duck out of the rat race will be in the firing line of tax authorities.

Bankers who fled New York City for the Hamptons earlier this year became a punching bag for politicians supporting a wealth tax, while those who escaped the City of London for destinations like St. Tropez were told to come back or face a change to their residency status. The U.K.’s tax authority has warned that any claim of “extraordinary circumstances” in terms of physical location would need to be justified and couldn’t exceed 60 days.


The current mood resembles the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, when countries competed to attract deep-pocketed investors but also sought to close tax loopholes and force foreign jurisdictions to divulge more information. This time around, citizens will be even more fired up than before about tax justice. Sophie Lemaitre of the U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre points out that the money lost from tax evasion exceeds national health budgets. Some countries have blocked firms registered in tax havens from tapping bailout funds.

Everything will be in the firing line — the cushy “golden passport” programs, aggressive international tax planning by tech companies such as Amazon.com Inc. and Google parent Alphabet Inc. and the digital nomads themselves. A recent proposal to tax remote workers to pay to rebuild the economy speaks to that frustration. While indiscriminately squeezing work-from-homers who are trying to make ends meet is unfair and would encounter resistance, turning the screw on tech companies and international tax evasion is popular and would make the nomadic life harder. As big government gets bigger, post-Covid Leviathans will be in no mood to let free riders take advantage of internet and mobile infrastructure without giving back.

Digital nomads certainly look fortunate right now, but societies scarred by Covid-19 will want them to lay down roots eventually. If you see such a wanderer on your travels, it would be wise to wait and see what their return journey is like before following.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
ChatGPT CEO signals policy to alert authorities over suicidal youth after teen’s death
The British legal mafia hit back: Banksy mural of judge beating protester is scrubbed from London court
Surpassing Musk: Larry Ellison becomes the richest man in the world
Embarrassment for Starmer: He fired the ambassador photographed on Epstein’s 'pedophile island'
Manhunt after 'skilled sniper' shot Charlie Kirk. Footage: Suspect running on rooftop during panic
Effective Protest Results: Nepal’s Prime Minister Resigns as Youth-Led Unrest Shakes the Nation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
King Charles and Prince Harry Share First In-Person Moment in 19 Months
Starmer Establishes Economic ‘Budget Board’ to Centralise Policy and Rebuild Business Trust
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
Poland Shoots Down Russian Drones in Airspace Violation During Ukraine Attack
Brazilian police say ex-President Bolsonaro had planned to flee to Argentina seeking asylum
Trinidad Leader Applauds U.S. Naval Strike and Advocates Forceful Action Against Traffickers
Kim Jong Un Oversees Final Test of New High-Thrust Solid-Fuel Rocket Engine
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Macron Appoints Sébastien Lecornu as Prime Minister Amid Budget Crisis and Political Turmoil
Supreme Court temporarily allows Trump to pause billions in foreign aid
Charlie Sheen says his father, Martin Sheen, turned him in to the police: 'The greatest betrayal possible'
Vatican hosts first Catholic LGBTQ pilgrimage
Apple Unveils iPhone 17 Series, iPhone Air, Apple Watch 11 and More at 'Awe Dropping' Event
Pig Heads Left Outside Multiple Paris Mosques in Outrage-Inducing Acts
Nvidia’s ‘Wow’ Factor Is Fading. The AI chip giant used to beat Wall Street expectations for earnings by a substantial margin. That trajectory is coming down to earth.
France joins Eurozone’s ‘periphery’ as turmoil deepens, say investors
On the Anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s Death: Prince Harry Returns to Britain
France Faces New Political Crisis, again, as Prime Minister Bayrou Pushed Out
Murdoch Family Finalises $3.3 Billion Succession Pact, Ensuring Eldest Son’s Leadership
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Court Staff Cover Up Banksy Image of Judge Beating a Protester
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Nayib Bukele Points Out Belgian Hypocrisy as Brussels Considers Sending Army into the Streets
Elon Musk Poised to Become First Trillionaire Under Ambitious Tesla Pay Plan
France, at an Impasse, Heads Toward Another Government Collapse
Burning the Minister’s House Helped Protesters to Win Justice: Prabowo Fires Finance Minister in Wake of Indonesia Protests
Brazil Braces for Fallout from Bolsonaro Trial by corrupted judge
The Country That Got Too Rich? Public Spending Dominates Norway Election
Nearly 40 Years Later: Nike Changes the Legendary Slogan Just Do It
Generations Born After 1939 Unlikely to Reach Age One Hundred, New Study Finds
End to a four-year manhunt in New Zealand: the father who abducted his children to the forests was killed, the three siblings were found
Germany Suspends Debt Rules, Funnels €500 Billion Toward Military and Proxy War Strategy
EU Prepares for War
BMW Eyes Growth in China with New All‑Electric Neue Klasse Lineup
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
US Justice Department Launches Criminal Mortgage-Fraud Probe into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Escalating Drug Trafficking and Violence in Latin America: A Growing Crisis
US and Taiwanese Defence Officials Held Secret Talks in Alaska
Report: Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission in North Korea Ordered by Trump in 2019 Ended in Failure
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Florida Murder Case: The Adelson Family, the Killing of Dan Markel, and the Trial of Donna Adelson
×