Places such as Bali, Berlin and Lisbon top lists of the best spots in the world for digital nomads to work remotely while living well -- destinations that attract a global community of location-independent souls with Wi-Fi as strong as the espresso drinks and a lifestyle with an attractive quality to cost ratio.

But if one Lisbon, Portugal, native has anything to do with it, a tiny archipelago that's been called Europe's answer to Hawaii might be the next big thing in remote working.

And by big, Gonçalo Hall -- a remote work consultant who is helping launch a new digital nomad community in a tiny village in the Portuguese autonomous region of Madeira -- actually means small.

"With many people leaving big cities right now, we wanted a village in a smaller place where people can create deeper connections than in a city," said Hall, 33, about Digital Nomads Madeira Islands.

When the pilot project opens on February 1 with support from the regional government of Madeira and StartupMadeira in the red-roofed village of Ponta do Sol, it will be ready to host up to 100 remote workers within a co-working space and surrounding village housing. And plans to expand to other buildings -- both in the village and elsewhere on the island -- are also in the works.

As with all things Covid-19, conditions are constantly shifting. On January 29, in response to the country's dramatically intensifying Covid-19 outbreak, Portugal extended its lockdown and closed the land border with Spain. Citizens are restricted from traveling abroad for 15 days.

Plans to launch are going ahead and that leaves the project organizers waiting to see how things will play out: if they build it, will remote workers come?

Finding more freedom and following passions

So far, about 75 digital nomads have committed to being among the first to start working in the picturesque village of about 8,200 inhabitants sandwiched into a verdant valley on Madeira's southwest coast fronted by a pebbly beach.

Hall, who is on Madeira and has already met with some of the digital nomads, said about 40 are expected to be on site on February 1, with Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Ireland and the Czech Republic among the nationalities represented.

The co-working hub is housed inside the John Dos Passos Cultural Centre, and accommodations in 40 different houses as well as a hotel in Ponta do Sol have already been secured for the remote workers, said Carlos Soares Lopes, CEO of StartupMadeira, a business incubator involved with the project that offers support for companies based on the islands.

And more than 2,000 people from places as far away as South Africa, the United States and Nigeria have registered interest through the website, Hall said. They're then added to a Slack community where they can get housing tips, find potential roommates, keep up to date on local Covid-19 restrictions and source other tips.

American Jenn Parr, living with her husband in Porto on Portugal's mainland (and able to travel to Madeira since she's arriving from an EU country), registered to be part of Madeira's digital nomad village and arrived on Madeira on Sunday.

The 37-year-old early childhood mindful educator from Maryland said she's "not a huge city person" and is attracted by the island's nature and hiking, mild weather (winter highs hover in the low 60s) and the chance to be around fellow independent workers.

"The co-working space appeals to me," she said. "It can be inspiring to meet people who are entrepreneurs or have found ways to create more freedom in their lives and follow their passions."

Parr and her husband have interviewed potential roommates they met through the project's Facebook and Slack groups to share a three-bedroom apartment located between Funchal (Madeira's capital) and Ponta do Sol that costs €1,800 (about $2,200) a month.

Gabe Marușca and Ralu Enea, a Romanian couple who have been working remotely in Madeira since September 2020, recently heard about the nomad village and are considering joining to meet other remote workers.

After hopping between places such as Bali, Cyprus, Malta and Spain, Marușca said the 34-mile-long island long popular with sunseeking tourists from the United Kingdom offers "the full package."

Marușca listed access to mountains and the ocean, affordability, friendly locals and "blazing fast internet" among Madeira's perks, in addition to its manageable size, which he feels is more conducive to finding community and lingering longer than larger places he's been.

"We don't want to do one month in a place and then move -- it's super tiring," said the 36-year-old founder of Digital Finest, who shares a three-bedroom apartment with ocean views in Funchal with Enea for €1,200 a month.
Small place, big dream
Hall, the consultant who is helping to launch the project, said that the idea to start a digital nomad village on the island best known for its eponymous fortified wine hit him during a September 2020 visit.