DIGITAL GEOARBITRAGE, WORKATION, AND REMOTE WORK MIGRATION IN LISBON, MADEIRA, AND LAS PALMAS: SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACTS AND REFLECTIONS

This article investigates the social, economic, and political implications of digital geoarbitrage by analyzing three emblematic cases in the Iberian Peninsula: Lisbon, Madeira, and Las Palmas. Rather than focusing on the lifestyle narratives of remote workers, it questions and discusses how international digital nomads might, or not, influence local housing markets, labor dynamics, and urban governance regimes. Drawing on empirical data on salary differentials, rental inflation, and visa issuance, the article situates these movements within broader processes of urban commodification (Harvey, 2008), platform-mediated mobility (Moriset, 2022), and post-pandemic labor flexibilization (Sutherland & Jarrahi, 2018). The analysis is grounded in critical urban and mobility studies, particularly debates on spatial justice (Soja, 2010), digital enclaves (Bozzi, 2024), and symbolic governance (Shore & Wright, 1997). It highlights how digital nomadism hough promoted as a tool for economic revitalization often accelerates gentrification, reinforces socio-spatial stratification, and bypasses participatory policymaking (Jover & Diaz-Parra, 2023). In response, the article advocates for inclusive governance mechanisms that incorporate local voices, assess distributive impacts, and reframe mobile work not as a private good, but as a collective challenge for cities undergoing global transitions. Can a small but high-income population segment significantly shape housing trends or local integration? To what degree do short-term stays and limited social interaction affect host communities? And how does digital tourism blur the boundaries between work, leisure, and residence? Rather than proposing definitive answers, the article offers a grounded and comparative discussion that situates remote work mobility within broader socio-economic and spatial transformations.