Valencia and Alicante are ranked top 10 among Malaga and Madrid. villas in Doha
Large cities like London, Paris or Hong Kong are no longer attractive to expatriate workers. They have changed their preferences, more so now because of the coronavirus pandemic, and more and more expats opt for smaller towns where they can find better work-life balance, good health and better access to housing. In a recent publication from Bloomberg, Valencia, Alicante and Lisbon are among the top ten of expats' favorite and least favored cities, with Malaga and Madrid.
With the coronavirus pandemic, everybody's life has changed somewhat. And the work of expatriate workers, the foreigners who live and work abroad, is even more noticeable. The major cities, which have always been one of the most popular places for foreigners to live because of their history, culture and trade were relegated to the list of the best cities for expats, with smaller towns taking precedence.
According to the InterNations study, an online platform with approximately 4 million expatriates based in Munich, the shift to smaller towns was already beginning to be seen before this pandemic came to its worst. More than 15,000 participants of 173 nationalities took part in the survey earlier in 2020, with Valencia, Alicante and Lisbon among the top three, followed by Panama City and Singapore. Two more Spanish cities are joining the top ten best cities for foreigners, 6th for Malaga and 9th for Madrid.
Health, safety, climate, work/life balance and access to housing have now become the highest priorities for these foreign workers, who have turned their preferences towards coastal cities in this study. The Spanish cities that make it the top ten, Valencia, Alicante, Malaga and Madrid, are also increasingly popular destinations for foreigners, due to the increase of the teleworking system.
The major capital cities of Europe, such as London, Paris or Berlin, are at the very bottom of the list because of their lack of employment or work-life balance or serious problems with access to quality housing. This is compounded by the fact that many foreign people are being made to lose the best in urban life following the confines and limitations on leisure, culture and catering.
"International employees are working hard to find affordable housing in major cities like New York City, Tokyo, Paris, Hong Kong and London and are generally unhappy with their financial situation," says Malte Zeeck, foundress and co-CEO of InterNations. "Expatriates in these cities are also often unhappy with their work/life balance," he says.