Compare two coliving markets, side by side

Europe

Europe

Europe's most exciting flex-living growth story, propelled by the June 2025 digital nomad visa, a Madrid-centric institutional pipeline, and the SIMA/flex-living boom.

A digital-nomad capital with a booming but still-small institutional coliving market, shaped by short-term-rental crackdowns that are quietly pushing capital toward long-stay coliving.

From near-zero to Europe's hottest flex-living pipeline in three years, with Madrid as the institutional epicentre. Spain is currently running the most compressed institutionalization arc in European coliving history. Three years ago there were essentially no institutional-scale purpose-built coliving properties in Madrid. Today there are 11,885 to 19,089 operational beds depending on which consultancy you believe, and a pipeline of 19,627 to 38,716 more by 2028. Greystar's roughly €300M Bain acquisition to form Be Casa in early 2025 was the trigger that reset market benchmarks, and the Savills European Investor Survey (2025) shows the capital intent behind it was Europe-wide rather than Spain-specific. The June 2025 Digital Nomad Visa was the demand-side accelerant, and Spain now ranks at or near the top of the major nomad-visa indices. The Barcelona STR phase-out is the unique-to-Spain-and-Portugal tailwind that redirects short-term rental capital toward long-stay coliving. The honest tension is on the horizon: with Madrid holding around 70% of a pipeline measured in the tens of thousands of beds, the next 24 months will determine whether Madrid becomes the institutional coliving capital of Europe or hits an oversupply wall as pipeline delivers into 2027 and 2028, with the 5.25% prime yield the variable most likely to move. Either way, no European market is moving faster on more capital right now, and none offers a cleaner live case study in how quickly a coliving market can institutionalize.

Nomad capital where the STR crackdown is inadvertently the best thing to happen to institutional coliving. Every AL licence frozen is capital looking for a long-stay home. Portugal is simultaneously running the fastest per-capita nomad demand growth in Europe (Lisbon absorbing 16,000-plus nomads on top of 6.5M tourists) and one of the tightest STR licence regimes (the 2023 freeze followed by municipal containment zones). Those two dynamics together funnel investment toward long-stay coliving as the compliant, growth-market alternative to short-term rentals. Portugal is not the biggest European coliving market and probably will not be. Roughly 4,000 flex-living beds is smaller than the UK, France, Germany, Netherlands, and Spain, and against a European operational base of around 56,000 beds (JLL European Coliving Index 2025) it is a small share. But its policy sequence, the STR freeze, the NHR-to-IFICI tax swap, and Decree-Law No. 76/2024 devolving control to municipalities, has cleanly separated coliving from the tourism-property arbitrage and made it visible to institutional capital as a distinct asset class. The Social Hub's H1 2025 Bonjardim opening in Porto (€60M, ~310 rooms) is the pilot that will determine whether long-stay hospitality-coliving pencils in Portugal at scale. If it does, the country's next phase is institutional pipeline; if not, boutique coliving on top of Lisbon and Porto's tourism-attraction advantages will remain the model. The honest read is that Portugal is a high-momentum, low-base market whose trajectory is still set by a handful of flagship assets, which makes it a compelling watch rather than a settled bet. Either way, it is the European market where regulatory tailwinds most cleanly favor coliving over any alternative housing format.

Barcelona's tourist-licence phase-out is the sharpest STR restriction among Europe's major coliving cities, with short-term rental licences set to be wound down on a stated timeline toward 2028. Capital that had been targeting Barcelona STR is now looking at long-stay coliving formats. Confirm the current licence position and timeline with local counsel, as the policy has been litigated and revised.

Alojamento Local (AL) short-term rental licences are the primary regulatory instrument governing nomad-adjacent inventory. AL rules distinguish between short-term (typically under 30 days) and long-stay coliving formats. The category boundary is where most operator compliance questions arise, so confirm the current AL definitions with a local adviser before structuring inventory.

Digital nomad inflows and the June 2025 Digital Nomad Visa launch. Spain ranks at or near the top of multiple 2025 and 2026 nomad-visa indices, ahead of Portugal, Germany, and Italy on qualifying factors such as residence-permit length, path to residency, and tax treatment via the Beckham Law.

Remote-worker inflows chasing lifestyle, tax competitiveness (via IFICI), and English proficiency. Lisbon and Porto rank consistently high in remote-worker city rankings, and the density of English-language services lowers the friction that deters nomads from less anglophone European capitals.

The Digital Nomad Visa launched June 10, 2025 under the Startup Act. It caps Spanish-source income at a low share of total income, offers a one-year initial permit (from abroad) or a three-year residence permit (in-country) renewable toward five years, and has an income threshold in the region of €2,700/month. The Beckham Law offers a competitive flat income tax rate for qualifying inbound workers. Spain ranks at or near the top of several 2025 and 2026 nomad-visa indices. Verify thresholds, permit terms, and tax eligibility locally, as details are frequently updated.

The D8 Digital Nomad Visa requires monthly income in the region of €3,280 to €3,680 (roughly four times the minimum wage) and offers a multi-year path to residency, with the citizenship clock affected by ongoing nationality-law revisions. NHR was replaced by IFICI, a narrower flat-tax scheme for specific qualifying activities. Verify income thresholds, residency timelines, and tax eligibility locally, as all three have moved in recent budget cycles.