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 €300M Bain acquisition to form Be Casa in early 2025 was the trigger that reset market benchmarks. The June 2025 Digital Nomad Visa was the demand-side accelerant. And the Barcelona STR crackdown is the unique-to-Spain tailwind that redirects short-term rental capital toward long-stay coliving. The next 24 months will determine whether Madrid becomes the institutional coliving capital of Europe or hits an oversupply wall as pipeline delivers into 2027-2028. Either way, no European market is moving faster on more capital right now.

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+ nomads on top of 6.5M tourists) and the tightest STR licence tightening (2023 freeze, 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 , 4,000 flex-living beds is smaller than the UK, France, Germany, Netherlands, and Spain. But its policy sequence , STR freeze, NHR-to-IFICI tax swap, 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. Either way, Portugal is the European market where regulatory tailwinds most cleanly favor coliving over any alternative housing format.

Barcelona tourist licence freeze , all short-term rental licences are set to be eliminated by 2028. This is the sharpest STR crackdown in Europe and has direct implications for coliving: capital that had been targeting Barcelona STR is now looking at long-stay coliving formats.

Alojamento Local (AL) short-term rental licences are the primary regulatory instrument governing nomad-adjacent inventory. AL rules distinguish between short-term (typically <30 days) and long-stay coliving formats.

Digital nomad inflows and the June 2025 Digital Nomad Visa launch. Spain ranks #1 in multiple 2025 and 2026 nomad-visa indices, ahead of Portugal, Germany, and Italy on qualifying factors (residence permit length, path to residency, tax treatment via 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.

Digital Nomad Visa launched June 10, 2025 under the Startup Act. ≤20% Spanish-source income required. 1-year initial (abroad) or 3-year residence permit (in-country), renewable to 5 years. Income threshold ~€2,700/month. Beckham Law 24% flat rate. Ranked #1 in multiple 2025/2026 nomad-visa indices.

D8 Digital Nomad Visa requires around €3,280 to €3,680/month income (roughly 4x minimum wage). Path to residency in 5 years (citizenship clock changes pending 2025 Nationality Law amendments). NHR replaced by IFICI (20% flat tax for narrow qualifying activities).