Madeira (Funchal) vs Las Palmas for remote workers
How Madeira (Funchal) and Las Palmas compare on cost, visas, working hours, weather, internet and safety. Every figure comes from our city guides and tools, checked and dated there.
The short answer
Madeira (Funchal) Pick it for a lower US travel advisory level.
Las Palmas Pick it for a lower visa income bar.
Everyday costsEven
What we have checked of rent, a coworking desk, weekday lunches and getting around comes to $1,200 to $2,600 (£898 to £1,950) a month in Madeira (Funchal), against $1,080 to $1,200 (£810 to £901) in Las Palmas. We can't call it: Las Palmas has no checked figure for a desk, so that total leaves it out.
The visaLas Palmas
Las Palmas asks for less income. Madeira (Funchal): D8 digital nomad visa, about $4,130 a month (EUR 3,680 a month). Las Palmas: International telework visa, about $2,740 to $3,200 a month (EUR 2,442 a month, sources differ).
A London 9 to 5Even
Normal hours in both: 09:00 to 17:00 in Madeira (Funchal), 09:00 to 17:00 in Las Palmas.
A New York 9 to 5Even
A late finish in both: 14:00 to 22:00 in Madeira (Funchal), 14:00 to 22:00 in Las Palmas.
WeatherEven
Comfortable months on our best-time rule: 12 in Madeira (Funchal), 12 in Las Palmas. Both are comfortable all year.
InternetEven
Much the same. Typical download speed: 223 Mbps in Madeira (Funchal), 190 Mbps in Las Palmas, from each guide.
SafetyMadeira (Funchal)
Madeira (Funchal). The US State Department puts Portugal at level 1 and Spain at level 2.
Side by side
Measure
Madeira (Funchal)
Las Palmas
Country
Portugal
Spain
Language
Portuguese
Spanish
Currency
Euro (EUR)
Euro (EUR)
Plugs
Type F, 230V. Type C and E plugs fit too
Type C and F, 230V
Time zone
UTC+1 today
UTC+1 today
A month's basics
$1,200 to $2,600 (£898 to £1,950)
$1,080 to $1,200 (£810 to £901), with a desk missing
Remote work visa
D8 digital nomad visa
International telework visa
Income needed
About $4,130 a month (EUR 3,680 a month)
About $2,740 to $3,200 a month (EUR 2,442 a month, sources differ)
Without a visa
British and American passports: 90 days in any 180 across Schengen
British and American passports: 90 days in any 180 across Schengen
Tax residency
More than 183 days in any 12 months, or a home there you seem to intend to keep, makes you tax resident
More than 183 days in a calendar year. Employees can opt into a flat 24 per cent rate
Download speed
223 Mbps
190 Mbps
Comfortable months
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December
US travel advice
Level 1: normal precautions
Level 2: increased caution
Meetups
2 regular groups still running
None we could confirm
Dollars and pounds at today's exchange rate. Download speeds are the typical figure from each guide, which says where it comes from: some are for the city, some for the whole country, so treat a small gap as no gap.
What a month costs
Rent, a coworking desk, a cheap lunch on each of 22 working days, and getting around: the same four costs our budget calculator uses. The rent figures aren't always the same kind of figure (some are furnished one-beds, some are averages across every size of flat), so read the note under each.
Madeira (Funchal)
$1,200 to $2,600£898 to £1,950 a month
Rent
$796 to $2,080Asking rent, one-bed, Funchal, 18 listings in October 2026, median EUR 1,400. Not specific to furnished one-beds. EUR 710 to 1,850
A desk
$168 to $179Coworking hot desk, plus VAT, from a listing site. Free at the Ponta do Sol Nomad Village. EUR 150 to 160
Weekday lunches
$197 to $296Prato do dia, the set lunch, EUR 8 to 12 each, 22 working days
Getting around
$34 to $45Monthly bus pass within Funchal: EUR 30 in the regional tariff, EUR 40 for non-residents according to a travel site. EUR 30 to 40
About $4,130 a month (EUR 3,680 a month); in pounds, about £3,100 a month
How long
Two years, then renewals of three
What it leads to
Citizenship after ten years, up from five on 19 May 2026
Without a visa
British and American passports: 90 days in any 180 across Schengen
The catch. The bar is four times the minimum wage, so it rises every January. And a partner can now join you only once you have held the permit for two years.
The average high in °C each month, coloured by the rule on our best-time page: green is a high of 20 to 32°C with under 150mm of rain; red is a high of 38°C or more or under 12°C, 250mm of rain or more, or 33°C or more with 150mm of rain or more. Hover over a month for its rain.
The US level is for the whole country, as the State Department sets it, and some countries have stricter advice for particular regions.
Who each one suits
From each city guide, word for word.
Madeira (Funchal)
It suits
Remote workers who want UK time, a mild island and people to meet without having to find them. The Ponta do Sol Nomad Village gives you a free desk, a Wednesday lunch and a Friday party. In Funchal a coworking desk costs EUR 150 to 160 a month. Non-EU earners clearing EUR 3,680 a month after tax get a D8 that renews, and pay Madeira's lower regional income-tax rates once they are tax resident.
It doesn't suit
Anyone expecting cheap Portugal: Funchal one-bed listings ask up to EUR 1,850 a month, with a median of EUR 1,400. Anyone set on living in Ponta do Sol or Calheta, which have almost no long lets. Anyone who doesn't want a car or steep hills, or who will tire of a small island within a few months. And anyone moving for citizenship: since 19 May 2026 it takes ten years for British and American residents, and since late 2025 a partner usually waits two years to join you.
Remote workers on UK or European hours who want mild weather twelve months a year and a city with a life of its own, not a resort strip. It suits anyone who will stay long enough to register on the padron, which brings island-wide buses down to EUR 14 for 90 days, and who is happy working from a flat with fibre near the beach. The visa is Spain's international telework visa, at EUR 2,442 a month gross in 2026.
It doesn't suit
Anyone expecting cheap Spain. Asking rents in Santa Catalina and La Isleta are the highest in the Canaries and rose by up to 21 per cent in a year, and a 2024 check found central listings 50 to 91 per cent above the government's own reference index. The coworking scene is small and mostly price on request. The city often sits under low cloud in summer while the south of the island is in sun. And nothing official happens in English: the padron, the NIE and the bus pass all assume Spanish.
