Did you have to obtain any special visa or permits for this?
Do you happen to know if it also works the other way round? For example, suppose I'm from the EU, can I travel to Australia as a tourist and legally telework from there?
Do you happen to know if it also works the other way round? For example, suppose I'm from the EU, can I travel to Australia as a tourist and legally telework from there?
Australian citizens require a work visa to work in Spain [1]
[1] - http://www.expatica.co.uk/es/visas-and-permits/work-permits/...
..can I travel to Australia as a tourist and legally telework from there?
No. Again you need a work visa [2]
[2] - http://www.immi.gov.au/Work/Pages/Work.aspx
These articles like to paint a rosy picture of just jumping a plane with your laptop to an exotic location. The reality if you want to be legal is different and much more difficult that that.
[Side note - the owner of that website also blogs at Nerdy Nomad about working from a laptop while travelling the world: http://www.nerdynomad.com/ ]
The practical answer is no, you don't need any kind of special visa or permit.
Generally the notion of a remote worker (a foreigner who is employed in their home country while physically being in other countries) fits very poorly with immigration/visa rules. Those things move at a glacial pace and have in no way kept up with technology (generally speaking).
The assumption underpinning pretty much everyone's work permit/visa rules is that a foreigner wanting to physically work in the local environment will be employed by locals ie they will participate in the local labor market, will take money from a local employer and be competing with locals for jobs. Alternatively you might be a visiting business person wanting to do business with a local company.
However I am Australian, I am legally an Australian resident, my employer is Australian, 100% of the financials (bank accounts, all paperwork) is in Australia and I pay tax in Australia. I have never taken a cent from a local business or individual, I am not participating in the local labor market in any way and I have no interest in doing business with local companies. I don't even have a local bank account or a local permanent address. Even if I registered to pay income tax in another country the amount would be $0 because I am not earning any money here. My work doesn't touch the local environment anymore than someone on holiday checking their email or taking a phone call from home.
So in practice, as far as the host country is concerned, I am simply a tourist. If anyone asks about my plans (which they very very rarely ever do) I am simply taking an extended trip (which is the truth) and I can show sufficient means of support (ie money in the bank).
As for the legality of this I am uncertain. I certainly don't have any ethical concerns. Were I to not do any work while visiting a country the local labor market would not be affected in any way, some locals would be deprived of additional income on which they presumably pay tax and a company back home would be deprived of an experienced worker if I was forced to not do my work while visiting other countries. No one is harmed by what I do and a lot of people derive some benefit from it.