You can live without the condemnation of the username-password

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Ah, the passwords. Unlivable, but irreplaceablewhat Sabina would say. For Spotify they certainly are, because they want to get rid of them. In a message it is sending to its users, it warns them that username-based logins will stop working on September 1, 2026. Enough of so much user-password. The company’s message is striking and breaks with a tradition that is the norm in practically throughout the industry: If you want to access a service on the Internet, you normally log in with the traditional user-password pair. Existing alternatives. Spotify currently offers various shapes to log in. This can be done with a username and corresponding password, with an email address and password, or through associated Google or Apple accounts. From now on, use email. The company’s notice only refers to the username option as the one that will be removed, and it does not appear that other forms of login will be removed. In the message they do indicate that “Instead, you will be able to log in with your email” And you know what? Is a great idea. Long live passwordless authentication. In recent years, an authentication system that stops using passwords and focuses on other methods has been gaining strength: Magic links: the user enters their email address, and the system sends a unique URL to that email. As soon as the user clicks on the address, a tab opens in the browser showing how the user has authenticated using that link. One-time passwords: instead of having a permanent password, the user enters their email address and in a few seconds receives a code (usually numerical, for example six digits) that they must enter in the application or web service. Once entered, authentication is completed. Many advantages… This type of email authentication eliminates the need to memorize passwords or manage them with a specialized application. This also allows us to prevent our data from being part of those traditional and disturbing massive password theftsand it is a very simple alternative for the user. No route-forcing attacks, weak passwords or reusing the same password for everything. And of course, nothing stops change them every so often. …and some disadvantages. . The bad thing is that the security of the method depends exclusively from the email address. If someone hacks the user’s email, they will have access to all accounts linked to that email address. This method is also vulnerable to attacks from advanced phishing: A fake website that imitates the design of a legitimate one can ask the user to enter the email, request the real code from the legitimate server and then ask the user to enter instead (Man-in-the-Midle attacks). In Xataka | There is one person who knows more than anyone else in the world about password theft. And they just stole his

I need a compact keyboard that fits in my backpack, but I don’t want a ‘toy’ one. This is the one I have in the cart

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When the heat and good weather arrive, I usually leave home even if I’m not on vacation yet. It’s time to continue working and, although I have a laptop, I usually connect it to a monitor and use a separate keyboard. Mine (a Logitech full format) It is big and it is not at all comfortable to carry it everywhere. I could buy one of these small or foldable travel ones, yes. But I don’t like them: I prefer something more conventional. Since I don’t want to spend more than 100 euros on a wireless one, the one I have in the cart is the Corsair K70 Core TKL: a keyboard that is currently out 82.63 euros on Amazon. Corsair K70 Core TKL RGB Tenkeyless Mechanical Gaming Keyboard – Pre-Lubricated Corsair MLX Red v2 Linear Switches – SOCD – Acoustic Dampening – ABS Caps – QWERTY ES – Black The price could vary. We earn commission from these links A compact keyboard that’s easy to carry everywhere If we go to a store like Amazon and look for a travel keyboard, we can find models like the Logitech K380s which is one of the most popular. This and others like it are good peripherals, I’m not saying otherwise. But this is more about sensations and I prefer a conventional keyboard more, especially when I know I’m going to spend a whole day writing. And there comes this one from Corsair. It’s a TKL format keyboard, which already represents a considerable reduction in size (I barely use the numeric keypad, so it’s not a big loss either). Besides, Its USB cable is removable and can be stored separatelywhich makes it even easier to take it outside the home. And, when the summer passes, it is a resistant keyboard that I will be able to continue using in my daily life. The switches it uses are pre-lubricated MLX Red V2 and have an acoustic damping system. This, translated into simple words, means that we will have ora very fast pulsation and with a very contained soundso it is a very interesting option to write and even to play a game. As I say, there are easier to carry options for trips. However, in search of something compact to carry with me on the go and then also use at home, This Corsair K70 Core TKL seems like a top option to me. Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | Corsair In Xataka | Best keyboards for writing and working at value for money. Which one to buy based on use and seven recommended models In Xataka | Best mice in quality price. Which one to buy based on use and seven recommended models

“Solving problems will not be limited by our ability, but by our imagination.”

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Jeff Bezos has set out to be everywhere both physically and metaphorically. Apart from being behind Amazon (leaving it aside to focus on other projects) or Blue Originhas a “new” company called Prometheus. Its goal is to develop AI systems capable of creating artificial engineersand his latest statements They have heated up the conversation about AI and the future of work. The reason? Qwho boos the AI because he thinks it will take away his job is “very far from reality”, but then he claims that AI will lead to job reductions. Regarding physical presence, Bezos is in Europe these days. Specifically, in Paris, where the Vivatech fair is being held, which we were able to attend and where he gave a talk about the obsession of large companies with exploring space, reach the Moon, explore it and create “clouds” of satellites orbiting the Earth. The talk was about that, but we had to ask about the controversy, about Prometheus and about that future of work. And he wondered. And if you thought he was going to cast himself on the argument that AI will create jobs…you thought well and, in fact, he has gone further: he has compared it to the Industrial Revolution. Prometheus and the AI ​​that will be good at doing things, not just knowing things Prometheus is neither a model nor a technology: it is a company. Bezos founded it in 2024 and already has 150 employees spread across three countries. It has a valuation of $41 billion and is currently in deals to raise a $100 billion fund. It seems outrageous because it is, but on repeated occasions, these businessmen have declared that we are in a new golden ageand at Vivatech 2026, Bezos has said precisely that. “We live in the most incredible time in history. There has not been a better time to found a company” and Prometheus is an example. Your product will be an AI that does things, not just knows things. This is where the ‘gravy’ is, since what they are doing is developing AI systems capable of assisting in the entire engineering process, from start to finish. It will cover everything from the initial design, simulation, prototypes, manufacturing and launch, and an example that Bezos has put on the table on several occasions, and that he has repeated, is that of the engine for a new generation airplane. Because the idea of ​​this new AI is that it is capable of assisting an engineer, “empowering” him, according to Bezosso that they can make tools much easier and much faster. If developing a jet engine takes a decade of work, the idea is that these artificial engineers will be able to create it in five years first, then in three, then in two… “If we can accelerate that process, everything will change,” comments Bezos in his talk. For him, the key is how Prometheus is focusing on developing this AI. “We have great language models, but not one focused on building things. If I read 100 books on how to be a great athlete, I will know a lot, but I will still be a bad athlete. That’s why we have to change the way we train these models,” he says. “You can’t have a model that only reads. You have to have a model that is good at doing things” One of the legs that Bezos focuses on is that speed when developing something. He comments that industries embark on very long development cycles, of five or ten years, before having products, and something is necessary to change that dynamic. Something similar happens with semiconductors and chips. In fact, in the United States there are a center called Epic which has Applied Materials, Samsung or SK Hynix behind it and is focusing not only on developing machines to create chips, but also on tools for reduce development cycles for these cutting-edge chips. That is, it is not an approach that only Bezos is working on. The problem is another: how he is defending it. AI, the future of work and the new Industrial Revolution “If you take a step back, 6,000 years ago someone invented the plow and everything changed. Then someone invented the steam engine and everything changed again. We want to be in that cycle to make a leap in productivity and prosperity,” Bezos declared at the Paris fair. This argument of comparing artificial intelligence with the Industrial Revolution is not new. In recent months, the tone of university graduations in the US has been the presence of AI gurus telling how this technology is the future. The response has been young people worried about their current job booing the statements. “Solving problems will not be limited by our ability to execute something, but by our imagination” Because there is a fear that AI will end up replacing them and Bezos is not hiding too much. Returning to the engine example, a few days ago he commented that now it takes 100 people to make a next-generation jet engine, but with Prometheus AI it will take 10. He also stated that “despite the fact that the number of people who will be needed is being reduced by 10technology will create opportunities to multiply those jobs by 10.” The problem is what kind of job it will be, since software engineers will be needed (for the moment, at least), but Other jobs can be completely replaced. “I understand that there is a lot of concern about how AI will make humans redundant, but, AI will actually create jobs because people will focus on creating and finding other problems to solve,” he points out. “Solving problems will not be limited by our ability to execute something, but by our imagination,” he points out. And, I guess, the imagination is infinite… In Xataka | Laying off employees and saving for AI seemed like a seamless plan to make more profits. The data show that not

Spain will take on the maintenance of 1,000 more km of roads: the end of "shadow tolls" comes at the worst time

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One thinks that there are roads in Spain that are free because you don’t pass a barrier and you don’t pay when you reach your destination. You may think that this is not entirely true, that it is our taxes that support these roads. And there is a true part of it. But not everything. Spain uses what is known as “shadow toll” on a good part of its “free” roads. It is a system by which the driver does not pay directly for the use of the highway but the State is doing it for him, since the vehicles that pass through said roads are counted. These shadow tolls have been used for a quarter of a century. Murcia was the first region to use this means of indirect management to getting your RM-15 “free” but the system was replicating. Right now, it is the means used on what are known as “first generation highways.” And those highways will become managed by the State next year. Unless otherwise chosen. In Xataka Until 2020, Spain had the most praised roads in Europe. Now it has something else: a hole of 13,000 million euros 1,000 more kilometers of public management The operation of a shadow toll is simple: the State pays for each and every one of the cars that use that road. That money goes to the company that manages the maintenance of the road, who must preserve its good condition. The Ministry of Transport indicates on its website that the State Highway Network extends 12,091 kilometers throughout the country. Of this figure, 10,656 are highways and multilane roads. Of them, “about 1000 km, the so-called First Generation Highwaysare managed indirectly through concession contracts using the shadow toll method, which is paid directly by the administration.” Those First Generation Highways They are A-1, A-2, A-3, A-31 and A-4whose major reforms in ten sections led the State to opt for the formula of this shadow toll in which the concessionaires assumed the cost of the work in exchange for managing its maintenance, charging for the volume of cars registered in them. In Xataka Spanish roads have a problem in 2026: repairing a kilometer of asphalt is more expensive than ever The contracts end in December 2026 and the intention is for the State to once again take care of the maintenance of these roads. With this reversal of tolls, almost 1,000 more kilometers will be added to the current management of the State Land Transport Infrastructure Society (SEITT). This state management will imply that the State will stop paying the concessionaire company but will have to disburse some 79.4 million euros to be collected in the General State Budgets, according to data from Seopan (Association of Infrastructure Construction Companies and Concessionaires) collected by 20Minutes. The Government’s calculations, on the contrary, indicate that the savings will be 200 million euros annually, they point out in The Economist. The plan to reverse these tolls comes from afar. In 2024Óscar Puente, Minister of Transport, has already started talks to assume the management of these ten sections. So, one of the critical points was whether the concessionaire companies had to make any more investment to deliver the road in perfect conditions and complying with the minimum requirements required when signing the contract. {“videoId”:”x9tnvi4″,”autoplay”:false,”title”:”Why YOUR NEXT CAR WILL SURELY BE CHINESE”, “tag”:”Webedia-prod”, “duration”:”614″} Now, one of the conflicting points is what will happen to the 500 employees who currently work for these companies. It has been valued, they count in 20 Minutes Let the State be the one to surrogate them and take charge of their payrolls. The maintenance of the roads and the involvement of the State has been one of the controversial topics of the last few months. Seopan has been ensuring for some time that there is a shortfall in money dedicated to maintaining roads. The opinion seems clearly influenced by their intention that we pay for roads that right now are “free” but the truth is that This winter’s torrential rains put the debate back on the table. In 2025 they have already dedicated 1,910 million euros to repair roads. This year it has been put on the table dedicate about 1,000 million euroswhich transport associations such as CETM and the Association of Infrastructure Conservation and Exploitation Companies (ACEX) consider insufficient, ensuring that spending should reach 2,000 million euros. In Xataka Spain has one road completely collapsed and another completely empty. They run parallel and arrive at the same place Various associations assure that Spain has a deficit in investment in its roads. According to ACEX, we drag a deficit of 5 billion euros In investment in Spanish asphalt, although not everything corresponds to state management, the money is also distributed among the autonomous communities. The Spanish Road Association (AEC), however, says that half of Spain’s asphalt is in poor condition and that the hole reaches 13,000 million euros (a figure provided before the February rains). Data that the DGT itself accepts as good, which was collected on its website. Starting in December, another 1,000 kilometers will be added to maintain. Just when repairing a kilometer of asphalt is more expensive than ever. Photo |Ministry of Transport In Xataka |Spain has dozens of unique abandoned roads. Now he wants to save them by turning them into “historic roads” (function() { window._JS_MODULES = window._JS_MODULES || {}; var headElement = document.getElementsByTagName(‘head’)(0); if (_JS_MODULES.instagram) { var instagramScript = document.createElement(‘script’); instagramScript.src=”https://platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js”; instagramScript.async = true; instagramScript.defer = true; headElement.appendChild(instagramScript); – The news Spain will take on the maintenance of 1,000 more km of roads: the end of “shadow tolls” comes at the worst time was originally published in Xataka by Alberto de la Torre .

This is one of the best ways to quickly find your suitcase at the airport

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We may have the idea of ​​placing some tape, sticker or distinctive seal on the suitcase so that it can be recognized and located when we go plane tripbut it is not the most recommended. In fact, airport employees advise against it. Because? Basically these stickers, tapes, rubber bands or keychains can cover the stickers provided by airports to identify each suitcase with its respective user. If these stickers are covered, suitcases can get lost. But then, how can we find or locate the suitcase quickly? Nowadays there are accessories that are quite useful for these situations, and the locators They are the most interesting. They allow you to have the suitcase located without having to put a sticker on it. In addition, there are many sizes and formats. Let’s review some of the most interesting ones. AirTag 2 by 27.99 eurosa locator for iPhone users. Xiaomi Tag by 12.31 eurosone of the best AirTag alternatives for iPhone and Android phones. Motorola Tag by 24.90 eurosa locator for Android with the same format as the AirTag. Ugreen FineTrack Slim Smart Finder by 23.99 eurosa locator for Android with a card design. Samsung Galaxy SmartTag 2 by 19 eurosa locator for Samsung mobile phones. Ugreen FineTrack Slim Smart Finder The price could vary. We earn commission from these links AirTag 2 He AirTag 2 (27.99 euros) is the locator par excellence for Apple devices. This second generation has improved in search precisionoffers a fairly loud sound to locate it and works with a CR2032 battery, so as soon as it runs out it can be easily replaced. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Xiaomi Tag He Xiaomi Tag (12.31 euros) is one of the best alternatives to the AirTag 2, although in this case works with both iPhone and Android phones. It also works with a CR2032 battery, its autonomy is up to one year and thanks to its design it can be attached to a keychain. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Motorola Tag If we find the design of the AirTag 2 attractive, but we have an Android mobile, the Motorola Tag (24.90 euros) is one of the best options currently. It includes a physical button with which you can take photographs from your mobile phone and has ultra-wide band (UWB), although it is not compatible with all mobile phones. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Ugreen FineTrack Slim Smart Finder There are also locators that have very different designs from Apple, and Ugreen is the best brand to talk about it. Among the many models in its catalogue, the FineTrack Slim Smart Finder (23.99 euros) stands out for its card-shaped design, so being quite flat it can be stored in many places. It is water and dust resistant, its battery lasts up to five years and it works only with Android. Ugreen FineTrack Slim Smart Finder The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Samsung Galaxy SmartTag 2 Lastly, we also have the Samsung Galaxy SmartTag 2 (19 euros), a locator compatible with pinpoint search (UWB), although Only works with Samsung phones. It includes a physical button to control the home automation system and includes a hole to hang it on a keychain. Samsung Galaxy SmartTag 2 The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | Dimitri Karastelev in Unsplash and rawpixel in Magnificent (header), Apple, Xiaomi, Motorola, Ugreen, Samsung In Xataka | Buying guide for GPS locators: tips and recommendations to get it right and seven models from 30 euros In Xataka | Six gadgets that I never thought I would need and that have improved my daily life by 1000%

The trick against all logic of Ukrainian drones to hunt the fearsome Russian shahed

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The first documented aerial shootdown in history, in 1914, was not won by the fastest plane, but by the one that knew how to position himself better and hold the exact moment to shoot. More than a century later, the drone war in Ukraine is rediscovering the same lesson: in the air, sometimes patience outweighs speed. The new hunt for the Shahed. we have been counting: the air war over Ukraine has entered into a new phase where defense no longer depends only on expensive anti-aircraft missiles, but on drones designed to hunt other drones. One of the most advanced examples It’s Stingdeveloped by the Ukrainian company Wild Hornetsan interceptor created specifically for take down the Russian Shahed that bomb cities and infrastructure every night. With more than 200 km per hour of speed, Sting represents a radical evolution with respect to conventional FPV drones: it is no longer about attacking trenches or armored vehicles, but rather intercepting aerial threats en route to their objective. The initial error. The engineers’ first intuition seemed obvious: to catch a fast drone they had to build something even faster. The first Sting prototypes They exceeded 250 km per houra figure much higher than that of the Russian Geran-2 and comparable to some jet variants. But the reality of combat dismantled that logic. The higher the speed, the less autonomy. The higher the speed, the less patrol time. And in a war where detecting and waiting is as important as striking, that became a tactical problem. The key: the other way around. Here appears the crux that changed everything. After combat testing and conversations with the Ukrainian military, Wild Hornets reformulated the concept: “Speed ​​is not the key. Time in the air is important,” They told Insider. The phrase summarizes a counterintuitive but fundamental lesson. To intercept a Shahed it is not enough to reach it, you must first find it, follow it, maneuver and have room to react. An interceptor that is too fast consumes energy, reduces its operational window and limits its flexibility. The result was a almost heretical decision in military engineering: make the slowest drone to do better. Slower, more useful. Reduce speed allowed gain more than 20 minutes of flight, increase mechanical reliability and simplify preparation for each mission. That transformed the Sting from a simple flying projectile into a real aerial hunting tool. It can operate at altitudes of up to 7,000 meters, although it performs better somewhat lower, and its cost (less $2,000 per unit) makes it an extremely cost-effective solution against Shaheds that cost tens of thousands and, above all, against much more expensive interceptor missiles. The war of mutual adaptation. But the battlefield does not stop. Russia too is modifying his Shahedincorporating cameras, improving maneuverability and making them more difficult to shoot down. Every Russian improvement forces a Ukrainian response, and every new version of Sting is born from that constant exchange. Wild Hornets now has developed variants with specific cameras for different light conditions and night operations, showing the extent to which this war is an accelerated evolutionary race. The pilot away from the front. The last great revolution It’s Hornet Visiona remote control technology that allows Sting to be piloted hundreds of kilometers from the launch point. This completely changes the defensive logic: the best operators can be far from the front, safe from Russian attacks, managing multiple interceptors at the same time. Instead of exposing pilots near impact zones, Ukraine begins to centralize talent and multiply efficiency. Air defense, in that sense, looks less and less like a system of batteries and radars and more like a distributed network of invisible hunters. The economy of the new war. Sting represents something deeper than just a drone. It is the demonstration that modern war rewards efficiency above sophistication. While a surface-to-air missile can cost millions to shoot down a cheap target, Ukraine is proving it can be fought saturation with saturationbut intelligently. The great discovery, therefore, has not been to build the fastest interceptor, but to understand that, sometimes, to win a chase, the most important thing is not to run further: it is hold on longer in the air. Image | Wild Hornets In Xataka | Ukraine can’t take back Crimea, but it’s making sure Russia drowns inside its own peninsula In Xataka | We have to start thinking about the Ukrainian war in terms greater than those of the First World War.

Commodore has launched a retro smartphone that blocks browsers, Instagram or TikTok. It is garish, original and expensive

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My first computer was a Commodore C64, so you will understand that this news hits a nerve with me. The brand, purchased last year by YouTuber Christian “Peri Fractic” Simpson, has now risen from the ashes with the surprising release of Commodore Callback 8020. We are looking at a smartphone with a retro aesthetic that also draws attention for its focus: the idea here is not to compete with the iPhone or the best Android phones, but rather help us not be glued to the cell phone so much since the telephone is above all that: a telephone. Commodore Callback 8020. This launch wants to take advantage of this growing trend of some manufacturers of resurrect “dumb phones”: cell phones that are capped as standard so that we can detoxify a little of that addiction that we usually have to screens. And to do this, this peculiar device does something mercilessly: block access to all types of applications and platforms Neither TikTok nor Instagram. The Callback 8020 has internet access, but by default it blocks both access to web browsers and social networks. It does so according to the company’s announcement “at the system level using a technology that is pending patent.” The device is therefore not a friend of Instagram or TikTok, but it does allow access to other internet services, such as maps or reading QR codes. Banned browsers. The brand also has its own app store, called Commostore, and to limit access to unwanted applications they have a white list, and as Simpson said at Ars Technica“social networks and browsers will never enter that white list.” Nothing about doomscrolling. Not only that: they cannot be installed using common installation methods either. sideloading. Although the current owner of the brand states that other applications can be installed through this process, this will be blocked in the case of social media apps or browsers. According to Simpson, “we’ve drawn a clear line in the sand around any app that is aimed at doomscrolling“. To avoid this at all costs, the firm indicates that they have blocked access to certain services at the DNS level “so even if you manage to install TikTok, you will not be able to access its servers.” Sailfish OS as heart. We are facing a device that uses Sailfish OS as its operational system. This development, created in 2012 by the company Jolla, allows you to install and run Android applications (99%, says Simpson), although its focus is privacy. Thus, it is perfectly possible to use tools such as Spotify, Signal or WhatsApp. The bet is completed with a very nice detail: Commodore includes some games from the C64 era to be able to enjoy them on this mobile. Limited but functional. The mobile’s specifications sheet is modest: it has a MediaTek Helio G81 SoC, 4 GB of RAM, 64 GB capacity (with microSD slot), 3.25″ internal IPS screen (480×640), 1.77″ external VFD screen, as well as a “Dome-LED” notification system. Connectivity is resolved with LTE, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth support, and we have a 48 MP rear camera and an unspecified front camera that does have autofocus. The battery is 1,550 mAh and recharges via USB-C. Retro notifications. The mobile allows you to receive notifications, but instead of traditional messages in popup format, the Callback 8020 makes use of a small LED screen on the front cover that displays characters with a very retro design reminiscent of the old calculators from the 70s and 80s. Eighties sounds. Audio includes a music player for the 8-bit SID chip, which was used in the original C64. It also has, of course, an integrated DAC, an F radio and a 3.5 mm jack. There are even in-ear headphones included in the box. Shell format, interchangeable shells. The design of the mobile phone itself is most peculiar: it adopts a clamshell format, which makes the interior screen relatively small in size, and it has a physical keyboard and a small directional pad on top of that keyboard. The outer shell can be exchanged. Commodore Callback 8020, in its Founders Edition variant, at $640. Source: Commodore. lor retro is not at all cheap. The price ranges between $500 and $640 depending on the variant chosen — the most expensive is the Founders Edition, with gold tints. It is a high price if one only looks at the specifications and design, but that is not what you pay with this mobile. What you pay is more for the nod to nostalgia and for the system that tries to prevent us from being glued to the screen. We are faced with a different concept, which may be shocking and strange, but which tries to solve a problem and also do so with an original approach. I don’t know if the original Commodore would have made a mobile like that, but one thing is certain: the launch is, to say the least, original, loud and brave. That’s something. In Xataka | While the Spectrum and Commodore 64 were triumphing around the world, there was a terrible problem in Japan: kanji

“It’s not like Europe, there aren’t many more original art forms here”

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Clint Eastwood has been convinced for decades that the Western is one of the few things that the United States can truly call its own. The irony is that it was filming in Almería under the orders of a director from Rome that revitalized and updated the genre. He was there, but he still thinks that there are few things as American as the Westen. Original art. In recent statementsEastwood stated that “Honestly, America is not like Europe. There aren’t many original art forms here. Most of them are derived from European art forms. Aside from Western, jazz or blues, that’s all that’s really original.” And there is nothing disdainful in his words, although it may seem like it: Eastwood rather seems to vindicate the genuinely North American nature of the Western, although the evolution of the genre and the actor’s own filmography have made it clear that, at this point, it is one of the most bastard genres in the history of cinema. Western, jazz and blues. In fact, we could dwell on the very precise enumeration of artistic forms that Eastwood considers purely North American. The blues emerged from the deep south and the experience of slavery. Jazz, from New Orleans, at a cross between the African heritage and the music that European immigrants brought from their countries. Finally, the Western speaks of the border in perpetual movement, of the clash between European “civilization” and what it finds in its path (mainly, natives who defend themselves as best they can). They are three artistic forms born from tension, conflict and miscegenation, which explains a lot about the way of being of the country’s inhabitants. And yes, they are purely North American because all three are firmly rooted in the history and philosophy of an unusually young country. An American in Italy. Before 1964, Eastwood was a television actor moderately known for the series ‘Rawhide’. But that year, Sergio Leone signed him for ‘A Fistful of Dollars’‘, an Italian-Spanish-German co-production filmed between the Cinecittà studios in Rome and the Cabo de Gata Natural Park in Almería. The success of the film launched the Dollar Trilogy, completed with ‘Death Had a Price’ and ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’, which established Eastwood as an international figure of the genre. A new character. Eastwood was more than just a protagonist for the trilogy: he was a new type of gunslinger: John Ford and John Wayne’s cowboys were moral heroes, protecting the weak and serving a code of honor. The Nameless Man of the Dollar Trilogy acts for money, switches sides without problems, and his moral compass is arid and often indecipherable, like the landscape of Almería. Eastwood in America. The actor understood that vision and when he returned to his country, he modulated it to his liking, with westerns that are not a nostalgic tribute to the classics of the genre, but rather a dissection that takes into account what Leone and his many imitators contributed to the western. ‘Hell of Cowards’, ‘The Pale Horseman’ or, above all, ‘Unforgiven’ examine the violence of the West without glamor or redemption. “Killing is not right and it is not romantic,” he came to say. The recognition. It is worth remembering that ‘Unforgiven’ won the Oscar for Best Film and Best Director in 1993. Before it, only ‘Cimarrón’ in 1931 and ‘Dances with Wolves’ in 1990 had won. That is to say, for the film industry to finally recognize the importance of the genre, it had to undertake a long journey of reinvention and self-observation in which the European vision had a lot to do with it. In Xataka | Today on HBO Max: the latest film directed by one of the greatest masters in the history of cinema

The world is preparing to harvest 36% fewer pistachios. This is great news for Spanish farmers

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2025 is not being an easy year for the pistachio. TO the effects of the Iran war, the closure of Hormuz and the swings The price of the fruit now adds a more than likely puncture in the global harvest. This is what at least the main producer organization, the INC, expects, which foresees a drop of 36% in the amount of fruit harvested worldwide. Although it’s not strange that crops rise and fall, conditioned by the climate or the cycles of the trees, the sector’s estimate is interesting for another reason: it confirms that Spain is reinforcing assumption. And everything indicates that it will gain ground this campaign. What has happened? That the International Nuts and Dehydrated Fruits Council (INC) has recognized that the 2026/2027 campaign does not look particularly good for pistachio. At least if we talk about production. Although the sector expects an increase in the cultivation of walnuts, hazelnuts or raisins, in the case of pistachios it anticipates a ‘puncture’ of 36% on a global scale. Translated into tons, that means that production would go from 1.1 million harvested during the 2025/2026 campaign to 701,050 t in the 2026/2027 campaign. Country Campaign 2025/2026 (tons) Campaign 2026/2027 (tons) USA 722,670 350,000 Türkiye 114,600 156,400 Iran 225,000 130,000 Syria 13,350 35,000 Spain 9,500 11,500 Greece 6,500 8,500 Australia 3,000 5,500 Afghanistan 2,600 2,700 Italy 4,700 1,000 China 320 450 World production 1,101,740 701,050 What is the reason? Although a drop of 36% may seem alarming, the data should be handled with caution. Pistachio cultivation is conditioned by the vecería, which means that there are campaigns in which the trees are loaded with fruit and others in which the harvests are much scarcer. It is one of the handicaps with which the sector plays. Hence there are voices, like that of Juan Gallegofrom Ibero Pistacho, who ensure that a drop of 36% “is within the norm.” Nor is it strange that part of the harvests are saved from one year to the next precisely to compensate for the ‘puncture’ of the years highly marked by the harvest. Does only that factor influence? No. The INC data, advanced by the EFE agency, allow us to focus more and observe the great differences that exist between producing countries, each conditioned by its own challenges. For example, in California, the world capital For pistachio, a 52% drop in the harvest is expected due to flowering problems. The ‘photo’ is not good in Iran either, which is suffering the consequences of the high temperatures of the previous campaign and expects its production to be reduced by another 42%. And what happens in Spain? Here the panorama is somewhat different. Although our production is light years away Compared to the US or Türkiye, the INC estimates that in Spain the 2026/2027 campaign will close with 21% more fruit harvested. In practice, this would mean going from 9,500 tons in the 2025/2026 financial year to 11,500 in the 2026/2027 campaign. The data is interesting because it not only consolidates Spain as the fifth world producer, it also allows it to dream of closing the gap on the podium. The forecast of the INC shows a decline in crops in the US and Iran, the first and third producers on a global scale. And although a priori Türkiye (the second supplier) will see its harvest increase by 36%, it remains to be seen if the strong storm that suffered in May has damaged the trees and will reduce the harvest. How is that possible? That the Spanish crop grows while it declines in other countries with large pistachio plantations, such as the US, Türkiye or Iran, is actually little surprising. Spanish farmers They have been increasing for years the number of hectares dedicated to this crop, especially in Castile-La Manchawhich concentrates a large part of the national production and 77% of the surface. The growth of the harvest in Spain during the next campaign (2026/2027) is only a reflection of that bet. The data from the Ministry of Agriculture show that the planted area in Spain has skyrocketed in recent years to exceed 85,800 hectares in the 2024/2025 campaign and that production has grown by more than 70% in just a few years. Looking ahead to the 2026/2027 season, the INC expects a harvest of 11,500 tons. Not all sources agree on this information (in the sector there are those raises it to 16,000 t), but in any case the background photo is always the same: Spanish production is increasing. What to expect now? The million dollar question. For now, and beyond the short-term fall in harvests due to the rainy season, both the US and Iran they hope to increase its production thanks to the increase in plantations. Specifically, California hopes to boost its average capacity by 40% in the coming campaigns and Iran and Türkiye are already considering approaching 300,000 tons in the medium term. Regarding the price of the fruit and whether or not prices will be altered by the 36% drop in production, there are different opinions in the sector. The Italian analysis company Areté warns of a market with “strong tensions on supply and prices” given that the demand for pistachios has been growing for years. Others, like Gallego, acknowledge that “there may be a small increase in cents,” but clarifies: “All of us who are in this sector are interested in the product remaining stable and being consumed.” Not only the generosity of the crops comes into play. The price is also affected by other factorssuch as instability in Iran, the closure of Hormuz or the influence of war on the cost of inputs such as fuel. Images | Brenan Greene (Unsplash), Brad Spry (Flickr) and USDA In Xataka | Fruit seems like the perfect summer dinner. The problem is that it is not as good an idea as it seems.

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