Month: October 2025

go back to pencil and paper

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We take for granted the conveniences of the digital age: instant messaging, online shopping, the databases that power millions of businesses. Everything flows until something breaks and the routine stops. In companies, this failure can have devastating effects. Jaguar Land Rover verified itwhich suffered a cyber attack that paralyzed its production lines. Now the scenario is repeated in Japan, where Asahi, the giant that controls about 40% of the beer market, has had to stop its activity and resort to the most basic: handwritten orders, paper documents and faxes that ring again. The incident broke out at the end of September, when an attack by ransomware left inoperative Asahi’s ordering and shipping systems in Japan. In a few hours, the company had to suspend activity in most of its factories and completely reorganize its logistics. The country’s supermarkets and convenience chains, including 7-Eleven and FamilyMart, warned of possible stock shortages. Although production began to resume on a limited basis, the brewer admitted that it could not guarantee timelines for returning to normality. When a cyberattack turns off screens and forces you to return to paper The systems that allow Asahi to process orders, coordinate deliveries and communicate with distributors were out of service following the attack. Although factories could continue producingthe company was forced to stop activity because it could not manage a single shipping order. The measure was part of the containment protocol, which included blocking servers and suspending incoming mail from abroad. In a few hours, the largest brewer in the country went from total automation to an almost complete stoppage. Faced with the digital blockade, Asahi activated an emergency plan based on manual procedures. Orders were written down by hand, delivery notes were printed and shipping confirmations were communicated by fax, as they were decades ago. The goal was simple: keep the product flowing, even if it was limited. The brewery thus managed to partially reactivate its distribution network, while preparing the reopening of its call center. It was a slow and laborious response, but it allowed the first batches of beer to leave the factories again. Little by little, Asahi began to commission its factories. The six brewing centers in the country returned to limited production, starting with the Asahi Super Dry line. Some soft drink and food plants were also reactivated, although at a slower pace. The company specified that its production was still far from normal and that containment measures were still in force. The attack affected only Asahi’s domestic operations. The company clarified that its subsidiaries in Europe and the United Kingdom continued to operate without incidents. The Japanese side, which contributes around 50% of its global incomewas the only one hit. Although the geographical scope was limited, the economic and logistical effect within the country was notable. A group called Qilin sand claimed responsibility for the cyberattack. We are talking about an organization that operates under a “ransomware as a service” model and that has already been involved in attacks on large companies. Asahi did not confirm that version or detail the type of intrusion. In any case, The Japanese Government maintains an investigation open to clarify what happened. Asahi is keeping its recovery plan underway, focused on gradually restoring ordering and shipping systems. As we say, the immediate priority is normalize production and fully reopen its customer service center. Starting in mid-October, the company hopes to increase the pace of distribution and recover part of the catalog affected by delays. It has not yet set a date for full restoration, but it assures that security measures will be reinforced before returning to one hundred percent operation. Images | Asahi (1, 2) | freepik In Xataka | How often should we change ALL our passwords according to three cybersecurity experts

Europe needs tungsten for its electrical future. A Swedish mining company knows where to find it: Ourense

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In the parish of Pentes, in the Ourense municipality of A Gudiña, the excavators have already begun to remove earth. There, on a slope where until recently only the mountain wind could be heard, the Swedish mining company Eurobattery Minerals AB has launched the work to extract tungsten – also known as tungsten –, a strategic metal for the European energy and technological transition. Galicia thus joins the small group of regions on the continent with active exploitation of this critical mineral. A strategic mine for Europe. The company, through its Galician subsidiary Tungsten San Juan, has launched its San Juan project while preparing its application for the second call for Strategic Projects under the European Regulation of Critical Raw Materials (CRMA), to open in January 2026. The first earthworks and the construction of a service warehouse are already visible in the area, as confirmed by the Vigo Lighthouse. When it is at full capacity, this will be the second active exploitation of tungsten in Spain, along with that of Barruecopardoin Salamanca. More in depth. The San Juan project will be an open pit mine with a goal that goes beyond local production: to provide European tungsten to the continent’s new industrial ecosystem. The company has begun improving infrastructure and constructing a pilot plant with gravimetric technology, while estimating reserves of 60,000 tons of ore with a grade of 1.3% WO₃. These are modest figures on a global scale, but significant for a Europe that seeks to reduce its dependence on Chinese imports of this critical metal. It has not been a short road. The procedures began in 2016 with geological studies, surveys and the construction of accesses, all under the supervision of the Xunta de Galicia. “Our goal is to produce tungsten responsibly and efficiently within Europe,” explains Agne Ahleniusgeneral director of Tungsten San Juan and former head of the Barruecopardo mine. “With this project, Galicia and Spain reinforce their role in the European supply chain of critical raw materials.” The metal that supports the energy transition. Few materials concentrate as much strategic value as tungsten. Its density, its resistance and its very high melting point make it a key resource for modern industry: from wind turbines to defense, including semiconductors and electric cars. But behind its technical brilliance there is a global conflict. China controls more than 80% of production and, in recent months, it has further limited its exports. The result: skyrocketing prices, uncertainty in the markets and a new reminder of how dependent Europe continues to be. To break this cycle, Brussels has launched the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), a plan to guarantee access to critical minerals within European territory. According to the European Commissionthese initiatives not only seek economic stability: they also aim to reinforce the industrial autonomy of the continent and reduce its vulnerability to geopolitical tensions. Spain, a mining window. The start of the San Juan project is not an isolated event. It is part of a larger movement: the rediscovery of Spain’s mining potential. The country has projects of copper, tungsten, vanadium, graphite and cobalt, in addition to new deposits of rare earths in Estremadura and Gran Canaria. The European Union has set clear goals. It wants to stop depending on third countries for its supply of raw materials, and the new Critical Raw Materials Regulation (CRMA) mark the way: By 2030, at least 10% of critical minerals must be extracted within Europe, 40% processed on EU soil and 15% from recycling. Furthermore, no external country may concentrate more than 65% of the supply. On this map, Spain appears as a key piece: with Galicia, Castilla y León, Andalusia and Extremadura at the forefront, the country could become one of the gateways to the new European green reindustrialization. European autonomy is in Galicia. The roar of the excavators in A Gudiña not only marks the beginning of a new mine, but also the symbol of a change of era. Europe wants to leave decades of dependence behind and build a more sovereign and sustainable industry. From a Galician hillside, a small tungsten mine has become part of that strategy. What begins in Pentes may be, deep down, one more piece of the new energy and technological map of Europe. Image | Unsplash Xataka | The price of silver is exploding to levels not seen since 1980. The reason: we need too much

A player has an insane record, 40,000 games purchased on Steam. That there is a badge to reward him is what is disturbing

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Neither collecting neither gambling addiction: This is pure and simple accumulation. But with a clear objective: to obtain the badge that recognizes the possession of no less than 40,000 games in Steam. An achievement that has already been recognized by databases like SteamDB and that undoubtedly leaves anyone breathless who thinks that the store’s seasonal sales get a little out of hand. We are nothing more than insects contemplating a giant. Sonix the Collector. The milestone has been reached by the user Sonix (SonixLegend), who has become the first person to have more than 40,000 games in his library. The badge is “Game Collector: 40,000+” (the highest of this type that can be achieved) and, according to SteamDB, Sonix reached 40,029 games on September 23, 2025. It now has 40,366. In addition, it adds 22,136 DLCs and the thing does not end here, since it maintains a wish list with 26,936 titles. More data? His favorite game is ‘Alien Swarm’, a semi-unknown free-to-play multiplayer shooter from 2010 to which he has dedicated a whopping 551 hours. A paste. Steam estimates the value of the Sonix collection at $250,041 based on the lowest prices available, but the current total cost would exceed $612,072. And since this includes both purchased titles and free games and promo codes, it is impossible to calculate the true value of what has been purchased. Sonix is ​​based in Shanghai, and has been active on Steam for fifteen years. Your profile shows a level of 303, which is equivalent to activity well above average. Other beasts. The Sonix brand is closely followed by other compulsive buyers. Ian Brandon Anderson is close to achieving the coveted badge, with 39,786 games and is closely followed by a third user, ikun, with 36,888. Interestingly, the three largest collectors achieved new records for the number of games purchased on the same day. We don’t know if it specifically means anything, except that Steam continues to be in enviable health, and that this form of compulsive collecting is not an isolated eccentricity of Sonix: at this moment there are almost 20 users with more than 30,000 games, and the top 50 are all above 22,000. Collecting is not what it used to be. Without a doubt, digital collecting has very different nuances than that of accumulators of physical material: the capacity to store digital material, for example, is practically unlimited. And the constant flow of very substantial discounts in stores like Steam itself makes it possible for collections to multiply at a very notable speed. Or put another way: without realizing it, your Steam library has hundreds, perhaps thousands of items? You have to make a very consistent effort to reach those extremes in physical video game collecting. Playing is another story. Of course, playing all these games is impossible, and we enter into issues that have little to do with the enjoyment of what was purchased: reaching the figure of 40,000 games purchased regardless of what they are or, in the case of physical collecting, buying catalogs of consoles that in a high percentage are made up of low quality games, but that must be had due to completism. There are already studies that define this completism as a form of behavior that has little to do with the acquisition of something we like for our enjoyment and, in these cases, talk about addiction It is not completely left out of the equation. Header | Erik Mclean in Unsplash

Amazon kept losing money on its Echo devices. He has found a way to stop the bleeding: flood us with ads

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Amazon has been losing a fortune with their Amazon Echo devices. Connected speakers and displays are in millions of homes, but they have never been profitable. The company’s hope was that they would become a vehicle to sell more products on its e-commerce platform, but that goal was never met. Now Amazon has found a way to get a lot out of them: to put advertising in them for good. Lots of advertising. Why is it important. Amazon has just launched on the market your new Echo Show and Eco Dot. Prices have risen in all cases, but they also arrive with Alexa+ —although not in Spain at the moment—, the AI ​​assistant that the company has been working on for several months. These products are supposed to offer important advantages in the user experience, but at the moment what is happening is that these devices are displaying advertisements frequently. Wasted. Between 2017 and 2021 Amazon lost more than $25 billion with its Amazon Echo. The idea seemed good: they could sell them at a loss if they later amortized them by converting them into products to sell us things. Instead, users ended up taking advantage of them for little more than setting timers and musicand that has ended up being a huge problem for Amazon. Ads everywhere. There are several users of Amazon’s connected screens—the Echo Show—who are seeing surprise ads appear on these screens. a user Reddit account how the alarm clock feature on your Echo Show 5 became an annoying ad. Other user checked that in addition to one advertisement, songs that he had not specified were playing, while another he complained about how his Echo Show kept advertising the Amazon Plus service. Ads now appear more frequently on Prime Video. Source: Xataka. Flooded with advertising. These screens don’t stop showing ads, match other users, but in addition none of those users accepted that their devices could be used to display advertising, and there is no switch or configuration parameter that stops this behavior. Even people who are paying $20 for Alexa+, Amazon’s new AI assistant, are complaining from all that advertising avalanche. Also on Prime Video. Personally, I don’t have an Echo Show, but I have noticed that when enjoying series and movies on Prime Video, advertisements are broadcast with greater frequency and duration. I am not he only (not much less). Amazon allows customize preferences regarding advertising, but those who have done it affirm that this does not hardly reduce the frequency with which advertisements appear. What Amazon says. An Amazon spokesperson stated the following: at Ars Technica: “Advertising is a small part of the experience and helps customers discover new content and products they may be interested in. If customers don’t like a suggestion, they can swipe to the next card on the screen or directly provide feedback by tapping the info icon or tapping the screen.” If you move away, I announce to the song. The Amazon Ads website details the ad formats, and the text explains that “The ad viewing experience dynamically adapts based on the customer’s proximity to the device.” Once it is detected that the user is more than 1.2 meters away from their device, “the ads are displayed in full screen alternating with other content, such as the weather, recipes, sports and news.” This seems to be getting worse. The latest comments seen on Reddit or on X (formerly Twitter) seem to make it clear that Amazon is increasing the amount of advertising it displays on its devices and services. The question, of course, is how far they will go… and how that will impact both sales of their devices and subscriptions to their platforms. In Xataka | Amazon missed the AI ​​train, but it wants to catch it back. The new Alexa with AI will arrive this month to try it

China’s biggest problem is not the US. It is a “virus” that advances at an unprecedented speed and threatens to empty its factories

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In September, and in front to a data offered by the United Nations that put the future of the Chinese economy in check, Beijing defended itself with an opportunity for the future: the AI. In between, it remained to be seen who was right. Because the main problem of the economy that pull the strings of the planet are pure mathematics applied to a near and most uncertain future. One that indicates that, sooner rather than later, its population will to plummet. Against oneself. The demographic crisis that shakes China today is, to a large extent, the result of a policy that worked too well: the birth control campaign begun in the seventies and crystallized in the policy of only child 1979. What began as a state intervention to contain population growth that was considered unsustainable ended up shaping behaviors, expectations, and family structures for generations. Sterilizations, fines and forced abortions not only birth numbers reducedbut they inhibited the cultural habit of mass reproduction, and when the State began to relax the rules (allowing two children in 2016 and three in 2021) the social response was no longer the same: the fertility rate fell from 1.77 children per woman in 2016 up to 1.12 in 2021and the timid incentive measures have barely reversed the curve. The real cost of breeding. Behind the numbers there are everyday decisions. The economic calculation of starting a family in China is, as in so many other places, considerable: studies estimate that raising a child from birth to the end of their college education can cost on average about $75,000and in cities like Shanghai that figure shoots up to approximately $140,000. These prices, together with long work daysmarket expensive housing and professional expectations, explain why many young people (especially women) they choose not to have children. Surveys and testimonials collected show that for many people motherhood today is equivalent to a professional and personal resignation that they are not willing to assume: “I don’t want to think about sacrificing my life,” summarizes an executive from Hangzhou in the Washington Postand that plea for time and personal autonomy is one of the reasons why symbolic subsidies from the government (for example, some 500 dollars a year for the first three years) are insufficient to reverse the trend. Without weddings and solutions. we have been counting. Demographic decline is accelerated by fall of marriage: in 2024 just 6.1 million of couples registered their union, compared to 13.5 million in 2013, a data that works as predictor of future births when the rate of births outside of marriage is marginal. The State not only offers economic incentives and university courses about “how to flirt”, but has returned to intrusive behavior: officials pressure newlyweds about your plans of pregnancy and control the conversation public about marriage in the media. It is a gesture of urgency that clashes with the autonomy of generation Z, increasingly individualisticfor which getting married and procreating are no longer social mandates but options (among many). That tension between pronatalist policy and cultural change explains why coercive measures of the past do not seem to translate into higher births today. Accelerated aging. While fewer Chinese are born, the older population continues to grow: Life expectancy rises and the population pyramid inverts, which poses a brutal rebalancing in public accounts. Projections indicate that in the coming decades the proportion of elderly will doublewith colossal pressure on pensions, healthcare and long-term care financed by an increasingly narrow contributor base. Demographers warn that this phenomenon can trigger a vicious circle: more resources allocated to the elderly imply less public support for young families, which further reduces fertility. By 2100, according to calculations by international organizations, there will be more people out of working life than within it, a scenario with economic and political implications of systemic scope. The factory of the world shrinks. The problem is not only quantitative but qualitative: the workforce that made China the factory of the planet (born between 1960 and 1980, with a disposition for industrial jobs) has no substitute culture in later generations that they avoid factory work. At the same time, the proportion of Chinese manufacturing in the world total (today located around 30%) will necessarily be reduced if demographics exhaust the labor supply. The official short-term answer is automationbetting on robots and investment in productivity, but substitution does not work the same in all sectors: services, care and certain labor-intensive branches will continue to demand humans. The consequence is that manufacturing companies already they detect competitive pressure in prices and labor costs, and some observers point out that the industrial replacement could move to India, Southeast Asia, Mexico or Eastern Europe, with a multiplier effect on global supply chains. Politics and resistance to foreigners. They remembered in the post that a lever that in other countries would alleviate the labor force deficit (immigration) crashes in China with taboos of cultural homogeneity and political considerations that make the adoption of broad immigration policies difficult. That forces the government’s options and forces it to rely on internal incentives and in robotization. The strain between the economic need for labor and the preference to maintain cultural cohesion places Beijing in a strategic dilemma: either it embraces broader migrations (with all the integration challenges that this would imply) or it accelerates productive reconversion and the displacement of sectors that depend less on the labor factor. State measures. Faced with the abyss, Beijing has been introducing measures: relaxation of family policysubsidies, public campaigns for promote marriage and birth rate, and tax programs limited. But the experts they underline that late policies rarely reorder behaviors already fixed for decades. Louise Loo and other economists they estimate that reducing the workforce could take away about 0.5 points percentages to annual GDP growth in the next decade, a bite significant for an economy that needs to grow to absorb debts and finance its modernization. The challenge is that demographics act over long periods of time: cohorts born today … Read more

punish those who buy a Seat Arona

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There is a way to fill your streets with electric cars. And it does not have to go through aid to those who buy it. Or, at least, it doesn’t just have to go through aid to those who buy it… In Denmark they have another idea: punish those who opt for a combustion car. And that is a slab for cheap gasoline. 65%. So far this year, 15.8% of electric cars sold in Europe are electric. In our country, although we have been growing little by little, we remain in a bare 8%. For now, the European market survives on markets that buy a very high volume of electric cars like germany and countries with a very high penetration of this type of vehicles. Germany and France, which are the countries where, by volume, the most electric cars are purchased, are on the border of 18%, slightly improving the European data. But there are countries where these figures explode. In the Netherlands and Sweden they are close to 35%. Let’s not talk about Norway, with 95%. Let’s talk, instead, about Denmark. Do you help?. Although in most of Europe we have sought success in purchasing aid, perhaps we should start to change our approach. In Spain, the system created for MOVES III Plan is cumbersome and not very transparent for the consumer. Whoever approaches the dealership for an electric car has to take advantage of a 0% loan from the company (if it advances the aid) or wait for more than a year for the money to arrive. If it reaches you. Germany now has one of the Higher electric car purchase rates in Europe and by volume it is the first market. However, it has gone through its ups and downs. At the end of 2023 they withdrew aid for electric cars and immediately afterwards crashed in the market. Manufacturers published huge discounts hoping for a return of subsidies that have never arrived. Why have the tables turned? Taxes. For attacking the market in a way similar to that of Denmark. In both countries, those who buy an electric car are rewarded but, above all, those who buy a gasoline car are punished by pushing them to opt for the cleaner option. In Germany, as in Belgiumthe State is subsidizing the purchase of electric company cars, an economic incentive that is usually common in its companies. In Denmark, anyone who opts for a combustion car is harshly punished. The registration tax is calculated taking into account the volume of emissions of each car. And that increases the cost of having a gasoline car. How does it work? In Denmark, in addition to a 25% VAT, you have to pay a progressive registration tax that varies with respect to its cost. First tranche (cars up to 65,000 DKK, about 8,700 euros): 25% the value of the car Second tranche (cars between 65,000-202,200 DKK, from 8,700 euros to 27,000 euros): 85% the value of the car Third tranche (cars over 202,200 DKK, over 27,000 euros): 150% of the car’s value But this registration tax has some asterisks. If the car is for private use and is electric, 40% of the tax is paid. But, in addition, the State subsidizes up to DKK 165,000 of this tax. That is, you only start paying when the tax exceeds more than 20,000 euros and only 40% of it. And the gasoline ones? Here is the great incentive to go electric. The gasoline car not only pays the expected registration tax. In addition, an additional surcharge must be paid for vehicle emissions. The sections are the following: 0-109 grams of CO2: 280 DKK (37.49 euros) per gram of CO2 109-139 grams of CO2: 560 DKK (74.99 euros) per gram of CO2 more than 139 grams of CO2: 1,064 DKK (142.47 euros) per gram of CO2 In Motorpassion They give the case of a Seat Arona as an example. The car will have to pay 85% of its value but, in addition, it has an extra cost of 5,211 euros. Emitting 124 grams/km of CO2 with its 95 HP 1.0 TSI engine, you will pay 30,520 DKK for the first 109 grams/km of CO2 and another 15 grams/km of Co2 at a cost of 560 DKK, which adds up to 8,400 DKK. That is, the punishment is 38,920 DKK, about 5,211 euros. hateful comparisons. Taking all of the above into account, we can think of an electric car for 50,000 euros (373,475 DKK). In that case, we will have to count on two taxes. The first is the VAT which, as we have seen, is progressive and we would pay the following: First tranche: 25% of DKK 65,000, which is DKK 16,250 Second tranche: 85% from 65,000 DKK to 202,200 DKK, which is 116,620 DKK. Third tranche: 150% from 202,200 to 373,475, which is 256,912 DKK In total, 389,782 DKK (about 52,193 euros). From that money we must subtract 165,000 DKK that the State puts out of its own pocket, which leaves us with 234,782 DKK. But, in addition, electric ones have a 40% reduction. That is, another 93,891 DKK. The fee is therefore reduced to 140,837 DKK (18,850 euros tax) It is also free from the penalty of the emissions tax. A gasoline car with a base price of 25,000 euros, a bracket similar to that found in a Seat Arona, will have to pay the tax equivalent to 186,708 DKK. That is, the 16,250 DKK of the first tranche and 85% of 121,708 DKK of the second tranche. That is, 103,452 DKK. The total is therefore 119,702 DKK. Or, what is the same, just over 16,000 euros. In this case, however, the State does not cover any of the registration tax and the CO2 penalty must be added, which amounts to another 38,920 DKK. That is, 5,211 euros more to make a total of more than 21,000 euros for registering a Seat Arona, almost the same as the cost of the vehicle. … Read more

Amancio Ortega’s taste for big logistical bets

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One of the keys that led Inditex to maintain its position as world leader of fashion was the ability of Amancio Ortega to get ahead of growth and taking advantage of market changes with an impressive logistics network for its ecosystem of brands. Although Amancio Ortega is no longer the visible head of Inditex, his strategy is still in force under the mandate of his daughter Marta Ortega. The latest move by the multinational: a historic investment in Sagunto, to build a new logistics center on a 380,000 m2 plot right next to a Volkswagen gigafactory. Inditex was left alone in the bid. According to informed The Opinion of A CoruñaInditex has presented the only offer to acquire a plot of approximately 388,000 square meters in the Parc Sagunt II business park, near the Valencian town of Sagunto, where a new logistics base will be located. The offer was presented through a recently created limited company called Alveston ITG, established with an initial capital of 3,000 euros and linked to Inditex. This company was the only one that submitted an offer for one of the lots that the managing consortium Espais Econòmics Empresarials (a commercial company jointly owned by the Generalitat and the State Society for Industrial Promotion and Business Development) put up for sale this summer. Just a slice of the whole cake. According to detailed The Confidentialthe complete plot that was put up for sale consisted of a total area of ​​1,000,202 square meters with a combined price of 160 million euros. However, this plot was divided into four smaller lots. Two of them with surfaces of 388,000 and 381,000 m2 for 62.14 million and 61 million respectively, one of which has been awarded to Inditex, as well as two smaller ones with 164,407 m2 and 65,612 m2 respectively. According to sources consulted by El Confidencial, Inditex would have only bid for the largest of the lots with 388,377 m2, the usual surface area of ​​its logistics platforms. Volkswagen Neighbors. The land on which the next Inditex logistics center will be built will border those of the gigafactory that Volkswagen is building in Sagunto. In fact, the land that the multinational founded by Amancio Ortega has acquired was reserved for suppliers of PowerCO, a company linked to Volkswagen that builds batteries for electric cars. However, as there was no interest from third parties, the authorities opened the tender for other possible industrial or logistics projects, including the Inditex proposal. A new piece for the Inditex gear. Inditex’s interest in Parc Sagunt is neither new nor coincidental. The company already has another platform of almost 280,000 square meters in place for its Tempe footwear brand in the first phase of the same industrial park (Parc Sagunt I), so it is expected that this new investment will reinforce Inditex’s commitment to converting Sagunto into a hub for your logisticsafter lowering his interest in Cheste’s land. This new purchase considerably expands its logistics capacity in the area, where connectivity and access play a fundamental role in the efficiency of your stores. The location allows quick communications with Madrid, Aragon and the Mediterranean corridor, including ports and railways. The project, which will still have to be developed for several years, is part of the Inditex logistics plan 2024-2025which includes investments of more than 1,800 million euros in new distribution centers and expansions in Spain and abroad. In Xataka | Inditex is the goose that lays the golden eggs for Amancio Ortega: it receives 98 euros per second and has tripled its dividends Image | Wikimedia Commons (Nemigo), GTRES

that’s about to change

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The factual report published by ENTSO-E didn’t reveal much more than we already knew about the blackout of April 28. Still, until the end of the year we will not have all the answers on the table. What is clear is that Spain is generating more electricity than ever, but it cannot take full advantage of it. The problem does not lie in production, but in lack of interconnections, storage and network capacity. In the words of energy analysts, Spain continues to be an energy island: barely can exchange 2.8% of its capacity with France, well below the European target of 15% set for 2030. This means that, although solar and wind farms generate surplusesmuch of that clean energy is dumped or lost because it cannot be transferred to other areas or sold to the continent. Therefore, the April blackout was not an isolated event, but a symptom of that structural disconnection. And also, the turning point that has launched the country’s largest electrical modernization plan in decades. A new energy map. The Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) has developed the Transportation Network Development Plan 2025-2030. This roadmap seeks in the words of the minister “a change of energy paradigm”. If the previous plan contemplated 2 GW of new demand, it is now planned to meet more than 27 GW, prioritizing industrial projects and clean consumption. The planned investment amounts to 13.6 billion euros and with a total consumption of 375 TWh in 2030. To supply this demand, it is planned to integrate 159GW of renewable energies and more than 22GW of storage – batteries, hydraulic pumping or green hydrogen -, in what will be the largest leap in electrical capacity in the country. Goodbye to the bottleneck. One of the pillars of the new plan is the increase in international interconnection capacity. The most emblematic project is the interconnection of the Bay of Biscaycurrently under construction. This 400 kilometer submarine cable – 300 of them under the sea – will connect the stations of Gatika (Spain) and Cubnezais (France). Financed with 1,600 million euros from the European Investment Bank and 578 million from the “Connecting Europe” Mechanism, it will allow the electricity exchange capacity between both countries to double to 5,000 MW in 2028. according to data from Red Eléctrica (REE) and the EIB. However, it will not be the only link with France. Two new projects are planned for the post-2030 horizon: Navarra–Landes (Olza–Cantegrit) and Aragon–Marsillonwhich will cross the Pyrenees with HVDC (direct current) technology and underground lines to reduce the environmental and social impact. These interconnections seek to maintain the balance of flows between both countries and reach a joint exchange capacity of 8,000 MW. Towards the south, a third interconnection with Morocco is also being studied, which is would add to the two current submarine cables of 400 kV and 900 MW of total capacity. In parallel, the Canary Islands reinforces its strategic role with a new submarine fiber optic and energy cable to Tarfaya (Morocco), a project that will turn the archipelago into a digital and energy node between Europe and Africa, although not free of geopolitical controversy due to its proximity to Western Sahara. A more open flow on the peninsula. If we look towards our neighbor, which presents an even more marked situation of energy isolation, we find a relevant advance: the new 400 kV link between Fontefría and Vilafría (Galicia). Its commissioning, scheduled for the end of the year, will allow electrical connections to be reinforced and the waste of renewable energy will be reduced. The islands are also connected. The plan specifically addresses island electrical systems, where isolation is literal. In the Canary Islands, the Lanzarote–La Graciosa interconnection is planned, while in the Balearic Islands, the Mallorca–Menorca 3 link stands out, designed to reinforce the supply and facilitate the integration of local renewables. Both projects seek to reduce dependence on local generation and improve network stability. According to planning documentsthe total length of submarine lines will increase by 6.3% compared to 2024, reflecting the effort to modernize the maritime links of the Spanish system. Looking towards capacity. Modernization will not only come from outside. The plan includes the repowering of 6,000 kilometers of circuits, the incorporation of dynamic monitoring systems (DLR) and improvements to 9,500 kilometers of lines, which represents 21% of the current network. These actions, together with the digitalization and automation of the network, will allow the absorption of the largest renewable generation without compromising the security of supply. A network to improve electrification. The modernization of the network and the new interconnections will make it possible to take advantage of midday solar surpluses, share energy with Europe and reduce renewable discharges that are currently lost due to lack of capacity. Furthermore, the new planning has an industrial dimension: the MITECO emphasizes that it prioritizes projects of clean consumption, such as green hydrogen poles, electro-intensive factories and data centers, which will demand increasingly decarbonized electricity. The pending challenge. Still, challenges remain. Spain invest only 30 cents in electrical networks for every euro allocated to renewables, less than half the European average. France continues to set the pace for interconnections, often with reluctance due to its nuclear dependence and its role as the dominant node in the European electricity system. Without a faster push in storage, batteries and bureaucracy, the risk is that clean energy will continue to accumulate without being able to be harnessed. From island to energy node. If everything goes as planned, Spain will go from being an electric island to becoming an energy bridge between Europe and Africa in the next five years. It will not be a simple path: the projects will have to overcome complex environmental processes, local resistance and a bureaucracy that is still moving slowly. But the reward will be tangible: more stable bills, less dependence on gas and less risk of blackouts. And, above all, a country capable of exporting its sun and wind at … Read more

the end of an era for Elon Musk’s megarocket

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After a few eternal months of lights and shadowsSpaceX is ready to close a stage and move on to the next chapter. It’s launch Monday and the last Starship V2 is on the pad, stacked for takeoff. If all goes well, it will be a final test before the long-awaited debut of the Starship V3, the most powerful rocket in the world. Release date and time. The window for Starship’s eleventh test flight opens on Monday, October 13, at 18:15 CDT from Starbase, Texas. If there is a problem, SpaceX could delay the countdown by up to 75 minutes before delaying the launch by 24 hours. This time, the first takeoff attempt has favorable weather, with clear skies and light winds. Madrid, Spain (CEST, UTC+2): Tuesday, October 14 at 01:15 Mexico City, Mexico (CST, UTC−6): Monday, October 13 at 5:15 p.m. Buenos Aires, Argentina (ART, UTC-3): Monday, October 13 at 8:15 p.m. Bogotá, Colombia (COT, UTC-5): Monday, October 13 at 18:15 Lima, Peru (PET, UTC-5): Monday, October 13 at 18:15 Santiago, Chile (CLT, UTC-4): Monday the 13th at 20:15 Caracas, Venezuela (VET, UTC-4): Monday, October 13 at 7:15 p.m. How to see the flight live. As usual, SpaceX will broadcast the launch through their website and of your official X account. The broadcast will begin 30 minutes before takeoff. For those who want a multi-camera experience, channels like NASASpaceflight and Everyday Astronaut They will offer live coverage with their own cameras from near Starbase. And in Spanish, coverage of Space Frontier, Mission Control, Manuel Mazzanti either SpaceXStormamong others. Goodbye to a historic platform. In addition to the last flight of Starship V2this will be the last liftoff for launch pad 1a in its current configuration. The structure survived a first explosive takeoff that left a crater in the concrete, was reinforced with a water-cooled steel plate in the following ones, and went down in history by catching a Super Heavy booster for the first time on the fifth flight. It will now undergo a profound remodeling for the new generation of rockets. Farewell without landing. The protagonist of the mission will be the Super Heavy booster “Booster 15”, which has already flown and landed successfully on the eighth mission. Its objective is to test for the first time the landing sequence that future V3 thrusters will use, turning on 13 engines for initial braking, five to adjust its trajectory with greater redundancy and three to simulate a hovering flight over the Gulf of Mexico before saying goodbye with a splash. A Starship on the limit, again. Ship 38 has an even tighter schedule. On the one hand, it will repeat the feats of the previous flight, including the deployment of eight mock-ups of Starlink satellites and the restart of a Raptor engine in space. On the other hand, it will undergo stress tests even more aggressive than those of the previous flight. After the iconic image of Starship covered in rust upon her return on flight 10this time SpaceX has removed even more thermal tiles to see how many can be missing before the ship’s fuselage fails during reentry. The ship will also execute a banking maneuver in the final phase of the flight to test subsonic guidance algorithms, a step that will allow the ship to be aligned with the launch tower in future landing attempts (SpaceX plans to recover both the booster and the ship starting next year). The generational leap to V3. But as we said, the highlight of the flight is that it marks the end of a stage. The current version of the rocket has had a spotty track record. While the Super Heavy boosters have worked almost always, the ships suffered four consecutive explosions before Ship 37 was redeemed on Flight 10. Ship 38’s mission is to close this chapter with another success, courtesy of the small design changes that SpaceX has been introducing, as well as provide new data before SpaceX focuses entirely on the Starship V3, a beast that promises to increase the rocket’s low-orbit payload capacity from 35 to 100 tons. Starship’s reliability is key not only to Musk’s Martian dream, but also to NASA, which depends on the rocket to return to the Moon. While Doubts grow and alternatives like Jeff Bezos’s are being consideredan eleventh successful flight would be a blow to the table and a definitive push towards the new rocket era. As Elon Musk often says, no matter what happens, a spectacle is guaranteed. Image | SpaceX In Xataka | SpaceX has spoken out about the rusty Starship: now you know how to fix the ship’s biggest problem

Since 2024, Greece has had a six-day work week. Now, it is planned to establish a 13-hour day

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Economic recovery became a top priority for the conservative government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis. His strategy to try to improve Greece’s low productivity was apparently simple: work more days. However, extending the working day to six working days it doesn’t seem enough and now the Greek executive proposes increasing the daily work day to 13 hours. Unions and worker associations have not been slow to respond to the measure by calling for protests and a general strike. The working day in Greece. In 2024, Greece approved new labor regulations that allowed for six day work week for certain industries that operate 24 hours a day, increasing the weekly working hours from 40 to 48 hours. This measure already generated social and political unrest in its day due to the impact on the lives of Greek workers. The Eurostat Q2 2025 data reveal that 20.9% of Greek workers between 20 and 64 years old work more than 45 hours a week, compared to 9.7% in Spain or 11.4% in Italy. According to 2023 data recorded by Eurostat, Greece would have the longest average working day in the EU, with 39.8 hours per week, followed by Bulgaria with 39 hours and Poland with 38.9 hours. With 36.4 hours per week, Spain is just above the European Union average of 36 hours. 13 hours with limitations. After allowing the establishment of the six-day work weeks For certain sectors, the labor controversy in Greece has reignited with a Government proposal to allow working hours of up to 13 hours a day in certain cases. The expansion seeks to improve flexibility and reduce bureaucracy, but just as it says GuardianGreek workers denounce that this measure represents a historic setback and an increase in burnout and work stressreaching unsustainable levels. “You can’t push people like that; at some point there will be an explosion,” Makis Kontogiorgos, a trade unionist at a major technology company, told the British newspaper. The law stipulates that this extension can be applied only 37 days per year per worker, which is equivalent to a maximum of three days per month. In addition, extended hours are voluntary for the employee and overtime will be paid an additional 40% over the standard rate. The regulations maintain other established limits, such as a mandatory rest of 11 hours between days and a maximum average of 48 hours of work per week in a period of four months. A “voluntary” measure. According to has manifested to the Greek press Niki Kerameos, Minister of Labor and Social Security of the current Greek government, “this is an exceptional provision. The employee you have the right to refusewithout being threatened with dismissal or unfavorable treatment. However, union forces see this “voluntariness” of the measure as an open door to coercion by companies, retaliating against those employees who choose not to extend their working hours. “That is not possible without consequences, since the employee has minimal bargaining power,” assured to D.W. Theodoros Koutroukis, Professor of Labor Relations at the Democritus University of Thrace. Much ado about nothing. The union response to the measure has not been long in coming, with the call for various demonstrations in the main cities of the country and a general strikedenouncing that “this law will not improve anything”, assured to France24 Panagiotis Gakas, member of the construction workers union. In one interview with a local mediathe minister highlighted that only 0.1% of businesses used the provision of the emergency shift allowed with the six-day work week, which shows a low adoption of this measure despite the imedia impact it had before being approved in 2024, equating it with the commotion caused by the specific increase of 13 hours. The key to avoiding abuse. In the previous labor reform of the Mitsotakis government, the implementation of a digital card for labor control and overtime was approved. A very similar system to which has been raised from the Ministry of Labor in Spain and which is in the public consultation phase before its approval. As stated According to the Greek Minister of Labor, this measure has the function of recording real working time and has made it possible to detect overtime that was not previously declared: “In 2025, 1.8 million more overtime hours were declared than in 2024, just in the first eight months.” This will help ensure that the number of overtime hours does not exceed legal limits and that workers are compensated fairly. Minister Kerameus defends that this regulation protects employees by guaranteeing adequate compensation and avoiding abuses by employers, accompanied by safeguards such as guaranteed days off and protection against unjustified dismissals, presenting itself as a key tool to enforce the law. In Xataka | The working day is no longer enough: interruptions are forcing us to work during free time Image | Unsplash (dole777, Thomas Kinto)

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