Month: December 2025

It will not have a garden but a “false volcano”

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When someone has enough economic power to use their “private jet” to approve a local airport As an international airport, the minimum that is expected is to stay in the best mansions of the places you visit. However, when This is the emir of Qatarwhat is expected is not only that you stay in them, but that you buy them. Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, current emir of Qatar, sounds like the main interested party in Villa Certosa, one of the most famous mansions (and more extravagant) of Sardinia, which for years has been owned by Silvio Berlusconi since the 70s, and now from his heirs. ​A garden with a private volcano Villa Certosa is located in Porto Rotondo, on the northeastern tip of Sardinia, overlooking the Gulf of Marinella, and it’s huge. Built on an area of ​​120 hectares of land, it has 4,500 square meters distributed in 126 rooms. The most striking curiosity about this mansion is not its hundreds of rooms or its enormous 50-hectare garden with ancient olive trees. In this farm the “star whim” It is an artificial volcanodesigned to spit fire and smoke and turn the landscape into a spectacle. The architect got out of hand with the science experiment. The artificial volcano is part of that idea of ​​a “theme park” that Berlusconi had for his villa. In 2006, the Italian tycoon ordered to build an artificial hill about 10 meters in the middle of your property. That generated controversy and led to an investigation into the area’s landscaping regulations. Under this hill something much more explosive was hidden. As and how I collected Europa Presson the night of August 15 of that same year, the Italian politician and millionaire pressed the power button on his volcano as the culmination of one of the usual parties that were organized in the mansion. The noise was such that the neighbors called the firefighters, Civil Protection and the Forestry Corps after seeing the lava explosions and the fire coming out of that artificial hill. Beyond the artificial volcano, the farm adds very striking details: a (false) Roman amphitheater by the sea with capacity for 300 people, a sea cave with a pool and a Poseidon mosaic, four additional pools spread across the estate and a underground bunker nuclear grade. ​Berlusconi bought the property when it was still known as Villa Monastero in the early 1970s and transformed it with architect Gianni Gamondi. Over time, Villa Certosa became a common scenario of political and media visits. within its walls political figures stayed top level such as George W. Bush, Vladimir Putin or Tony Blair, as well as Spanish politicians who coincided with Berlusconi’s time in political life, such as José Luis Zapatero and José María Aznar. The emir rules in Qatar, but looks at Sardinia Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thaniemir of Qatar, is the visible head of one of the richest and most powerful families on the planet. It is estimated that the Al Thani dynasty manages a joint fortune that exceeds 335,000 million dollarswhich makes the purchase of a 500 million mansion something perfectly affordable for your pocket. In fact, the emir is already a regular on these coasts, where he usually sails with one of his superyachts, the Al Lusail, his impressive yacht 123 meters long, also valued at 500 million dollars. His interest in the area is not limited to summer tourism, since through sovereign funds controls several hotels historical luxury hotels on the Costa Smeralda such as Cala di Volpe or Romazzino. Regarding the possible purchase of the villa, from the surroundings of the heirs of Il Cavaliere They wanted to be prudent. A spokesperson for Fininvest declared to Euronews: “We are collecting several expressions of interest, but at the moment there are no negotiations at an advanced stage. We do not comment on individual interlocutors.” In Xataka | A single millionaire spent the equivalent of 10,000 tourists on his luxury vacation in Mallorca: the Emir of Qatar Image | Wikimedia Commons (Khamenei.ir)

the endless story of Algarrobico

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There will come a day when they knock down the ugliest building, in the broadest sense of the word, ever perpetrated on the coast of Spain. In the Algarrobico beachin Carboneras, in the heart of the Cabo de Gata-Níjar Natural Park, has been standing for more than twenty years a mass of concrete that never opened its doors and ended up becoming the most recognizable symbol of the Spanish urban disaster. The impossible monument. The hotel with twenty floors and more than four hundred rooms was born in the years of the real estate boomwhen the construction fever seemed to recognize no legal or environmental limits, and ended up literally wedged on the sand of one of the most valuable virgin beaches in the Mediterranean. Today, rusted, cracked and abandoned, it is still there as a physical and moral anomaly: a building declared illegal by the courts, rejected by society and yet extraordinarily resistant to disappearing. An irreconcilable aberration. The contrast alone explains the scandal. Cabo de Gata-Níjar is one of the most unique natural spaces on the Iberian Peninsula: Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO, Ramsar spaceNatura 2000 Network and recurring candidate for national park due to the exceptional nature of its volcanic landscapes, its terrestrial and marine biodiversity and its Posidonia meadows, among the best preserved in the Mediterranean. In this setting of coves, dunes, cliffs and protected fauna, the Algarrobico bursts in like a foreign bodyvisible from kilometers away, causing disbelief in visitors and shame of others among those who know the story. What should have been a natural paradise ended up hosting one of the biggest environmental attacks on the Spanish coast. Licenses, false plans and nonsense. The origin of the problem dates back to the late nineties and early two thousand, when the promoter Azata del Sol got a license of works by the Carboneras City Council with the initial endorsement of the Junta de Andalucía. That authorization was based on an irregular modification of the Natural Resources Management Plan of Cabo de Gata, in which a plan was replaced without following the legal procedure or being published in the BOJA, de facto reclassifying it as developable. a protected soil. Years later, the Prosecutor’s Office would point out that, if there had been technical errors, the only legal route would have been a formal modification approved by the Andalusian Government Council. That administrative shortcut opened the door to a construction that should never have started. A judicial labyrinth. Since in 2006 a court ordered stop the works When the hotel was almost finished, the Algarrobico became a case endless judicial. More than a dozen rulings of the Supreme Court, resolutions of the Superior Court of Justice of Andalusia and repeated pronouncements have concluded that the hotel was built on protected land and must be demolished. However, each failure opened a new blocking path. The Supreme Court went so far as to point out that before demolishing it was necessary to formally cancel the municipal license, an obligation that the Carboneras City Council has failed to comply with for years despite judicial requirements. The result has been a dead end in which no one seemed to have the definitive key. Responsibilities. in this mess they have lived together for years the municipal inaction, the changing positions of the Junta de Andalucía and the repeated announcements of the central Government. Signed protocols, public commitments and political promises followed one another without the mass disappearing. Meanwhile, organizations like GreenpeaceEcologistas en Acción and WWF kept alive social and legal pressureeven taking the case to European bodies and denouncing that El Algarrobico was not an isolated anomaly, but rather the emblem of a model that left similar scars on many other Spanish coasts. The route of expropriation. The most relevant change came when the Government decided to activate the path of expropriation of the lands that invade the maritime-terrestrial public domain. In February 2025 it was declared public utility of those plots and the procedure to occupy them and proceed with the demolition began. The promoter Azata del Sol tried to stop the process with an appeal, but in August 2025 the Ministry for the Ecological Transition he rejected itclosing the administrative route and accelerating deadlines. The Administration maintains that there is no defenselessness, that the expropriation cause is clearly motivated and that the general interest of restoring a protected space justifies the action. With this decision, the Executive is getting closer to fulfilling its commitment to demolish at least the part of the hotel located in the first hundred meters of the coast. The never ending story. Although the rejection of the appeal brings the demolition closer, the procedure continues being complex. The determination of the fair price, the possibility of judicial appeals and the coexistence of two different avenues (state expropriation and the annulment of the municipal license, defended by the Board) keep the risk of new delays open. The Government can occupy the land for social interest, allocate an amount and continue, but the promoter still could come to the courts. At the same time, the Carboneras City Council, under pressure from the TSJA, has finally begun the review of the license, a process that, according to environmentalistscould run aground if there is no real political will. A symbol that transcends the building itself. Beyond deadlines and technicalities, El Algarrobico has become something more than an illegal hotel. It is the permanent reminder of a time when ethe implicit motto was “build it, something remains”, and how the lack of effective controls allowed to violate the law even in natural spaces of maximum value. Its demolition is not only an aesthetic or environmental issue, but a gesture of reparation institutional and credibility of the rule of law. As long as the building remains standing, it will continue to project the idea that illegality can endure indefinitely. Twenty years later, the outcome seems closer than ever, although the history of Algarrobico invites caution. If it finally falls, it will … Read more

Why Weekend Nap Binges Don’t Undo the Holiday Damage

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We are in full dinner timereunions and late nights with a lot of partying involved. The logic of the average ‘party animal’ in these cases is infallible: “I sleep four hours today, but I’ll have a sleep marathon on Sunday to compensate”, but although it seems like a perfect plan on paper, science has a very different opinion on the matter. Our habits. Luis de Leceaneuroscientist at Stanford University and one of the world’s leading authorities in the study of sleep, has just thrown a bucket of cold water on this custom in El País: he metabolic stress of Sleeping poorly is not cured with a long nap. In fact, with our modern habits, we are taking away the most pleasant phase of rest. The myth of accumulating sleep. There is a belief that sleep works like a real bank account: if you take out hours during the week, you can make a massive deposit on Saturday to balance the balance. However, science has been pointing out for years that our brain is not an accountant that understands the amounts and income of hours of sleep. And this is something that makes a lot of sense, because lack of sleep generates metabolic stress in our neurons. It is not just tiredness, it is an alteration in the consolidation of memory and in the neuronal repair. In this way, when we try to compensate on the weekend, we can alleviate drowsiness, but the biological markers of inflammation and cognitive performance do not recover in the same way. The nest protocol. One of the most fascinating points of De Lecea’s recent research is the importance of the pre-sleep phase. In the animal world, there is what is called the “nest preparation protocol”, which is a series of instinctive behaviors that prepare the brain for disconnection. In humans, this process depends on a delicate chemical balance: the dopamine inhibition. A necessary process to enter a deep and restful sleep, causing dopamine levels to drop so that we are not constantly on alert. The problem. It is quite common to hear that our habits cause alterations in the sleep-wake cycle. In this case, exposure to screens with blue light and the infinite flow of information keeps dopamine high, such as constantly watching TikTok. But the number one enemy is stress. The stressed brain interprets that there is danger lurking, which blocks the natural transitions between wakefulness and sleep. The science of delta waves. Not all dreams are the same, something that De Lecea himself has been revealed in different studies which analyze how the brain uses delta waves even during the REM phase, which is when we are dreaming. These slow waves, typical of deep sleep, are essential for the clearance of metabolic waste and synaptic plasticity. That is why if we sleep little and poorly (even if it is for a good cause, like a New Year’s Eve party), we break this spatiotemporal dynamic of the brain. 2023 research on vigilance states suggests that the brain needs a continuity that “weekend binge eating” cannot provide. It’s not just tiredness. The immune system also has a lot to say with this. In these days of cold and respiratory viruses, skimping on sleep to party is, literally, disarming our defenses. In this way, we must remember that sleep is not a passive state, but rather an active process of maintaining the body. Images | Dmitry Ganin Michael Discenza In Xataka | We thought insomnia was just not being able to sleep. Now we know that there are five different disorders

Migingo is a tin rock where 500 people live. It is also the center of the world’s smallest war

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Curious islands in the world there are several. Like Migingo… not so many, because we are talking about a geographical anomaly. It is a tiny rock formation that emerges in the lake victoria and in which it is difficult to find a millimeter that is not covered by a uralite shanty. There are about 500 people living in this space smaller than a football field, but apart from this situation, Migingo It is something much more. It is the scene of Africa’s smallest war. Kowloon 2. Okay, that’s an exaggeration because In Kowloon there were 1.9 million inhabitants per square kilometerbut in Migingo there is not much privacy either. The island is rocky and has an area of ​​about 2,000 m². It is estimated that the population density is about 65,000 people per km², but it is really difficult to make calculations because it depends a lot on the sources. In 2009 it was said that the island had a population of 131 people, but it has also been lying at 500 people (creating a much higher density of 250,000 per km²), and up to more than 1,000 people. There are no basic services, but there is a casino, four bars, several brothels and a pharmacy. Something is something and the question is… how did it get to this situation. two fishermen. It all started in 1991, when two Kenyan fishermen landed on the island. It is very close to a larger island, called Usingo, and at that time everything was covered by weeds. The receding of the lake’s waters left more of the land visible, and fishermen began to arrive and settle. The reason is that it was easier to operate directly from the island than to go to its vicinity every day in search of prey. In the 1950s, the Nile Perch was introduced to the lake. It is an invasive and predatory species that destroyed the local fauna, but transformed the region’s economy. An estimated one million metric tons were exported annually in 2006 and, by then, the industry had a commercial value of $250 million to Uganda. That is to say: this fish was the second economic engine of the country, only behind coffee. And Migingo is located in a strategic point as it is very close to some of the most important deep water points of the lake, and where there are the most fish. Pirates. Something I haven’t said is that Migingo belongs to Kenya. It is located within what the country considers its territory according to the colonial boundaries of 1926. But there is a problem: those banks rich in Nile perch are in Ugandan territory. The fishermen of Migingo go a few meters into the fishing territory of the neighboring country every morning, and we already know what happens when one country steps on another’s resources. There is reports which indicate that the boats unloaded more than 100 kilos of fish a day, generating profits in one day between three or four times more than what a Kenyan or Ugandan generates in a good month. Word spread and attracted the most undesirable: pirates who landed with assault rifles, threatening the few who lived on the island, stealing the fish, the gear or the menhaden motors. The locals called for help, and Uganda was the first to respond. Uganda comes into play. The logical thing would have been for Kenya to respond, since the island is theirs, but in 2004, those who arrived were Ugandan authorities and police. They saw that money was moving there and the maritime police planted two flags: theirs and that of Uganda. The reports of 2009 indicate that the authorities were not much better than the pirates. Fees for Kenyan fishermen to get to the island, taxes, fines, kidnappings, torture and claims of people disappearing and never returning. The island’s population (mostly Kenyans, but also Ugandans) asked Kenya for help. And, now, Kenya responded. The smallest war in the world. Following popular pressure, politicians were forced to act. In April 2009, a Kenyan official arrived, accompanied by a dozen police officers, and declared that the land belonged to his country. He brought down the Ugandan flag and raised the Kenyan flag. One day later, Uganda shipment 60 marines and the region was on the brink of armed conflict. Since then, the situation has eased somewhat, but the flags continue to fly in a disputed territory that has nothing to do with land, but with fish. There is nothing around Migingo, while in nearby Ugandan waters the production is extraordinary. Complicated. This conflict has been studied as if it were an example, or a test, of the resolution of postcolonial conflicts, when Europe divided up Africa with square and bevel. The problem is that it’s not getting anywhere. Kenya and Uganda formed a committee to sort things out, but it was abruptly dissolved after failing to reach an agreement on the mound. And most recently, in November 2025, the residents of Minigno they asked both governments to give some response. Meanwhile, human rights associations continue alerting regarding acts of slavery to which Kenyan citizens are supposedly subjected by the Ugandan authorities, the island still lacks basic services such as a sewage treatment plant or proper waste management and everything is dumped directly into the lake. And, although it has suggested a form of government based on a condominium scheme in which both exercise joint sovereignty, nothing has been achieved. Images | Google Earth In Xataka | This is life on the most remote inhabited island on Earth: the improbable story of Tristan da Cunha

Europe believes it has won the gas war against Russia, but it has forgotten one small detail: infrastructure

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Europe has made a historic decision: 2027 will be the year in which the last trace of Russian gas disappear from the energy system of the continent. However, between the offices in Brussels and the reality of homes there is a chasm that is not measured in cubic meters, but in months of construction. The continent’s security no longer depends on diplomacy with the Kremlin, but on the speed at which terminals can be erected, tubes connected and ships deployed. The new European sovereignty is in the hands of the engineers. A system to build. As analyst Giacomo Prandelli explainsthe focus of the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) market has been on the price, but the real crisis is infrastructure. Europe is in a frantic race to replace Russian gas, but much of the necessary capacity is still under construction or in the planning phase. This has created a golden opportunity for a very select group of companies that own the physical assets. According to Prandelli, there are vital European companies that still go unnoticed. He gives as an example a firm valued at 662 million euros that operates “at a bargain price”: Their profits are very high compared to their stock market value and, most importantly, they already have government contracts secured until 2030. They are, basically, the owners of the “plugs” that Europe is forced to go through. The reasons for structural change. The reason for this urgency is an irreversible “divorce”. According to data collected by OilPriceRussian exports by gas pipeline to Europe have fallen by 44% in 2025, reaching lows in the 1970s. The definitive closure of the Ukrainian route this December leaves the continent without its historic arteries. The reasons for this new reality are three: US dependence: US gas It already represents 56% of LNG imports in Europe. The July 2025 agreementby which the EU will buy 750 billion dollars in energy from the US, has reconfigured the global board. The physical rigidity of the system: Although there is plenty of gas in the global market, European regasification plants (especially in the Netherlands) have operated at the limit of their technical capacity. Spain has the gas, but cannot send it to the rest of Europe: its pipelines with France they only allow export 8,500 million m³ per year. The problem is not the lack of fuel, it is the “funnel” of the pipes. Gas as an eternal backup: A report from McKinsey & Company issues an uncomfortable warning: Gas demand will grow by 26% until 2050. Europe needs gas to stabilize its electricity grid when renewables fail. The energy transition, far from eliminating gas, has turned it into a “permanent strategic pillar.” The Black Sea axis and the ghost fleet. However, the European wall has cracks. Hungary and Slovakia they keep injecting money to the Kremlin via the Druzhba pipeline and the TurkStream route. While Brussels asks for disconnection, Budapest and Bratislava build new connections towards the Black Sea, claiming that the cut would be “economic suicide.” Added to this is the fear of the “ghost fleet.” Brussels fears that Russian gas will repeat the oil scriptan opaque market of ships that change flag and documentation to hide the origin of the gas. To avoid this, the EU has imposed fines of up to 3.5% of global turnover and certificate of origin systems, but the crude oil precedent shows that, when Europe closes a door, the market usually opens a clandestine window. Europe’s floating lifebuoy. Given the slowness of concrete, a technical solution arises. According to Professor Alexandre Munspoints towards FSRUs (Floating Storage and Regasification Units). These ships are mobile regasification plants that use the heat of the sea to process the gas. According to Muns, their advantages are the speed of deployment and the cost since they can be rented for about $155,000 per day. Giants such as Excelerate Energy or Höegh LNG are those that today allow the EU to keep the pulse. Without these ships, the gas crossing the Atlantic simply would have nowhere to enter the continent. The tyranny of the calendar. Europe closes 2025 with deceptive calm. As reported by El Economistaprices have fallen to four-year lows (€27/MWh) thanks to a mild winter and the constant flow of ships. But, as the president of Sedigas, Joan Batalla, warns, this stability is “conditional.” Any extreme cold snap or technical failure in a saturated terminal could skyrocket prices again, because the network operates without margin for error. Europe’s autonomy is no longer negotiated in Moscow; It is built in the ports of Germany, in the interconnections of the Pyrenees and in the FSRU shipyards. The success of the 2027 plan will not depend on politicians’ promises, but on cranes and welders finishing their work before the climate changes the rules of the game. Image | freepik Xataka | The European Union has finally made the decision that has terrified it for so many years: stop importing Russian gas

“Why the ‘rebound effect’ has become the surgeon’s best ally against Ozempic

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In the last two years, the GLP-1 receptor agonists like for example Ozempic either wegovy have gone from being drugs for diabetes to becoming the cultural and medical phenomenon of the decade for fight obesity. And such was its impact, that it was thought that surgery for obesity had come to an end, but the reality has been very different. The premise. The idea is quite clear: if I can take medication twice a month to lose weight… Why would I go into an operating room? A logical idea, especially given the risks that one always has when entering surgery, no matter how well controlled they are. But this enthusiasm of abandon the scalpel It is slowly being diluted, since according to the latest research, bariatric surgery is still superior to GLP-1 agonists and achieves much better results. The devastating fact. The study that has shaken the board comes from NYU Langone where researchers compared patients undergoing interventions such as gastric bypass with those who had taken Ozempic. The result was quite clear. Those who had undergone surgery managed to lose between 24 and 26% of their body weight, while patients on drugs lost an average between 5 and 6%. A result that does not agree with what was expected by pharmaceutical companies with their clinical trials in hand. But the problem is that the variable adherence to treatment It is once again a big problem in medicine. More data. The University Clinic of Navarra He also wanted to investigate in this field, doing a large study with 20,000 patients, concluding exactly the same thing: bariatric surgery surpasses GLP-1 agonists in total weight loss, reduction in BMI and body composition. The human factor. The great failure of a pharmacological treatment is undoubtedly the humans who are going to take it. And it is quite common in medicine for patients to forget to take a dose of their medication or even abandon treatment halfway through without any type of control. But luckily, the big difference between a pill (or injection) and surgery is that the second cannot be “forgotten.” The studies are clear in this sense: between 60% and 70% of patients They abandon GLP-1 treatment before the first year. Something that causes a great rebound effect which makes a patient return to their original weight, especially if they return to the same eating habits as before starting treatment with Ozempic or others. The difference. The reasons for reaching this point in treatment are varied: from persistent gastrointestinal side effects to the high monthly cost of treatment or the shortage. But the thing is that while stopping pricking yourself causes a rebound effect, bariatric surgery, although invasive, offers much more stable long-term results. Although logically he has many other problems behind him. Beyond the scale. The superiority of surgery is not measured only in waist centimeters. Science points through a systematic review published in JAMA Network Open This 2025 suggests that surgery is associated with lower overall mortality and a more drastic reduction in major cardiovascular events compared to drugs. And although GLP-1 has shown great benefits, the truth is that science indicates that surgery is still better in remission of type 2 diabetes with a minimal risk of mortality. Furthermore, despite the initial cost of the operation, in the long term surgery is cheaper for health systems than chronic drug treatment that costs hundreds of euros per month for life. A combined therapy. Despite all this, we are not in a war of one against the other, but the future points to an integration of both elements. In this way, strategies are already being explored where GLP-1 is used before surgery to reduce surgical risk in patients with extreme obesity, or after surgery as a rescue tool if the patient begins to regain weight years later. Even the WHO has begun to include these drugs in its comprehensive treatment guidelines, but emphasizing that they are one more piece of the puzzle, not a universal substitute. Images | David Trinks In Xataka | We have more and more research on the effects of Ozempic. And the problem is that we have more and more doubts

Poland and Spain are the European countries that have increased their contribution to space the most. For very different reasons

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“Europe wants to get its act together in space matters and become independent from States, so in 2025 it has launched the ambitious 15-year plan.”Strategy 2040: Elevating Europe’s future“, ha merged its largest companies and has approved a historic budget of more than 22,000 million euros. In this new budget of the European Space Agency, there are two countries that have taken a step forward in investment: Poland and Spain. Spain and Poland take a step forward. With a contribution of 1,854 million euros, the Spanish state goes from fifth to fourth positiononly behind Germany, France and Italy. Since 2022 it has surpassed the United Kingdom, the only member state that has been reducing its contribution since 2022. Poland has gone from twelfth place to become the eighth largest contributor. Although the objective of Spain and Poland is the same, their motivations are different: while the former’s priority is to support its industrial base, for the latter security and autonomy are essential. The success of ESA’s budget request lies in the programs it houses and how each country and its priorities can influence the general space spending trends of the old continent. The jewel in the crown: EOGS-ESA. One of the great engines is Earth Observation Governmental Service (Government Earth Observation Service), a key program of the European Space Agency focused on Earth observation with satellite data, but not only for science or climate, but also for defense and security in what they call dual use, civil and military. The economic injection from Poland and Spain was significant: 325 million euros for the Spanish state and 109 million euros for the Eastern country, more than half of what it put in 2022. But both financed different components of the project that align with their interests. Each country has its reasons. Thus, Poland was allocated to shared European systems and resilience networks (services that work even if there are failures or sabotage), which fits with its concern for national security, the protection of strategic infrastructures and obviously, the context of the war in Ukraine. For its part, Spain opted for a part of the most tangible project: building satellites, more specifically the “Atlantic Constellation“, a constellation of small satellites shared with Portugal to observe the Atlantic. Missing launchers. In Europe, traditionally the launching countries have been France, Germany and Italy through Ariane and Vega, but in recent years the panorama has become more complicated. On the one hand, the success of SpaceX has overshadowed European work and on the other, the gap in launches that has existed in recent years, as a result of Ariane 6 delaysthe breaking of collaborations with Russia and the stoppage of Vega-C. So other countries with less tradition have taken a step forward, improving competitiveness. In the case of Spain, it has allocated 169 million to miuraa reusable small satellite launcher from the company PLD Space. Poland has increased its contribution to the Future Launcher Preparatory Programme, an ESA program focused on new innovative launcher technologies. From 2022 to 2025 it has gone from providing three million to 48. Bringing historic programs to life. Although they had not previously been a priority for both countries, Poland and Spain have set their sights on older programs such as ‘Celeste’ or ‘Iris2’. ‘Celeste’ is an ESA mission based on low orbit satellites that reinforces Galileo in achieving more precise and difficult to interfere navigation, with a scope of application in the development of autonomous vehicles, drones and critical infrastructures. Poland has made its debut with a contribution of 10 million and Spain has tripled its investment. ‘Iris2‘ is something like the European Starlink, made up of a network of about 300 satellites that will provide secure, fast and resilient communications to EU governments and companies. With supervision from ESA, the objective is to guarantee European digital sovereignty. Its first launch is scheduled for 2029. In this mission, Spain has emerged by contributing much more than any other member state to Element 3, which focuses on user terminals, new services and missions, with 140 million euros. More R + D + i. Likewise, both states have gained weight in FutureEOESA’s R&D program for Earth observation focused on climate change, ecosystem collapse, human health and the impact of resource consumption. Thus, Poland and Spain went from 8.5 and 20 million respectively in 2022 to 35 and 110 million in this new budget. Poland’s space exploration. Poland has risen from 12.5 million to 61 million euros in just three years, with more than half of that increase (30 million) allocated to lunar exploration. However, they have just send its first astronaut in decades: Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, on an Ignis trade mission. The pioneer was Mirosław Hermaszewski, in 1978. In Xataka | “Elon Musk can monopolize everything,” warns Arianespace, which has been launching all of Europe’s satellites for 40 years In Xataka | A space war looms over our heads and Europe is the power that invests the least in defense technology Cover | Image from freepik

The Fire TV Stick that I advise almost everyone I know to buy is halfway between HD and 4K

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Very recently, Amazon launched a new model of the Fire TV Stick with the aim of covering a good part of the market. He Fire TV Stick Select is positioned as a attractive device for many televisions that are compatible with some of the functions and technologies present in the Fire TV Stick 4K and 4K Maxbut not with all of them. Fire TV Stick 4K Select (latest generation) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links A device halfway between HD and 4K models He Fire TV Stick Select is the second dongle cheapest on Amazon and is halfway in terms of specifications (and price) between the HD and 4K models. It is the one that I usually recommend to my acquaintances, since it shares some similarities with these two devices, the most interesting being the 4K resolution which is present in all Fire TV Sticks, except for the HD. Although the device is compatible with formats such as HDR10, HDR10+ or ​​HLGit is not with some of the most interesting technologies for viewing content, as is the case with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. That is why it is more aimed at those televisions that can play 4K content, but their screens or speakers are not compatible with the two Dolby formats. What we also find is compatibility with the cloud gaming servicessomething that until now was only present in the 4K and 4K Max models. In this way, as long as you have an active subscription, you can access services such as Amazon Moon and Xbox Game Pass. You may also be interested Xiaomi TV Box S (3rd Gen), 4K Ultra HD Streaming Media Player, 2GB RAM, 32GB Memory Smart TV Box, Supports Google TV, Dolby Vision, HDR10+, Dolby Atmos, DTS-X, Wireless Projection, WiFi 6, Black The price could vary. We earn commission from these links NVIDIA SHIELD Android TV Pro Media Player; 4K HDR Movies, Live Sports, Dolby Vision-Atmos, AI Upscaling, GeForce NOW Cloud Gaming, Google Assistant, Alexa Compatible 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 | amazon In Xataka | Best Amazon Fire TV. Which one to buy and recommended models to convert your TV into a smart TV depending on use In Xataka | Best “smart” Amazon Echo speakers. Which one to buy and recommendations based on use

a 2.8 million m2 palace for four people

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In Vadodara, an Indian city of just over two million inhabitants, stands Lakshmi Vilas Palace: the largest mansion in the world, surpassing even Istana Nurul Iman of the Sultan of Bruneiwith an area of ​​2.8 million square meters distributed in more than 170 rooms. To put it in perspective, Lakshmi Vilas Palace is four times larger than Buckingham Palace including its gardens (242,000 m2) and almost five times the area occupied by the Royal Palace of Madrid (595,000 m2 with gardens). The most curious thing of all is that only four people live in this impressive palace. A building to live like a maharajah Built between 1878 and 1890 as a symbol of power of the maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III, Lakshmi Vilas Palace occupies 2.8 million m2 spread over more than 170 rooms on several floors. Their stays are below the 3,418 rooms of the Royal Palace in Madrid or the 775 rooms that the Buckingham Palace in London has, but the difference is their size since all the rooms in the lower part were designed as large rooms for diplomatic and social events of the royal family that built it, while the private rooms were relegated to the upper floors to better preserve the privacy of their guests. In its construction, Indo-Saracenic styles were experimented with, fused with Gothic, Moorish and Indian stone and marble, with large stained glass windows imported from Belgium and wood carvings by local craftsmen. In summary, a bet that groups together in the same space the colonial history of Indiawith an exterior aesthetic very much in line with the Indian taste of the time, and interior decorations closer to a European country house. Photo of the Lakshmi Vilas Palace after its construction in 1890 The cost of its construction amounted to more than £6.3 million, which was a real fortune at the end of the 19th century. Details such as marble floors and carved wood work by local artisans define its opulence. The palace had the most modern amenities for its time, including several elevators that connected the floors. Only four inhabitants in a private kingdom Samarjitsinh Ranjitsinh Gaekwad, current Maharaja of Baroda since 2012, his wife Radhikaraje Gaekwad and their daughters Padmaja Raje and Narayani Raje are the only tenants of the enormous palace, so, given its enormous scale, each member of the family could enjoy about 700,000 m2 for their exclusive use. According to detailed the medium specialized in architecture Architectural igestthe Gaekwad family comes from a prominent Maratha dynasty that reigned in these lands (now known as Vadodara) from the early 18th century until 1947. This sumptuous palace has witnessed the coronation of four monarchs of this family saga. “The scale of the palace is enormous. I have lived here for 23 years and right now I am discovering things for the first time,” declared Radhikaraje, the maharajah’s wife, in an interview with the specialized media. One of the halls of the Lakshmi Vilas Palace Although it has fewer rooms than iconic European palaces, its rooms are enormous. Radhikaraje Gaekwad explained to Architectural Digest: “It’s easy to be captivated by grandeur. But this is our home.” In addition to having Venetian mosaics or crystal chandeliers in its interiors, the palace is surrounded by enormous gardens, a golf course, a small private train that runs through the gardens and even an old zoo with a pond in which several crocodiles lived. Lakshmi Vilas Palace Library after its completion in 1890 He Hathi Hallwith lavish ornaments in blue and gold, was the point from where the Maharaja mounted his elephant for royal processions, with decorative carvings of elephants on arches and pillars. The Lakshmi Vilas Library It consisted of about 20,000 volumes, which Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwar III donated in 1910 to form the core of the Central Library of Baroda. Currently, part of those enormous halls that occupy the ground floor are intended for cultural use as a museum with historical weapons, paintings and mosaics, while other wings of the palace, such as Laxmi Vilas Banquets, host events and ceremonies. Thus, luxury is democratized without losing its stately essence, and contributes to its maintenance. As a curious note, one of these rooms it was stage of the meeting between the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and Pedro Sánchez during his state visit in October 2024. In Xataka | Jeff Bezos is building a mansion in Billionaires Bunker: the problem is that they don’t know what to do with their excrement Image | Flickr (sandeepachetan), Wikimedia Commons (Notnarayan)

chip factories will have to use 50% national technology

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Since the US allowed NVIDIA to sell its H200 chip to China, there have been two reactions. On the one hand there are the Chinese companies, such as Alibaba or Bytedancewho want to get hold of them as soon as possible. On the other hand, the reluctance of the Chinese government whose main objective is to stop depending on the US. Now they have taken another step in that direction. what has happened. According to one Reuters exclusivethe Chinese government has imposed a new rule on semiconductor manufacturers that want to expand their production capacity: they must do so using at least 50% equipment manufactured in China. It is not a public standard that is included in an official document, but they say from Reuters that manufacturers that have recently expanded their factories have found themselves required to demonstrate that half of their equipment was ‘made in China’. If they do not comply, it is normal that they will be denied. Why is it important. It is further proof of Beijing’s determination to prioritize national chips, but it goes even further by requiring that the necessary machinery also be national. In this way it impacts the entire supply chain, not just the chips. The striking thing is by making the minimum 50% it is causing manufacturers to have to prioritize Chinese technology even in areas where they could be done with foreign technology. The goal is clear: total self-sufficiency. The winners. Before the ban, Chinese chipmakers like SMIC typically used American equipment and Chinese manufacturers were their last option. Now they have no choice but to turn to companies like Naura Technology and AMEC, whose demand for lithography machinery has increased exponentially and with it its income. Furthermore, this demand has caused them to improve their technology more quickly, something that is reflected in the registration of patents. In 2025 Naura registered 779 patents, more than double that of several previous years. Self-sufficiency. The biggest challenge is in semiconductors; Without access to the most advanced lithography machines, Chinese chips are several years behind the most advanced ones made by companies like ASML or TSMC. In parallel to all these policies to prioritize national chips, China is promoting projects to ‘hack’ that technology and be able to place themselves at the same level. At the level of AI chips, they are also promoting companies that They seek to be ‘the Chinese NVIDIA’ like MetaX or Moore Threads. They still have a long way to go, but it is no longer a question of if, but when. Image | Nick Woodedited In Xataka | Huawei and SMIC find the key to creating 7nm chips: do an ‘Ikea ​​hack’ to the oldest ASML machines

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