Month: January 2026

has turned impatience into a business worth 152 million

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A cell phone store salesman who sings opera, shaking with nerves and win a talent show. David Bisbal working in a nursery before leaving in Operación Triunfo. The entertainment industry has been selling the same message for decades: talent is everywhere, you just have to discover it. But there is another, less romantic talent that often goes unnoticed: that of making money where no one else had seen it. Aena has just demonstrated it with its 2024 results. It has turned a testimonial line of business into a gold mine: VIP services. In just six years they have gone from 79 million euros (2019) to 152 million in 2024, the last with the results published. There will be millions more when they publish those for 2025. They have doubled their turnover and now represent more than 10% of the company’s commercial income, compared to the 5% they represented in 2019. He told it The Economist and it is a great perch to tell the change in the way in which Aena extracts value from its airports: it depends less and less on the gross number of passengers, and increasingly focuses on monetizing the experience of those who can and want to pay to avoid the inconveniences of mass transit. The distribution of AENA’s income Aena closed 2024 with revenues of 5,828 million euros, 13.3% more than the previous year. But not all that money comes from the same place, nor does it grow at the same rate, as we can see by reading the company’s income statement. The structure of its income is built on four pillars: 1. Aeronautical revenues → 3,148 million euros, +13.7%. Is the hard core of your business: These are the fees that airlines pay to use the facilities. Landings, takeoffs, use of terminals, passenger assistance… They are regulated income, with prices set according to a framework that limits their growth. They represent 55% of the total. They increase with traffic (309.3 million passengers in Spain in 2024, 9.2% more), but their room for maneuver is narrow. 2. Business income → 1,760 million euros, +14.7%. This is where Aena has learned to play. These are the income generated within the airports, beyond the basic air transportation service. And the growth is greater than that of traffic, which means that Aena is making more money for each passenger. Within this category, the breakdown is striking: Duty free shops (duty free): 527 million euros, the largest component. A growth of 28.2% compared to 2023. Restoration: 347.9 million (+7%). Parking: 204.1 million (+13.3%). Vehicle rental: 207.7 million (+12.5%). VIP Services: 156.2 million (+31.3%). Stores: 136 million (+1.6%). VIP services are not the ones that bill the most, but they are the ones that grow the most. And its margin is brutal: 83.3% of EBITDA in 2024, only surpassed by the commercial business as a whole. 3. Real estate services → 114.3 million euros, +8.4%. This is perhaps the segment less visible but most profitable of the entire Aena structure. With an EBITDA margin of 78.8%, only surpassed by commercial activity, real estate services demonstrate that it does not take a lot of volume to generate a lot of value. This includes the rental of space for air cargo (representing 46% of the total for this line), but also offices, hangars, land and technical premises. It is a long-term business, with stable contracts and recurring clients.. The investor’s dream. Airlines need operational bases, logistics operators require warehouses near the runways, and auxiliary companies request spaces for maintenance. Air cargo in particular has become a strategic asset. With electronic commerce that continues to grow throughout the world, Airports are not only passenger transit, but also logistics centers. Aena knows this and charges accordingly. Cargo revenues reached 52.7 million euros in 2024, consolidating itself as the main component of this segment. It is a less elastic business than commercial business because it does not grow at the same rate as passenger traffic, but it provides predictable income, high margins and little volatility. A corner of almost assured stability. 4. International activity → 727.3 million euros, +17.9%. Aena has been trying for years to replicate the model that is working so well outside of Spain. And the numbers are starting to add up. International activity grew by 17.9% in 2024, the largest increase of all segments, although its profitability is still significantly lower than that of the rest of the group, a 44.9% EBITDA margin vs the 60.2% average. The heavyweight is Brazil. The consolidation of Eleven Airport Block (BOAB)which Aena began operating in 2023, contributed 196.3 million euros in revenue and 102.9 million to EBITDA. There are eleven airports distributed throughout the country, with 27.4 million passengers in 2024. 52.4% EBITDA margin, still far from Spanish standards but on the rise. The other Brazilian asset is the Grupo Aeroportuario del Nordeste (ANB), with six airports that moved 15.9 million passengers. Then there is Luton, London airport in which Aena has a stake. It moved 16.7 million passengers and generated £345.5 million in revenue. EBITDA was £155.3 million with a margin of 44.9%. Excluding the concession fee and extraordinary adjustments, the real margin would be 56.8%. Historical record of income and EBITDA. The international commitment has strategic logic: Spain has a natural growth limit, and diversifying geographically reduces risks. But it also has its complexities. Concessions abroad operate under different regulatory frameworks, with tighter margins and political and exchange risks. Aena is learning that exporting the model is not automatic, but it is fair to admit that the 2024 numbers indicate that it is on the right track. The VIP business What makes the case of VIP services especially interesting is that its expansion does not seem to have peaked. In 2024, Aena inaugurated new lounges in several airports and expanded the existing ones in Ibiza, Tenerife South, Seville, Asturias and Palma de Mallorca. Fast Track revenues (priority access to security control) grew by 36%, and Fast Lane revenues (preferential boarding areas) … Read more

Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold, first impressions. Samsung’s most ambitious leap in foldables has fine print

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Imagine carrying a cell phone in your pocket that can transform into a 10-inch tablet when you fully deploy it. That is the promise of Samsung Galaxy Z TriFoldan idea that was already on the table and that really makes sense as soon as you have it in front of you. Closed, it behaves like a bar format phone with a 6.5-inch screen, something familiar and relatively comfortable, but just start opening it to understand that the South Korean company wanted to go one step further. I think it’s not just about gaining inches, but about materializing a complex idea. After the initial impact, my first reading of the Galaxy Z TriFold is that of a device that surprises with its degree of maturity within a still young category. It is noticeable that Samsung has focused on the solidity of the whole, on how the pieces are assembled and on conveying a certain confidence when handling it, something that, as my colleague Javier Lacort commented in 2024, has not always been evident. Before moving forward, it is worth remembering that we are dealing with first impressions, they are clear sensations, open questions, but without a thorough approval in search of definitive conclusions. Samsung Galaxy Z Trifold technical sheet Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold dimensions and weight Folded: 159.2 x 75.0 x 12.9 mm Unfolded: 159.2 x 214.1 x 3.9 mm (screen with SIM tray) / 4.2 mm (center screen) / 4.0 mm (screen with side button) 309 grams indoor screen Dynamic AMOLED 2X 10 inches 2160×1584 269 ​​ppi 1600 nits peak brightness 120Hz (adaptive) outdoor screen Dynamic AMOLED 2X 6.5 inches 2520 x 1080, 21:9 422 ppi 2600 nits peak brightness 120 Hz (adaptive) processor Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy (3nm) memory and storage 16 GB of memory with 1 TB of internal storage 16 GB of memory with 512 GB of internal storage Not compatible with microSD rear camera 12 MP Ultra Wide Angle, Dual Pixel AF, F2.2, 1.4 μm, 120° 200 MP wide angle, autofocus, OIS, F1.7, 85˚, 2x optical quality zoom 10 MP PDAF telephoto, OIS, F2.4, 1.0 μm, 36˚, 3x optical zoom, up to 30x digital zoom front camera 10 MP F2.2, 1.12 μm, 85˚ selfie (outdoor screen) 10 MP F2.2, 1.12 μm, 100˚ selfie (indoor screen) battery and charging 5,600 mAh QC2.0 and AFC connectivity 5G LTE Wi-Fi 7 Bluetooth 5.4 operating system Android 16 One UI 8 others IP48 resistance price From 3,594,000 won The promise of a 10-inch tablet, and the price you pay for it To fully understand what this Galaxy Z TriFold proposes, we must stop at its physical approach. We are not looking at a conventional folding device, but rather a device with three panels and two folds that only supports two real ways of use: closed, like a phone, or completely open, “like a 10-inch tablet.” Unlike the approach we have seen in the Huawei Matewhere it is possible to use the device partially deployed with two active panels, there is no middle ground here. When you use it unfolded and the interior screen becomes the center of the experience, the TriFold begins to justify its approach. We are talking about a 10-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel with 2160 x 1584 resolution, 120 Hz and a density of 269 ppi, figures that explain why it feels so visually solid indoors. My contact with the device has been in the Samsung offices, in the evening and with artificial light, and in that context the experience has been excellent, with vivid colors and constant fluidity. It is true that the maximum brightness of the interior panel is 1600 nits, compared to 2600 nits for the exterior screen, but I have not had the opportunity to test it outdoors. When you leave content consumption, the TriFold lets itself be loved in multitasking scenarios. The screen offers real margin to maintain multiple applications open at the same time without the experience feeling limited, something that marks a distance from smaller folding products. Everything is more comfortable and less compressed, and the whole thing conveys a sense of order that is appreciated. It also seems relevant to me that it allows executing Samsung DeX directly on the screen itself, without an external monitor, because it reinforces your productivity focus. Now, in the hand, the Galaxy Z TriFold makes it clear from the first moment that it is not a light or discreet device when closed. With its 309 grams and a thickness of 12.9 mm when folded, it feels powerful, even more than one would expect when reading the technical sheet. That said, it is also worth putting it in perspective, because in numbers it does not go to the most extreme part of what we have seen in first generation folding devices. Opened, the perception changes noticeably, the weight is better distributed and the whole is surprisingly manageable for a 10-inch screen. One of the elements that caught my attention during the test was the way in which the TriFold manages its own folding. It is not just a question of hinges, but of how the device conditions the user’s gesture to protect itself. The route is clearly defined and if you try to close it incorrectly, the phone responds with a vibration and a warning on the screen that tells you not to continue there, something that reinforces the feeling of being in front of a product designed to avoid errors. Although the interior screen is the TriFold’s great attraction, it is also its most delicate part. When unfolded, the two folds are there and are part of the experience, although not in an intrusive way. It is not something that is constantly obvious and, in many moments, you can forget about them, but when you change the angle or the light hits it in a certain way they appear. In my case, for years the folds have bothered me a lot in folding ones, but over time I have learned to … Read more

Half of Spain has gotten hooked this Christmas on a board game that is not a board game: ‘El Impostor’

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The Impostor game has dominated Spanish family gatherings during the 2025 holidays, going massively viral on social networks and causing the downloads of mobile applications to multiply that adapt the rules of an entertainment that, in reality, can be played without any type of add-on. We’ve dug into its origins and impact to find out why it’s making a splash this Christmas. The phenomenon. While families gathered over nougat, a dynamic of social deduction as simple as it was addictive crept into the dinners, turning every word into suspicion and every look into infallible proof. This is not a new game, but its massive viralization through TikTok During December, downloads of specialized applications such as “Imposter – Party Game” in the App Store or “Imposter: Word Game” on Google Play. It has not been an exclusively Spanish phenomenon, as articles such as this one from a Mexican digital. But the practical reason for its success is very clear: very simple and quick to explain rules, guaranteed light psychological tension and no preparations, only a handful of people are needed. How to play. The game works through an information asymmetry that starts with all participants knowing a secret word (“meatballs”, “Cuenca” or “car)” except one player. Your survival depends on pretending you know the word. Each person must offer a clue related to the word without saying it directly, balancing being specific enough not to seem suspicious and vague enough not to give away the answer to the imposter. After the clue round, the players debate and vote who is the imposter. If he manages to go unnoticed, victory is his. It can be played with paper and a human moderator, but apps facilitate randomness and word choice, sometimes online, sometimes with a single device passed from hand to hand that secretly assigns roles, which speeds up the pace of the game. Origins of the game. These date back to 1986, to the classroom of a psychology student at Moscow State University named Dimitry Davidoff. It began as a pedagogical exercise to teach “visual psychodiagnoses” (the interpretation of body language and non-verbal signals) and was named “Mafia.” Popular Mechanics He said that Davidoff’s objective was to create “a conflict between an informed minority and an uninformed majority”, that is, between gangsters and innocent citizens. The werewolves arrive. The thematic leap that would define the game came a decade later, in 1997, when designer Andrew Plotkin invented a reconversion: the gangsters were transformed into werewolves, the citizens into medieval villagers, and the game cycle adopted the day/night structure that suited the lycanthropic transformations under the full moon. This version introduced the role of the Seer (a villager with the ability to investigate other people’s identities every night), adding an additional strategic layer. Over time, these games (which fall into the category of “social deduction titles”) have been examined under multiple academic lenses, from the playful to the psychological. For example, in 2024 a paper It explored optimal strategies from a game theory perspective and built mathematical models to calculate what strategies each faction should follow to win. Institutions such as MIT developed their own regulatory variants and experts such as those on the web No Rolls Barred They theorized that these games work because they operate in “an information asymmetry where knowing something that others don’t know becomes a currency of social exchange.” The ‘Among Us’ revolution. It was this seemingly modest video game that would catapult the genre into the global mainstream. Developed by the small studio InnerSloth, it was launched in June 2018 for mobile and PC and for almost two years it languished in obscurity, averaging between 30 and 50 players connected simultaneously, a number so discreet that the studio considered abandoning the project. But when Twitch streamer Sodapoppin discovered the game in July 2020 and hosted a four-plus hour session with other content creators, he set off a chain reaction which would lead ‘Among Us’ to reach 3.8 million concurrent players in September, a growth of 1600% in just eight months. It was then spoken of the opportuneness of timing pandemic, with the world in confinement: ‘Among Us’ offered a form of remote socialization that replicated the experience of board games but without the need for physical proximity. In addition, the game was very accessible economically and technically: free on mobile devices and only five dollars on PC, with very simple mechanics thanks to which anyone with a phone could participate. Third, finally, he was ideal for the streaming: Watching games of ‘Among Us’ was almost as entertaining as playing them. Additionally, the game refined the original mechanics: there were tasks that players had to complete while investigating, eliminating the role of passive eliminated players. The viralization. TikTok has established itself as the true catalyst for the Impostor’s Christmas explosion. Unlike ‘Among Us’, the Impostor found its perfect ecosystem in the short vertical videos of TikTok, with grandmothers accusing grandchildren, groups of friends yelling at each other and entire families breaking up with suspicious laughter. The platform functioned as a visual instruction manual and eliminated the barrier to entry that ‘Mafia’ and ‘Werewolf’ had historically had, as well as mechanically inspired board gameslike ‘Little Secret’ or ‘The Liar’. The secret of the game’s success is that it has transcended generations: a 70-year-old can lie as convincingly as a 15-year-old. Grandparents have learned from their grandchildren how the game worked, parents have discovered that their children lied terrifyingly well, leading to a curious reversal of the usual roles in the family. Quite a game. Header | Alvaro Garcia

Thanks to Starlink, Papua New Guinea was able to access the Internet in its most remote areas. That dream is over

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Thousands of people in Papua New Guinea They have been left without an internet connection following the government’s order to suspend operations of starlink in the country. The decision has come amid a legal blockade that has lasted more than a year, and is affecting businesses, health centers and rural communities that depended on Elon Musk’s satellite service to stay connected. What exactly happened. In mid-December, the National Information and Communications Technology Authority (Nicta) ordered Starlink to cease all operations in Papua New Guinea because the company does not have a license to operate in the country. “Starlink is currently not licensed to operate in Papua New Guinea, and until the legal process is completed, services cannot be permitted,” account Lume Polume, CEO of Nicta, told The Guardian. The company has already completely withdrawn its services from the territory. Why was there so much hooking? Although there are no official figures on how many users Starlink had in the country, telecommunications analysts estimate that its terminals served thousands of people before the closure, including entire towns and districts in remote areas, according to the media. For many rural communities it was the only viable option since mobile networks are unreliable or non-existent, and other satellite services are much more expensive. Starlink offered fast, relatively inexpensive internet in places where connectivity had historically been a chronic problem. The real impact of going offline. The blackout has generated a series of important problems in daily life. Teachers like Simon Jack, who works at a remote secondary school in the Southern Highlands province, have explained to the British media that students need the internet to check their academic results and see where they have been admitted to study this year. “For many of them, Starlink was the only option that worked,” he says. In the health field, health worker Theresa Juni, from East Sepik province, counted that his clinic used Starlink to communicate with doctors in the city and send reports quickly. “Now we have to wait days or travel just to send information. For patients who need urgent care, these delays can be dangerous,” he warns. On the other hand, the medium assures that some farmers and merchants must now travel long distances to cities to access banking services and other transactions that they previously did online. The legal mess behind the blackout. The problem comes from afar. Starlink has been trying to get a license in Papua New Guinea since December 2023, but in March 2024 the Ombudsman Commission blocked its approval citing concerns about service reliability and regulatory compliance, according to inform RNZ. Nicta took the case to court months later seeking to overturn this directive, but the court decision is still pending. Meanwhile, the regulatory authority is “legally prevented” from issuing a license until the court rules. The Pacific is from Starlink. The irony is that Starlink has become a lauded service in other Pacific nations, especially after its deployment in Tonga after the 2022 volcanic eruption destroyed underwater internet cables. There the service was described as “transformational.” However, Papua New Guinea has been left out of this story for now. Just like account According to RNZ, last November, SpaceX’s director of global market access, Rebecca Slick Hunter, said at a conference in Port Moresby that the company was ready to activate services as soon as it received authorization, and that Starlink had already established a local entity in the country. Citizen reaction. About 200 people have signed an online petition asking that Starlink be allowed to operate legally, as confirmed by Nicta. Businessman and former MP John Simon has criticized harshly the situation: “This is really bad for this country. Internet and online services have been very expensive and slow for years, yet we cannot listen to ordinary people on the street and solve this,” he told The Guardian. “The Papua New Guinea government must do something for struggling small businesses. Ordinary people and small businesses depend on the cheapest and fastest option, and right now that is Starlink. This problem must be fixed.” Cover image | starlink In Xataka | Without making a noise, someone has eclipsed Elon Musk among the most influential millionaires in the US: Larry Ellison

It was the pizza and it has already fallen

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In the US, pizza is religion. And it is logical. Not only for its flavor. Several generations have grown up watching how the Ninja Turtle or Scooby-Doo got their boots on with a dish that in Washington DC they have even elevated to the category of geopolitical indicator. The big question is whether that love of dough, tomato sauce and mozzarella is fading as Mexican food conquest the heart the stomachs of Americans. Of course there are indicators that suggest this. What has happened? That the United States seems to be losing interest in pizzas. Your chains they grow slower that the entire sector of the fast foodsales are suffering and there are studies that suggest that in the country it’s easier find cafes or Mexican restaurants rather than pizzerias, something unimaginable not long ago in a country hooked on the most famous dish of Naples. So much so that there are big chains of pizzerias passing by economic difficultiesclosing stores or directly declaring bankrupt. What does the data say? They confirm that gastronomic ‘prick’, which some of the major US newspapers are already talking about. In December he did The New York Times and I recently confirmed it The Wall Street Journal with a chronicle in which he slips a revealing fact: in 2024 pizzerias were the sixth most popular type of restaurant in the US, far from the second position in the 90s. Not only that. The number of pizzerias spread across the US has been decreasing since the peak it reached in 2019. Meanwhile, cafes with pastry service and Mexican restaurants have grown at a good pace. Are there more indicators? Yes. There are signs to suggest that specialty pizza chains have seen sales growth was stagnating in recent years, moving away from the pace at which the fast food. Some of the most famous firms in the sector recognize even that they have chained quarters of sales declines or that customers have gone from ordering family pizzas to smaller formats with fewer ingredients. “The pizza sector is in full transformation. That’s what consumers tell us,” admits to TWSJ Ravi Thanawala, Papa John’s International. That does not mean that pizza is no longer a business in the US (in 2024 the chains generated 31 billion in sales through their restaurants), but it does seem to be losing ground. Both economically and culturally, giving up space on the streets in favor of places with other gastronomic offerings. Click on the image to go to the tweet. And what is the reason? Better to talk about reasons, in the plural. Those who have started looking for explanations point to a decisive factor that usually determines demand: price. Today a large pizza in the US costs 17 dollarsmore than other alternatives fast food. “The prices have become crazy. When I was little we would order two extra-large pizzas, a soda and a side for $25.99,” he lamented recently in TNWT Celest, a young woman from Los Angeles. Have they risen that much? As explains a pizza makerthe reality is somewhat more complex: pizzas have become more expensive in part because ingredients like pepperoni have also become more expensive. The problem is that competition in the sector (both between pizzerias and with other chains) often leaves pizza makers no choice but to enter the game of promotions and discounts. In August Domino’s launched a limited offer of $9.99 per pizza, which increased its quarterly sales by 5.2%. His experience confirms another key to the pizza crisis in the US: unlike what happened a few years ago, consumers today have a wide range of possibilities. They have to open Uber Eats or any other similar app to have a meal at home. It doesn’t matter if it’s Chinese, Mexican, Korean, Spanish food… or pizza. Are there more factors? Yes. US pizzerias have not only seen increased competition in their market niche. They also fight with another rival: frozen pizzas that can be bought directly in supermarkets, a business on the rise and that has been improving its offer over the years. This without taking into account another factor that helps to understand the growing weight of Mexican gastronomy in the US: there are more restaurants because simply the population native to that country has been shot during the last decades, especially since the 70s. Added to the above are changes in consumption and a part of the clientele that is increasingly concerned about their well-being. So much so that the manager of a firm with 270 pizzerias in the US recently recognized to TNYT that studies the idea of ​​creating a pizza “compatible with GLP-1“, with lower calorie content. Whatever it takes to ensure that pizza does not lose its culinary throne in the US. Images | Daniel (Unsplash) and Hybrid Storytellers (Unsplash) In Xataka | If the question is how to make a team more productive, the answer according to Jeff Bezos is clear: with two pizzas

While the whole world looks at oil, Venezuela’s true treasure is hidden in the basements of London: its gold

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Perhaps the great treasure of Venezuela not oil. In fact, since the United States attacked Caracasa series of theories have begun to be heard loudly that have a common denominator: the greatest Venezuelan loot is thousands of kilometers from the nation, under the soil of the capital of the United Kingdom. The gold trapped in London. Yes, under the streets of the cityin the vaults of the Bank of England, remain immobilized about 31 tons of gold belonging to Venezuela, an asset that in 2020 was valued around 1.4 billion pounds and that today it is worth much more after the strong rebound of the metal price. The capture of Nicolás Maduro for the United States has returned This issue is brought to the international forefront, reopening a question that has been without a clear answer for years: who really has the right to control these reserves. Although global attention often focuses on Venezuelan oil, gold represents about 15% of the country’s foreign reserves and has become a key piece of a political, legal and geopolitical pulse that far transcends Caracas. Recognition and blocking. The origin of the blockage dates back to 2018after a disputed presidential election and the tightening of sanctions promoted by Trump during his first term. The United Kingdom, along with dozens of countries, stopped recognizing Maduro as legitimate president and, under pressure from the Venezuelan opposition, refused to authorize the repatriation of the gold, alleging the risk that it would be used to prop up an authoritarian regime or directly diverted. Added to this, as later revealed former national security advisor John Bolton, an express request from Washington for London to maintain the blockade, which placed the British central bank and the Government at the center of a battle that mixed international law, sanctions and diplomacy. Bank of England A judicial labyrinth. In 2020, Caracas went to court British to claim the gold, arguing that they needed those funds to deal with the pandemic. However, the process became complicated when Juan Guaidó, then recognized by London As interim president, he also claimed ownership of the reserves. The litigation led to a legal tangle about who the Bank of England should obey, a question that remains unresolved even after Guaidó lost international recognition. The result is a legal limbo in which the gold remains immobilized, without any of the parties being able to dispose of it. Piracy accusations. From the Chavista environment, the retention of gold was denounced as an act of “piracy”an accusation made at the time by Delcy Rodríguez, which was later marred by the scandal known as Delcygate following his alleged secret trip to Madrid in 2020 despite an EU entry ban and the alleged sale of Venezuelan bullion. Although Rodríguez has adopted a more conciliatory tone After the fall of Maduro, offering cooperation to the United States, the British position remains firm: Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper has reiterated that London maintains political pressure because it considers it key to force a democratic transition, even underlining the formal independence of the Bank of England in the management of assets. The dangerous precedent. The Venezuelan case is not an exception, but rather part of a trend increasingly controversial: the immobilization of sovereign reserves in a context of growing geopolitical confrontation. We have told it: after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Western countries froze about 300,000 million of dollars from the Russian central bank, largely deposited in Eurocleara measure that has generated tensions with Moscow and has revived the debate about the security of keeping assets abroad. Historically, these sanctions have been rare but not unprecedented, from the Soviet confiscation of Romanian gold in 1918 to blockades of countries like Iran or North Korea in the second half of the 20th century. Global distrust. Thus, the climate of uncertainty is leading many countries to rethink where do you keep your reservesdriving repatriation movements and fueling the recent gold rally as an active refuge. For analysts and central banks, the Venezuelan episode is a clear warning of how politics can interfere with assets that were traditionally considered untouchable. While the Bank of England remains officially silent (and many ingots), Venezuelan gold remains buried under London, converted into a symbol of an increasingly international financial order. more fragile and politicized. Image | Bank of England, Eluveitie In Xataka | The mission in Caracas revealed that the best kept secret in the US is not a drone: it is called DAP and you will not see it in the movies In Xataka | The attack on Venezuela has recovered an uncomfortable truth: that it would not have happened to North Korea for a very simple reason

NVIDIA already has its own Autopilot. And Tesla has reason to worry

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NVIDIA has presented at the CES 2026 Alpamayo, a family of open source AI models designed specifically for autonomous vehicles. The system not only detects obstacles and plans routes, it “reasons” about complex situations and explains your driving decisions. Mercedes-Benz will be the first to implement it in the CLA, which will arrive in the United States in the first quarter of 2026. Why is it important. Tesla has kept its FSD system completely closed since 2016, and now NVIDIA is betting on releasing the weights of the model, the framework of simulation and more than 1,700 hours of driving data. This strategy can make NVIDIA “the Android of autonomous mobility” and allow any manufacturer to access capabilities comparable to Tesla’s without requiring years of internal development. The contrast: Tesla sells its FSD as a proprietary system integrated only into its cars, generating recurring income from your own clients. NVIDIA wants to sell chips to the entire industry, providing the base technology for others to build their systems. The first model earns more per individual sale, but the second can scale exponentially if multiple manufacturers adopt the platform. In detail. Alpamayo 1 is a 10 billion parameter model that processes video and generates both a trajectory and the logic behind each decision. Jensen Huang has described it as the “ChatGPT moment for physics AI.” The Mercedes CLA will integrate 30 sensors (cameras, radar, ultrasonic…) and will be marketed as a “Level 2+” system, similar to Tesla’s FSD in that it requires constant attention from the driver. Between the lines. NVIDIA’s move seems really good from a regulatory point of view: By generating a “reasoning traceability” that explains every decision, it reassures regulators who are often terrified by black-box models. And by releasing the code, it hooks startups and manufacturers in your CUDA ecosystem. If you can’t develop autonomy yourself (most traditional manufacturers can’t), you just use Alpamayo… and run it on NVIDIA chips. The threat. For Tesla, this means the dreaded commoditization of a technology that has been its main differentiator. If Mercedes delivers FSD-like capabilities in March based on a system that any brand can buy, Tesla’s sales pitch weakens. Elon Musk You have already commented on this announcement on your X profile: “It’s easy to get to 99%, then it’s very difficult to solve the rest.” It also seems like an implicit admission that Tesla hasn’t solved that final problem either. Yes, but. Open source does not guarantee success or similarity with Android in telephony. Actual implementation, integration with specific sensors and validation in real conditions remain complex. Tesla has been accumulating millions of kilometers of driving data for years. NVIDIA offers 1,700 hours, a tiny fraction in comparison. The question is whether that data advantage for Tesla offsets the distribution advantage NVIDIA can get by partnering with multiple manufacturers. Time and the market will tell. In Xataka | If it seems expensive to change the battery in an electric car, wait until you see what it costs in a Ferrari LaFerrari: more than 200,000 euros Featured image | Pixilustration

let’s start traveling on foot

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“It is common in Europe.” With these words, Óscar Puente, Minister of Transport, justified the possibility of traveling standing on medium-distance trains. Puente referred to this possibility in Twenty-something hourprogram of the Chain Being. There, it was assured that the Government is studying this possibility and 2026 aims to be key to carrying out a new way of traveling. “It is not being done”. And it is totally true. Puente pointed out in the aforementioned program that on medium-distance trains in Spain you cannot travel standing. And as in France or Portugal, it is prohibited to use regional trains without reserving a seat (as long as Renfe does not say otherwise, as we will see) so you can only stand in the spaces between carriages or in the area relative to the cafeteria. At that moment, Puente took the opportunity to announce that Renfe welcomes the proposal and that they have on the table launching a pilot test on a short line, one that is not particularly long. In Xataka We have asked Renfe about this possibility but they have not given an answer as to when this pilot test would be launched or where. They assure, in this case, that the decision belongs to Transport. Logroño-Zaragoza. The origin of the statements must be sought on the line between Logroño and Zaragoza passing through Pamplona. There, passengers have seen how medium distance trains have been replaced by Cercanías’ own vehicles for shorter trips. This caused some passengers to have to make the trip standing since there were no seated seats available, since the trains had a smaller number of seats. Already in July 2024Puente pointed out that this was something that had to change. In September 2025Renfe announced that new trains were arriving for the route between Logroño and Zaragoza, with a greater number of seats and cafeteria service since the new vehicles prioritized capacity over this option. Can you travel standing for medium distances? Technically yes, as long as there are any of the circumstances that Renfe points out on its website: Medium distance services without reservation Trains that stop at stations without sales, in which the traveler must buy the ticket en route: since it is not possible to reserve a seat, it is possible that there are no free seats. Travelers who have boarded without a ticket and have to regularize it en route, if at that moment there is no free seat. As an exception, on trains with the right to a seat, if Renfe so determines. And on the company’s own website, two cases are specified in which it is common to travel like this in our country. The first is the regional trains of Catalonia, as Puente pointed out in the Cadena Ser interview. The other is the possibility that a Cercanías train is being used for a medium-distance service, which is exactly what has been happening in Logroño-Zaragoza. In addition, it is specified that “travel insurance is assigned to the ticket, not to the seat. That is, every traveler with a ticket travels insured, regardless of whether they do so standing or sitting.” Europe. In his speech, Puente already pointed out that this is common in some European countries. Although the Minister did not then indicate which trains he was referring to, the truth is that in the Netherlands, Switzerland or Belgium they offer the sale of trains in which a seat is not assigned unless they are indicated. In the countries where this possibility is available, it is because travelers usually make relatively short regional journeys. So, for example, in Germany You buy a ticket for a regional train and the seat reservation is an added bonus. Something similar happens in Italy where their regional trains do not have an assigned seat unless you opt for their first class. And where is the advantage? Mainly, there are two advantages to the service. The first is that if this option is offered, the volume of passengers traveling on each train can be greatly increased. Of course, Renfe would have to use modified trains or versions more similar to those of Cercanías to be able to offer this service. The second is that, as in Italy, the train ticket schedule is flexible. For example, in Italy a travel day is allocated but you can take the train at any time you prefer. In other cases, a time is selected and that same train can be taken in an open time window before and after the original time, which makes the possibilities for the traveler more flexible. Obviously, this requires the train to be able to accommodate a number of passengers that exceeds the seating capacity, so if the seat is not reserved in advance, it is possible that the passenger travels the entire journey standing or has to get up at some point to leave said space for another passenger. Photo | PJH and Xataka In Xataka | We have tried to write this article using the AVE WiFi and we have come up short

give a twist to Quantum Dots

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TCL has been one of the leading proponents of democratization of MiniLED panelstechnology that it has carried to its entire range from 2025. Therefore, it has not surprised anyone that in 2026 it maintains its commitment to this technology. However, your proposal is different from Samsung either Hisense that are committed to changing the backlight matrix with Micro LED RGB systems. TCL has presented at CES 2026 a new technology called SQD-MiniLED that promises to change the landscape of high-end televisions. The proposal consists of combining the Mini blue LEDs with improved quantum dots to maintain brightness. that Mini LED screens provideapproaching the color purity of OLEDs. SQD-MiniLED: Vitaminized Quantum Dots by TCL TCL’s new technology focuses on the quantum dot filter responsible for breaking down and filtering the white or blue light emitted by the MiniLED diode array. The SQD that has been added to the name of this technology refers to Super Quantum Dot (or super quantum dots), the filter that contains the Super QLED Crystalswhich represent an evolution in the performance of the QD filters used in their televisions today. As the brand explained, the improvement in color volume of this technology is notable. Conventional MiniLED televisions reach approximately 83% of the BT.2020 color space, while the new X11L SQD, the only TCL television that will mount this new system, promises cover 100% of BT.2020. That means purer colors and a more complete visual palette. In addition, the new light filter is complemented by a new UltraColor filter with ultrafine particles (5 nanometers) that carries out a second filtering pixel by pixel, thus avoiding color interference and reducing the effect blooming (that halo that appears around bright objects on dark backgrounds, like subtitles). More dimming zones, more light control However, the development of the SQD filter for MiniLED is not the only improvement that TCL proposes to improve the image quality of its future televisions. Most high-end MiniLEDs offer between 1,000 and 5,000 local dimming zones, which is not bad at all. The X11L SQD, on the other hand, multiplies that figure up to 20,736 dimming zones for the 98 inch model. This increase is also supported by a 26-bit backlight controller capable of managing millions of control points, what TCL calls Precise Dimming Series. This combination is important because more dimming zones mean tighter control over which parts of the screen should brighten and which should remain dark. When you view a scene with stars against a night sky, that granular control allows the stars to shine without the glare spreading to dark areas. This is what allows us to combine deep blacks similar to those of an OLED, with peaks of extremely high brightness. The X11L SQD that TCL has presented as a test table for its latest technologies reaches the 10,000 nits maximum brightnessthe upper limit allowed by the Dolby Vision HDR standard. The combination of 20,736 dimming zones, together with 10,000 nits of brightness and 100% BT.2020 coverage, results in blacks controlled with extreme precision and a wider color volume than those currently offered by conventional MiniLED televisions. However, improving the panel’s performance does not imply an improvement in itself if that improvement is not well managed. Hence TCL has developed the new TSR AI processor with Super Resolution to manage the new capabilities of your SQD Mini LED panel by applying AI algorithms. The TCL will arrive soon to the United States and will start at $6,999 for the 75-inch models, increasing to $7,999 for the 85-inch version and $9,999 for the 98-inch ones. The brand has not confirmed its arrival in Europe and Spain, nor its price for the old continent. In Xataka | The television market is more alive than ever: Chinese manufacturers are eating up historical brands Image | TCL

The fifth season of ‘Stranger Things’ is the worst of the series by far. Netflix doesn’t care

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Few series better illustrate the dissociation between popularity and prestige than the fifth season of ‘Stranger Things’. The numbers are overwhelming: the closing of the saga accumulated 105.7 million views on Netflixconsolidating itself as the ninth most viewed English series in the entire history of the platform. However, the critical reception and even some increasingly disappointed fans With the conclusion they leave the franchise in an uncomfortable no man’s land that, for the moment, refuses (very much) to die. Audience bomb. The numbers are impressive: the conclusion of the last season propelled Netflix to its best viewership on a New Year’s Day. Furthermore, in an unprecedented experiment, the platform released the final two-hour episode in theaters and raised $25 million at the box office in just 48 hours. It was a very limited distribution of only 600 rooms, in a period of 36 hours and without traditional ticket sales (20 dollars in food and drink were purchased that gave the right to a seat), due to the actors’ royalty contracts: the collection was entirely for the theaters of the chain that had exclusive distribution, AMC. And critical disappointment. On Rotten TomatoesFor example, the audience score has suffered an unprecedented drop in the franchise: from 96% for the first season in 2016 to the current 54% for the fifth, after 90% for the second, 86% for the third and 89% for the fourth. It’s a forty-point drop that reflects more than just viewer fatigue. TIME He explained it in an article about the phenomenon: in 2016 the series was an irresistible nostalgic toy. Nine years later, it’s a content factory. Nine years ago it redefined streaming and entertainment; Now he is another victim of Hollywood franchise machinery. Why didn’t you like it? The criticism of the fifth season is not limited to the disappointment of the fans. It has been said that the series has failed to delve into its characters as they grew. In the technical sectionit has been commented that it is a sloppy production, in the worst Netflix style: excessive lighting, abuse of background blur, obvious color schemes… The aforementioned TIME article also alluded to its pace, with an excess of exposition and verbalization, since this season is the conclusion of a decadent trend for the series that started in season 4. Critical point. The episode in which all these tensions crystallized It was the penultimate of the series, whose IMDb score plummeted to 5.4 out of 10, becoming the lowest rated episode of the entire franchise, and the only one below 7.8, when most episodes range between 8.6 and 9.2. The episode accumulated more than 96,000 ratings, double that of the rest of the season’s episodes, which is why it is suspected of a campaign of review bombing due to its central scene; In any case, some of the criticism pointed to legitimate writing and pacing problems. The unstoppable franchise. If the quality has dropped, why does Netflix insist on milking the series? The answer lies in analysis as this parrot which speaks of more than a billion dollars in revenue since 2020, that is, not counting the first three seasons. To this we must add more than two million new subscribers directly attributable to the franchise. And above all, something intangible: the series consolidated the current model of streaming and gave Netflix executives confidence that they could launch franchises capable of competing with rivals like Marvel. What does it grow with? The company has designed an expansion plan that will keep the Hawkins universe alive for years. The first major spin-off was a play (‘Stranger Things: The First Shadow’), which premiered in London’s West End in 2023 and jumped to Broadway in 2025, exploring the origins of Vecna ​​and the first experiments of Project Indigo. ‘Tales from ’85’, an animated series set in the winter between the second and third seasons, is planned for 2026. The main characters (Once, Hopper, Mike, Dustin, Lucas, Will, Max) will return in an animated version, which will allow you to touch with your fingertips that impossible treasure that is that children never age. Beyond animation, Netflix is ​​developing an as yet untitled live-action spin-off that will rethink the series from scratch: new characters, probably another decade, and without directly entering the Upside Down. It will work more as an anthology connected to the mythology and tone of the original than as a typical sequel. To this we must add the comics, which Norma Editorial has published in Spain since 2018, immersive experiences in Abu Dhabi and Mexico City, collaborations with Fortnite and extensive merchandising. And although the Duffers have an exclusive contract with Paramount, they will maintain creative supervision of everything related to the series. The underlying problem. With the conclusion of ‘Stranger Things’, Netflix is at a strategic crossroads. There is currently no original production on the platform that is so attractive and, above all, so generationally transversal, something in which ‘The Squid Game’, ‘Wednesday’ or ‘The Bridgertons’ fail. As El País points out, one of the reasons why Netflix has shown interest in acquiring Warner It is precisely because of the need to access a catalog of expandable properties in the style of DC, Harry Potter or ‘Game of Thrones’. The machine does not stop or wait for anyone. In Xataka | The best Netflix series that you can currently watch on the platform

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