Month: February 2026

Google has borrowed money to repay in 2126. AI is already financed with debt for a century ahead

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Alphabet has just closed the largest debt transaction in its history: $20 billion in bonds. And it is preparing something even rarer: an issue in pounds that includes a 100 year bond. Expires in 2126. Why is it important. No major technology company has issued a centenary bond since IBM in 1996. That Google is doing it now says a lot about the scale of investment AI requires. And that this race is financed with wild debt. The background: A bond is borrowed money. The company pays periodic interest and returns the principal at maturity. The routine is terms of 5, 10 or 30 years. The extraordinary thing is to ask for money from a century into the future. Investors lined up: demand exceeded 100 billion, five times what Google was asking for. Alphabet planned to raise 15 billion, but raised the offer to 20 billion due to the flood. Between the lines. A century-year bond is a statement of intent: “we are building infrastructure that will last generations.” Google is thus conveying that AI is not a three-year fad or something that we will forget after the puncture, but something that will transform the economy in the long term like railways or electricity did. Yes, but. Michael Burry, the investor who anticipated the 2008 crisis, has issued a warning that has gone viral: the last technology company that issued a centenary bond was Motorola in 1997. And according to him, that was “the last year in which Motorola mattered.” In 1997 it was a top 25 company in the United States, but a year later, Nokia overtook it and then the iPhone, Android, Chinese manufacturers arrived… and now, in the hands of Lenovoit barely fits into the top 10 mobile manufacturers. Burry asks: is this trust or the gesture made right at the top, before everything changes? The figures. Alphabet’s spending on infrastructure this year may reach, according to figures published by the companyat 185,000 million dollars. More than the previous three years combined. They are data centers, chips, computing capacity for AI… The five other large companies that have increased their capex (Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft and Oracle; Apple has reduced it) issued 121,000 million in bonds last year. Four times more than the annual average for 2020-2024. Main winner? Google, without a doubt. Issuing very long-term debt locks in favorable interest rates for decades. If they go up, Google already has its financing. If they go down, you can buy back the debt sooner. Plus, the interest is deductible, so it’s cheaper than using your own cash. And it does not dilute shareholders. Win-win-win. What is happening. The era in which technology companies grew solely by turning to their profits is over. The enormous expense required by the infrastructure for AI makes them use financial instruments that until now they had barely needed. They are no longer software startups. They are the largest infrastructure builders of the 21st century. And they need a lot of capital. The big question. Is giving bonuses for a century vision or overconfidence? Probably both: What is certain is that technology companies now compete in the debt markets like banks and large industrial companies. And that defines what our industry has become. In Xataka | The intellectual luxury of our era is sustaining our attention, AI is making it worse Featured image | Mitchell Luo

another company already has permission for a constellation of 4,000 satellites

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The United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has authorized Logos Space Services to deploy up to 4,178 satellites broadband in low Earth orbit. A few days ago we also discovered that Blue Origin, founded by Jeff Bezos, was getting on board the satellite internet race for corporate clients with the approval of some 5,408 satellites. Low Earth orbit begins a new period of competition in which, until now, starlink dominated. Why it matters. Starlink dominates the sector with approximately 9,600 operational satellites of the nearly 14,000 that currently orbit the Earth, according to data of the European Space Agency. The recent approval of Logos satellites begins to break the hegemony that Elon Musk’s company had until now. Just like account Satnews, the US regulator, under Brendan Carr, has taken a more agile approach to approving mega-constellations and maintaining US space leadership. Who is behind. Logos Space Services was founded in 2023 by Milo Medin, former project manager at NASA and former vice president of wireless services at Google, together with veteran Rama Akella. According to SpaceNewsthe company, based in Redwood City (California), last year closed a Series A financing round of $50 million led by US Innovative Technologies (USIT), the investment fund of businessman Thomas Tull that has also bet on companies such as Anduril or Stoke Space. The deployment plan. Just like point In the middle, the satellites will operate in seven different orbital layers, located between 870 and 925 kilometers in altitude, with inclinations ranging from 28 to 90 degrees. FCC regulations require Logos to launch and operate half of the constellation over the next seven years, completing full deployment by January 30, 2035. According to has declared Medin himself told SpaceNews, the company only needs about a quarter of the proposed satellites to serve its global customers. The goal is to have the first operational satellite in orbit by 2027. The key difference with Starlink. While Starlink focuses on offering home and consumer internet, Logos presents itself as a specialized alternative for business and government users, very similar to the proposal from Blue Origin. According to the company, the constellation will use high-frequency spectrum bands (V, E, Ka and Q/V), which allow extremely narrow beams that are difficult to intercept or block, ideal specifications for the war conflicts we currently have underway. Furthermore, just as point Satnews, the satellites will incorporate coherent optical links between them, reducing dependence on terrestrial infrastructure and creating a more resilient global network with lower latency. The target market. Logos is not looking to compete for home users, but rather to offer MPLS and Ethernet connectivity services with “fiber-like performance” for multinational companies, remote data centers or offshore naval vessels. This dual-use (civil and military) approach is what has attracted investors like USIT. “A secure and resilient communications infrastructure is a fundamental requirement for both global competitiveness and business operations,” declared Peter Tague, managing partner of USIT, in the statement announcing the FCC approval. Partial regulation. The authorization occurred on January 30, although the FCC partially granted the proposal: it approved operations in the K, Q and V bands under certain conditions, but deferred and denied parts of the requests at higher frequencies. Logos had presented its initial plans in 2024 for 3,960 satellites, later expanding the proposal to 4,178 after refining the design. And now what. The European Space Agency esteem that by 2030 there will be 100,000 satellites in orbit. SpaceX has requested The FCC recently gave permission to launch one million Starlink satellites, although the final figure is likely closer to the 7,500 approved in previous rounds. Cover image | Satellite In Xataka | We knew that there was water on Mars, but not how much. It turns out that 3.37 billion years ago an ocean covered half the planet

Multiverse negotiates a round to exceed 1.5 billion euros

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In the midst of a global race to dominate artificial intelligence, where leadership is usually concentrated in the United States or China, a different story with a Spanish accent is beginning to emerge. Multiverse Computinga startup based in San Sebastianhas been gaining visibility among investors and large companies for some time, but a latest move clearly raises the scale of the conversation. The company would be negotiating a new round of financing that could place it among the unicorns, a category reserved for very few European firms in this sector. New Spanish unicorn. The information that places Multiverse in that possible leap comes, for now, from sources cited by Bloomberg that describe a negotiation in progress. According to those people familiar with the operation, the company would be in talks to raise around 500 million euros in new financing, a figure that would imply exceeding the 1.5 billion valuation. The calendar used by these sources points to the first half of 2026 and the entry of new investors, which leaves the operation in the realm of the probable, but not yet confirmed. What the company does. Multiverse Computing, created in 2019, focuses on developing software tools that allow organizations to use artificial intelligence with lower energy and computational costs. Its technology seeks to reduce the size of the models without sacrificing precisionan approach that responds to one of the major current problems in the sector, the high consumption of resources required to train and execute advanced systems. That promise of efficiency is what is attracting the attention of investors and industrial partners. Financial context. In March 2025, We portrayed how the company received an investment of 67 million euros through the Spanish Society for Technological Transformationthe public vehicle intended to promote strategic projects. Just a few months later, in June 2025, We wrote about it again in relation to a round of 189 million euros with the participation of several international and corporate funds. This succession of operations places the negotiation described by Bloomberg on another scale, no longer as an injection to grow, but as the step that could redefine its valuation within the European AI market. behind the scenes. Bloomberg puts Multiverse’s annual recurring revenue at €100 million in January 2026, a metric used by software startups to show future recurring revenue rather than current accounting results. At this point we must be very careful: this is a metric indicative of traction, not a synonym for profits. This difference is relevant in a sector where expansion is usually supported by sustained investment and high spending. Therefore, beyond commercial traction, it will remain to be verified what its real balance between income, costs and financial sustainability is in the next phase of development. Images | Multiverse In Xataka | Dreame started as a supplier to Xiaomi. Eight years later it wants to be the next Samsung and has paid 10 million to prove it

I just needed an excuse to definitely switch to Gemini: advertising on ChatGPT

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The day arrived. Not in Spain, but the day came. ChatGPT is already starting to show advertising in the United States. At the moment they are in the testing phase, but if OpenAI wants to clean up his accountsyou will have to start showing ads in the rest of the world. It was the last thing I needed to completely switch to Gemini. From ugly duckling to goose that lays golden eggs. If two years ago someone had suggested that I change ChatGPT for Gemini, I would have responded with a categorical refusal. In recent months my opinion has completely changed. I’m not saying it, the benchmark race says it in which Gemini has managed to surpass GPT5 without giving up its reasoning capabilities. This is also said by the work that Google is doing in terms of image and video creation, with a Nano Banana Pro that managed to completely sweep away the OpenAI model and force the rival company to improve and incorporate Images to ChatGPT. The pasta. AI has already become a fixed cost for millions of people. A few euros a month in exchange for an assistant who saves hundreds of hours seems like a fair deal. The most economical plan ChatGPT is Gofor 8 euros per month (96 euros per year). With Go we have access to GPT-5and expanded limits on memory and file uploads. With Google’s cheapest plan, AI Pluswe pay 7.99 euros per month. In addition to having access to Gemini 3 Pro, Nano Banana Pro and limited access to I see 3.1 Fast (GPT Go does not allow access to Sora, even in a limited way), we have: Access to Flow, Google’s cinematic creation tool powered by Veo 3. Whisk Access Gemini integration in Gmail, Vids and more Google apps. 200 GB of storage for your Google account (Photos, Drive and Gmail). If we jump to the intermediate plan, OpenAI offers its best reasoning models, faster image creation, access to Codex, agent mode and access to Sora for 23 euros per month. For 21.99 euros Google allows access to Antigravity, includes Google Home Premium (with integrated Gemini) and 2 TB of storage. Google can afford it. Google has an advantage when it comes to pricing its AI services. The company does not make a living by selling AI and can even afford to give it away in the search engine, in Gemini as an assistant on all Android phones and by integrating it natively into its apps. Google doesn’t need to introduce ads: its AI is the ad. Now what. OpenAI will have to go the extra mile to retain its users. Gemini is already managing to grow its customer base, and with the introduction of ads in GPT, OpenAI will have one of the few large ad-loaded AI models. The company will need to prove not only that ChatGPT is worth paying for, but that it is worth: Pay for the most expensive plans that do not contain ads Pay for plans that contain ads Image | Xataka In Xataka | Elon Musk’s Grokipedia is not exactly the best place to get objective information. ChatGPT doesn’t care

There is a graphic that explains the atrocity that has occurred in Grazalema. And it helps to understand why the people continue to be evicted.

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And that graph is Nahel Belgherzea meteorologist who covers extreme events throughout the world and who, despite being used to them, has described what has occurred in the mountains of Cádiz as “hydrologically absurd.” “Hydrologically absurd”? It is. Grazalema, according to available datahas received more than 2,000 mm of rain in the last 20 days alone. That is, more than a normal year of rain and we are at the beginning of February. It is not surprising that Spanish reservoirs accumulate 43,341 hm³ of water; that is, 5,634 hm³ more than last week. As of today, Spain is at an astonishing 77.34% of its total capacity. And, in fact, today, many reservoirs continue to drain before the arrival of more water. What do you see in the graph? The graph in question is very simple: it is the accumulated rainfall for the Grazalema station. On the Additionally, in gray, you can see the cumulates from other years. And, as you can see, the curve is almost vertical: it has rained unspeakably in a few days. Compared to normal years (when the river grows in spring and winter), there is now a totally enormous water boom. Something unprecedented. And, precisely that, is what is forcing CISC technicians to continue reviewing the Grazalema aquifer. While the City Council insists that the return of the residents will take place when a safe return can be “guaranteed”, researchers from the Geological and Mining Institute of Spain (IGME) they are still on the ground. The aquifer, a geological structure 18 square kilometers in size, has been put under enormous pressure and authorities are focused on ruling out the slightest risk of collapse before the town’s inhabitants can return. The Junta de Andalucía, in fact, has been warning for days that it can go for a long time. Image | Nahel Belgherze In Xataka | Desertification is devouring southern Spain: Extremadura and Murcia face a completely dry future

The measles outbreak is close to 8,500 cases and puts the health status of the country in check

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Measles has ceased to be a latent threat and has become a worrying statistical reality in Mexicoas the latest consolidated data from February 2026 have pointed out. These leave no doubt that the country is going through its most complex outbreak in decades, accumulating 8,459 confirmed cases since the start of the crisis in 2025. It’s already worrying. The situation has escalated to such a point that the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has issued a clear warning: If the chain of transmission is not cut in the coming weeks, Mexico could lose its status as a measles-free country. X-ray of the outbreak. The figures are compelling and draw a map of active transmission in the 32 states of the republic. Although the problem is national, the intensity is not homogeneous, since there are points where positive cases are much more evident. This is something that can be seen in the reports of the Ministry of Health (SSA) of Mexico, which indicates that so far in 2026, 2,143 cases have been reported. But the current epicenter is in Jaliscowhich is where 1,245 cases have been concentrated, representing almost 60% of the reports this entire year. Historical accumulated. Since February 2025, the state of Chihuahua leads the accumulated total with more than 4,400 cases, now followed by the rebound in the west of the country. But the most tragic thing is undoubtedly the human losses, since they have already been confirmed 27 deaths since the beginning of the outbreak in February 2025, with two recent deaths recorded in Tlaxcala and Michoacán This is in addition to the fact that the most vulnerable population is the youngest children, who are between one and four years old. Something that also makes it act as the perfect vector to infect the older population and those at greater risk of suffering from a more serious disease. The root of the problem. Experts point out that it is necessary to have a herd immunity to be able to apply containment to this serious health problem. And for such a contagious virus, at least 95% of the population is required to be vaccinated, something very similar to what was noted in the Covid pandemic in our environment. And the problem is precisely in low vaccination coverage that exists in these regions, causing many to not reach this percentage. And, despite the fact that the SSA reports the application of more than 11.8 million vaccinesthe spread of the virus suggests that there are still susceptible population groups, especially those where there are a greater number of cases right now. Use of face masks. As already happened in the COVID pandemic, there are some states such as Jalisco or Nuevo León that are evaluating the use of masks or face coveringsespecially in closed spaces and with a large influx of people. This is a simple containment barrier to prevent spread while the population finishes its vaccination schedule. The ultimatum. On the technical side, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has launched an extension until April to evaluate whether Mexico has achieved endemic transmission of this virus. This is something that is achieved when there is no continuous circulation of the virus in a territory for 12 months. Mexico has been fighting this outbreak since February 2025, and if transmission continues uninterrupted beyond the calendar year, measles will once again be considered endemic (typical of the region) and not an imported case. In addition to this, PAHO has confirmed that Mexico currently accounts for 71% of the cases on the entire American continent, a figure that forces health authorities to rethink the containment strategy to prevent its spread to the rest of the neighboring countries. What’s coming The next PAHO meeting in April will be critical in this regard. The decision that Mexico lose “measles-free” status It is not just a diplomatic label, but it implies greater costs in epidemiological surveillance, potential barriers in tourism and the confirmation of a major setback in the country’s public health status. Intensive campaigns are underway, but with the virus present in all states and active community transmission, the Mexican health system faces its most important test of the post-COVID era. A global problem. Although the news focuses on the many cases in Mexico in this case, the reality is that In other parts of the planet cases have also increased. One of the clearest examples is in the United States, where the CDC has raised alarm bells after observing how cases are multiplying in a matter of months. In Spain Official data also indicate that, while in 2023 only 14 cases were recorded, in 2024 they increased to 229 cases and in 2025 the forecast points to almost 400. Images | NIH Ed Us In Xataka | The myth of 37º: it is increasingly clear to us that there is no “normal” body temperature

Amancio Ortega takes Pontegadea’s logistics business further than ever: to Australia

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In its efforts to expand the reach and diversification of its logistics businessAmancio Ortega, is leaving our antipodes, to buy a significant stake in an Australian logistics giant. This operation represents Pontegadea’s first entry into the Australian continent and strengthens the investment arm strategy of Ortega in the global logistics sector, an area that the millionaire has proven to control very well since it is the key to Inditex expansion as a global fashion giant. The Australian adventure of Amancio Ortega. According to information of Financial Review Spanish magnate, through his family office Pontegadeais going to join a group of investors led by the Macquarie Asset Management fund, to present a purchase proposal for 100% of the Australian technology giant. Qube logistics. The operation values ​​the company at 11.6 billion Australian dollars, which is equivalent to about 6.9 billion euros. This offer involves paying 28% more for each Qube share than the price at which it was trading just before the first proposal was made known. The purchase would be made through an agreement approved by shareholders at a meeting, without the need for a traditional public purchase offer process. Macquarie already owns 18.4% of the company, so the operation would ensure control of the rest of the shareholders. His first operation in Australia. This is the first investment that Pontegadea makes outside Europe or USAand is committed to addressing it by diversifying its logistics business. As is customary every time Pontegadea faces a new challenge, it does so from a conservative profile staying in the backgroundletting its partners take the initiative in direct management. On this occasion, the operation is led by the consortium formed by Macquarie, which includes other investment funds such as UniSuper, Brighter Super and Mercer. The intention with this purchase is to take advantage of Qube’s position in the Australian and New Zealand supply chain to expand into Asia, where trade is growing. Qube Business. Sydney-based Qube is the largest import and export logistics operator in Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia. It is responsible for storing goods, managing ports, distributing containers by road and manufacturing transport equipment, in addition to providing services to sectors such as mining, energy and construction. The purchase of this company coincides with Pontegadea’s recent investments in the port operatorsand logistics warehouses, but it opens a new investment door, bringing the company closer to the import and export business with Asia. Previous investments in logistics. Although this is its first foray into Australia, Pontegadea has already invested significantly in logistics assets in Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States. In October 2025 bought a logistics center of 80,000 square meters in the vicinity of Liverpool, leasing to Amazon, for 81 million euros. In addition, Pontegadea acquired a portfolio of warehouses and logistics platforms in Europe and the United States for more than 900 million dollars, and entered the British port business with the purchase of 49% of PD Ports. These operations show a clear commitment to diversifying Pontegadea’s portfolio towards logistics infrastructures in different countries, and not focusing only on real estate investments. In Xataka | Amancio Ortega has been donating millions of euros to Spanish hospitals for years. The question is if there is something more fundamental Image | GTRES, Unsplash (Nathan Cima)

one in which the F-35 and its “button” are the winners

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Europe has been repeating the same debate for some time every time a strategic technology comes into play: to what extent can talk about sovereignty whether critical systems depend on external decisions, codes and suppliers. Under labels such as autonomy or digital sovereignty, the Union has tried build own alternatives in key areas with the promise of no longer being tied to infrastructures that it does not fully control. History now shows that the challenge has not been to imagine these tools, but to get the major European partners to accept share real power to make them possible. A project for European sovereignty. He Future Combat Air System was born as the great strategic bet of France, Germany and Spain to prevent Europe will be relegated in the 21st century air race, combining a sixth-generation fighter with swarms of drones and a combat cloud capable of integrating sensors, weapons and command in real time. Designed to replace platforms such as the Rafale and the Eurofighter and preserve industrial knowledge that Europe never developed in the fifth generation, the FCAS was presented as more than just an airplane: it was the promise of technological autonomy against the United States, its own air war architecture and the symbol that European defense could act as a coherent block. A lost decade. From its inception, the program was trapped in a head-on crash between national and industrial interests, with France defending leadership Dassault’s absolute in the manned aircraft and Germany demanding distribution real technology and knowledge through Airbus. For its part, Spain was seen as a clearly secondary partner despite its key role in sensors through Indra. The Russian invasion of Ukraine further hardened positions: Berlin, in the midst of the Zeitenwende, began to question a project that did not guarantee its own capabilities. Paris, reinforced by the Rafale export successbecame even more reluctant to give up control. The result was a prolonged paralysisdeadlines that moved towards 2045 and the idea, increasingly less hidden, that the fighter could disappear leaving only remains of the original project. Germany begins to look home. The fracture has become explicit when unions and representatives of German industry have openly defended the option of develop your own fighter or, at a minimum, two separate aircraft within the FCAS, a conceptual break with the initial idea of ​​a common system. At the same time, in Berlin he began to discreetly explore a way out towards the rival program led by the United Kingdom, Italy and Japan, while the new German chancellor conveyed to Paris that even abandoning the FCAS was no longer a taboo. At that point, the project stopped being a complex negotiation and became a question of how to communicate its end without assuming the political cost of acknowledging failure. Sentenced in the offices. The last few weeks have confirmed what was privately taken for granted for months: the FCAS is practically dead and a closure announcement is more likely than any credible relaunch, despite Paris’ attempts to save time. As we count a few weeks ago, the confrontation between Dassault and Airbus over control of the Next Generation Fighter remains without a solution, Germany is already contemplating save only the cloud combat and other shared systems, and the program that was to be the flagship of European rearmament has become the best example of its limits. For Spain, the news is especially bitter: the project that was supposed to guarantee it a seat at the high aviation technology table is fading without a clear European alternative in the short term. The hidden winner: F-35. In this strategic vacuum, an indirect winner emerges that summarizes the worst of the paradoxes: the Lockheed Martin F-35, the plane that FCAS was to counterbecomes the default solution for many European countries. With the European program collapsedthe only new generation platform available, interoperable and in production is the American one, along with everything that its closed ecosystem implies, including the controversial technological dependence and the famous “button” symbolizing Washington’s ultimate control over the system. Spain has been clear reject that model and defend a European fighter like guarantee of sovereigntybut the message that comes from Paris and Berlin It’s devastating: The inability to reach an agreement has left the way clear for the F-35, making the United States the great beneficiary of a European failure. Thus, France and Germany have ended up conveying to Spain what it did not want to hear: that the project that was to emancipate Europe is dying, and the plane that symbolizes strategic dependence is the one that comes out stronger. Image | airbus, Vitaly V. Kuzmin In Xataka | If the question is where is the 100 billion European fighter, the answer is simple: stuck on a dead-end runway In Xataka | It is being a complicated summer for the US F-35: after Spain’s “no” Russia and China have appeared to do more damage

review with features, price and specifications

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There was a day when that t-shirt you are wearing was made in Spain. It’s almost hard to believe it now that globalization has brought the mass manufacturing of T-shirts, pants and dresses to China, Vietnam or Bangladesh. Today, decades after that happened, Temu and Shein want to make us a new suit with fast fashion even more fastwith compulsive purchases and products that They flood the streets due to their low price. There is no doubt that They have made us Europeans a suit. And if we’re talking cars, that suit is custom made. We were thinking of stopping Chinese electric cars with tariffs. These seemed like the great threat, the paradigm shift facing the European industry. But not. Chinese manufacturers have understood well that not all Europe is the same. That not all of us need or want an electric car. The combustion engine continues to be useful and attractive to a large part of the population. And when combined with a large battery they have the best product for many. Electric in everyday life, peace of mind for traveling. Plug-in hybrids are another one of those tailored suits that have arrived from China. The European Union has not imposed tariffs on these. The problem is that you can see the seams on this Jaecoo 7 SHS. Jaecoo 7 SHS technical sheet Jaecoo 7 SHS Body type. Five-seater SUV. Measurements and weight. 4.50 meters long, 1.86 meters wide and 1.68 meters high. Wheelbase of 2.67 meters. Trunk. 340 liters. Maximum power. 340 HP for the PHEV. WLTP consumption. 0.7 l/100 km according to the WLTP cycle. 6.0 l/100 km depending on the brand with a dead battery. 90 kilometers of autonomy in completely electric mode according to the WLTP cycle. Environmental distinctive. Zero emissions. Driving aids (ADAS). Mandatory by the European Union. The brand refers to 18 ADAS aids with adaptive cruise control. Others Screen for the 14.8-inch instrument panel. Infotainment system compatible with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay (wireless). Head-Up Display. 50 W wireless charger. 540º camera for use off road. Heated and ventilated seats in the front and heated in the rear. Panoramic roof of 1.1 m2. Electric hybrid. No. Plug-in Hybrid. Yeah. 340 HP of power and 90 km of electric range. electric. No. Price and launch. PHEV from 38,900 euros before aid. Understanding the market Not all of Europe is advancing at the same pace. According to ACEA data9.4% of cars sold in Europe in 2025 were plug-in hybrids. Although they increased by 33.4% compared to the previous year, the figures are very far from the 17.4% market share of the electric car. A technology supported, above all, by Germany and Francecountries with greater purchasing power than Spain, in which they increased by 43.4% and 12.5%. Together they sold about 772,000 electric cars, more than 40% of the cars sold in Europe. The data contrasts with the Spanish. Here the plug-in hybrid It sold more than the electric one (9.52% market share compared to the 8.39% market share of the pure electric one). And in the first data from January the advantage is widening in favor of the plug-in with a combustion engine, according to Anfac data. The sale of Chinese cars in Spain also contrasts with the rest of Europe. These companies have not hesitated to enter the continent through our country, aware that we are less loyal to our brands, that we look for more affordable cars or with best quality-equipment-price ratio. And there, Chinese plug-in hybrids have a lot to say, with fewer ties than an electric car and without the obligation to pay tariffs that mitigate their competitiveness in the final price compared to traditional firms. It is no coincidence that, as of January, three of the 10 best-selling plug-in hybrid cars are Chinese. He BYD Seal U aspires to repeat as the best-selling plug-in hybrid in Spain but the Omoda 9 and the Lynk&Co 01. All of them are cars that want to offer a good image, great autonomy and a lot of space for less money than their competitors. In that same space, the Jaecoo 7 SHS wants to compete, the plug-in hybrid version, of a car that we already had the opportunity to test briefly in its gasoline version and that left us with some doubts about its behavior but for which we saw a very clear market niche in a Spain eager for an affordable offer that does not want to give up the pyrotechnics of modern cars. Neither yes, nor no, nor quite the opposite If the Jaecoo 7 reminds you of a Land Rover, let me tell you that I understand you. It is not a coincidence because Chery (group to which Jaecoo belongs) and Land Rover They have been and are partners in China. The proposal, from what I get, I like. The car attracts attention and attracts the eyes of those looking for a compact vehicle that treads in the 4.50 meter area but that provides a feeling of greater volume or packaging. Inside, things are different. Like? I think it draws attention. And all-screen cars continue to attract attention and feel groundbreaking. Maybe not among car enthusiasts but among those who are approaching the new car market for the first time after many years. Let us remember that The average age of the Spanish vehicle fleet is 14.5 years. It is through the eyes where it enters the Jaecoo 7 SHS and most of the Chinese proposals. The client, who is also evaluating a Dacia Duster and you have found a very plastic and certainly rough interior, you sit here in a good electric seat, with soft materials within reach and a 14.8-inch screen with very good visual quality. Through the window, the salesperson shows you an endless list of equipment that the car already includes as standard. Electric seats, heated steering wheel, cameras with 360º vision (Jaecoo calls it a 540º camera) to see what is under the car, … Read more

How a Patagonian olive grove sneaks into the mecca of EVOO

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The Vaca Muerta mountain range is in a lost and inaccessible area of ​​the province of Neuquén: a rock formation of 35,000 square kilometers in the heart of Argentine Patagonia that, for years, has lived for and for oil. AND no wonder: The Vaca Muerta field is the second largest unconventional natural gas reserve in the world and the fourth largest unconventional oil reserve. In many ways, Argentina’s energy future passes through those rocks in the heart of the country. The thing is that not everyone agrees. And this disagreement has made its way into one of the most competitive markets in the world: that of Spanish olive oil. Sell ​​chocolate to the Swiss. Today, SeNeu produces extra virgin olive oil in the heart of Vaca Muerta. It is a super-intensive trellis system (and arbequina and arbosana varieties) that is giving very good results. And that can be seen in what they are doing with EVOO. Because, at first, they tried to market it with their own brand, but the truth is that the image of a premium oil from one of the country’s oil heartlands was not what the market was looking for. So, considering the quality of the product, they pivoted. And now They export 40% of their production to Spain. Which, just before the trade agreement with Mercosur comes into force, is several hundred tons. But it will become much more. Argentina is already the fifth country that matters most to Spain and has something that its direct competitors (Tunisia or Portugal) do not have: they go against the season. That is, being in the southern hemisphere, its harvest arrives just at the time when Mediterranean reserves are already consolidated. And that is a very important asset in a context in which the climate is unpredictable: there are historic droughts, as well as enormous rainfall. Spain buys more oil than it seems…and his purpose is basically industrial: that is, adjust the profile, ensure supply, strengthen the link, provide regularity, etc. It is a perfect support to help the battered olive industry stay alive when things go wrong. It is true that Argentina is a small producer (it only generates around 1% of world production), but it is a net exporter and, for a province like Neuquén, the window of opportunity is huge. Spain is the great door to Europe. As is the case with many other products, regardless of Spain’s producing role (which changes, depending on the product we are talking about); The country is a marketing power at the European level and that makes its role within the international agri-food mechanism enormous. Vaca Muerta oil is not only growing in the most intelligent way, it is making it clear that the future of the sector is more complicated than it seems. Image | Kevin Martin Jose | Hector Ramon Perez In Xataka | That Andalusia is an olive oil superpower is great for Spain, but a problem for its other regions

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