Month: February 2026

The electric car needs cheap batteries. And a Spanish region is closer to giving it to them: Extremadura

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It’s just the go-ahead but it’s a key go-ahead. It is what will allow Yuneng International Spain New Energy Battery Material SLU to launch a project in Mérida to produce lithium iron phosphate (LFP/LiFePO₄). In other words, Mérida will be key to producing essential materials for the manufacture of LFP batteries. Batteries that aspire to be essential in the popularization of the electric car. Merida. It was the place chosen by Yuneng International Spain New Energy Battery Material SLU to build a factory that can produce lithium iron phosphate. The project will be located in the Expacio Mérida business park and will extend across 467,000 square meters after the Government of Extremadura has confirmed the approval of the environmental declaration for this factory. The project aims to have financing of 800 million euros and generate 500 jobs to produce the planned capacity of 50,000 tons per year of these materials. In the first phase they will mobilize between 116 and 125 million euros of investment creating about 160 direct jobs, they point out in Motorpassion. Why is it key? The production of lithium iron phosphate is essential for LFP batteries. Batteries are made up of modules and these, in turn, are made up of cells. In each cell there is an anode and a cathode. It is in the cathodes of LFP batteries where lithium iron phosphate sheets are located. Without them, the batteries would not work. In batteries of this type there are small lithium particles on the anode (negative pole). These particles move to the cathode (positive pole) through a liquid electrolyte found inside. This is when the electric current is generated which is then used by the motors to move the wheels. LFP Batteries. LFP batteries are one of the big promises of the electric car to make models cheaper and popularize this technology. It is a technology that offers less autonomy than NMC (cathode formed by nickel, cobalt and manganese) or NCA (nickel, cobalt and aluminum) because they have lower energy density. However, these batteries are cheaper because lithium and iron are cheaper than nickel or cobalt. And, in addition, they are safer and better resist load cycles so they will be more durable. This is essential for smaller cars, which will have less autonomy and must undergo a greater number of charging cycles but with the backpack of not being able to raise its price. Estremadura. In recent years, Extremadura has become relevant in the electric car supply chain. In addition to this lithium and iron phosphate production plant, in Navalmoral de la Mata (Cáceres) it is already rising a plant to produce complete batteries. This factory was designed to produce NMC batteries but has pivoted to produce LFP accumulatorsso both industries can be connected when the time comes. Additionally, the region is rich in lithium. Next to Cáceres it is believed that there are one of the largest deposits in Europe. The mine that should exploit this deposit has encountered the opposition from some neighbors and environmental platforms which has paralyzed the project. However, up to three of the seven projects that the European Commission wants to carry out in Spain for the exploitation of minerals and rare earths They are in Extremadura. The cheap electric car. To popularize the electric car, China has been betting on LFP batteries for years. In Europe, most electric cars have opted for batteries that include nickel or cobalt because they allow greater charging and discharging power and autonomy but are more expensive. Over the years, this has changed. Renault works with LFP batteries for the entry-level range of electric cars such as the Twingo or the Renault 5 (in the future). Tesla also uses them in the more modest versions of Model 3 and Model Y. In Spain, CATL is going to manufacture this type of batteries in Zaragoza for the smaller Stellantis cars. And Volkswagen too has this type of accumulator in mind for its most affordable electric cars that will come out of the Martorell line. Photo | Mercedes and Google Maps In Xataka | Europe has its hope in the 25,000 euro electric car and Volkswagen already knows who will manufacture it: Spain

13 premiere movies and series to watch in February 2026 on Netflix, Prime Video, HBO Max and streaming

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Christmas is definitely behind us and the platforms greet 2026 with a few powerful premieres, some expected returns and a resurgence of the platform fight. Choose your favorite, because we bring you the juiciest news of February in terms of streaming. The queen of chess If you think that ‘Queen’s Gambit‘ is among the best things Netflix has ever produced, check out this documentary that tells the true story of the legendary Hungarian chess player Judit Polgár. Overcoming the sexism of a space controlled by men, she challenged champions like Garry Kasparov to become a champion of the sport with a career that began when she was only 12 years old, as the result of her parents’ experiment to raise geniuses. On Netflix February 6 Samuel After a triumphant stint on RTVE, this acclaimed Franco-Spanish series comes to Netflix, consisting of a single season of 21 four-minute episodes. An endearing and sometimes somewhat crude vision of the transition from childhood to adolescence through Samuel’s personal diary, which narrates his concerns, fears, goals and feelings, including everything from unrequited love to experiences such as the death of a friend’s grandmother. The minimalist visual style has a spontaneous touch that tends towards graphic experimentation, and gives rise to a little gem that adds to the best of Netflix’s animation section. On Netflix February 5 Stargate SG1 By surprise and in anticipation of the new series that Prime Video will produce, this modern classic of television science fiction arrives on Netflix. Although the platform has not specified what we can expect from this recovery, we trust that we will have at our disposal the ten seasons of which it consisted, no less than 214 episodes in total. A year after Roland Emmerich’s 1994 film tells the story, it starts with the idea that Ra was not the only alien who used stargates to transport human slaves to multiple planets. Let’s hope things go well for Netflix and we can enjoy successive spin-offs like ‘Atlantis’, ‘Universe’ and even the two direct-to-DVD movies. On Netflix February 15 The deception The Russo brothers are behind the production of this film that recovers the trope of the expert assassin retired and far from the madding crowd, but in a pirate key: Ercell “Bloody Mary” Bodden thought she had escaped her violent past, finding peace in the Cayman Islands with her husband, her son and her sister-in-law. But when her infamous ex-captain arrives seeking revenge, her world falls apart and she is forced back into action. The cast is headed by Priyanka Chopra, whom the Russos already showed us in ‘Citadel‘ and the always reliable Karl Urban. On Prime Video on February 25 Ponies Emilia Clarke and Haley Lu Richardson star in this spy comedy that promises excitement and entanglement with airs vintage thanks to its setting in the late seventies. In Moscow, two ponies (“people of no interest”) work as secretaries at the United States embassy until their husbands are murdered under mysterious circumstances. That’s when they become CIA agents. One of them is the daughter of Soviet immigrants, speaks Russian and is overqualified. His companion, the complete opposite: a somewhat reckless village girl. Together, they try to uncover a great conspiracy in the middle of the Cold War. Now available on SkyShowtime Neighbors The trendy indie production company in Hollywood, A24, is behind this documentary series that sometimes seems like a sitcom and sometimes like a demented thriller: it examines stories of absurd, scandalous and dramatic residential conflicts, starring a fauna of extravagant characters spread across the United States. Each episode features a group of neighbors in conflict, with protests ranging from property lines to the use of pets or the appearance with which they go out on the street. Surviving Paradise: Beyond Jehovah’s Witnesses For a long time, Jehovah’s Witnesses have been part of the friendlier landscape of Spanish religion. But hidden behind absolute secrecy was what many former members of the organization describe as a much more disturbing reality. This documentary goes into the annulment methods typical of a sect that many former members claim are practiced in secret: three episodes that talk about the passage of these former Witnesses through the group, their abandonment of it and the subsequent organization until reaching the trials in 2022. Rafaela and her crazy world This new series from the Chanante universe, created by Aníbal Gómez and based on his own book ‘The amazing world of Rafaella Mozarella’, promises to be absolutely insane. It is directed by Ernesto Sevilla and on board are many of the usual suspects: Aníbal himself, Ingrid García-Jonsson, Carlos Areces, Joaquín Reyes and Arturo Valls. Surreal and hooligan, it will tell us the life of a teenager who lives immersed in a dysfunctional family accompanied by three friends and a poodle. At Atresplayer on February 15 The Muppet Show (2026) Let’s get rid of comebacks that don’t interest anyone. This is the most anticipated reboot in television history since ‘DuckTales’ returned: all the classic characters in a legendary program with, how could it be otherwise, a special guest. In this case, Sabrina Carpenter with the help of the great comedian Maya Rudolph. Produces a certified Muppet fan, Seth Rogen, on a roll since he made ‘The Studio’. If this turns out half as well, we have Muppets for a while. On Disney+ on February 4 In an instant (In the Blink of an Eye) He directed two of Pixar’s best films, ‘WALL-E’ and ‘Finding Nemo’, and the industry fell on him when he signed a box office disaster that almost took down Disney, the highly underrated ‘John Carter’. It seems that Hollywood has forgiven him, and Andrew Stanton returns with a film that exhibits declared influences from ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’, ‘Magnolia’ and ‘Interstellar’. The film features three interconnected stories spanning thousands of years exploring the entire history of the world, and was presented at Sundance, where it won the prestigious Alfred P. Sloan Award (awarded for the best representation of science, … Read more

Get ready because NVIDIA “needs a lot of wafers”

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The foreign relations of the United States are no longer a solely governmental matter. Figures like Tim Cook they have acting as ambassadors in recent years, receiving treatment and baths from political entities worthy of a high-ranking politician, and the baton in both the global technological and economic conversation has been taken by another CEO of a ‘Big Tech’. Jensen Huang He is the boss of NVIDIA, and recently has visited Taiwan to remember something key: Nvidia would not be possible without Taiwan. And he has taken the opportunity to put pressure on the factory that moves the technological world: TSMC. The Billion Dollar Dinner. Huang has been touring his home island of Taiwan. Curiously, it is also the epicenter of the global technology industry as it is home to companies as powerful as asus or MediaTek, but also from Foxconn and those who create most of the advanced chips in our devices: TSMC. To close out the trip, Huang met two dozen people for dinner at a local restaurant in the event dubbed by the press as “the billion-dollar banquet.” More than a dinner with friends, it is an institutional event because NVIDIA is the one that is calling the shots in this current era of AI, but TSMC is the one who has the upper hand. Get your batteries. In that environment, and in an improvised manner, a press conference was held in which Huang made it clear that 2026 will be a crucial year, but he also gave an interesting headline: TSMC needs to work very hard this year because I need a lot of wafers.” Local media reported it. crossed out It may be a joking comment, but it is one of those jokes that are not jokes. The CEO of NVIDIA added what TSMC is doing”an incredible job” and predicted that they will increase their capacity by more than 100% over the next decade.” No pressure, go. TSMC is key. Just a few weeks ago, TSMC announced that its spending would increase by almost 40% to reach $56 billion in 2026, with additional increases planned for both 2028 and 2029. It makes perfect sense considering that it is the company that factory not only almost all of the world’s advanced chips, but it is the heart of NVIDIA’s graphics cards that have become the standard of artificial intelligence. The Taiwanese company is not only manufacturing in its country, but is taking steps to expand throughout Europe (with the Germany’s vaunted factory) and you already have a plant in the United States that will expand in the short term. And NVIDIA itself will be one of the first customers of the advanced chips that TSMC produces on US soil. If the chain fails, the AI ​​gets into trouble. The problem is that Huang doesn’t just need wafers: he needs RAM, and we are in one of the component crises deepest in history. That unbridled spending on components for powering data centers for AI It has left us consumers without the opportunity to buy components for our PC at a consistent price. First was the RAM and then the SSDs because companies like TSMC, Micron or Samsung cannot cope with production. Some -the aforementioned Micron- has left the component market for consumers because they need to run all their plants for only one purpose: powering those data centers. And the chain cannot failsomething that Huang himself has stated, pointing out that they will need a lot of memory this year – graphics cards also have memory inside – and that “the entire supply chain will be a challenge in 2026 because demand will be much greater. In short: a challenge for manufacturers, a headache for users. For Huang, a blessingsince your company is the one that leads the way in an artificial intelligence that, according to him“it has become something really useful.” Images | TSMC, NVIDIA In Xataka | The situation with RAM prices is so desperate that there are already those who build their own memory at home

Genie 3 is awesome at creating worlds for video games. But the problem with video games was never creating worlds

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Genie 3 has been with us since August and its previous versions since long beforebut this weekend its fame has exploded because Google has taught us how to generate interactive 3D environments simply by writing a phrase. And in seconds, Genie 3 materializes a forest, or a city, or a cave, or whatever you want. And there you can move, or jump, or fly. Technically it is brilliant. However, There is nothing there that makes us think that it is going to bring down video game development.. It will make it easier, in any case, but it does not pose a threat to him. Because The bottleneck of video games has never been generating polygons. The difficult part of creating a good game is not creating a world in which a character can walk or fly. The hard part is creating a world where you, I, and all the other players want to keep walking or flying. That difference between space and experience is what separates a demo like the ones we have seen of Genie 3 – a video to be amazed by for a few seconds – from a video game that we are going to dedicate hours to. Or at least a few minutes. Several video game companies fell around 10% after this announcement of Genie 3, but none as much as Unity, which has fallen 20%. It is a sign that There are Unity investors who don’t understand what makes a company like Unity valuable.. Unity is not Unity because it renders polygons but because of the invisible infrastructure it sells: making the physics the same on all the devices on which its games are played, creating collision systems that do not fail, maintaining debugging that explain why your game crashes in frame 47,293. Genie 3 generates impressive landscapes, but it can’t explain why your character is traversing the ground in that particular corner of the map. From the outside, what is visible seems to be the great work to be done with a game. The graphics, the models, the environments… But any developer knows that create assets is the, quote-heavy, “easy” part. The bad thing is what takes years of accumulated effort: Design clashes with enemies that are complex but fair, calibrate progression curves, write dialogue that serves much more than conveying an idea (such as revealing a character) without stopping the action for it. That is, build complex systems that consolidate the narrative and engage the player, interacting in emergent ways. Genie 3 doesn’t touch any of that. There is one limitation that perfectly sums up the distance between what Genie 3 does and what a video game demands: spatial memory. The generated worlds they tend to forget themselvesand that is why a ladder that you saw a while ago is no longer there, and not because someone has taken it. If you go back, possibly the model regenerates it, perhaps in another place, perhaps with another geometry. In a video game, just the opposite is needed: a persistent state where each action has consequences. A tree you cut down has to stay down. Spatial consistency is the basis of a digital world. And that is not solved by updating the model to make it a little more capable. It is something inherent to generative systems: they live in an eternal present, without real memory of frames previous. This doesn’t mean that Genie 3 is useless. We insist: it is beastly. But for something else. For rapid prototyping, to elevate conceptual art to something interactive. Those types of scenarios. Maybe even for a indie Show the investor what your game will be like without settling for a PowerPoint. And that is valuable. It will change dynamics and lower costs. But It is one more tool in the entire process, not a replacement for any process.. Google is going to solve a problem in the world of video games, but it has the most difficult ones left: making those worlds matter something and making the mechanics satisfactory. May we remember the stories they tell and may the players progress. Ultimately, the soul of a game. That is hardly designed with a prompt. That is designed, iterated, and polished for a long time by people who know about intentionality. Now AI can create the canvas, but that has never been the hardest thing about painting. Featured image | Google In Xataka | What’s happening with Ubisoft: after canceling six games and adjusting its structure, this is the plan of the great French studio

new technolovers with technology and entertainment offers to surprise your partner

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There is very little left until Valentine’s Day arrives, so many stores have started their respective campaigns to celebrate Valentine’s Day. MediaMarkt has done it again with the Technoloversa campaign with offers in technology and entertainment that will end on February 9. Do you want to know what some of the best deals are? In this article you will have five ideas to surprise your partner. LEGO Botanicals by 23.99 eurosa construction with a miniature orchid. Electronic calendar by 169 eurosan interesting device to keep track of schedules. Philips OneBlade Pro by 54.99 eurosa razor with accessories for the body. nintendo switch 2 by 459 euroswith a gift video game. Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 by 699 eurosa perfect laptop for studying. LEGO Botanicals Maybe a bouquet of flowers is a great Valentine’s Day gift idea, but… why not a flower you can build? He Mini Orchid LEGO Botanicals It includes 274 pieces and comes with a pot, and its size is ideal for placing almost anywhere. Its price on MediaMarkt is 23.99 eurosbut in this case Amazon has it cheaper: for 22.62 euros. LEGO Botanicals – Orchid The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Electronic calendar On many occasions my partner and I give each other something that we can both use, especially if it is something useful for the house. If you want, or your partner wants, to lead a more organized life, this electronic calendar It is ideal for it. Its price on MediaMarkt is 169 eurosconnects to the brand’s app and allows you to carry a routine organized for dayswhich can be very useful to not forget something we have to do or even to keep track of the meals we have to prepare. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Philips OneBlade Pro The Philips OneBlade Pro It is a great razor for shaving your beard, but it is also great for using on your body. To do this, it comes with a couple of accessories that allow you to shave in different millimeters while protecting the skin. It also includes an additional one that allows you to adjust the millimeters. The icing on the cake lies in its round-tipped blades, which shave a lot and adapt very well to the body. Its price on MediaMarkt is 54.99 eurosbut El Corte Inglés considers it 49.90 euros. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links nintendo switch 2 If your partner loves video games and has not yet made the leap to nintendo switch 2right now it doesn’t have the best price we’ve seen to date, but for 459 euros the store includes the ‘Donkey Kong Bananza‘ as a gift, a game valued at 68.99 euros. To access this offer, you have to scroll down where the video game appears. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 Finally, if your partner needs a laptop or you are simply looking to have one at home for everyday use, the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 has dropped in price to 699 euros. It features a 15.3-inch screen and comes with the Intel Core i7-13620H processor. It has 16 GB of RAM, 1 TB of internal storage (SSD) and comes with Windows 11 Home pre-installed, so you can use it as soon as you receive it. Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 (15IRH10) 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 | MediaMarkt and Compradicción (header), LEGO, Blackview, Philips, Nintendo, Lenovo In Xataka | The best mobile phones, we have tested them and here are their analyzes In Xataka | Best Amazon Fire TV. Which one to buy and recommended models to convert your TV into a smart TV depending on use

Four years ago, China had a chipmaker in the global top 20. Today he has three

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China has gone from having one chip equipment manufacturer in the world’s top 20 in 2022 to having three at the start of 2026. US sanctions, designed to limit Chinese access to this advanced technology, have ended up driving just the opposite: the local industry has become stronger and continues to increase its independence. Why is it important. This advance questions Western technological dominance in such a critical sector that has led to a trade war. The manufacturing of machinery to make semiconductors was a Chinese weakness and is now becoming a real alternative. And the speed at which it is happening tells us that trade restrictions may end up being counterproductive. The protagonists: The context. Three years ago, China manufactured just 10% of its semiconductor equipment locally. Today that figure is between 20% and 30%, according to Tetsuo Omori, an analyst at Techno Systems Research in statements to Nikkei Asia. The government has put in a lot of money through national and local funds, and that has caused an explosion of manufacturers that now cover all stages of production. Between the lines. Western and Japanese companies have two problems on the table: In the short term, more competition in the Chinese marketwhich grew 35% in 2024 to $49.5 billion. In the long term, see how its technological advantage is being curtailed while the Chinese supply chain gains muscle. Yes, but. China still has not mastered the most advanced technology. Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography systemsessential for 2 and 3 nanometer chips, are only manufactured by ASML. ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet He said it will take China “many, many years” to develop that capability.. It sounds like a message of calm for the West, but China’s recent history does not encourage us to take anything for granted. In dispute. The race for leadership in semiconductors is now played on two boards. One is technological: who manages to manufacture the most advanced chips. The other is self-sufficiency: who manages to control more links in their supply chain. China is losing in the first but is advancing very quickly in the second. And that could change the rules we knew even more. In Xataka | The ASML-Mistral alliance reveals the European plan B: if we cannot manufacture chips, at least we will control how they are manufactured Featured image | ASML

that of a world without nuclear weapons control

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During the sixties, at the height of the cold warthe United States and the Soviet Union accumulated nuclear weapons without clear limits, trapped in a logic of absolute distrust marked by crises such as that of the missiles in Cuba and by the certainty that a miscalculation could trigger a global catastrophe. It was in that atmosphere of fear when they began to assume that continuing to add warheads did not make the world safer, thus laying the foundations for the first major nuclear control agreement. Today we are four days away from ending to that pact. The end of nuclear control. Yes, because on Thursday of this week New START expiresthe last treaty that legally limited the deployed nuclear arsenals of the United States and Russia, ending more than fifty years of agreements, inspections and transparency mechanisms that had drastically reduced the number of nuclear warheads since the peak of the Cold War. The agreement, signed in 2010 and extended in 2021, established a cap of 1,550 warheads strategic by country and allowed for data exchanges and on-site inspections designed to avoid dangerous misunderstandings. Its disappearance not only eliminates formal limits, but also the verification system that gave true value to the treaty, in a context marked by the war in Ukraine, unilateral suspension Russian inspections and a climate of mistrust that has not been seen for decades. Indifference and risks. The most striking thing about the end of New START is the little political reaction in Washington, where debate has been minimal even as the world enters an era no nuclear restrictions for the first time since the sixties. The Trump administration has let the treaty die without a clear position, while pressure grows within the security apparatus to increase the number of nuclear weapons rather than reduce them. This emptiness contrasts with the warnings of experts and with the symbolism of the Doomsday Clocknews the last few days because has approached more than ever at midnight, a true reflection of the fear of an uncontrolled arms race that could involve not only Russia and the United States, but also the third party “in contention”: China. Russia, China and a dilemma. If we do a futurology exercise and everything follows the expected course, starting on Thursday and without the treaty, the United States, for example, could return to “load” multiple warheads on missiles that today carry only one, a practice abandoned to comply with New START, while Russia retains the capability to do it quickly because it never stopped deploying missiles with multiple warheads. At this point, many analysts warn that Moscow could react faster than Washington in an escalation scenario, while Beijing continues expanding your arsenal at a pace not seen since the Cold War, although still far from the figures of the two superpowers that started it all. The combination of mistrust, new weapons not covered by previous agreements and emerging systems such as underwater nuclear drones or exotic missiles aggravates the feeling of entering unknown strategic terrain. An opportunity that closes. Despite everything, there is still a small window to avoid the worst scenario, since Russia has hinted that could continue to voluntarily respect the limits and former negotiators defend that accepting a temporary extension with restored inspections would be a pragmatic and cheap gesture to save time. Beyond the technique, the collapse by New START It symbolizes something deeper: the erosion of the idea that nuclear stability is better managed by rules, communication and transparency than by arms accumulation. Whether this moment marks just a blip or the beginning of a new normal will depend on immediate political decisionsalthough the consensus among experts is crystal clear: without some type of control, the world enters a more dangerous, more disturbing, more opaque phase and, of course, with less room for error. Image | Steve Jurvetson In Xataka | The countries with the most nuclear bombs in 2025, gathered in this graph with two protagonists: China and India In Xataka | In 1950 two scientists wondered if a 10 gigaton nuclear bomb was possible. Your results are hidden under lock and key

so you can see if you live in an area that is at risk

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Let’s tell you how to look at areas at risk of flooding with the new experimental map created by Google. With this tool, you can navigate and zoom into any area of ​​the world to see where there are dangers of extreme flash floods, with special interest in those river and sudden floods. For example, at the time of writing this article we find that a good part of Spain cannot absorb even one more dropwhich makes the storm feast expected in February be especially dangerous. You can see this on the Google map, especially in the west of the country. Google Flood Risk Map To enter this map you have to go to the website sites.research.google/floods. This will open a world map, with a column on the right where you can turn visualizations on or off. By default they will be shown above all areas most in danger of flash flooding what’s in the world. On this map you will be able to zoom in or activate a hybrid map to see satellite photos of the areas. You can get closer to the area you want, where you will see colored dots information that indicates the danger of flooding in each area. Here, if you click on any of the points On the left you will see a window with expanded information, especially seeing how the dangers evolve and from what source the information is obtained. In Xataka Basics | V16 beacon map: how to use it to see which ones are activated in real time in Spain

also controls that of Portugal

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Amancio Ortega has decided to get fully involved in the Portuguese energy business. His investment vehicle, Pontegadeahas just raised its stake in REN (National Energy Networks), the operator of Portugal’s electricity and gas networks. This new movement in renewable energy field and the distribution networks leaves the founder of Inditex as the second main shareholder of the Portuguese energy operator, just behind the Chinese State Grid and places him in a strategic position in renewables throughout the Iberian Peninsula. The second largest shareholder of the Portuguese company. Pontegadea entered REN for the first time in 2021, when it agreed to purchase 12% of the capital that until then was controlled by the Mazoon group, linked to Oman Oil. That operation placed Amancio Ortega as the second largest shareholder in the Portuguese company, which manages key electricity and gas infrastructure in the country. With the new investment, Pontegadea has taken another step in consolidating its position in the renewable sector by adding an additional 1.7%, according to sources of Europa Press. Thus, Ortega’s investor reaches 13.7% of the Portuguese company’s total share capital. Pontegadea’s investment. During the second half of 2025, REN shares were traded between 3 and 3.4 euros per share, which makes the value of the new package of shares that Pontegadea has purchased currently between 30 and 38.5 million euros. This, added to the original 12% (which was valued at around 190 million euros at the time), leaves a stake in REN dear at around 314 million euros, in a company with a market capitalization of 2,292 million euros. Second largest shareholder. With 13.7%, Pontegadea consolidates itself as the second largest shareholder of REN, only surpassed by State Grid Corporation of China, which maintains 25% of the capital. The rest of the energy company’s shareholding is distributed in a more fragmented way: Lazard has dropped to around 6.6% (from the 7.7% it had before), Corporación Masaveu has 5%, the insurer Fidelidade another 5.3% and the Spanish operator Redeia completes the group of large investors with its 5%. This position as the second largest shareholder gives Ortega relevant weight in the company that operates energy in Portugal, without the need for iintervene in its direct management. In this way, Ortega benefits from the dividends and long-term growth of REN, a key player in the energy transition in Portugal. This is a very typical Pontegadea strategy that we have already seen in group investments in port entities and logistics infrastructures in which it enters with force, receiving stable income, but without complicating itself with its operations. He does not invest in energy: he is the one who controls it. In 2019, Ortega’s investor It did not have any participation in the energy sector. Seven years later, Pontegadea already has solid holdings and a strategy that looks to the energy future of the entire peninsula. However, Ortega’s position in this sector is not oriented towards energy generation, without the operators that control distribution networks. Amancio Ortega owns 5% of Redeia, the parent company of Red Eléctrica, which in turn is an investor in the Portuguese company REN. As in its Portuguese counterpart, Ortega’s investor is positioned as the second shareholder only behind the Spanish State, which through SEPI controls 20% of the operator. In addition, it maintains 5% in Enagás, the gas network manager in Spain, and another 5% in Enagás Renovables, where collaborates with Repsol in clean energy projects such as wind and solar parks. Strategy on both sides of the border. These positions form a block in Spanish and Portuguese infrastructure that prepares the ground for more renewables, storage and green hydrogen, all financed with Inditex dividends. The new investment in REN is not an isolated movement, but rather connects directly with what Pontegadea already has in Spain. REN collaborates with Enagás in the corridor hydrogen H2Medwhich connects Celorico da Beira in Portugal with Zamora, forming part of the great European commitment to green hydrogen. With 13.7% in REN and his positions in Redeia and Enagás, Amancio Ortega is at the heart of the networks that will move renewable energy throughout the Iberian Peninsula. In Xataka | Sandra Ortega rents hotels to hotels. Amancio Ortega has copied the model with a luxury hotel in Paris Image | Unsplash (Brandon Griggs), GTRES

re-drill the ground

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Just four years ago, the ghost that walked the halls of Brussels wore an ushanka and spoke Russian. The invasion of Ukraine in 2022 caused an energy trauma that Europe swore not to repeat, launching into a frantic race to cut ties with Gazprom. Today, the anguish has returned, but the fear no longer looks to the East, but to the West. Europe is experiencing a painful déjà vu: fleeing dependence on Moscow, the continent has fallen into the arms from Washington, and the hug begins to suffocate. this winter is not giving up. Gas storage levels in Europe have fallen to their lowest point since that 2022 crisis, standing at around 44% at the end of January, an alarming figure when compared to the average of 58% over the last decade. according to data from the Financial Times. The complacency of the markets contrasts with the physical reality explained by Ron Bousso in Reuters– Underground caverns become dangerously empty and strategic vulnerability is exposed. The return of the “Old Kings”: Drill again. This market apathy in the face of empty warehouses has a technical explanation: the inverted pricing structure (backwardation). Right now, future gas is trading cheaper than current gas, which eliminates the economic incentive to save fuel: no company wants to buy at a high price today to have an asset that will be worth less in the summer. Faced with this market failure and the precarious supply, Europe has decided to stop waiting and dust off the drills. What five years ago was a climate taboo is today a national security priority. Oil and gas exploration has returned to the European agenda with force. Claudio Descalzi, CEO of the Italian energy giant Eni, has given voice to this paradigm shift. As explained for a report in the Financial TimesEurope must abandon the “ideological” approach that stopped domestic investments in fossil fuels. For the manager, the refusal to exploit its own resources has not saved the planet, it has simply forced Europe to buy that same energy abroad, at higher prices and from competitors who now use the supply as a political weapon. This vision aligns with what financial analysts already detect: pragmatism prevails over idealism. Simon Edelsten investment expert columnistargues that the “net zero investment bubble” has already burst. Governments and fund managers, which previously penalized any fossil asset, are making a 180-degree turn. “The rate at which fossil fuels are replaced depends more on their price than on government decrees,” says Edelsten, recalling that, without cheap alternatives, the world continues burning gas. The dependency trap. The European diversification strategy had its own name: the United States. At the start of this year, the data already reflects that Washington has supplied 60% of all the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) that the European Union imported, consolidating its dominant position. However, this solution has become a major geopolitical problem due to the president’s rhetoric about the purchase of greenland and threats to impose tariffs. “The risk is not that the United States will cut off supplies tomorrow,” analysts cited by the New York Times warn“the risk is that he uses his dominant position to pressure or condition.” Unlike Russia, Washington does not need to turn off the tap; It is enough to play with tariffs or prioritize other markets. Furthermore, Europe has stopped buying cheap gas by pipeline to buy the most expensive gas on the market: American LNG, hindering the competitiveness of its industry. No easy plan B. The search for alternatives is desperate but fruitless, as detailed in Bloomberg. The EU is looking towards Qatar, but military tensions between the US and Iran in the Strait of Hormuz put that route at risk. Norway, for its part, is already producing at the limit of its capacity. The question that hovers above is inevitable: why not cover that gap with renewables? The short answer is that infrastructure and technology are not keeping pace with politics. The wind sector, once the great hope, has been the great victim of the bursting of the green bubble. Leading companies such as Ørsted or Vestas have seen their shares plummet and their debt skyrocket because the windiest places are already exploited. Although solar energy resists storms better thanks to improvements in the efficiency of the panels, as Edelsten highlightsits intermittency makes it incapable on its own of covering winter demand peaks. Even in the best renewable deployment scenario, gas is not going away. Consulting reports like McKinsey They project that global gas demand will increase by 26% until 2050. The reason It’s technical: Renewables need a backup, a “bodyguard” that keeps the electrical grid stable when there is no sun or wind. The energy transition, paradoxically, has turned gas into a permanent strategic pillar. Emergency engineering and the Spanish wall. Faced with the impossibility of bringing gas by land from the East, Europe has turned to the sea. The emergency solution have been the FSRU (Floating Storage and Regasification Units), gigantic ships that act as “mobile plugs” to process liquefied gas. Its rent is around $155,000 a day, a price that Europe gladly pays to avoid a blackout. However, the gas hits a physical wall when it reaches land. Spain illustrates this European dysfunction perfectly: it has the regasification plants and the gas on its coasts, but it lacks the pipelines (interconnections) to send it to the north of the continent. With an export capacity to France limited to 8,500 million cubic meters per year, the Iberian Peninsula remains an energy islandunable to alleviate Germany or Central Europe’s thirst for gas. A “hyperactive” market and the shadow of Russia. Gas is no longer a simple commodity to become a high-speed financial asset. Today it operates 22 hours a day, with hedge funds and algorithms reacting in milliseconds to any global news. This “financialization” has brought extreme volatility: a late-night headline about Iran can alter the price of heating in Berlin before dawn. And while Europe watches the stock charts, Russia continues … Read more

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