Month: March 2026

20% more is charged

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There is a very specific reason why thousands of Spaniards dedicate years of their lives to prepare oppositions for become public officials. It is not only the job stability that working for public administrations offers. It’s also about salaries. The numbers confirm this with a clarity that is rarely openly debated: do civil servants have very high salaries or are the salaries of private sector employees those that have been left behind? It’s not just for stability, it’s also for the salary. According to data of the last Statistics of Average Contribution Bases of the General Regime of Social Security, the average contribution base of Public Administration workers stood at 2,853.5 euros per month in September 2025. The highest level recorded to date. This data, which serves as an average reference for the gross monthly salary, places public employment as the fifth best-paid activity among the 21 categories analyzed by this organization’s statistics. The most striking thing is not only the amount of the salary, but what it means in comparison with the rest of the sectors. While the average salary in the private sector has remained at the threshold of 2,200 euros per month since November 2024, Administration workers already exceeded 2,800 euros in that same period. This advantage has remained stable and has even grown during 2025.​ A gap of 579 euros per month. Putting it into figures, the average difference between what a public employee earns and one in the same activity in the private sector now exceeds 579 euros per month. This implies that the payroll received by Administration officials is 20.3% higher than that of the entire economy. If only the comparison with workers affiliated to the General Regime is taken into account, this gap rises to 25.46%: This wage gap between the public and private sectors is not new, but it is at a time of maximum expansion. He report from the Bank of Spain that analyzed data from 2021, already placed the advantage of the public sector at 24.97% compared to the private sector, a figure that tripled the average difference in the euro zone between the public and private sectors, placing by just 8%. According to collected ABC In countries like France this is reduced to 13% compared to the private sector. On the other hand, in Germany, the salaries of civil servants are practically the same, and some civil servants even earn less than their counterparts in the private sector. Do civil servants earn a lot or have salaries not risen enough? The Ministry of Public Function reached in December 2025 an agreement with CSIF, UGT and CCOO to increase the salaries of the more than 3.5 million public employees in Spain by 1.5%. This increase is part of a plan that foresees accumulated increases of 11% until 2028. Meanwhile, although the average salary has risen driven by the increase in the Minimum Interprofessional Wage, these increases only affect the most precarious salaries. The rest of the percentiles have registered more irregular and dependent increases on the collective bargaining by sectors. The result is that, in the last five years, public salaries have grown by 14%, compared to 18% in the private sector. However, the starting base for public employment was already so high that the absolute gap remains unbridgeable. That is, the lowest salaries in the Administration are much higher than those in the private sector. The Administration is also looking for talent. The attractiveness of public employment is not explained solely by salary. To the economic advantage It adds job stability that the private sector can rarely offer. This explains that, according to a study From the OpositaTest portal, in 2023, 68% of men and 72% of women would exchange a stable job in the private sector for a public position. Furthermore, the public sector maintains its commitment to teleworking flexibility whenever the position allows, while the private sector has moved towards presenceeven if the position allows it. According what was published by Expansionthe internal distribution of salaries also reveals that in the three highest income deciles, with average salaries of 2,807 euros per month, 3,385 euros and 5,213 euros gross per month, a majority of public employees are concentrated. On the other hand, only 22% of private sector workers reach these salary ranges. That is to say, public employment is not only better, it also offers a greater probability of accessing the highest salary levels, something that explains why oppositions in Spain They continue to be so disputed.​ In Xataka | Some experts have looked at the Spanish labor market and have reached a conclusion: in 2030, 40% will be over 50 years old Image | Unsplash (Beatriz Cattel)

that humanoid robots controlled by a central AI work

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Samsung has planted itself in the MWC 2026 with one objective: to demonstrate that it is a ubiquitous company. What does this imply? Well, let them gain muscle with your screens everywherebut also show a powerful commitment to artificial intelligence in all links of the chain: from mobile phones to Samsung Galaxy S26 to the factories. And as a result of that intention for AI to be the pilot of everything, they have shown a science fiction plan: that robots and a central AI control their factories. And they want it the day after tomorrow. Independent. He concept of “agent AI” It’s one that we’re going to have to become familiar with because companies are going to put a lot of effort – and money – into this. It is an AI that no longer only responds to what we need, but can carry out actions autonomously. In a releaseSamsung assures that that agent principle that has been introduced in the Galaxy S26 It will be what dictates the future of its factories. The South Korean company wants these artificial intelligence agents to be the ones that “optimize workflows in production, predictive maintenance, repair operations and logistics coordination” in its factories, but an AI cannot execute things outside of the software. Need a physical interfaceand that’s where the other leg of the plan comes into play. Robots. They are the body of the brain and something that many companies are already exploring. A few months ago I traveled to China and came across the first store run by a robot. It is very simple and I described it as a “glorified vending machine”, but it meets the objective of these companies: to have spaces in which robots take care of everything. They don’t rest, they don’t have agreements and they don’t complain. And if companies like BMW either Xiaomi is already testing robots in its factories, Samsung does not want to be left behind. In the statement, the South Korean company states that they are already progressively introducing highly specialized humanoid robots for various tasks. For example, robots for facility management operations, others for the next steps of the production line, others in logistics, others for the transportation of materials, and precision robots for manufacturing. They point out that they are ideal in environments where human access is limited or dangerous and they are clear that it is something that will grow, with other robots dedicated to monitoring plant conditions, identifying risks and mitigating them before they occur. Total bet. In the end, it is about fully integrating AI across the entire manufacturing value chain: from logistics to production; from quality inspection to final shipment. They are designing a “next-generation autonomous production environment,” and they want to have it soon. The plan is that by 2030, “all manufacturing operations” will have completed the transition to this agentic and robotic AI. They are already at it, as we say, adding robots to production chains, but Samsung’s Executive Vice President and Head of Global Technology Research points out that the next phase is the “construction of autonomous environments where AI understands contexts in real time and executes optimal decisions.” NVIDIA. It sounds like science fiction, especially because of the deadlines they have, but they will not be alone in this adventure. Who is going to be by your side? Indeed: NVIDIA. At the end of last year, both they signed an agreement collaboration that includes the deployment of more than 50,000 NVIDIA GPUs and the use of the platform Omniverse to carry out the infrastructure of digital twins in semiconductor manufacturing. This is key to achieving that goal that Samsung seeks and as important as the AI reasoning systems in real time for robots. And for this they are also using the Jetson Thor platform from Jensen Huang’s company. Alternative to TSMC. That is the goal that Samsung wants to reach. Because right now they are one of the largest factories in the world (they have their Exynos processorsbut also its camera sensors that are in various devices, as well as its division of memory that powers NVIDIA GPUs), but what they want is to become an alternative to the undisputed queen: TSMC. To do this, Samsung is moving, opening factories in several countries around the world and investing enormous sums of money to be one of the legs of the business in the United States which also pursues this agentic AI and the end with haste and a good wad of cash: general AI. There are four years left to see if this objective, which seems like science fiction, is met. Images | Samsung, Xiaomi In Xataka | I have seen the result of a crazy night between a mobile phone and a robot: the Honor Robot Phone dances to your music as well as takes photos of you

A teenager in Mexico created a Hombres G fan website in 1998, with the band already separated. 9 years later they filled Las Ventas

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In 1998, Mexican Francisco Romero was 15 years old, had a new computer and a school assignment to complete. Looking for the best grade, he created a website about his favorite group: Hombres G, a Spanish band that by then was already dissolved. What began as an academic exercise ended up becoming the band’s first digital fan community, with thousands of members spread around the world. And it was also the trigger that convinced David Summers and his team to return to the stage. How it all started. In 1998, having internet at home in Mexico was not common: just a marginal fraction (2-3%) of the Mexican population had access to the network under these conditions. Even so, Francisco Romero, a teenager who had just gotten his first computer, embarked on completing a school project in which students were asked to create a web page. Romero chose the Hombres G as the subject of his project. He had arrived at the Madrid group, which had already been dissolved for five years, through friends from high school. And since finding documentation about the band was difficult (there were only two pages about Hombres G on the internet), he decided to create a community. Meeting point. The web, as Romero himself explainswas titled Club ‘We’re still crazy… so what?’, in reference to ‘We’re crazy… or what?’ title of one of the group’s first albums. The success was immediate: in its first five months, it received hundreds of requests from Mexico, Spain, Colombia, Peru and Japan (in times before algorithms and search engines crashed). They wrote to him, above all, from fans who had not had a space to talk about the band for years, to which they had not stopped listening since the last album they had released in 1993, ‘Bikini history‘. The contact. At the end of 2000an anonymous user left him a complimentary message on the page, to which Romero responded politely. Three days later, another message arrived from the same sender, who turned out to be one of the band’s two guitarists: “Please don’t give out my email, I’m Dani Mezquita.” Later they established telephone contact, which ended up leading to more frequent conversations. The significant fact: Mezquita was then working as marketing director at DRO East West, the Warner Music label that released almost all of the band’s albums. From his position he had noticed something: at the end of 2000, a compilation of Hombres G was the third best-selling album in Mexico at that time. A group without activity, without tour, without active label, without a single public appearance in years. That is, they had an active and completely underserved fan base. With these data on the table, and as told in the documentary ‘The Best Years of Our Life’ (released in theaters scheduled for April 30), the members met and proposed a modest return, with three or four concerts in Mexico. It gets out of hand. From there the expectation skyrockets. The reunification tour ended adding 70 performances during 2002 and 2003including a concert in Las Ventas before 20,000 people and several cities in Latin America and the United States. The album that accompanied the comeback, ‘Dangerous Together’, was initially released only in America, which says a lot about where the weight of the comeback was leaning. When he arrived in Spain he ended up obtaining the Platinum Record. In gratitude for Romero’s importance in this return, he has continued working continuously with the band from Mexico. And so we come to the present: on April 25, 2025, Men G performed before more than 60,000 people at the GNP Seguros Stadium in Mexico City. All within the framework of a tour titled ‘Thank you, Mexico Tour’. A name that makes it clear to what extent the very survival of the group is owed to a modest student from the city. In Xataka | Three millennia of pop: the oldest song in the world is 3,400 years old and we can still hear it

Trump threatens to “cut off all trade”

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The decision of the Spanish Government not to authorize the Rota and Morón bases to be used in the United States military offensive against Iran has opened a diplomatic front that goes far beyond the military level. The reaction from Washington was immediate. US President Donald Trump He stated this Tuesday that he wants “cut off all trade with Spain.” The disagreement, therefore, no longer revolves solely around the use of military installations on Spanish soil. It has also moved to the economic and commercial field. threatening tone. In his statements to the media, released by the White Housethe American president charged directly against the Spanish Government. On the one hand, the refusal to allow Spanish bases to be used in the operation against Iran. On the other hand, Spain’s refusal to raise its military spending to 5% of GDP, a goal that Washington has been defending for some time within NATO. “Spain has been terrible,” said the president, before reproaching that Spain was the only ally that did not accept that spending objective. A question of international legality. Before Trump launched his trade threat, the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, assured the media that the US bases in Spanish territory have not provided support to the offensive against Iran and that this situation will not change. “Neither from Morón nor from Rota have they carried out nor will they carry out any maintenance or support action,” stated. Along the same lines, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, insisted that the Executive will not authorize the use of these facilities for operations that do not fit within the Charter of the United Nations. The Convention as a brake. The refusal of the Spanish Government is also supported by the legal framework that has regulated the US military presence in the country for decades. As we explained in a previously published articlethe bilateral agreement signed in 1988 establishes that the use of facilities such as Rota and Morón must be framed in objectives within the bilateral or multilateral scope provided for in the agreement itself. This same framework contemplates that any operation that goes beyond these assumptions requires prior authorization from the Executive. The Spanish Government relies on this point to maintain that a unilateral military offensive against Iran does not fit into the framework provided for by the agreement. Planes that move. While the political debate intensified, some movements had already occurred on the ground. According to Reutersthe United States transferred at least fifteen resupply aircraft that were deployed at the Morón and Rota bases. a dozen of KC-135 They departed from the Sevillian base to the Ramstein air base, in Germany, while another five took off from the Rota naval base with an unconfirmed destination in some cases. These devices are relevant in air campaigns because they allow the operational range of combat aircraft to be extended. The threat and its limits. The warning to cut off trade raises an obvious question: to what extent can Washington apply such a measure against a single European country. In practice, the margin is limited. As a member of the European Union, Spain does not negotiate its trade agreements with the United States bilaterally, since these conversations are channeled through the European Commission. This complicates any attempt to penalize only Spain. The Country pointshowever, to the possibility of resorting to selective taxes on certain categories of products as an instrument of economic pressure. The Spanish Government has also responded. In a statement collected by RTVEMoncloa pointed out that any review of the commercial relationship between both countries must be done “respecting the autonomy of private companies, international legality, and bilateral agreements between the European Union and the United States.” The Executive also defended that Spain is “a key member of NATO” and a reliable trade partner for dozens of countries. What there is. For now, what exists is a political threat that has not yet been translated into concrete measures. The fight between Spain and the States has gone in a very short time from a discussion about the use of military bases to a much broader field that includes trade, diplomacy and international security. However, there are still many unknowns left open. We have to wait to see how this whole situation will evolve. Images | Defense Visual Information Distribution Service | The White House In Xataka | A Gulf country is launching an unprecedented missile against Iran. Nobody knows who he is and wants to remain anonymous

Delaying the closure of a single plant forces us to redesign the entire energy map of Spain

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Right in the middle of a relentless political and business battle to extend the life of the Spanish atomic park, the harsh reality of the market has imposed itself. While top executives discuss the long-term future, the present has hit the table: the owner of the Almaraz II nuclear power plant notified the Nuclear Safety Council (CSN) of an unscheduled shutdown of its reactor and its decoupling from the electrical grid. The alarms did not go off due to a security problem. In fact, the incident was classified as level 0 (no significance for security) on the international INES scale, to which we have had access. The real reason was purely economic and motivated by causes related to the electricity market. As explained The Extremadura Newspaper, The recent succession of storms triggered renewable production —sinking electricity prices— which, added to an “unaffordable tax burden” that represents more than 75% of its variable costs, made it completely unfeasible to keep the reactor on. The recent pulse: from disconnection to extension This disconnection collides head-on with the intense corporate movements of recent weeks. At the end of October, Iberdrola, Endesa and Naturgy presented to the Executive a formal request to postpone until June 2030 the closure of Almaraz, whose two reactors were scheduled to be disconnected for 2027 and 2028. But the ambition of the sector does not stop in Cáceres. According to Five Daysthe president of Iberdrola, Ignacio Sánchez Galán, has confirmed that they will request the expansion of other plants in the future, ensuring that “most of them can reach 60 and even 80 years.” This position is supported by technical and logistical arguments from the industry. As detailed in The Economistthe CEO of Endesa, José Bogas, aspires to prolong “in round numbers about 10 more years” the entire Spanish nuclear park. Bogas argues that it does not make logistical sense to proceed with the complex dismantling of two groups of the same plant on different dates (2027 and 2028). Meanwhile, the CSN is already analyzing the documentation to issue its mandatory report, foreseeably in summer, as reported in a press release from the regulator itself. The possible extension of Almaraz has opened a huge gap between two irreconcilable visions of the energy transition. In the block of those who defend extending atomic life, economic and labor arguments set the pace. According to the statements of Ignacio Sánchez Galán collected by Vozpópulinuclear power plants are a key element in reducing the price of electricity. In fact, the president of Iberdrola recalls that European countries that lack this type of energy, such as Italy and Germany, pay “about 20 euros more” per megawatt hour for electricity compared to Spain and France. Added to this defense of competitiveness is the warning about the direct impact on the final consumer’s pocket. A recent report from the OBS Business School alert that if Almaraz closesthe inevitable dependence on gas would increase the electricity bill by around 23% for households – between 150 and 250 euros more per year – and up to 35% for industry. Beyond the receipt, there is the territorial factor. The College of Industrial Engineers, in statements to The Energy Newspaperremember that this plant not only generates 7% of the electricity in all of Spain, complying with the highest international safety standards (WANO 1), but is also a vital economic engine to sustain 4,000 direct and indirect jobs that stop depopulation in the region. However, against this position stands a solid wall of detractors who see the extension as an imminent danger for the green transition. A joint investigation by the Rey Juan Carlos University (URJC) and the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC), prepared on behalf of Greenpeaceconcludes that extending Almaraz for just three years would mean “momentary relief, structural damage.” Researchers calculate that this decision would cost consumers a cumulative extra cost of 3,831 million euros between now and 2033 and would stop up to 26,129 million euros in investments destined for new clean energies. From Greenpeace they also point to the so-called “plug effect”: since nuclear is an inflexible technology that produces fixed gear regardless of demand, it often forces us to disconnect or waste renewable energy—free and clean—in times of high sun or wind. This situation generates a climate of enormous concern in the green sector. In an interview with InfoLibrePedro Fresco, general director of the Valencian renewable employer association Avaesen, warns that granting a “mini-extension” of three years would be the worst possible scenario. In his opinion, this movement would send a message of total uncertainty to investors, threatening to stop the development of future renewable projects in its tracks. The “Domino Effect”: rewriting the energy map The true background of this battle is that Almaraz is not an isolated piece. As several experts warn he Vigo Lighthouse and andl Newspaper of Extremaduradelaying the closure of the Cáceres plant would unleash an unstoppable “domino effect” throughout the national territory. If Almaraz is delayed to 2030, its closure would coincide in time with that of Ascó I (Tarragona) and Cofrentes (Valencia). The electricity companies assume that the Government would also have to postpone these closures to avoid overlapping the gigantic and complex work of dismantling four reactors simultaneously. This would also force the closures of Ascó II, Vandellós II and Trillo to be pushed well beyond 2035, blowing up the current National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC). The final decision is in the hands of the Executive, which for the moment maintains its position. The Government has marked three non-negotiable red lines to accept any change: that it guarantees radiological safety, security of supply and, above all, that it does not cost consumers an extra euro or imply tax reductions for electricity companies. And this is where the circle closes. As Galán insists on Vozpópulithe plants bear an enormous tax burden of “30-35 euros per megawatt hour.” Without a tax reduction, electricity companies threaten economic viability; but without profitability, it is the market itself that, as … Read more

It’s not an anecdote, it’s a warning

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Smart glasses are a reality, and not since yesterday. We have been talking about them for a long time, testing them and telling what they can dofrom recording to integrating into the mobile ecosystem. It is not an exaggeration to say that they will be increasingly present in society. The question is what happens when they enter an exam where all candidates must compete under the same conditions, without external advantages or technological shortcuts. The case. On January 24, during the MIR 2026 celebration in Santiago de Compostela, those responsible for surveillance detected an applicant who was using smart glasses and a smart watch, according to sources from the Ministry of Health cited. through media like El Mundo and 20Minutes. The devices were removed and the candidate was able to complete the test, but the subsequent administrative decision was forceful: his exam was graded a zero. As we can see, the incident was detected at the time, inside the classroom, but it did not become public until weeks later. An exam that decides careers. He MIRacronym for Resident Internal Physician, is the mandatory route for a Medicine graduate to become a specialist in Spain. The test, organized by the Ministry of Health, is made up of 200 multiple choice questions, with four options and a single valid answer, in addition to reserve questions, and lasts four and a half hours. Based on the grade obtained, an order is established that determines the choice of specialty and destination. The unknowns. It has not been detailed what model of glasses or what watch the applicant was wearing, nor what exactly was the method he tried to use. It has also not been reported whether there was any other device involved or whether there was coordination with third parties outside the classroom. For now, the only thing confirmed is the presence of these wearables during the test and the subsequent sanction. This lack of data forces us to carefully separate facts from hypotheses and avoid conclusions that are not supported by official information. Goal glasses? Models such as the second generation Ray-Ban Meta incorporate a 12 MP camera, open speakers and artificial intelligence functions aimed at identifying objects or translating texts in real time. Meta’s own official help explains that allow you to “share your view” during a video call on Messenger, WhatsApp or Instagram, alternating between the glasses’ camera and the phone’s camera. None of this implies that this was the device used in MIR 2026, but it does help to understand what capabilities already exist on the market. A controversy that had been going on since before. The debate on the controls of MIR 2026 was already open before this episode became known. Several candidates publicly questioned the result of exam number 1while she flatly denied it. In parallel, the president of the MIR Spain Association, Jesús Arzúa Moya, declared to EFE that They do not want to focus on anyone specific, but stated that they have received multiple testimonies about cell phone copying, absence of experienced members in many offices and other irregularities. According to him, “some cases of artificial intelligence (AI) glasses” have also been confirmed, and “there could be many more.” Argentina as a mirror. A recent history helps to understand why these situations generate concern. According to AP, In the middle of last year, the Argentine Ministry of Health investigated an applicant who had recorded the Single Residency Exam with a camera hidden in his glasses. The main official hypothesis pointed to a system in which the candidate filmed the questions, went to the bathroom and sent the material to third parties to receive the answers before returning to the classroom. Authorities described the method as a “quite sophisticated, but effective, back-and-forth.” Although this case cannot automatically be extrapolated to Spain, it illustrates how the combination of camera and connection can alter traditional control logic. The vulnerability is general. The context outside the classroom. What happened at the MIR adds to a broader conversation about the misuse of connected glasses. In Xataka we already talked about the arrest in Barcelona of a man who had recorded numerous women with some Ray-Ban Metaa case that focused on the ease with which these cameras can be integrated into everyday life. Although the device incorporates an LED that indicates recording and emits a sound when activated, there are methods to “camouflage” it. The notice. What happened at MIR 2026 introduces a warning signal in an exam that affects the careers of thousands of doctors. The Ministry stressed that the case demonstrates that “it is monitored” and presents it as proof that the controls work since they were detected in the classroom. Even so, the emergence of connected wearables poses an obvious challenge for any highly demanding in-person test. The question now is not only who tried to copy, but whether current protocols are prepared for technological evolution. Images | Xataka with Nano Banana | Wikimedia Commons In Xataka | A week with the Xiaomi Mijia Smart Audio Glasses has shown me how great it is that your glasses are also your headphones

The Government of Spain has insisted that we do not exceed the speed limits. And it has a threat: jail

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At the moment it is a Bill presented in the Congress of Deputies but it is much more than that. It is confirmation that the Government will debate when a driver should go to jail in case of speeding. The PSOE’s proposal is to reduce this margin, which now requires driving through the city at more than the permitted speed of 60 km/h. 10km/h. It’s not much but it would be a substantial difference. Until now, a driver who exceeds the maximum speed allowed within the city by 60 km/h or more faces a prison sentence. Outside the city, the speed must exceed 80 km/h above the maximum permitted limit. With the change in regulations What the Government wants to carry outthe idea is that these limits are lowered by 10 km/h. That is, a driver has to face jail if he exceeds 50 km/h in the city and 70 km/h on roads outside of town. “Excessive permissiveness or laxity”. It’s like the Bill presented in the Congress of Deputies qualifies the current thresholds to determine what is a crime and what is not when we break the speed limits. Currently, the limits are as follows. City: Streets at 20 km/h: prison from 80 km/h Streets at 30 km/h: prison from 90 km/h Streets at 50 km/h: prison from 110 km/h Road outside the town: Road at 90 km/h: jail from 170 km/h Road at 100 km/h: jail from 180 km/h Road at 120 km/h: jail from 200 km/h The arguments. To promote this regulatory change, the Government indicates that the European Union is promoting changes to reduce road accidents. This is how it is understood more restrictive speed limits in much of Europe, although Germany continues to enjoy roads that lack them (up for debate today) and countries that They want to increase them to 150 km/h. But, in addition, the PSOE hides behind the fact that a 1% increase in speed has a 4% impact on its consequences. Therefore, the impact caused by an accident due to excess speed, which according to DGT accounts is present in 22% of accidents, is growing exponentially. Furthermore, the new wording emphasizes the consequences in the city, where excessive speed has more serious consequences on the health of vulnerable people such as pedestrians, cyclists, users of personal mobility vehicles and motorcyclists. Are there reasons? The truth is that excess speed is, behind distractions, the leading cause of accidents in our country. And its consequences are especially serious in the city. According to the DGT5% of pedestrians hit at 30 km/h die. At 50 km/h, the risk increases to 50% and at 80 km/h death is almost certain. And on the road, an impact at 120 km/h is considered to translate into a fall of a fourteenth floor. At 180 km/h the impact is equivalent to falling from a 36 story. What would happen to the drivers? At the moment, speeding Driving at more than 60 km/h in the city and more than 80 km/h outside of it are considered crimes, like those positive for alcohol and drugs. This means that the driver, in addition to the financial penalty, faces a prison sentence of three to six months that does not have to be served on the first occasion. Of course, although the sentence does not exceed two years, a judge has the power to decide whether to send the driver to prison. And also if it imposes a financial fine, which is calculated based on the damage caused or the risk to which it has subjected other drivers and traffic agents if no accident had occurred, from six to twelve months or work for the benefit of the community from thirty-one to 90 days. In addition, he would be deprived of his driving license for one to four years. Will it move forward? That is something that the Congress of Deputies now has to debate. Both the DGT and the Government have recently been promoting more restrictive measures against excessive driving. Under the direction of Pedro Sánchez, the penalties for mobile phone use have worsened and the obligation to have insurance and registration if you have a scooter. In the same way, there has been an attempt to promote a change in alcohol limits that would prevent a person from driving as soon as they had had a beer or a glass of wine. However, this reform is still up in the air. Photo | Max Angelo In Xataka | A town in France has managed to reduce the speed of its cars. Without radars or traffic lights or speed bumps

is losing homes and gaining Airbnb apartments

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There are many shows held around the world, but few can boast the levels of popularity of the FIFA World Cup, which will be held this summer in North America. Nor to drag so many followers. In January the organization revealed that in just 33 days it had received more than 500 million of ticket requests for the sales phase of the random draw. If FIFA’s calculations are correct, more than six million of people will attend the tournament stadiums, leaving an average of 450,000 visitors in each host city. Such an avalanche of tourists is already being noticed in the housing market of Mexico City (CDMX), one of the cities involved. What has happened? That the CDMX residential market is strongly feeling the effects of the 2026 World Cup, which will be held this summer in Canada, the United States and Mexico. At least that’s what he claims Urban Memorial Projecta citizen platform that has set out to document the effects of gentrification, tourism and real estate pressure in the Mexican capital. A few days ago the organization launched a statement in which he warns that, on the eve of the competition, CMDX is suffering a flight of homes that are leaving the residential market to be offered in the tourist market, much more profitable. What does the data say? The figures come from Inside Airbnb and they are eloquent. According to your recordsin a matter of six months (December 2024-June 2025) Airbnb gained 770 “new accommodation spaces” in the Mexican capital. “On average, three apartments or entire houses were stolen from the residential rental market every two days during the first half of 2025 to be allocated to tourists through Airbnb,” underlines Urban Memorial. The organization recalls that, according to the latest update from Inside Airbnb, at the end of June 2025 CDMX had 27.51 active accommodations. Why is it important? Because the group appreciates “an acceleration in the conversion of housing from residential use to temporary accommodation” and warns that this transfer also occurs in “a critical moment” for the capital, in the midst of a residential crisis and on the eve of the World Cup. Added to these factors is that a good part of Airbnb’s offer corresponds to complete homes (17,713), the number of which far exceeds that of private rooms (8,995). The study also warns that this is the ‘photograph’ from a few months ago. “Surely it is growing at an even faster rate as we get closer to the World Cup,” remember the platform before specifying that Airbnb’s offer is not distributed evenly throughout the metropolis. 81% are concentrated in the four most central districts with the best services, with Cuahtémoc at the head. There alone, the “undisputed epicenter of the business”, there are more than 12,500 accommodations, 46% of the entire city. Are they denouncing anything else? Yes. The platform remember that although the Tourism Law (renovated in 2023) clarifies that accommodations advertised on websites such as Airbnb cannot be rented for more than 180 nights each year, this guideline is “generally violated.” To be more precise, after studying the data from Inside Airbnb, the organization found that there were 7,532 properties (about 30% of the total) that had already exceeded the limit of available nights. Who includes the standard? Especially large owners, according to Memorial. Is it the only warning sign? No. A few months ago the newspaper Reform he wondered how the World Cup was affecting the rentals of homes and commercial premises in CDMX, Guadalajara and Monterrey, venues of the tournament. His conclusion was striking: he estimated that rents in total would become more expensive between 25 and 40%. Already in December Julio César Mendoza, manager of the Inmuebles24 platform, slid the possibility that prices would rise, especially in the venues closest to the stadiums where the matches will be played, focusing on “flexible or temporary contracts” signed for the World Cup season. Does only the World Cup influence? No. Of course, not all of the increase is solely attributable to the FIFA Cup. The Spot2.mx platform remember that at least in the specific case of CDMX, the increase in the cost of commercial spaces is already coming from behind and is related to the gentrification of certain areas of the capital. In fact, there are studies that ensure that rents in the residential market they have shot up 45% between 2020 and 2025, displacing the population to the periphery. In his case the World Cup would act more as an accelerant. The truth is that there are landlords who started months ago to remodel their commercial spaces to attract brands during the months of June and July. Some Mexican media they also talk of landlords who have stopped renewing rental contracts precisely coinciding with the proximity of the World Cup. Does it only affect houses and commercial premises? No. Although recently the hoteliers of Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey they assured Since the anticipated occupancy level in its accommodation is low (30%), the sector expects demand to grow as the match dates approach. In fact, they predict that during key days occupancy will skyrocket to around 80 or 90%with rates 100, 150 or 300% higher than normal in key areas. The hotels near the stadiums hope to sell out. Images | Wikipedia and Zion Arellano (Unsplash) In Xataka | Mexico has been preparing for some time to host the World Cup. He had everything except the death of his great drug dealer

a global superbug has cornered us and only a vaccine can save us

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The arms race between humanity and bacteria has a battle front that continues to worsen year after year. For decades, we have relied on antibiotics like our definitive shield in order to put an end to them and prevent them from continuing to generate diseases. The problem is that they are very smart and know how to evade the effect of antibiotics, and the latest major scientific warning focuses on an old acquaintance, the Salmonella typhimuriumthe bacteria that causes typhoid fever. A new strain. We are not talking about a minor problem, and to understand it you have to travel to the province of Sindh, in Pakistan. There, as detailed in a study in 2008, all the alarms went off when a clone of this bacteria was detected that was named XDR and which has the characteristic of being very resistant to all medications that are available today. In this way, we are not facing a bacteria that is a little tougher to peel, but rather it is a strain that carries within itself a great genetic superpower: simultaneous resistance to major antibiotics such as chloramphenicol, ampicillin, cotrimoxazole, fluoroquinolones and third generation cephalosporins. In this way, overnight, the entire basic medical arsenal had become obsolete to be able to fight this bacteria. An expansion. What happens in Pakistan, in a hyperconnected world, does not stay in Pakistan. And this makes science be warning from the year 2022 where an international team sequenced 3,489 genomes of S. Typhi from Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and India. The result. Here you could clearly see the map of an enemy that is rapidly gaining ground. The research confirmed not only the increase in XDR strains, but also their international dispersion, crossing continental borders with astonishing ease. That is why imported cases of this highly resistant bacteria have begun to be detected in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, alerting the health systems of developed countries. No weapons. As medicines that we can use to kill these bacteria, we have few left. For now, science suggests that these XDR strains can be treated with antibiotics called meropenem and azithromycin. However, experts warn of the critical danger of this situation, since azithromycin has become the last viable oral antibiotic to treat these outpatient infections. The problem is that if we abuse this antibiotic, the bacteria will be able to create resistance against the drug, which would mean that all these infections would have to be treated in a hospital with intravenous medications and not oral ones. Simply because they would no longer exist. The vaccine. At this point, the scientific community is clear that we cannot win this war just by creating new antibiotics, but we have to prevent people from getting sick in the first place. And this particular case is where they come into play. typhoid conjugate vaccines. In this case, the WHO itself has prequalified four of these vaccines and the CDC also supports their use in vaccination programs in countries endemic to the disease. That is why the data suggests that an aggressive childhood vaccination campaign in urban areas of India could prevent approximately 36% of cases and deaths from typhoid fever. And it is great news, since preventing these deaths also prevents their widespread spread to other countries. In Xataka | AI is no longer a promise in breast cancer: the largest clinical trial confirms that it detects more and reduces the burden on the radiologist

The EU has a perfect plan to suffocate Russia. The problem is that now it needs its oil to survive

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In December 2025, we said goodbye to the year by telling Vladimir Putin a resounding da svidániya (До свида́ния). The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the Commissioner for Energy, Dan Jørgensen, pompously announced a political agreement to end Russian gas imports (both by pipeline and liquefied) by 2027. The political message was crystal clear: Europe wanted to show that it was no longer dependent on Moscow. The blackmail was over. But in its eagerness to celebrate the blackout of Russian gas, Brussels forgot a small detail: Putin’s oil still runs through the veins of Eastern Europe. And the embargo, in reality, has lasted very little. Barely three months later, physical reality has imposed itself on diplomacy. Today we find ourselves with a brutal paradox: the same European Union that designed an unprecedented economic war architecture against Moscow, and that asked its citizens to make sacrifices in the name of collective security, is now pressuring invaded Ukraine to open the tap on Russian crude oil. Deep down in the Kremlin, Putin always knew that the laws of politics rarely win against dependence on infrastructure. The epicenter of this crisis has its own name: the Druzhba pipeline (Interestingly, “friendship” in Russian). As revealed by an exclusive from Financial Timesthe EU is pressuring kyiv to allow inspection and repair of this infrastructure that transports Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia. The problem lies in a Russian attack that occurred on January 27. As detailed ReutersUkrainian Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal confirmed that a bombing severely damaged the sensors and internal equipment of the infrastructure. The story is expanded by the CEO of Naftogaz, Sergii Koretskyi, in statements to Financial Times: The attack caused a storage tank with 75,000 cubic meters of oil to catch fire, unleashing a fire the size of a football field that took 10 days to extinguish. Ukraine claims that repairing this in the middle of war is slow and dangerous. However, Hungary and Slovakia do not buy this version. According to EuronewsPrime Ministers Viktor Orbán and Robert Fico have created a joint investigative committee, demanding immediate access to the area. Orbán has gone further, accusing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of lying and orchestrating “state terrorism” and, together with Fico, demands that an independent investigation mission be deployed on the ground to verify the damage, something that kyiv refuses for security reasons in the middle of the war. The perfect storm in the Middle East Europe is not asking Ukraine for this favor on a whim, but out of pure survival. And to understand it you have to look to the Middle East. The recent coordinated attack by the US and Israel against Iran, which culminated in the assassination of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, has unleashed chaos. The Iranian response has caused a blockage de facto of the Strait of Hormuz, 20% of the world’s daily oil supply passes through this maritime funnel. The impact has been devastating: hundreds of ships are paralyzed, insurance premiums have shot up by up to 50% and the daily cost of renting a supertanker has risen by 600%. This has destroyed European plans.As analyst Shanaka Anslem Perera emphasizesEuropean sanctions have collided head-on with thermodynamics, and thermodynamics has won. With the EU’s gas reserves at 30% in mid-February, Qatar’s LNG trapped after the Hormuz blockade and the alternatives of Norway, Algeria and the US at the limit of their capacity, Europe has been left without a plan B. “The EU does not return to Russian oil because it wants to, it returns because it has no other option,” says Perera. So, are we once again dependent on Russia? For some EU countries, dependency was never cut. According to The Moscow TimesHungary and Slovakia continued to enjoy legal exemptions from European sanctions and were almost 100% dependent on the southern branch of the Druzhba pipeline, receiving some 150,000 barrels per day in January. The reason is purely economic, since Russian crude oil is between 13% and 20% cheaper. Although Croatia has offered its Adria pipeline (JANAF) to ship non-Russian oil to these countries, Euronews explains that Budapest resists. Orbán considers that it is not commercially viable, demands that Croatia allow the passage of sanctioned Russian oil and defends that its energy security cannot be an “ideological” issue. Curiously, while Europe suffers from its dependence, Russia observes the crisis of its allies from afar. According to an analysis of the cnnFollowing Khamenei’s death, the Kremlin has issued strong verbal condemnations but has refused to provide real military aid to Iran. Ukrainian military analysts note that Russia even refused to “blind” Israeli radars using its bases in Syria. Moscow, bogged down in Ukraine, does not have the resources to open new fronts, demonstrating that its alliances are more transactional than strategic. The pipeline crisis has mutated into lethal financial blackmail for kyiv. As noted Financial TimesHungary has vetoed the approval of an EU aid package for Ukraine worth €90 billion (scheduled for 2026-2027). Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó made it clear: there will be no money until oil flows through the Druzhba again. In Brussels, the European Commission is looking for shortcuts. Euronews points out that complex legal options are being consideredsuch as invoking Article 327 (which prevents countries excluded from an agreement from blocking the rest) or using the withholding of defense funds (the SAFE program) to pressure Orbán, who is in the midst of an election campaign. In the midst of the crossfire, diplomacy tries to survive. Deutsche Welle reports that Zelensky remains open to negotiating an end to the war with Russia. Although the talks were scheduled for March in Abu Dhabi, the instability in the Middle East due to Iranian missiles has led the Ukrainian leader to propose moving the dialogue table to Switzerland or Turkey. The great silent winner and European weakness While the West hyperventilates, calm reigns in Asia. China foresaw this scenario and he has been shielding himself for years. During 2025, $10 billion was spent … Read more

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