Month: July 2026

without permanence and you save two months of subscription

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We are getting dangerously close to August, the month when several important sports competitions such as LaLiga begin. Like last year, Movistar Plus is once again a place to watch a match from this match every day, just like the Champions League. What is the most economical way to subscribe? The annual fee, without a doubt: it costs 99.90 euros. We tell you more about her. Annual subscription to Movistar Plus The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Football and a huge catalog of movies and series Let’s go in parts. Movistar Plus has its star promo active right now: three months subscription at half price. Available for new members and old members without an active subscription, it is ideal for testing the platform. Now, if we do numbers, the most economical way to have Movistar Plus in the long run is its annual plan. The reason is very simple: with this, we will save two months. That is, we will pay 99.90 euros for one year. If we choose this modality, we will have 12 months of the Free Plan with movies, series and sports. With this, we will be able to see a match from each day of LaLiga, with matches such as Atlético de Madrid-Málaga, Elche-Barcelona or Real Madrid-Málaga. In addition, also LaLiga Hypermotion in full or matches like the Community Shield between Arsenal and Manchester City (August 16). And what about the movies and series? Well there is a lot to see. Next September comes’The black ball‘, a film that joins others like ‘The secret agent‘ either ‘One battle after another‘, as well as others that will arrive soon such as ‘28 years later: the temple of bones‘. And that’s without counting high-profile series like ‘A lot of people have to die’ or ‘Outlander’. To all this we must add several things. The first is that Movistar Plus allows you to share the account with a friend or family membereven if it is not at the same address. The other is that you can download whatever you want to watch offline, ideal if you plan to travel. All this makes it a top option if you are looking for a streaming platform to watch a little of everything. And if you want to save as much as possible, then the annual plan is worth it. 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 | Movistar Plus In Xataka | Movistar Plus activates its Free Plan with complete programs and a lot of content, regardless of which operator you are In Xataka | What TV to buy for less than 500 euros in 2026: the basics to demand and the most dispensable

For years Russia accustomed its citizens to a distant war. Thousands of gas stations have just broken that illusion

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Since the war between Russia and Ukraine began, the majority of Russians have been able to experience the war almost as background news, without much impact on their daily lives. However, that distance has been broken. And the fact is that queues of cars that stretch for hours, and even days, at thousands of gas stations in the country are forcing millions of people to feel, for the first time in such a direct way, the real cost of the conflict. What is happening. Ukraine has escalated since May their drone attacks against Russian refineriesand the result is a fuel crisis not seen since the last years of the Soviet Union. According to calculations According to the Financial Times, the shortage already directly affects some 50 million Russians, around 35% of the population. Almost 50 regions had imposed some type of restriction on gasoline sales by the end of June, and several of them have rationed the supply according to the vehicle’s license plate, alternating between even and odd days. Strain. Images circulating on social networks show waits of up to 36 hours in some areas, such as Chita, in the Transbaikalia region, according to collect Deutsche Welle. According to the media, there are those who spend the night in the car so as not to miss their turn, and some have even begun to sell their place in line for sums of up to 35,000 rubles (about 400 euros), according to testimonies cited by the same media. The tension has led to fights between drivers, and some regional authorities have had to improvise desperate measures, such as that of a Siberian governor who ordered hot food to be distributed to those waiting in line, while in the south of the country Cossacks with their traditional fur hats have been used to maintain order at gas stations, according to they claim from FT. Attacks. The origin of the problem lies in the pace and precision of Ukraine’s attacks. On July 6, a drone reached the Omsk refinery, the largest in the country, located 2,500 kilometers from the border, which gives an idea of ​​the reach that kyiv has gained. According to the Ukrainian General Staff, aforementioned By Kyiv Post, the attacks have already disabled 42.7% of Russia’s projected refining capacity, and a Bloomberg analysis places 24 of the country’s 34 large refineries that have been hit in about a hundred days. Consulting firm Energy Aspects estimates that Russian crude oil processing has fallen to its lowest level in 21 years. Despair. Moscow has chosen to downplay the crisis in public. Putin himself acknowledged on Sunday that there are “some shortcomings,” although he insisted that they are not “critical.” Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak attributed the queues to panic buying and speculation, not a structural supply problem, according to collect DW. However, the Kremlin itself has had to take measures that contradict this discourse, as it has banned exports of gasoline, diesel and kerosene, and has skyrocketed its fuel imports from Belarus, which in June were 141 times higher than a year earlier, according to share the Financial Times. The front also notices it. The shortage has even reached Russian troops deployed in Ukraine. And according to share Kyiv Post, some soldiers have seen their fuel supply reduced to just 20 liters per vehicle per day, when before they received what they needed to carry out their missions. In fact, a soldier stationed in the Zaporizhia sector claimed that his unit has gone from 20 liters to between 10 and 15, which forces them to travel up to 11 kilometers on foot to get water and supplies. Other soldiers say they buy gasoline from local residents at prices between 200 and 300 rubles per liter, well above the official price, according to share the middle. The impact is also noticeable beyond the gas stations, from taxi drivers raising fares, regional airlines warning of price increases, to even Russians who, in rural areas, are buying draft horses or bicycles as an alternative to the car, according to collect DW. Cover image | Reuters and Alexander Melekhov In Xataka | The men who closed the new Chernobyl hole: “Destiny gave us an opportunity to test ourselves to the limit”

Airbus has started moving critical systems to an on-premises cloud

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Airbus has decided to remove its most sensitive applications from the Amazon cloud. And the European aerospace manufacturer has signed a multi-year agreement with the French Scaleway, owned by Iliad, to host the critical systems of its industrial and defense operations, as confirmed by the company itself, a movement that drives the desire for technological sovereignty that more and more companies and institutions are beginning to apply. What has happened? Airbus will begin migrating 70 applications from AWS to Scaleway’s infrastructure, a first package within a much broader plan that could cover up to 900 applications in the next five or six years, according to they count from Reuters. Among the affected systems are aircraft design, engineering, industrial production and corporate management tools, as well as ERP, manufacturing execution, CRM and product lifecycle management programs, as expand from The Register. Strategy. Catherine Jestin, chief digital officer at Airbus, explained that the company sought to ensure that its data remained “under European control”, away from the reach of US laws such as the Cloud Actwhich allows the United States Government to request access to data stored in data centers of American companies, even if they are located outside its territory. The context does not help either, since trade and geopolitical tensions between Washington and Europe, fueled by Donald Trump’s foreign policy, have triggered the distrust of European companies towards the big US technology companies. In detail. According to the company, Airbus evaluated more than 150 technical and legal requirements before choosing Scaleway. One of the points that weighed the most, according to Jestin, was the protection against what the directive itself described as the “kill switch”, that is, the possibility that a foreign provider could cut off access to services by decision of its government of origin. It also influenced that Scaleway already hosts the artificial intelligence models of Mistralthe French startup with which Airbus signed an agreement in May to develop tailored AI tools for the aerospace and defense sector. “The fact that Mistral models are already deployed on Scaleway’s infrastructure will allow us to accelerate our AI approach,” admitted Jestin. Between the lines. It should be noted that the move does not mean a complete break with American suppliers. And Airbus has clarified that it will continue working with AWS for platforms such as Skywise, its aviation data analysis system, and with Microsoft and Google for its productivity tools, according to share from The Register. The company will also continue to rely on providers such as Salesforce, Coupa or Workday. “We do not intend to move away from all non-European solutions; we balance our decisions based on the criticality of the data,” explained Jestin in the middle. And now what. The Airbus case comes at a time when the European Commission has proposed the Cloud and AI Development Act, a regulation aimed at boosting cloud computing and storage capacity within the European Union. Giants such as AWS, Microsoft and Google have already launched their own versions of “sovereign cloud” to try to retain their European customers, although not always successfully. And just as share from The Register, a Microsoft executive even admitted under oath before a French court that he could not guarantee full data sovereignty. Cover image | Airbus and Markus Spiske In Xataka | Technology has become so expensive that Apple has revived a disturbing idea: renting iPhones, iPads and Macs

Tesla plummets on the stock market, but the fault is not with the cars, but with the robots

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Tesla shares They have sunk this Thursday between 12% and 14%being one of its biggest collapses in recent years. The fall came after the publication of the second quarter results, worsening even more during the conference with investors, in which Elon Musk recognized that manufacturing their humanoid robots Optimus on a large scale it will be much more complicated than he had promised until now. According to data collected by different specialized media, the fall has erased more than $140 billion in market capitalization in a single day. What Wall Street didn’t like. Tesla has invoiced $28.24 billion this quarter, 26% more than a year before, and delivered a total of 480,126 vehicles, which are also record figures. However, operating profit has plummeted 57% to $398 million, and operating margin has fallen from 4.1% to 1.4%. On the other hand, adjusted earnings per share remained at 33 cents, well below the close to 51-53 cents that Wall Street analysts expected. Along with this, free cash flow was positioned in negative for the first time in more than two years, with a balance of around -1.1 billion dollars, while investment spending (capex) shot up 142%, to almost 5.8 billion, within an annual spending plan of 25 billion dollars, according to they detailed from The Next Web. Worry. More than the numbers, what sank the value even further during the call with investors itself was Musk’s tone when talking about Optimus. And the top person in charge of the company admitted openly that it is the most difficult manufacturing challenge the company has faced. “It’s going to be the most difficult product to scale into production that we’ve ever made at Tesla, because everything about the robot is new,” Musk said during the earnings call. The truth is that it was a rather strange conference, since he also stated that he was “sick.” ANDn problemyes. Musk himself listed several technical obstacles, including the wear and tear of parts, the difficulty of achieving dexterity similar to that of a human hand (which he described as “something incredible” that no robotics company has yet managed to replicate) and the risk of breakdowns. Also stressed that, unlike cars, for which Tesla already has a consolidated supply chain, Optimus has no previous supply chain and is made up of about 10,000 unique parts, many of them manufactured from scratch. In fact, Tesla removed from its second quarter earnings presentation references to Optimus mass production that it had included in its first quarter earnings report, according to they pointed from The Next Web. script twist. Musk’s tone has changed from previous results. Last year he claimed that he would be “surprised” if Tesla was not producing 100,000 Optimus units per month within five years, and in January 2025 he even projected between 50,000 and 100,000 robots by 2026, according to they remembered from the middle. However, in January of this year he had already recognized that no Optimus was still performing useful tasks in Tesla factories. And the more than a thousand Generation 3 robots deployed in Fremont and the Texas Gigafactory were dedicated solely to collecting training data. Musk also took advantage of the call to defend Optimus against rivals such as Figure or Boston Dynamics, insisting that demonstrations of other humanoid robots circulating on the Internet are “pre-programmed or teleoperated,” and that Optimus will be the first capable of performing general tasks autonomously. Robotaxis. Musk also had things to say about the launch of your robotaxis service, pointing that the vehicles have already exceeded 380,000 kilometers without supervision in six cities and “without notable incidents.” But, as they point Since Electrek, it is Tesla itself that decides what counts as “remarkable”, and that same number of kilometers is traveled by Waymo, its main competitor, in just one day. On the other hand, the company’s internal data shows that the growth of the service is stagnant. And the paid kilometers have remained flat, around 900,000, and the active fleet without supervision has been reduced to only 21 vehicles. Technological setback. It hasn’t been a good week for big tech this week. On the same Thursday, the Nasdaq fell more than 2% and the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones lost more than 1%, also dragged down by the results of Alphabet, which dropped 6.5% in the stock market after announcing a strong increase in spending and its first “burn” of cash. Together, the “magnificent seven” of the stock market lost $767 billion in value in a single day, according to Bloomberg. The VIX volatility index, Wall Street’s so-called “fear gauge,” rose to its highest level in almost a month. And now what. During the same call, investors asked Musk about the highly rumored merger between SpaceX and Tesla. The businessman did not rule it out, although he did not give many details either. “We cannot talk about merging companies at an earnings conference,” he said, adding that such a move “has to be done with the appropriate process.” The future of Optimus is also not a minor matter for Musk himself, as part of his compensation package as CEO is conditioned to the delivery of one million Optimus robots within a period of ten years, and things are not starting at the moment. For the moment, Tesla has converted part of its assembly lines in Fremont to manufacture Optimus and is building a specific plant next to the Texas Gigafactory, but it no longer dares to set a date for the start of volume production. Cover image | Flickr (Ministry of Communications), Unsplash (Priscilla Du Preez) In Xataka | Google has plenty of chips to sell. He prefers to keep them so as not to be left behind in the AGI race.

small differences that make it worth it (or not) to pay more to jump to the new generation

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Habemus three new Samsung foldables. The comparisons between them are interesting because, beyond the format, they also have other differences. Now, it is also worth looking back and compare them just with the previous generation. For this reason, today we are going to face the Galaxy Z Flip7 and to Galaxy Z Fold8. Technical data sheet of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7 and the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip8 Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7 Samsung Galaxy Z Flip8 Dimensions and weight Folding: 75.2 x 85.5 x 13.7mm Displayed: 75.2 x 166.7 x 6.5mm 188 grams Folding: 75.4 x 85.7 x 13.1mm Displayed: 75.4 x 166.9 x 6.1mm 180 grams folding screen 6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X FullHD+ resolution (1,080 x 2,520 pixels) 397 pixels per inch 2,600 nits Refresh rate: 1-120Hz Vision Booster 6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X FullHD+ resolution (1,080 x 2,520 pixels) 400 pixels per inch 3,000 nits Refresh rate: 1-120Hz Vision Booster secondary / main screen 4.1-inch Super AMOLED Refresh rate: 60-120 Hz Resolution 948 x 1,048 pixels 4.1-inch Super AMOLED Refresh rate: 60/120 Hz Resolution 948 x 1,048 pixels processor Exynos 2500 Exynos 2600 Ram memory and storage 12/256GB 12/512GB 12/256GB 12/512GB main camera 50 MP wide angle, f/1.8. OIS 12 MP wide angle, f/2.2, 123º FOV 50 MP wide angle, dual pixel AF, OIS, f/1.8, FOV 85º 12 MP wide angle, f/2.2, 123º FOV front camera 10 MP f/2.2, FOV 85º 10 MP, f/2.2, FOV 85º battery 4,300 mAh 25W fast charging 15W wireless charging Reverse wireless charging Dual 4,300 mAh (typical) 25W fast charging 15W wireless charging PowerShare Reverse Wireless Charging price From 945.65 euros From 1,299 euros At first glance there are not too many differences between the two, but there are some that are worth taking into account before jumping into one or the other model. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Samsung Galaxy Z Flip8, 256GB The price could vary. We earn commission from these links A design that tends to become increasingly thinner At first glance, both folding devices are so similar that it is difficult to distinguish them. Samsung maintains a design with which it is comfortable, although it continues in the same direction as other devices such as the Galaxy S26 Ultra. What does that mean? What the Galaxy Z Flip8 is a thinner and lighter device than its predecessor. Let’s talk about concrete numbers. It is about a reduction of 0.4 millimeters in thickness and 8 grams in weight. On paper, it is a small difference, but it is noticeable if we take into account that it is a foldable that seeks to be light and manageable. Interior display: change in maximum brightness level and hinge The exterior screen of the Galaxy Z Flip8 is identical to the one already released on the Galaxy Z Flip7, covering the entire surface of the device except for the camera modules. The interior doesn’t change much either, although Samsung The maximum brightness level has been improved from 2,600 to 3,000 nits. In practice, this should make it look better outdoors or in sunlight. Another change that comes to both the new Flip and the Galaxy Z Fold8 and Z Fold8 Ultra It is a technology called Flex Titanium. Simply explained, it is a titanium film along with a plate of the same material that goes in the area of ​​the wrinkle that the folding screen has. Its objective is clear: make this wrinkle barely noticeable and less visible. Processor renewal: Exynos again While the other two foldables of this new generation have a Qualcomm processor, the Galaxy Z Flip8 repeats with an Exynos. Specifically, we are talking about the Exynos 2600which is exactly the same processor that the Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26+so we can get an idea of ​​its performance. Here we have a jump in power and technical efficiency with respect to the Z Flip7 processor, which was the Exynos 2500. With this change we can expect that Samsung’s new foldable will be more powerful and efficient than its predecessor and even improves its thermal management. Otherwise, there are no more differences at the hardware level between both devices, which come with the same cameras and battery. New One UI, same years of updates As happens practically every time Samsung releases a new high-end mobile phone, the Galaxy Z Flip8 arrives with a new operating system. This device comes with One UI 9 and Android 17 as standarda logical change in this sense, since the Z Flip7 arrived with Android 16 and One UI 8. The biggest difference between both operating systems is that the new version will allow us to use more functions and tools on the external screen of the device. And what happens with years of updates? Here Samsung repeats the move: the Z Flip8 promises seven years of updatesthe same as its predecessor. Now, since the latter arrives in stores for a year, you are going to “spend” one of them when you update to One UI 9. Price increase for the Galaxy Z Flip8 The Galaxy Z Flip8 hits stores with two different configurations, as the Z Flip7 already did: 256 GB or 512 GB of storage (both with 12 GB of RAM). What this new mobile also comes with is with a price increase in both versions. We leave you below so that you can see, clearly, the change in launch prices between both devices: Galaxy Z Flip8 with 256 GB storage: 1,299 euros (for 1,209 euros for the Z Flip7). Galaxy Z Flip8 with 512 GB storage: 1,499 euros (for 1,329 euros for the Z Flip7). Which model to choose? Now that we have seen the differences between both devices, It’s time to opt for one. Both are a very good option if you like this type of folding mobile, although, depending on what you are looking for or what you want to spend, there is one that will be better for you. Why buy the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 … Read more

While the technology sector is bleeding from layoffs, ASML is walking in the opposite direction: 20,000 euros to stay

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2026 is being a rush of layoffs in technology companies. It is estimated that in the first four months, at least 92,000 employees in the technology sector have lost their jobs with the excuse that we must invest more in AI. Meanwhile, the opposite is happening in semiconductor and component companies: they are paying bonuses so they don’t leave. That’s just what ASML is doing. what has happened. They tell it in Eindhovens Dagblad: ASML is going to offer its employees a share package worth 20,000 euros to all employees who continue to work in the company in 2030. The shares will be available from January 1, 2027 and the condition to be able to collect it is to continue working in the company on January 1, 2030. Why it is important. The AI ​​boom has two sides. On one side we have technology companies like Meta that They are investing very aggressively in AImainly in the construction of data centers. In addition, AI serves to automate processes and thus requires less labor. The other downside is companies like ASML, Samsung or SK Hynix that cannot afford to manufacture more components that make the AI ​​boom possible. Here you don’t say goodbye, here you try to retain talent with a checkbook. Rshare the benefits. In total, ASML has 44,500 employees worldwide, of which around 23,500 work at its headquarters in Veldhoven. If when 2030 arrives all workers are still in the company, ASML would have to disburse 890 million euros. ASML leads the ranking of European companies with the highest market capitalization. Only the last quarter brought in 9.3 billion euros, with a net profit of 2.92 billion. Come on, they can afford it. The Samsung case. A few months ago, Samsung also confirmed that would pay a bonus to its workers in the semiconductor division. However, it did not leave the company, but was the result of a negotiation with the employees, which They threatened a strike that would paralyze the factories. Finally Samsung gave in and employees will get a bonus of $340,000 on average. The bad part is that this has created tensions within the company because staff in other divisions such as devices would get a much smaller bonus, in some cases $4,000. Meanwhile in Silicon Valley. As we said at the beginning, technology companies have reduced their workforce considerably so far this year. In May Meta fired 8,000 employeesMicrosoft offered early retirement to many othersOracle too gave a door to thousands of workers (no figure yet confirmed), Amazon too… The serious thing is that it is not a financial problem, but rather The reason behind the vast majority of these layoffs is AI. It is not about replacing employees with AI, but rather that many companies are completely restructuring themselves to develop AI. Image | Xataka with Magnific In Xataka | AI has become the perfect alibi for anything: it serves companies both to cut back and to expand

This is the Sony REON Pocket Pro Plus

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It’s so hot that I would change my kingdom to be cool all day. At home it’s not so much of a problem: it’s just turning on the air-conditioning either shift fan. The problem is when we go outside, since there we can only pull the classic fan or these portable fans whose battery lasts a sigh. Is there nothing else? The reality is that yes, and that is that my colleagues at TikTok from Xataka Selection have discovered the Sony REON Pocket Pro Plus: an air conditioner that you wear under your clothes. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links An ideal device to combat heat waves @xataka.seleccion What if I told you that I wear an air conditioner under my shirt? It’s called Sony REON Pocket Pro Plus and it’s not a fan #sony #technology #innovation #air #gadget ♬ original sound – Xataka Selección – Xataka Selección This device is placed on your back and has a simple goal: to cool you (or warm you in winter). It is important to note that it is not a fan, but rather it has a system of sensors that detect the temperature. and automatically regulate the power depending on the heat what it does or if we are moving, for example. The Sony REON Pocket Pro Plus has flexible tubes that attach to our body, so it is very easy to adjust it to each person’s body. Also, since the supports have a soft material, wearing it is very comfortable (even if we use it for a long time). In fact, it activates automatically when you put it on and stops if, for example, you place it on the table. The kit also comes with the new REON Pocket Tag 2. It is an independent sensor that measures the temperature and humidity of the environment in real time. Thanks to this, the device that we will carry placed on our back will have greater precision when adjusting the temperature and we will be able to stay cooler all summer long. And it can’t be adjusted manually? The reality is that yes, thanks to an app that we can install on our mobile phone. With it we will have full control over the device and we will be able, among other things, to start it, change between cold or heat mode, modify the temperature and more. With so much heat wave that we are suffering this summer, the Sony REON Pocket Pro Plus can help us make everything more bearable. On the street or if we go to a festival, but also at home if we work in an area where we do not have any type of device to cool the room. And all with a touch cyberpunk which is very cool. This device is available for 229 euros in the Sony store. Now if we use the code ‘XATAKA‘, we will automatically have a 5% discount. 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 | sony In Xataka | Best connected fans (2026). Which one to buy and five recommended models In Xataka | Best ceiling fans (2026). Which one to buy and five recommended models

It is not enough to buy a mansion, you also need those of your neighbors

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That a millionaire wants to buy himself a huge mansion and protect yourself from prying eyes building huge walls It’s not something new. In fact, it is such a common practice that large communities of millionaires have even been created. that isolate themselves from the rest seeking precisely that privacy. This scene is already repeated in the most expensive neighborhoods in the United States, but the big difference is that billionaires have already stopped competing for the largest mansion. Now they compete to empty the entire block to get as far away from the world as possible. They have dubbed the phenomenon “landmaxxing” and it is changing the rules of the game in luxury brick. What exactly is landmaxxing?. The term has been coined by the real estate consultancy Coldwell Banker in its semiannual report 2026. He compares it to the “lookmaxxing” of the internet, that trend of optimize the physique to the maximum. The difference is that, in this case, the object to be optimized is not the body, but the ground that surrounds you. As and how to collect he Wall Street Journalbuying all the houses that surround their property has become an obsession for millionaires. According to data from the Coldwell Banker report, searches for building land in the US rose 97% year-on-year, while searches for exclusive properties, such as private islands or large estates, doubled in the first five months of the year. That is to say, interest in large residential complexes has increased over mansions or single-family homes. “This is more coveted than a 40,000-square-foot home. For some, it represents privacy and security. For others, it’s a hedge against inflation,” Coldwell Banker Miami real estate agent Danny Hertzberg told the WSJ. If you want it, pay for it. In this expansionist point lies the key to the business. The millionaire chooses a certain property at a specific price, but they do not take into account the extra cost that may appear when the neighbor does not want to sell their house. That’s when the price stops making sense for ordinary mortals. In fact, real estate agents in areas where the massive arrival of millionaires like Florida they already talk about a “neighbor premium”, which can increase the purchase price up to 20% above the market value. It’s the price you have to pay to get rid of your neighbors. The masters of the neighborhood. Just as I described Robb Report Ángel Nicolás, Serhant real estate agent: “Your home is not just the walls: it is the entire experience of the neighborhood.” That is why there are those who buy the plots adjacent to their property without plans to build anything, just to decide who will live opposite. In addition to controlling the neighborhood, there are also those who do it out of fear of fires, increasingly common during recent years, as a measure to have more distance between houses acting as a firewall. The ultimate goal is always the same: that no one else can touch the landscape they already consider theirs. Bezos’ bunker in Miami. Indian Creek, the man-made island in Miami that everyone calls “Billionaire Bunker,” has fewer than 40 parcels and its own police force. There decided to settle Jeff Bezos to be closer to Blue Origin operations. First he paid $68 million for a house by the water. Two months later bought the one next doorfor 79 million more. The founder of Amazon later added a third mansionthis for 90 million, until collecting more than 230 million on the same island. Their plan is to tear down the mansions that are already built to build a single own mansion. Zuckerberg’s fortress in Palo Alto. Mark Zuckerberg started in 2011 with a five-bedroom house in Crescent Park. Fourteen years later his “landmaxxing” plan has led him to buy at least eleven properties from the same neighborhood for about 110 million dollars in total. Each purchase served to join plots and expand the perimeter of their farm. Underground there are huge basements that the neighbors already call “the batcave of the billionaires”. Eight straight years of construction, cameras everywhere and private guards patrolling the street. According to published Fortunewhen the noise is too bothersome, Zuckerberg himself sends headphones, baskets of champagne and donuts to calm the neighbors’ spirits. Griffin, Ellison and the rest of the club. Ken Griffin, founder of Citadel, has been buying parcel after parcel in Palm Beach since 2012. It already has more than 10 hectares off the coast and more than 450 million dollars invested only in buying the land. When it’s over, it will be most expensive house ever built. Nearby, Larry Ellison and WeatherTech founder David MacNeil did something different. Instead of letting a third neighbor build a mansion worth 285 million, they divided the plot that separated their mansions. According to the real estate portal Realtorthe millionaires paid 67 million to their neighbor and each one thus expanded their own farm. “It’s always nice to have a little extra space for my three Golden Retrievers to run around,” MacNeil said in a text message. In Xataka | Spain was sun and tapas, now it is mansions and infinity pools: the ultra-rich have turned it into their refuge Image | Unsplash (Daniel Barnes)

If your password is stolen, you change it. If they steal your face, you have no other choice

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Google launched yesterday a new way to regain access to your account when you lose your phone or computer. All you have to do is record a selfie video by turning your head in several directions, and then send it to Google servers and use it as biometric verification if you want to recover that lost access. What’s really interesting is not this launch, because Google is just the latest big technology company to join the trend. And that trend, although interesting on the one hand, is very, very disturbing on the other. Google and your face as a method to recover your account. In Google’s announcement, those responsible explain the system for scanning and sending that selfie video to its servers, and how this system will allow users to recover their account if they lose access to it. Privacy and security by flag. Google promises that they will keep that information encrypted and use it for other purposes unless you actively allow it. The option can also be used to log in to your account (as Microsoft has been doing for years with its Windows Hello technology), but it cannot be used in Workspace accounts, nor in child accounts or in accounts that are part of the Advanced Protection Program from Google, aimed at journalists, activists or businessmen with especially sensitive information. Meta already tried it and had to abandon it…. Facebook had a facial recognition system —the one that suggested tags of people in photos— and closed it in 2021 erasing more than a billion faces after pressure from regulators and privacy organizations. …to get it back again. In October 2024 They resurrected technologythis time to recover Facebook and Instagram accounts that had been hacked. In December 2025 they had already made it the standard recovery method, and Meta assures that has improved by more than 30% the recovery rate of hacked accounts in the US and Canada. A Trojan horse called “age verification”. If account recovery is a gateway to giving up our “face”, the other, much more widespread, is to protect minors. That excuse has served to promote facial recognition as a verification measure. In July 2025, Roblox He started asking for a selfie video. to teenagers ages 13 to 17 who would like to unlock unfiltered chat with their circle of “trusted friends.” The system, managed by the company Personestimate the age based on facial features, and if you are not sure ask for official identification. Discord and its troubled system. In February 2026, the company advertisement that its more than 200 million monthly users would have to verify their age with a facial scan or an official document. The announcement came a few months after uploading a hack which exposed some 70,000 user IDs, which generated a lot of skepticism and notable criticism to the initiative. Discord had to delay the rollout of the measure until the second half of 2026, and shortly after a user shared a way to cheat the system with a 3D avatar controlled with an Xbox or PlayStation controller. TikTok, in the spotlight. The platform combine the estimate with a behavior and activity system (videos watched, usage patterns) and another for verification by selfie or official document when the system suspects that a self-declared adult user is actually not one. From 2021 has several lawsuits like the one that recently occurred in Florida because according to the accusation, TikTok deliberately modified your age rating to bypass parental controls. The vetoes that, for example Australia imposed on minors to enter social networks have also driven these efforts, which TikTok rushed to implement. Risky intermediaries. On French porn sites like Xvideos, verification provider AgeGO (a Spanish company based in Barcelona) offers to verify age with a live selfie. An AI Forensics investigation discovered that this data was sent directly to Amazon Rekognition, AWS’s facial recognition service, along with the user’s IP and the information that they were accessing an adult website. It is a clear example how biometric data that theoretically serves to verify your age ends up being used to create user profiles that can violate your privacy. What changes with a leaked password. If your password is stolen, you can change it. But if your facial scan, generated from the selfie video with various angles, expressions or lighting, is filtered, you cannot change your face. That’s the fundamental difference between “something you know” and “something you are,” and it explains why regulators and privacy activists are very clear that biometric data represents a category of data with a very different sensitivity than any other personal data. Interesting and above all very disturbing. Each of these companies insists that the video selfies they allow users to take are used only for the proper purpose—recovering an account, verifying age—but the truth is that the option, while interesting, is disturbing. Although it presents a valid and even very attractive alternative to recover an account, the risks that this biometric identification imposes are enormous. The privacy scandals proposed by this type of system are already beginning to appear —Let them tell Meta and his smart glasses—. Added to all this the threat of deepfakes which the EU will try to mitigate with your AI Law. Image | Taan Huyn In Xataka | Instagram tried to generate images with AI from its users’ photos: now Meta has had to retract it

Tenerife has recorded more than 1,600 earthquakes in two days. Volcano experts keep saying the same thing: tranquility

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During the night of Wednesday, July 22, to Thursday, July 23, Tenerife trembled due to the effect of hundreds of small earthquakes. In a few hours, the automatic detectors captured more than 500 earthquakes, although manually, under review by seismologists, the figure was reduced to 100. In total, since then, around 1,500 very low magnitude earthquakes have been reported, many of them hybrid. This means that they are produced both by the breakdown of rock and by the underground movement of fluids. In volcanic territories, such as Tenerife, this is especially worrying, since this fluid could be the magma of a volcano awakening from its slumber. Even so, experts call for calm. Earthquake swarms They are normal in these areas and would have to be more intense to really represent the preamble to an eruption. It is something that, according to what they say from The Countryalready happened in 2004, but even then it turned out to be a false alarm. 750 small earthquakes. The majority of earthquakes in this swarm of Tenerife earthquakes have a magnitude of between 1 and 2. This is a very low intensity to cause concern to the population. Although there were some before and have continued to happen after, most of these tremors took place between 2 and 5 in the morning, at depths of 10 to 15 kilometers. Yes, it could be due to the movement of magma, as has happened with other recent swarms. Since February, about 10 similar episodes have been recorded. In all cases they have been hybrid earthquakes, but of low magnitude. Some have been slightly more intense than these and still nothing has happened. That is the reason why there is a call for calm. Active, inactive or extinct. A volcano is considered active when it has erupted on recent geological scales. Normally 10,000 years are used as a reference figure, although it may vary depending on the source. An example is Mount Etna in Italy.. Dormant volcanoes are those that have not erupted for many thousands of years, but still have the potential to do so, as there is still a source of magma available. This is the case of the Mount Omuro volcano, in Japan. Finally, extinct volcanoes are those that can no longer erupt, because they have lost connection with their magma source, which may have diverted, solidified, or disappeared completely. In Spain, the Cabo de Gata volcanoes in Almería are in this state. In the case of the volcanoes of Tenerifeare considered active, since it has been just over a century since their last eruption. Even so, that does not mean that there will be another one imminently. The latest eruptions. There have been no eruptions in Tenerife since November 1909, when the Chinyero eruption. This was preceded by intense seismic activity, which began in March 1908, more than a year earlier. However, they were much more intense tremors than those happening now. There was even a strong emission of fumaroles in the Teide crater. Other sources suggest that the tremors began a little later, but in any case more than 6 months before the eruption and always of great intensity. It is true that, since they occurred so long ago, there is no record of the magnitude of those earthquakes. However, there are many testimonies from neighbors who felt them, while those that are happening in Tenerife now are of such a low magnitude that it is very difficult for the population to notice them. Magma on the surface. In addition to fumaroles, the movement of magma on the surface is one of the signs that a volcanic eruption is close. It is another reason why geologists insist that this seismic swarm does not predict an eruption in the short or medium term. With the earthquakes of 2004 there was more concern, because yes they were felt by the populationalthough they did not have a magnitude either very high. In addition, magma was detected very close to the surface. Even so, the systems for detecting and monitoring earthquakes and possible volcanic eruptions were not as good as those today. Today the preambles of a volcano eruption are much better known and, with what is currently happening, there is nothing to fear. Images | Wikimedia Commons/IGN In Xataka | The last time Mount Fuji erupted was 318 years ago. The Japanese government has turned to AI in case it happens again

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