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Will Kerr, VP of new products at Dyson

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How is one of the most innovative hardware companies in the world managed? In a market as fierce as that of vacuum cleaners due to brand saturation, competition and price wars, the British multinational Dyson has begun a profound strategic restructuring to try to avoid the evils that threaten the technology sector: dependence on a single product, the loss of operational agility and the dosage of launches. We traveled to their Singapore headquarters to delve into their laboratories and speak with Will Kerrvice president of New Product Development, about his clear commitment to diversification, the past and the brand’s ambitious vision for the future. Where is Dyson now? On the old continent (geographically speaking) there are few technology companies that are a reference in the sector, but Dyson is one of them. In fact, it is great in technological prestige and billing: in 2025 it entered 6,130 million poundswith an EBITDA of 1,110 million (up 18%) and launched 13 new products, more than ever in a single year. However, if we talk about staff and structure, it is still relatively small for the money it moves: its global staff is made up of only 14,000 people. However, its strong point is its own R&D. Of course, the Dyson that James Dyson founded in 1991 has nothing to do with the current one: its fiscal headquarters moved to Singapore in 2019 and although its main R&D is still in the United Kingdom, its most iconic products are cooked, tested and developed in the Asian country. And the scenario has also changed: in 2024 its benefits They plummeted 49% despite breaking a product sales record. Last year the company recovered part of its operating muscle, but its turnover is still not what it would be in 2023. Dyson is not a diversified conglomerate, but rather a niche company of small premium appliances. R&D at two speeds and new operating model For Dyson, R&D is an essential area and there they spare no expense. Without going any further, of those 6.13 billion pounds of total revenue in 2025, they invested more than 400 million pounds in R&D. The question is: where to invest when the results can take years to arrive or even never arrive, like the electric car that was left in limbo after more than 500 million pounds investment? Dyson’s amazing electric car For Kerr, the dilemma is “finding the balance of when something is good enough.” They have a team in the UK to provide long-term insights and research, clients pointing out issues and potential improvements, developing key technologies in motors and batteries that have general application across their portfolio. And he gives a clear example: developing the next hair dryer could take five years and be incredible, but there are users who ask for one that is quieter, something that may only require six months of work. Virtue lies in balance. In any case, the process is always the same. Internally, this process is known as the “product creation framework” and the idea is to ensure that meet standards that can never be lowered. They have periodic checkpoints along the way. On each machine, James Dyson is very involved in the day-to-day: “Two weeks ago, we spent seven hours straight in Malaysia without stopping. He has an insatiable enthusiasm for this. And I say this because he interacts directly with the product, detects details and brings his experience of everything he has done.” The Dyson manager says that they always try to make sure that, “even when we do something for the first time, the standards are set uniformly across all categories.” Even so, from the technical direction they naturally admit that they are not always infallible: “It is clear that we never do it perfect the first time.” Without the pressure (from competitors), perhaps we would not be in the excellent state we are in. So that this huge investment does not suffocate the commercial viability of the company, Dyson has structurally separated its operations into two independent phases: “discovery” and “execution” (delivery). In the past, your engineering team worked on ideas and development simultaneously, requiring you to bet too much that new concepts would work. If a project failed, the firm faced periods of one or two years without news in the stores. Kerr explains the reason for this new organization very clearly: “If those new concepts don’t work, suddenly you’re disappointing customers for a year or two because you don’t have a launch. That’s why we’ve separated the two blocks.” Now, the execution team ensures a constant flow of innovation to the market, while the discovery team works free of commercial urgency looking for disruptive ideas. The iRobot mirror and the battle of robotics The recent iRobot bankruptcya pioneer of consumer robotics that sold 50 million units before end up acquired by Asian competitorsmakes it inevitable to think of the phrase: When you see your neighbor’s beards cut…. Or in other words, the need to diversify the catalog becomes evident when observing the international competitive environment. We refer to the facts: a look at the market in different aspiration formats (you can see our buying guides for robot vacuum cleaners and upright vacuum cleaners) makes it clear that the segment speaks Chinese. Meanwhile, Dyson has been expanding into other areas such as hair care or wearables for years. Dyson assures that market pressure is a welcome stimulus: “We see that the sector is moving quickly. It puts pressure on us, but it encourages us to do things more quickly.to look for new partners, new ways of working and new opportunities in the supply chain. Without that pressure, maybe we wouldn’t be in the excellent shape we are in.” We believe that robotics is, if not the future, then certainly an extremely important future. In addition, the firm prefers to ignore the daily noise of the market to focus on its own objectives: “If we woke up every day worried about those competitors, it wouldn’t be … Read more

Junior salaries have been in free fall for years. New study suggests the impact of AI is not so obvious

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We have been seeing headlines for a couple of years about the destruction that AI is doing to employment junior. And the usual reply: no, it’s an excuse, that companies cut when rates rise and AI is only a convenient justification. Both readings are partly right. That’s just the problem. The study. The Stanford Digital Economy Lab has been analyzing actual payrolls. Not surveys or estimates: payrolls. Published a study at the end of 2025 but keeps updated dashboard with much more recent data. The result. Employment of those aged 22 to 25 in professions highly exposed to AI has fallen since the end of 2022, just when ChatGPT arrived, and lately at a rate of 4% annually. In those over 30, in those same professions, it increases. Coinbase charged 14% of its workforce citing AI as the cause. Salesforce stopped hiring juniors last year. The nuance. The same study adds a very interesting nuance: the effect does not appear when the AI ​​helps someone do their job, but when it does it for them. Write code, answer ticketswrite a first draft: that’s where hiring goes down. Review, verify, support a decision: it remains there. It does not replace human work in general. It replaces the boring job you start with when you are a youngster. It’s time to stop and agree with those who disagree.. In 2001, relocation to India was blamed for a slowdown that actually came from interest rates: when rates fell, hiring returned, and the debate about India remained unresolved. The OECD points in the same direction in your report this month: Unemployment among young graduates was already rising before ChatGPT existed. Coexistence? The two things may coexist. But even if only part of the fall is done by the AI, that part attacks the step that no one else can replace. The intern who answers wrong tickets for six months or do well needing help you’re not wasting your time: you’re learning to fail cheaply in a controlled environment. Removing that step doesn’t fire anyone today. In ten years there will be a lack of people senior and no one will be able to explain why, because by then they will have forgotten that the bottom step disappeared long ago. Featured image | Xataka In Xataka | Spanish companies systematically hide their salary in job offers: there are notable exceptions

The best MediaMarkt offers in technology and entertainment, today Sunday, July 19

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MediaMarkt is celebrating its anniversary and has a good range of offer campaigns active right now. Therefore, in this article we are going to review the best deals on technology and entertainment that we found today, Sunday, July 19. Xiaomi 17 by 799 eurosa high-end mobile phone with the best discount it has received to date. De’Longhi Nescafé Dolce Gusto Piccolo XS by 39 eurosa coffee maker that is perfect for everyday coffee. nintendo switch 2 by 479 eurosthe console with a video game. Google Pixel 10 by 549 eurosthe mobile at a historical minimum price. Western Digital WD My Passport by 199 eurosa portable hard drive with a lot of storage capacity. Nintendo Switch 2 + Yoshi and the Mysterious Book The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Xiaomi 17 He Xiaomi 17 It is an excellent mobile phone for those people who are looking for a compact yet powerful smartphone, since it incorporates a 6.3-inch screen and comes with the chip Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. In addition, its camera system is signed by Leica and its screen is a delight. Its price is 799 eurosthe historical minimum. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links De’Longhi Nescafé Dolce Gusto Piccolo XS If you are looking for a good, pretty and cheap coffee maker, be careful because MediaMarkt right now has the De’Longhi Nescafé Dolce Gusto Piccolo XS by 39 euros. It is a perfect coffee maker for daily coffee, it works using capsules, offers a pressure of 15 bars and is suitable for hot and cold drinks. De’Longhi Nescafé Dolce Gusto Piccolo XS The price could vary. We earn commission from these links nintendo switch 2 MediaMarkt has launched a new pack of the nintendo switch 2. Although this time we cannot choose a video game among several different options, for only 10 euros more than the console costs (479 euros in total), we have the Switch 2 along with the video game ‘Yoshi and the mysterious book‘, a perfect title for the little ones in the house, and for the not so little ones. Nintendo Switch 2 + Yoshi and the Mysterious Book The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Google Pixel 10 If you are not convinced by the Xiaomi mobile and are looking for a more affordable option, MediaMarkt also has the Google Pixel 10by 549 euros in this case. It is a high-end smartphone that has a 6.3 inch screentheir computational photography is excellent and the software will be up to date for many years, so it will not become obsolete in this sense any time soon. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Western Digital WD My Passport If you notice that you are running out of storage on your computer and are looking for a good hard drive, pay attention to this offer that MediaMarkt has: the Western Digital WD My Passport has dropped to 199 euros. It is a portable hard drive, so you can take it wherever you want. Additionally, it comes with 6TB of storage so you can save many photos, videos and files. Western Digital WD My Passport (6TB) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | MediaMarkt and Compradicción (header), Xiaomi, De’Longhi, Nintendo, Google, Western Digital In Xataka | Best mobile phones 2026. Which one to buy based on use and six recommended models In Xataka | Capsules, super-automatic or manual. The best coffee makers according to your tastes and needs

the alternatives to asphalt that Spanish cities already use

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With the temperatures skyrocketing and the Aemet warning of new heat waves Above 40 degrees in much of Spain, it is clear that, beyond active cooling solutions such as fans and air conditioners, cities must also plan to implement urban solutions that dissipate heat in buildings and streets. In this article we wanted to highlight one of the measures that we have been using for decades. It is a type of pavement that effectively reduces the temperature of the streets thanks to its porosity. But it is not the only type of pavement that fulfills the mission of reducing temperatures (nor the only remedy that cities have). Below these lines we tell you the details. The thing is about pavements. There are two large families of “cold pavements”. The first are the permeable or porous pavements. These are surfaces with holes connected to each other that allow rainwater to pass into the ground instead of diverting it directly to the sewers. This retained water evaporates little by little and cools the environment, in addition to reducing flash floods. The second family are reflective pavements or high solar reflectance (also known as “cool pavements”), which do not seek to filter water, but rather return a greater part of the solar radiation they receive to the atmosphere, instead of absorbing and storing it as conventional black asphalt does. A type of porous pavement. Image: Pavipor Heat trapped in the streets. Dark asphalt and concrete absorb much of the sun’s radiation during the day and slowly release it at night, preventing cities from cooling even when the sun goes down. This phenomenon, known as urban heat islandcauses large cities to register noticeably higher temperatures than in rural areas, especially at night. And of course, with episodes of extreme heat becoming more frequent, any measure that lowers the street temperature by a few degrees already helps a lot. Examples. The most recent case is that of Barcelona. The City Council, with technical support from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC), approved last year a new reflective agglomerate on a section of Martí i Franquès street, in the Les Corts district, directly comparing it with a section of conventional black asphalt to measure the real temperature difference between both materials. As explained by the City Council itself, this pavement has the capacity to reflect a greater part of solar radiation than traditional asphalt, which helps reduce both surface heating and the temperature of the environment. Barcelona installing a type of reflective pavement. Image: Barcelona City Council The test is part of the municipal Climate Plan, and is not the first of its kind, since according to collect El Diario, before testing with the pavement, Barcelona had already launched a pilot plan to paint the roofs of several buildings white and with reflective pigments, including a school in the Les Corts district. Seville, one of the cities hardest hit by heat waves in Spain, has also proposed similar solutions. And in recent years, the City Council has been adding to its planning the massive planting of shade trees, replacement of dark pavements with lighter materials in various parts of the city, awnings on commercial streets, sustainable drainage and a network of “climate shelters” distributed throughout the neighborhoods to give respite to the population during heat peaks. These types of measures are increasingly applied on Spanish streets, especially in those large cities in the country that become an oven when summer arrives. It doesn’t work the same everywhere. A recent study by the University of Granada, has analyzed the thermal behavior of the eight Andalusian capitals and has come to the conclusion that there is no single solution to cool a city. According to the project researchers, in Seville and Malaga the factor that weighs the most is the albedo of the materials, that is, their ability to reflect solar radiation, while in Córdoba the building density and the waterproofing of the soil have more influence, and in Granada the key is in the urban geometry and how open the streets are to the sky. The same study also recalls that dense canopy trees continue to be, by themselves, one of the most effective tools, since they can lower the temperature between 3 and 5 degrees in parks where it is well designed. It is clear that reflective or porous pavement helps, but they work more as a complement to other urban solutions. In Xataka | Madrid is going to open a tunnel that monitors traffic with AI in real time: this is how the new Castellana subway will work

The countries with the most billionaires in the world, gathered in a graph with a surprising winner

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Guess, guess: Where do the majority of the world’s billionaires live today? Answer the first thing that comes to mind and without cheating. Probably most of us would say that the United States and the reality is that this was true until very recently, but the map of wealth has changed: China has just snatched the throne and already has 1,110 Chinese billionaires compared to 1,100 Americans, according to the latest Hurun Global list. The most striking thing is not so much this surprise, but the speed at which it has happened: a decade ago, three of those four Chinese billionaires were not even on the list, which gives an idea of ​​the industrial, technological and business panorama of the Asian giant. Of course, the “land of opportunity” thing seems to have changed zip codes. The Hurun Global Rich List 2026 is an annual ranking prepared in China that has been measuring the fortune of the world’s billionaires for 15 years. It is not as popular as Forbes, but it is also one of the great references for quantifying billionaires. Both estimate net worth in dollars based on shares in listed companies, real estate and other assets, but each has its own methodologies, so there may be divergences between the two. The list is not very intuitive to visualize, so Visual Capitalist, through its Voronoi data platform, has prepared this graph that reflects how many billionaires (in dollars) live in each country in the world in 2026. We have already discovered gold and silver, but there is another curious fact: China and the United States alone concentrate more than half of the global billionaire population. To the surprise of few, wealth is concentrated. Beyond statistical curiosity, there are two reasons why it is interesting to know where the rich are concentrated: according to Oxfambillionaires are 4,000 times more likely to reach political office than the average person. Simply put: wealth is concentrated and it also tends to concentrate power. On the other hand, global billionaire wealth grew more than 16% in 2025, three times more than the average of the last five years, according to Oxfam. The rich are getting richer. The countries with the most billionaires in the world After China and the United States, India is at a certain distance but far away from the rest of the European squad, with 308 people. And the old continent already appears, with Germany (171), the United Kingdom (150), Switzerland (114), Russia (105), among others. According to Hurun, China added 287 billionaires compared to the previous year, compared to 130 in the United States and 24 in India, which explains why the list has changed so much. Spain appears in 20th place with 34 billionaires, behind countries of comparable or smaller economic size such as Sweden or Turkey and an abysmal distance from Switzerland, which has 114 and a trick to achieve it despite its small size that it shares with Monaco: favorable taxation. Where billionaires live in 2026. Visual Capitalist Where do these new billionaires come from? Although we already know that Most rich people are born and not made and the Hurun list confirms this, with 144 fourth-generation fortunes, this rise of the new rich has specific origins such as the market or technology. But technology is a very broad sector and the phenomenon that concentrates it is a boom that we have been finding in the soup for some time: artificial intelligence. Thus, there are 114 billionaires who owe their fortune to AI companies, of which 46 are newcomers to the list. Furthermore, there are countries and countries: despite representing 79% of the world’s population, Southern countries only own 31% of global wealth. In wealth there is also migration, but quite concentrated in one country: the United States. Of this 14% of “luxury” migrants there are famous cases such as those of the South African Elon Musk or the Taiwanese Jensen Huang. It is important to remember that a ranking of the number of billionaires is not the same as how rich a state is or the average well-being of the population. On the other hand, the country of residence can sometimes be somewhat ambiguous: some billionaires have dual tax residence or assets distributed internationally and both the geographic allocation criteria and the estimation of their assets may differ from Hurun compared to other sources. In Xataka | Tell me where you are from and I will tell you if the rich in your country were self-made or inherited wealth In Xataka | Where the ultra-rich are growing the most: the graph that proves that Europe is playing something else

Japan has been charging a 0% tariff on foreign cars for half a century. It will be very difficult for you to find one on the street.

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Japan is a fascinating country, one of those that is difficult to understand from the point of view of a Westerner. Perhaps because we ourselves have turned our backs on Asian culture during our years of teaching or because, simply, they have historical and cultural particularities that are difficult for us to assimilate. What is certain is that the Japanese have deep roots in the consumption of local products. It must be taken into account that Japanese society is deeply nationalisticperhaps because it is surrounded by other countries where this feeling is also deeply rooted, such as China or the Koreas, which has caused continuous tensions in the area. After the Second World Warthe United States financed the recovery of Japan, with the clear objective of putting a geopolitical plug on the communism that threatened from China and Korea. A movement that could have diluted this nationalist sentiment. Little by little, the country grew and in the 70s it managed to diversify its industry and, at the same time, apply technical innovations that placed it at the global forefront in many sectors. Taking advantage of the weakness of the yen against the dollar, they decided to put all their efforts into export as much of your products as possible. Those exports flooded the world economy with products. One of the most significant were cars. In its technical innovations, the country prioritized the efficiency of its engines, key to flooding the market when the oil crisis. Compared to American and European cars, The Japanese were cheaper and consumed less. It was at that moment that the industry completely exploded and Japan decided to make a decision: it lifted tariffs on foreign cars. Come and see Japanese politicians must have thought something like this in 1978. In order to be more competitive in foreign markets, the country lifted all tariffs for those who wanted to import a car into their country. That is, any foreign brand could sell its cars in Japan without paying a single extra euro. In Japan they should not have any fear of what was going to happen. Its industry was so powerful and the cultural factors were so determining that foreign vehicles have not fully penetrated the market. For testing, In 2016 the European Union lifted the 10% tariff with which it taxed Japanese cars. The 3% that Japanese manufacturers paid for producing in Europe but using Japanese parts was also raised. In exchange, the European Union found the door open to sell other products, such as cheese or wine. So, the European Union came from buying 575,000 cars from Japan worth 9,000 million euros while we only sold them 279,000 vehicles worth 7,300 million euros, they collected in The World. From here we can get two readings. The European Union, a specialist in car exports, had only placed 279,000 cars in Japan in a market in which Almost five million units were sold in 2016. Of the 12 best-selling brands that year in the country, only one (Mercedes in tenth position) was foreign. And none of the 30 best-selling cars in the country were foreign. The cars that the European Union managed to place in Japan were high-priced vehicles. The average unit cost Japan more than 26,000 euros while those purchased by the European Union cost less than 16,000 euros. That is to say, it was difficult for Europe (and very difficult) to compete by volume. When Japan opened its doors to the world, it had to be aware of the country’s particularities. Tough emissions and space regulations have made cars disappear from the center of large cities. Since the 60s is applied in the country Shako Shomeishothe obligation to have a space where you can park your car to have the right to buy a car. In a country that is concentrated in cities, the limitation is decisive. Furthermore, the Japanese customer fully trusts their companies and finds it difficult to open up to new technologies. The reception of the hybrid car compared to any other technology (and the resistance of the Japanese firms themselves to the electric car) is a good example of this. To this we must add that, due to price, the large generalists cannot compete since local vehicles are much cheaper, taking advantage of the fact that production within the country is more competitive. The value of the yen, lower than the dollar, euro or pound, allows them to obtain large amounts of money for the development and manufacturing of a product that allows them to lower prices in their local market. On the contrary, foreign companies that have to sell there face a cut market due to emissions regulations, the barrier of space regulations and that they have the obligation to change the production of the car since when driving on the left they need to position the controls on the opposite side. An added cost that creates another obstacle. The result is that we Europeans and Americans end up offering Japan cars that are not interesting. In Japan, minivans and cars are a religion. kei carcontained on the outside and with a very large interior space. A type of car that has disappeared in Europe while in Japan the Toyota Sienta, the Nissan Note and the Honda Freed occupied the places of third, fourth and fifth best-selling car in the country. And you can continue down the list of 20 best-selling cars in Japan in 2025. You won’t find a single one that is foreign. And, by the way, 13 of them are from Toyota. Photo | toyota In Xataka | Akio Toyoda, president of Toyota, on the electric: “I cannot limit myself to seeking profitability or carbon neutrality. We love cars” A version of this article was published in April 2025

Renfe changes its rules for traveling with large dogs on the train

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When I met my beloved Lola, an 18kg French Pointer, 13 years ago, I ended up buying a second-hand car because traveling with her by train or bus was simply an impossible mission. Many years have passed, Lola is no longer here, but the difficulty of getting around with a dog if you don’t have your own vehicle is still the order of the day. The options are scarce and expensive. And be careful, it is not because there are few dogs: there are 7,562,893 specimens in the state, according to the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumption and Agenda 2030 of Spain. Well then, Renfe has just changed its rules to make life easier for those of us who have dogs and they can now sit with you on the seat next to the train. What changes. From July 21, dogs weighing up to 40 kg will be able to travel with their owners throughout the state on all trains, that is, Renfe commercial services (AVE, Avlo, Alvia, Euromed and Intercity) and Public Service services (Avant and Media Distancia). Note: Pets were already allowed nearby without a weight limit and without a ticket. With this measure, Renfe will become the first operator that allows the transport of large dogs. Starting Tuesday, which is World Dog Day, your pet will be able to travel at your side. As explained in a Renfe statement“The dogs will occupy the interior space next to the window, next to their owners, who must lead them with a 1.5-meter non-extendable leash and with the muzzle on both at the station and at the time of boarding and disembarking.” A travel kit consisting of a seat cover and mat is delivered with the purchase. Why it is important. Because the expansion and generalization of the dog service to almost the entire network eliminates a historical mobility barrier for those of us who have medium and large dogs, until now limited to the car or specialized transport. On the other hand, for Renfe this service constitutes a new line of business (that 40 euro surcharge), reaching new potential users and also differentiating itself from the rest of the railway operators that compete in the liberalized Spanish market. Context. The usual regulations for transporting Renfe pets It allowed the transfer of pets (they can be dogs, cats, ferrets, etc.) of up to 10 kg in a carrier without occupying a space and up to 10 euros extra cost. This service is the expansion of the “Large Pet Project”, limited to railway corridors and some AVE lines on the Madrid-Barcelona, ​​Madrid-Málaga, Madrid-Alicante, Madrid-València, Madrid-Zaragoza, Madrid-Granada and Madrid-Seville lines to transport large dogs. According to Renfehas already transported more than 800 dogs on its AVE trains. According to data from the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumption and Agenda 2030 of Spain There are 15 million pets, of which approximately 50% of the total are dogs. Under what conditions. The ticket can be purchased on the website, the Renfe app or at in-person and virtual agencies and when purchasing it, we will have to add a dog accessory of up to 40 kilos and the system will automatically assign you two adjacent seats. A novelty is that you can access the train with your dog from any intermediate stop and not only from the origin of the journey. For people who do not like dogs, are allergic to them or simply do not want to share their space with animals, it is worth remembering that each train has a maximum of two dogs of up to 40 kg, located in the “pet friendly” car enabled for this purpose. Pet owners must bring and present official documentation in order and a cleaning kit with wipes, soaker, bags. In any case, 24 hours before the trip, Renfe will send an email with conditions and recommendations. Limitations. In addition to dogs that exceed 40 kg in weight, puppies less than one year old, potentially dangerous breeds or bitches in heat are excluded from the service. Even if your dog meets all the requirements, you cannot use the service on connecting trains, on trains with alternative scheduled transportation plans or synergized seats. In Xataka | The experts agree: “There are legal grounds that justify Renfe returning the money if you travel without air conditioning” In Xataka | Asturias has been fighting for years to have a decent train connection. And now he is also fighting to include his dogs Cover | Oscar Puente

Argentina 6 – Peru 0: the story of the alleged biggest fixing of the World Cups between dictatorships and missing persons

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In the context of a dictatorship that made opponents disappear daily, the 1978 World Cup was held in Argentina, an embarrassing chapter in the history book of football. “I knew what was happening to those who governed, but I could not imagine that cruelty towards the disappeared,” he said. would justify years later César Luis Menotti, Argentine coach from 1974 to 1982. While the Videla regime used the championship as propaganda Facing the outside world, the Albiceleste team, immersed in the competition and oblivious to the country’s political climate, was overcoming rounds supported by an enthusiastic public. In the decisive match against Peru, Argentina needed four goals to reach the final. He scored six and the controversy that that result raised is still alive today. Since the dawn of the World Cup, Argentina had pursued its organization. Finally, at the FIFA Congress on July 6, 1966, the South American country was chosen as the host country for the 1978 edition. At that same meeting, it was agreed that West Germany would host the 1974 World Cup and Spain would host the 1982 World Cup. Argentina had 12 years ahead of it to properly prepare the event. However, two years before the World Cup was held, events were going to take an unexpected turn. Football to whiten infamy On March 24, 1976, Jorge Rafael Videla carried out a coup d’état that overthrew the democratic government of María Estela Martínez de Perón, popularly known as Isabelita. Videla assumed the head of state at the head of a Military Junta, initiating the cynically called National Reorganization Process, which included a systematic plan to remove anyone suspected of dissidence from circulation. Videla swearing in as president of Argentina in 1974. (Eduardo Di Baia/AP) At first, the blow put the celebration of the championship in check. Belgium and Holland offered themselves as alternative venues, but the time margin was limited and FIFA estimated the show had to go on. Like Hitler at the 1936 Olympic Games or Mussolini in the 1934 World CupVidela used the World Cup for propaganda purposes. The tournament was an instrument to convey to the world the image of an open, advanced and plural Argentina, of a thriving football and political nation. No expense was spared for this: it is estimated that the organization of the tournament ultimately cost ten times what was budgeted, although no accounts were ever rendered. However, the situation in the country was far from the happy Arcadia that the military intended to portray. Kidnappings, torture and murders They were common in the development of relentless repression directed at all those suspected of not being sympathetic to the regime. It is estimated that up to 30,000 citizens He made the Military Junta disappear during those years. On June 1, 1978, a speech by Videla inaugurated the championship: “Within the framework of friendship between man and people, and under the sign of peace, he officially declared this eleventh (sic) World Football Championship 78 officially inaugurated.” At the same time that the ball was rolling in the opening match between West Germany and Poland, The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo metlike every Thursday at 3:30 p.m., to cry out for their missing children. While the Argentine people celebrated Kempes’ goals, thousands of people were silently retaliated against. The screams from the River Monumental Stadium reached the Navy’s Higher School of Mechanics, converted into a detention and torture centerwhich was a few blocks from the stadium. There are many detainees They faced a contradiction: His fan heart longed for the victory of his team, but reason dictated that victory would serve to consolidate the dictatorship. Finalists after beating Peru In terms of football alone, the Argentine team passed the first phase without problems and reached the last game of the second tied on points with Brazilwith Kempes becoming progressively more toned as the tournament progressed. According to the strange format of that World Cup, the winners of the two groups of the second phase went directly to the final, without semi-finals. The Netherlands won in group A, reaching the final for the second consecutive World Cup, despite the enigmatic absence of Johan Cruyff. In group B, Brazil and Argentina played everything on one card in the last match, but the locals played with the advantage of playing their match three hours later, and thus knowing the result of Brazil (FIFA had not yet unified the schedules of the first phase, a measure taken after the El Molinón pact). Brazil did its job and won 3-1 against Poland, a result that forced Menotti’s team to win by a margin of four goals against Peru. The Peruvians had had a formidable first phase, achieving first place in their group ahead of the Netherlands, but they had deflated in the second group and reached the last game without anything at stake. The Argentines dominated the match from the beginning, and at half-time they were already winning 2-0. After the restart, the Albiceleste team came out in a rush and 5 minutes into the second half they had already achieved their goal (4-0) against a Peru that seemed knocked out. Two more goals still fell and, midway through the second half, the scoreboard already showed the final 6-0. Objective achieved: Argentina was in the final of his World Cup. The shadow of a fix From the first moment, Argentina’s massive victory against Peru was surrounded by a halo of suspicionwith different and complementary versions, and crossed accusations between some protagonists. The passivity of the Peruvian defense during some goals raised suspicions, as did the signing of Peruvian defender Rodulfo Manzo for the Argentine team Vélez Sarsfield at the end of the World Cup. The first to raise the hare was Ramón Quiroga, the goalkeeper who defended the Peruvian goal that afternoon at the Gigante Stadium in Arroyito. In an interview with the newspaper La Nación in 1998, Quiroga, Argentine by birth but naturalized Peruvian, revealed his misgivings about the referee (“I think he … Read more

We’ve been hearing for years that adults don’t have to drink milk. The latest studies say the opposite.

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For decades, milk was the undisputed pillar of any healthy breakfast. However, in recent years we have witnessed a real demonization of dairy products and we have heard practically everything, from being “unnatural” for adults, to being the culprit of increased cholesterol or even the risk of cancer. But we are faced with several myths that are important to deny. We are designed for it. One of the most repeated arguments is that we are the only mammal that consumes milk in its adult stage. The experts they explain that, although a part of the world’s population loses the ability to digest lactose after childhood, many others maintain this enzyme active throughout life thanks to a genetic adaptation. Therefore, there is no basis to recommend that all adults stop drinking milk because of this enzyme. Here science is quite clear, since a population study made in Galicia with 850 people showed that, although the alteration of lactose metabolism affects 38% of individuals, when normal physiological quantities are consumed such as a simple glass of milk or yogurt, symptomatic intolerance plummets to 2% for milk and 8% for yogurt. Mortality. Another of the most widespread myths is precisely that dairy consumption in adults increases the risk of mortality and cardiovascular diseases, but science says the opposite. Here, one monumental umbrella review of 2021 pointed out that the evidence does not support that milk is harmful and in fact, in most scenarios its impact is neutral, and in several it is clearly favorable. But if we want to sharpen our aim, a 2026 dose-response meta-analysis, based on 29 cohorts and more than 1.6 million participants, has drawn the exact curve of how dairy interacts with our life expectancy. The researchers found a “U”-shaped association, seeing that the optimal point of consumption is located between 250 and 300 grams a day. Cancer. The alleged relationship between dairy products and cancer is another of the great battlehorses on the internet. However, the most recent reviews they point in another direction, since it has been seen that dairy consumption reduces the risk of suffering from colorectal, bladder, liver, oral cavity and even ovarian and breast cancer. The calcium dilemma. With the rise of plant-based diets, it is common to hear that “spinach or oat drinks have as much or more calcium than milk.” This is where a crucial scientific concept that the nutrition label doesn’t cover comes in, which is bioavailability and the food matrix. We see this in a study published in 2024 that measured exactly how much calcium our body actually assimilates, and was seen that with the consumption of dairy products there was a bioaccessibility of between 19 and 34%, while the vegetable alternatives were 5 and 20%. And this is explained because the joint presence of lactose and casein peptides in milk acts as a “vehicle” that favors the absorption of calcium in our intestine. But in addition, many vegetables rich in calcium are loaded with phytates and oxalates, compounds that “sequester” calcium and prevent us from absorbing it. Your proteins. From a protein point of view, dairy products play in a higher league. If we use the DIAAS index, dairy proteins get scores higher than 1and this means that they provide an excellent amount of highly digestible essential amino acids, far surpassing most plant proteins. Images | Pixabay In Xataka | One in every ten liters of “milk” sold in Spain does not come from any animal: the unstoppable (and silent) growth of vegetable drinks

have the best Iberian ham

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He September 6, 1940the BOE published an unusual decree for its time. In the midst of the postwar period, in a Spain that rebuilds what it can, the State decides to protect a town of a thousand souls in the mountains of Salamanca. The official reason: the wishes of “excellent artists, both national and foreign,” who see in The Pool a “faithful guardian of the beauty of his hamlet, which has suggested so many masterpieces.” That day, La Alberca becomes the first municipality in Spain declared a National Historical-Artistic Monument. A precedent that today involves more than 500 urban centers throughout the peninsula. Eighty-five years later, National Geographic noted La Alberca as the most beautiful town in Spain to eat Iberian ham. And the phrase is loaded with gunpowder: what about the five jotas of Jabugo or Aracena, both in the province of Huelva? What happens with the Lolo from Barcelona? What do we do with the denominations of Monesterio or Zabra, on the Extremaduran side? From Guijuelo to Los Pedroches, Spain has plenty of master ham makers. But La Alberca is special. Because more than competing for production, it does so for experience. The pond town. The name comes from Arabic Al-Bereka: “the pond.” The town lives at about 1,000 meters above sea level, in the Las Batuecas-Sierra de Francia Natural Park, 75 kilometers southwest of the capital of Salamanca. The pool has 1,034 inhabitants according to the INE 2025, less than any average secondary school. Although there are now more accommodation places than registered residents. It was not the ham but the architecture that justified the 1940 decree. On a ground floor of granite rock, with the air of a fortress, the adobe and wood walls rise to one or two heights. It is beautiful, because they form a framework that is reminiscent of Mudejar art. There are intact medieval streets, balconies full of flowers and the Plaza Mayor has no war wounds. The best example is found in the church of Our Lady of the Assumption, from the 18th century, design by Manuel de Lara Churriguera. Does the last name sound familiar to you? He was the nephew of the architects responsible for the New Cathedral and the Plaza Mayor of Salamanca capital. The family tree does not lose strength in the branches. The pig that goes on its way. Here, the people bless a pig every June 13 (festival of San Antonio de Padua) and release it through the streets. The animal wears a bell around its neck and the neighbors feed it during those seven months. He January 17Saint Anton’s Day, raffled before the doors of the church. The benefits go to the brotherhood. There is even a granite sculpture in his honor in the square. The origin of this tradition is attributed to the converts of the 16th century, who used the pig as a public demonstration of Christian faith to avoid inquisitorial suspicion. Curious alibi. There is also the tradition of the turroneras, a true institution in the province, with its own statue in the market of Salamanca capital, unofficial announcement of the beginning of Christmas – something more tangible than Abel Caballero’s Vigo lights, if you ask me. First class ham. Although La Alberca does not cure hams on an industrial scale, its showcase is the most representative of Salamancan Iberian ham. The main ham has the Guijuelo Denomination of Originthe oldest and the one with the highest production volume of the four Iberian DOPs in Spain. Guijuelo, at 1,050 meters above sea level and with average temperatures of 12º C until well into spring, has an exceptional microclimate. It is literal: it allows a much longer natural conservation than in the hot southern lands, being able to salt the ham without artificial cold until the month of March. The natural cold does what an industrial snack has to do in other warehouses. By the way, the DOP has a supra-autonomous nature: it covers the pastures of Andalusia, Extremadura, Castilla y León and Castilla-La Mancha for the breeding of the Iberian pig, but the production process is limited to 78 municipalities of Salamanca. La Alberca is among them, in the heart of the Sierra de Francia, which gives its name to one of the regions of the DOP. We talk about more than 200 industries (distributed between Guijuelo, Ledrada, Sotoserrano, Miranda del Castañar, Béjar, Candelario, Frádes de la Sierra or Tamames) and exact requirements: pure Iberian breed cattle or a cross of 75% of Iberian blood with Duroc-Jersey. And the pieces must weigh at least 4.5 kg in the case of ham and 3.5 kg in the case of the shoulder, with an elongated and stylized shape, preserving the original black hoof. And it is estimated that La Alberca hams are exported to fourteen countries in the European Union, with France as the main destination, in addition to the United Kingdom, Korea, Japan and Mexico. The best customer for Salamanca ham is the neighboring country, as we know. Without us it does not exist Bayonne jambon. Beautiful inside and out. Like the pig, the beauty of La Alberca is mixed. It belongs to the network of Most Beautiful Towns in Spain. The Valley of Las Batuecas, accessible from La Alberca, concentrates a Carmelite monastery, cave paintings of the Canchal de las Cabras Pintadas and almost total silence. The route to Hastiala Peak, the highestexceeds 1,700 meters. From the top and on clear days you can see the Picos de Europa. In a few weeks they will celebrate La Loa, the popular sacramental car of medieval origin that mixes popular satire and religion. And in November the Calbochada recovers: roasted chestnuts in the square and a lot of mountain folklore, from which the surname also comes. It is normal that National Geographic has been full of praise. And although this usually brings the usual problem, more beds than inhabitants, it is worth getting to know it and tasting its food, not necessarily … Read more

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