Mobile Tech & Gadgets

Asturias has the electrical network so saturated that a simple failure would be enough to put the supply in check this summer

by

A year ago everything indicated that Asturias was going to become the new Spanish energy storage hub. But these plans, which were going to help integrate renewables, alleviate the grid and attract industry, collided with reality. Today, the panorama is very different. Not only has the region paralyzed new storage facilities, but an official report has just confirmed a more worrying diagnosis: Asturias is saturated with energy, but does not know where to put it. In short, the central area’s electrical grid is at its limit. The CNMC uncovers the problem. The trigger It is an apparently technical conflict between EDP (Hidrocantábrico Distribución) and Red Eléctrica de España for access to the Carrió substation. As local media have reportedthe distributor requested to replace two transformers to increase its capacity from 513 MW to 665 MW, but REE rejected it, arguing that the network could not supply so much simultaneous demand. This rejection took the case to the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC), which issued a resolution with a forceful message: the transport network in the central zone is saturated, it cannot grant new permits, there is “relevant overcapacity” and there is a “risk to the security of supply in the event of a simple failure, in the summer season.” Furthermore, the commission itself recognizes that the case dates back to 2007, when the separation between distribution and transportation occurred and assets were transferred to REE without documenting the guaranteed access capacities. As the official report explains, for years REE and EDP operated “as always”, but with opposite interpretations about how much capacity was really assured for the Asturian network. What does it mean to be saturated? Although it may seem like a technical concept, the CNMC has detailed in its report a more precise image of what is happening. To begin with, saturation means that the network cannot grant even one more access. The regulator detects a “total saturation of capacity, without the possibility of granting new access or connection permissions.” This means that no new industries, no renewable parks and no storage projects can connect: the grid is literally full. Added to this blockage is another underlying problem. The central Asturias network does not meet the minimum legal criterion known as N-1, which requires guaranteeing supply even if a key component fails. However, the CNMC itself confirms that this requirement is not met: If a transformer or main line falls, there is no alternative path capable of absorbing the energy, making any incident a potential risk. The situation is even more delicate according to the data. The regulator’s report indicates that two large electro-intensive consumers already absorb 686 MW, to which we must add the 200 MW that EDP needs to feed the distribution network. In total, more than 800 MW connected. The problem is that the safe capacity in summer – when the lines perform worse due to high temperatures – is 754 MW. In other words: there is more connected power than the network can safely support. And the room for maneuver is practically non-existent. According to the CNMC, if Cardoso’s 400/220 kV transformer failed, the entire area would be supplied only by a 220 kV line that does not support current consumption in summer. In practical terms, this means that any simple failure could trigger a real supply problem in the middle of the summer season. The point is that there is energy, but it cannot be moved. The paradox is evident: Asturias wants more renewables, it wants batteries, it wants to electrify its industry and it wants to attract new strategic projects. But all this growth requires a robust electrical grid with margin. And right now, that margin does not exist. Carrió’s transformers could handle more power, yes, but that is unimportant if the lines that connect them are already at their limit. Even the future conversion to gas of the Aboño thermal power plant —designated by the Principality as future relief— does not solve the current problem, because the bottleneck is in transportation, not in generation. How did we get here? In addition to the historical conflict between REE and EDP, a chain of factors have aggravated the situation. One of the most decisive is the increase in power assigned to some large industrial consumers. In 2022, Red Eléctrica granted an electro-intensive customer an increase of 132 MW, reaching 450 MW of power between Carrió and Tabiella. The regulator clarifies that this decision did not violate the regulations, but it does highlight the lack of coordination with EDP, which was not informed and saw how the capacity margin of the area was exhausted practically at once. Added to this problem is another longer-term problem. As El Comercio remembersthe necessary reinforcements for the central network have been planned for more than 20 years, but were never executed. The result is that Asturias faces industrial electrification and the growth expected for the coming years with a network that has not been updated at the pace of demand. The evolution of the local generation. The situation is complicated as cogeneration, a key technology for producing electricity and heat near industrial centers, has collapsed. According to figures published by El ComercioAsturias has lost 82% of cogeneration production in six years. This implies less energy generated at source and, therefore, more need to bring electricity from outside through a network that is already saturated. The economic and environmental impact is also notable: 60 million euros less industrial turnover and 230,000 additional tons of CO₂. And now what? The Asturian Government insists that the problem will be resolved with the 400 kV central ringa gigantic infrastructure included in the energy planning for 2030. This ring will double the electric transportation capacity in the metropolitan area and will allow it to absorb the planned industrial growth. For its part, Red Eléctrica you already have authorization for the new Cardoso substation, key to that ring, with an investment of 26.5 million euros. However, the CNMC warns that the problem is … Read more

After electrifying cars, China is targeting trucks. It is a slap in the face to global diesel consumption

by

China is one of the oil monsters. Not so much in generation, where they want to start being a powerbut in consumption. It is the fuel of hundreds of millions of vehicles They hit the road every day, but things are changing. Although the Asian giant has become one of the powers in car electrification, diesel seemed to have a break thanks to trucks. Not even that anymore. Diesel down. China is second diesel consumeronly behind the United States. transportation concentrate between 70 and 80% of that final consumption, but in recent years, the market has been going down. It is estimated that, in June 2024, diesel consumption fell to 3.9 million barrels per day. It’s still stupid, but it was 11% less than during the same period the previous year. It was the biggest drop since mid-2021 (logical because of the pandemic and the world situation) and despite the industrialization of the country and the rise of both national and international trade, this consumption has remained at a “plateau” for more than a decade. That is to say: it should be much greater than 10 years ago, but that is not the case. Another fact: in August 2024, 8% of new trucks were electric, but in August 2025, the figure was 28%. electric trucks. He rise of electric cars could explain this negative trend in diesel consumption, but as we say, the boats and, above all, trucks continued to support the market. That is no longer so clear, especially with the recent involvement of the Government. In April this year, the Ministry of Transport published, with the support of other government departments, a program to encourage the majority of new truck sales to be new energy by 2035. To achieve this, there are objectives, such as that by 2027 the share of electrical energy in final transport consumption must be 10% and the proportion of new new energy vehicles must be increased each year. The heavy truck seemed to be the bastion of diesel, but now it is one of the central pieces of this decarbonization of transportation. Paradigm shift. To achieve this, in addition to direct aid for the purchase of heavy electric trucks, China has launched a specific action to eliminate and replace old diesel trucks, with subsidies for their removal and replacement with new energy units. In fact, there are advantages: freer access to restricted urban areasfewer time limitations and discounts on tolls. In a report by The Associated Press This paradigm shift is reflected: if in 2020 almost all new trucks in China were diesel, by 2025 electric trucks already represent 22% of new heavy truck sales. As our colleagues point out Motorpassionthe arrow is inverse to that of diesel consumption: in the same period of 2024, that percentage was 9.2%. And the load? It represents a paradigm shift and there are analysts who predict that, by 2026, diesel will only account for 40% of sales. The rest: electric and gas trucks. Is the charging infrastructure? Because we are seeing advances in the development of solid state batteries that will allow greater autonomy, but until they arrive, it is necessary that there be numerous charging points to support the electrification of transport. The National Energy Administration and the Ministry of Transportation have already affirmed that 98% of highway service areas already have charging points, with widespread installation of 120 kW chargers and, in some segments, 600 and 800 kW chargers. The intention is for there to be some 28 million charging points throughout the country by 2027, and one of the key pieces in that expansion is CATL. The company is one of those leads the battery sector worldwideand is currently tracing a “green corridor” that will cover the major freight hubs to facilitate loading, but also to implement its battery exchange system that speeds up the process. Green curve… and economic. This electrification of commercial transportation would add to the objectives of decarbonization of the countrybut obviously truckers and companies also see a benefit in their pockets, or so they esteem. Although electric trucks are between two and three times more expensive than diesel trucks and cost 18% more than LNGare more efficient, have less maintenance and can help save between 10% and 26% over their useful life. Horizon. This change to the electrification of trucks would already be reducing the demand for oil in the equivalent of more than a million barrels per day, and that a giant like China stops depending on crude oil for its trucks is something that can shake the market internationally. And that ambition is not going to stay within its borders. If in recent months we have seen that China has flooded Europe with his electric carswe can expect something similar for 2026, but with trucks. And, furthermore, it has torn off in Hungary the construction of a factory for electric trucks and buses. It is evident that this path started by cars will be followed by trucks, which in the end are a important source of emissions in a world with increasingly global trade. Specificallya third of all transport-related carbon emissions in 2019. Images | Volvo, Cheng Long In Xataka | China’s energy paradox: an ‘electrostate’ that continues to feed on coal

How to turn any photo of yourself into a Stranger Things character using Nano Banana

by

Tomorrow the long-awaited premiere fifth season of one of the most popular series of recent years. To warm up our engines, we are going to explain to you how you can become a ‘Stranger Things’ character thanks to the AI ​​of Nano Banana totally free. Nano Banana is the image creation model integrated into Gemini, Google’s AI. Its peculiarity is that it allows you to make modifications to the photos while maintaining the content. We have already told you how turn a photo of yourself into an action figure or make your photos become a Nintendo-style video game setting. How to create ‘Stranger Things’ style photos The first step is to choose a photo from your gallery in which the person we want to turn into a character in the series appears. It is important that the face is seen well, so a medium shot or close-up is a good option. Once you have chosen the photo, Upload it to Gemini by clicking the + button (in the lower left corner). The next step is to copy and paste one of the prompts which we leave you below. They are already circulating on networks various prompts and since we couldn’t decide on just one, we have chosen the three that we liked the most. Option 1: talking on the phone while the demogorgon lurks Create a 2000s-style dream portrait of me inside a Stranger Things-inspired house, Will’s house, with an alphabet painted in crooked black paint on the wall, and above each letter a series of colored Christmas lights with each light bulb above each letter. The interior is that of a suburban house in a small town with soft, dim lighting and shadows. Soft, but with a subtle dreamlike cinematic glow. I’m leaning against the wall with a yellow telephone, which has a broken cord in my ear. Costume and appearance: the hairstyle is 80s style, I wear normal teenage clothes from 1987 inspired by the series Stranger Things: high-waisted jeans, t-shirt, jackets or sweaters with several layers in muted colors of the time, in the window you can see a tall and thin monster, whose head is made of red petals, there are 4 petals and in the center they look like teeth, as in the series, it lurks, partially hidden in the shadows, creating a disturbing and suspenseful atmosphere without the need to cover my face. face. Decor and props: The room has authentic 80s decor: patterned wallpaper, retro furniture, a blanket on the couch, an old CRT TV, stacks of 80s books or magazines, small nostalgic decorations on the shelves, faded 80s pop culture posters on the walls, the outside environment looks like red rays are falling, don’t change my face. Option 2: waiting for the demogorgon with an ax in his hand Create a high-quality, realistic photo using the reference face without changes or distortions. General style and atmosphere: A photograph in dark and intense tones, with a style similar to that of a frame from the series “Stranger Things”, with clear references to the atmosphere of the 80s and mysticism. Subject and main character: In the foreground appears a young person (similar to a character from “Stranger Things”) wearing a dark red plaid shirt with a white t-shirt underneath and black pants. His eighties-style hair is slightly disheveled. She is sitting on a sofa. He holds an ax in his hands and stares to the side. Setting and setting (interior): The scene takes place inside a room with walls covered with old wallpaper typical of the 80s. The space is very messy: there are many books, stacks of papers, cassettes and other objects scattered around the bed and a low table in front of it. To the left you can see shelves or shelves full of objects. Key Details (Alphabet and Lighting): On the wall just behind the character, the English alphabet is written in large letters that look hand-drawn. A string of Christmas lights with large bulbs hangs on the wall. Each letter corresponds to one or more bulbs in the garland. These holiday/Christmas lights also hang from the ceiling, illuminating the scene with a warm, flickering glow (red, blue, yellow), creating dramatic shadows and reflections. Quality and lighting: The image has been created in high resolution, emphasizing textures (fabric, wood, paper). The lighting is dim and contrasted (noir), with a strong lighting effect coming from the garlands (bloom effect). Style: Cinematic, dramatic, fashion photography or studio portrait style, set in an unusual location. High resolution, sharp details, hyperrealism, great level of detail, professional post-production. Option 3: walking at night in front of Hawkins High School Use my selfie to create an ultra realistic 9:16 dreamy 80s cinematic photo inspired by the 80s show and Stranger Things. The photo should be moody with vibrant lighting. It’s night and the sky has many dark spooky clouds that are throwing up red and blue. There are also red and blue rays. I’m standing in front of Hawkins High School and the school buildings. The school sign says Hawkins. I’m standing in the parking lot. I am walking and wearing a baseball t-shirt. The sleeves are black and the chest is white. The shirt says Hellfire Club. I have Levi jeans from the 80s. I have black Keds and white socks. I’m looking into the distance. My hair and clothing style is from the 80s. I’m holding a walkie talkie up to my mouth with one hand and holding a jean jacket in the other hand. The ground looks wet with some puddles and is casting shadows. There is a baseball bat with nails stuck into the bat. In the distant distance, behind the school buildings, I can see a dark demogorgon. Don’t change my facial features or hair color. As you can see, the prompts are extremely detailed, so the result you get should look quite similar to the images we attached. If you want to change something, such as the style of clothing … Read more

Telefónica is preparing a tough ERE, but for many veterans it will be like a prize

by

Telefónica has informed the unions of an ERE that would affect 6,088 employees, 24% of its workforce in Spain. The initial proposal includes seven companies and will presumably replicate the pattern of the last adjustment: in the 2024 ERE there were more applications to take advantage of the available spaces. More than 200 people were left outside. Or rather: inside. In detail. The most affected divisions: Telefónica de España: 3,649 departures, 41% of the workforce. Mobile phones: 1,124 (31.3%) Solutions: 267 (23.9%). Movistar+: 279 employees, almost a third. The parent company (SA), Global Solutions and Digital Innovation: between 140 and 378 exits (from 22% to 32%). The backdrop. The adjustment is framed in the Marc Murtra’s strategic plan to save 3,000 million euros until 2030. The objective: to reduce overhead costs that grow faster than income in a fragmented Europe with almost 40 competing operators. The Ministry of Labor described as “indecent” that a company with the State as a shareholder (10% via SEPI) executes an ERE while in profits. But the Government itself endorsed this strategic plan, on the condition that there was a union agreement. Minister Óscar López made it clear: “It always has to be with the agreement of the unions.” Between the lines. Incentives explain the avalanches of applications: In the ERE of 2024, compensation was around 67% of the salary until age 63, with paid contributions, health insurance and a supplement of 38% until age 65. The average cost per departure was 380,000 euros. Less generous than in previous EREs (in 2021 it was 463,500 euros), but enough to pack your bags. The annual savings for the company, 285 million euros. For someone who turns 56-57 and has been in the house for decades, it is a difficult deal to refuse. Those affected earn until they retire without having to work. This ERE targets those born in 1969, 1970 and 1971, with departures staggered between 2026 and 2028. Yes, but. As in The Leftoversa good part of the story is that of those who remain. The veterans come out with the mattress on. Those who remain – especially the younger ones – will presumably inherit more burden, more uncertainty and a less clear professional future. The question that no one has answered yet: which Telefónica will be left after losing weight at the top? The unions already know this. UGT, CCOO and Fetico-Sumados They demand that departures be voluntary (as in 2024), but they also want to extend the agreement until 2030, tie in improvements in teleworking, working hours and salaries, and guarantee stability for the next five years. Without improvements for those who follow, there will be no agreement. The great unknown. Not all branches have the age pyramids to fill positions only with volunteers. The three main ones of the Related Companies Agreement (Spain, Mobile, Solutions) repeat the profile: aging staff, high seniority, juicy incentives. The unions predict that the excess of requests will be repeated. But at Telefónica SA (the corporate center), Global Solutions or Digital Innovation, the staff is younger. There the risk of forced dismissals is greater. CCOO has already warned that in these subsidiaries “the population pyramids are different.” In perspective. The “bargain” for those over 55 coexists with the concern of those who cannot benefit. A Telefónica that reduces costs, yes, but also a generational gap that widens with each ERE. And an unresolved question: how to prevent the next political or shareholder change from activating the guillotine again? The unions want shields until 2030. The company, room for maneuver. In Xataka | The great dilemma of Spanish telecos: either they become giants or China swallows them Featured image | Telephone

An investment of 2,350 million will make Extremadura a global supplier of diamonds for chips

by

Trujillo will be a world center for the production of synthetic diamonds. A factory will be created there with a budget of 2.77 billion dollars (almost 2.4 billion euros) in which the Spanish Society for Technological Transformation will participate (SETT), with 753 million, and the American company Diamond Foundry (DF). And those diamonds will not be used for jewelry, but for especially powerful chips. The silicon problem. Current silicon chips have hit a “thermal wall.” By making them faster and more powerful, they get so hot that they lose efficiency or burn out. This slows down the progress of these chips and their application in fields such as artificial intelligence or automotive. Alternatives have been sought for a long timeand the diamond is precisely one of the most striking. The evolution of Trujillo. The Diamond Foundry factory will not make jewelry, but the synthetic diamond wafers it first produced two years ago. The diamond has a thermal conductivity much higher than that of silicon, with values ​​ranging between 1,000 to 2,200 W/mK compared to 153 W/mK for silicon. Or what is the same: it allows us to guarantee that, as they highlighted on IEE Spectrumthe chips of the future will remain “fresh.” The impact. By using diamond as the base or substrate for these chips, it is possible to run them at extreme speeds without overheating. This will position Spain as the world center of this critical technology. The North American company It already had two plants in Trujillo in which monocrystalline diamond (SCD) ingots were produced. The factories are also powered by solar energy, which is abundant in the Extremadura region. Zaragoza as a great ally. Those responsible for Diamond Foundry they explain in the official statement that the new factory is already underway with two construction shifts to accelerate the works. The ingots (the “raw” form of the material) will then go through a singling or cutting process that “slices” them into very thin sheets. These sheets, which are initially rough, are polished at a microscopic level and packaged in a sterile environment. Precisely this “post-processing” phase of production will be carried out in Zaragoza. The investment. The total budget they talk about in DF is 2,770 million dollars, about 2,392 million euros at the exchange rate. Of that amount, the SETT—which groups together previous investments such as PERTE Chip—, will contribute 753 million euros according to DF. It is expected that in the first ten years of the project the contribution to the Spanish GDP will be around 2,150 million euros, and it is expected to generate around 500 direct jobs and more than 1,600 indirect jobs. How to produce synthetic diamonds. While natural diamonds they take time to produce between 1,000 and 3,300 million years old, in Trujillo they are manufactured in approximately one month. To achieve this, DF uses 20 plasma reactors that exceed 1,000 degrees in temperature and generate conditions similar to those found in nature. The process starts with a 20.0 x 20.0 x 0.2 mm diamond “seed” that, when subjected to a combination of gases and a microwave process, grows until it reaches the optimal dimensions for use. Di Caprio, among investors. A curiosity: the San Francisco-based company was founded in 2012 by Martin Roscheisen and Jeremy Scholz, but what is surprising is its list of investors. Among them are iPod co-creator Tony Fadeel, Twitter founder Evan Williams and actor Leonardo di Caprio. The water problem. Diamond Foundry’s plants in Trujillo have faced significant problems related to their water supply. It is estimated that the plants need at least 730,000 cubic meters of water per year, which exceeds the annual drinking water consumption of the entire population of Trujillo. Various platforms such as Save El Berrocal and Ecologistas en Acción have warned of that danger, although Diamond Foundry has defended that its plan is based on the reuse of water from the Trujillo Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). The Extremadura Government gave the green light to some modifications to the original DF project and considered that the factories would not produce significant adverse effects on the environment. In Xataka | China defies geology: it manufactures in a week what the Earth takes a billion years to do

his commitment to photography

by

A few days ago we celebrated Xataka Awards 2025. As always, we reward the best devices of the year and, as almost always, talking about super high-end mobile phones is talking about the current Samsung Galaxy – the S25 Ultra this year – and the corresponding iPhone – the iPhone 17 Pro Max-. In this edition we did not see any surprises in this aspect, but we did see a third place that was won by a brand that had never been among the winners: I live with his Vivo X200 Pro. And much of the credit goes to a camera that my partner Ricardo described as “FUN, with capital letters.” ZEISS is the visible face, behind it there is much more Having placed himself as one of the best phones of the year It is not something that can be achieved overnight, especially in a range as competitive as that of mobile phones over 1,000 euros. Many factors come into play in a segment in which the competition is brutal, but much of the weight of that third place is carried by the camera. The beginning of the Spanish journey in the high range: the X51 5G | Photo: Xataka This is something they have been working on for five years. It was in 2020 when Vivo landed in Spain with the X51 5Ga model that did not stand out for its processor and other technical characteristics, but for itsa very ambitious camera. Angle, wide angle and two telephoto lenses: a 2x portrait lens and a longer one with 5x optical lenses. They have already started flirting with digital 60x. A year later they raised the bar with the Vivo X60 Pro. Better screen, better processor, more RAM and three cameras instead of two, but with something that has accompanied them until today: the collaboration with Zeiss. The alliance with this historic brand of objectives translated into photographic modes, but also into agreements to improve main camera lens (with an anti-reflective treatment, for example). With the X60 Pro the Zeiss label was introduced | Photo: Xataka With the X70 They returned to the four cameras (two of them telephoto lenses) and the big news was the personalized image chip, the Vivo Imaging Chip V1. Of the style of MariSilicon X by OPPOhelped with image processing and, although the marks they have ended up abandoning them because MediaTek and Qualcomm ISPs are enough, it is a sign of the ambition of the Chinese brand. We saw the change of nut with the Vivo X80 Pro. Here they answered the question of “How much technology do we put in this mobile” with a “yes”with a special emphasis on the photographic section. The play was repeated in the X90in it X100 and in this third place of the Xataka Awards, the Vivo X200 Pro. The X80 Pro with its four lenses is still a beast, despite the years | Photo: Xataka Something that all these models have in common is that the Chinese company has focused on photographic capabilities, but without destroying the advances of previous generations. Hardware and, above all, software, have evolved generation after generation. When other companies turn around every generation or two, Vivo has gone a little on his way being, in addition, one of those with the best shooting speed in the Android universe. They have also gone their own way when it comes to processing, a little exaggerated for our taste in certain scenarios, but remaining constant in something that, for many years, was the measuring stick of mobile photography: the portrait. Vivo X200 | Photo: Xataka In the analysis of the X200 Pro we commented that “it is a camera that you can trust to, In practically all situations, you have a good result”, and it is something that could be said of all the high-end Vivos since the brand’s arrival in Spain. Innovation and fun Curiously, the one that has won the award is not the last Vivo. Just after voting closed, two mobile phones with very similar characteristics appeared on the market: the OPPO Find X9 Pro and the Vivo X300 Pro. The two have a similar approach on camera and both will surely give a lot to talk about for next year. The Vivo X200 Ultra was a sign of the company’s emphasis on mobile photography innovation | Photo: Xataka The reason? Their telephoto kits. The one on the Vivo is better resolved because it allows you to use the main sensor – something that the OPPO does not – but the idea is the same: a camera that allows you to attach a telephoto lens that takes advantage of the smartphone’s tele sensor. To achieve a very long focal length, extremely wide camera modules would have to be created, but with this approach, we have a versatile camera always on us and an attachment that we can use whenever we want. “It is a camera that you can trust so that, in practically all situations, you will have a good result” It is an addition, a way to give the user more tools and that They already tried it with the Vivo X200 Ultrabecause the X300 builds on the same as the X200 and lor that Vivo has been building for five years: processed with personality, versatility, filters that really add up and a special focus on portraiture. And, above all, with a word that different editors have used to describe the camera in each of the analyzes of a mobile phone of this brand: Fun. It is what is truly special and differentiating. Because the technical characteristics are extremely similar in phones in the same price range, but it is in the cameras where they allow themselves to provide something that differentiates them from the others. Photos | Xataka In Xataka | We asked eight photographers what their secret is to taking better photos with their mobile. This has been answered

a polar Spain in the middle of a world above average

by

The climatological autumn has its days numbered and is going to say goodbye in style. After a little rain and mild temperatures, the cold returns to our latitudes. And he is going to do it with force. However, that is not the worrying thing. The worrying thing is what comes next: that in the rain department, we are going to lose a good part of December. “Three days of pure cold.” That’s the summary of the rest of the week. And so says Roberto Granda, one of our greatest temperature experts. As explainedthe cold has already been noticeable in Tuesday’s lows. We have seen “drops of up to 4 and 6 degrees across the board.” Wednesday will be the coldest day of this episode with widespread frost and much of the interior of the country below 10 degrees. However, the coldest night will be Thursday and the minimum temperatures will be below five degrees in most of the peninsular territory. And after? Then we will have a reminder that we are still in autumn. One of those seasons in which the atmosphere casts lots for what is going to happen just before it happens. In this case, despite there being many scenarios on the table, the most likely is that at the end of the week a ridge will settle over Spain to collapse almost immediately, allowing a trough from the north to approach our positions. That would mean more rain: not a lot, but it’s something. Above all, because they may be the last for a long time. The European model has changed its forecast and everything seems to indicate that A NAO+ will be imposed during the first week of December. NAO positive? In general terms, the North Atlantic Oscillation It is the ‘dance’ between the Azores anticyclone and the Icelandic low, the two major atmospheric phenomena that govern the meteorology of the North Atlantic. When the index we use for “measure who is winning” is negative, the Azores anticyclone is weaker than normal and, for this reason, it cannot block the deep Atlantic storms. The direct consequence is that they circulate further south than usual: right at our latitude. yes how everything seems to indicate the NAO becomes positivenot a drop of moisture will enter from the west. The storms will move towards high latitudes (near Iceland and the Nordic countries) and, although stability will not be absolute, the situation will be very dry. Good news for tourism, I guess. Because as explains Samuel Biener“a predominant flow from the west or southwest, the temperatures could be between 1 and 3 ºC above the average in the center, northern third and on the shores of the Mediterranean” during the December long weekend. We do not have any quantification of what will happen in the south and in the Canary Islands, but we can get an idea. Image | TropicalTridBits In Xataka | The last hope of winter in Spain is desperate, but increasingly possible: the breaking of the polar vortex

He has just been fined 10 million euros

by

The Spanish Data Protection Agency has imposed on Aena the largest technological sanction in Spain. This is not a security or data leak problem, but rather having deployed a “high-risk” technology for fundamental rights without demonstrating that it was really necessary. The supervisor has also ordered the immediate suspension of all facial recognition at airports until the deficiencies are corrected. What has happened. The fine of 10,043,002 euros specifically punishes the lack of a valid Impact Assessment before processing biometric data of more than 62,000 passengers. The resolution, dated November 6 but known now, details that Aena continued with the system despite having received two previous unfavorable reports from the Agency itself during the consultation phase. The core of the infringement. The problem is not using biometrics, but how the system architecture was designed: Aena opted for a “one-to-many identification” model with centralized storage. This means that the passenger’s face was not only checked against their documentation at the time of screening, but was stored in a central database for up to two years. The regulator considers that there were much less intrusive alternatives to achieve the same objective of speeding up boarding. For example, local biometric authentication or simply the traditional visual verification system that has worked for decades. Between the lines. The AEPD challenges the premise that the “user experience” justifies any technological deployment. In its resolution, the body headed by Lorenzo Cotino describes Aena’s lack of diligence as “serious” and emphasizes that the company was fully aware that its program involved special category and high-risk treatment. The system worked at eight airports: Madrid-Barajas. Barcelona-El Prat. Alicante. Gran Canaria. Tenerife-North. Palma de Mallorca. Minorca. Ibiza. Going through biometric controls was voluntary and coexisted with traditional documentary controls, which will continue to operate as before. Aena’s response. The airport manager has announced that it will appeal the sanction before the courtsexpressing his “respectful disagreement.” It maintains that the passengers gave their consent voluntarily and that the security of the data was never compromised. “There has been no security breach and, therefore, there has been no data leak,” the company stressed. Aena describes the sanction as “disproportionate” and argues that it is based on an “alleged violation of a formal obligation.” However, in the field of data protection, consent does not validate processing if it is disproportionate or unnecessary from its design. Yes, but. The suspension dictated by the AEPD will not affect flight operations. It will remain in place until Aena carries out a risk assessment that truly considers the dangers to the rights and freedoms of travelers. The company has assured that it will work to restart the program “as soon as possible.” In Xataka | “We have not done it well”: the DGT assumes that something has failed in the arrival of the V-16 beacons Featured image | Aena

China is sending drones to an island 100 km from Taiwan. The problem is that Japan and the US are filling it with missiles

by

The small Japanese island by Yonagunilocated just over 100 kilometers away from Taiwan, has gone in a matter of months from being a remote enclave with a modest self-defense detachment to becoming one of the most sensitive points of the strategic balance in Asia. The United States, China and Japan itself are carrying their disputes to the small enclave. An island as a front. The intensification of chinese drone flights over the island and the strait, intercepted on two consecutive occasions by Japanese fighters, has reinforced the perception in Tokyo that the first island chain is entering a phase of chronic instability. Japan, aware of the real possibility of a conflict around Taiwan, has decided to turn Yonaguni into a defensive node fully integrated: a place where operates a FARP American that extends the range of Marine Corps helicopters, where capabilities are consolidated electronic surveillance and where the installation of air defense missiles is progressing like the Type 03 Chu-SAM. Weapons and more weapons. This system, capable of tracking one hundred simultaneous targets and shooting down twelve of them with Mach 2.5 missilesimplies that Japan is beginning to give teeth to a position whose mere proximity to the democratic island makes it an advanced platform to detect, deter or even respond to a possible Chinese attack. For Tokyo, reinforcing Yonaguni is not a provocation but a life policy national: any attack on Taiwan, as as stated the new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, would constitute an existential threat to the archipelago. Yonaguni Beijing’s reaction. China, which interprets any Japanese defensive measure as one more step in a strategic siege promoted by the United States, has reacted with increasing hardness. From historical comparisons to veiled threats, including the summoning of the Japanese ambassador and the suspension of economic exchanges, Beijing frames the installation of missiles in Yonaguni as an “offensive act” that violates the spirit of the bilateral normalization of 1972. The rhetoric has gone in crescendo after Takaichi’s words about the possibility of Japan intervening militarily in the event of an attack on Taiwan, something that China considers a space invasion diplomat reserved for Washington. The climate has deteriorated to such a level that a Chinese diplomat even published (and removed) a direct threat against the prime minister, while the central government canceled meetings, stopped imports and called for boycott trips to Japansinking the influx of Chinese tourists who represented almost a third of foreign visitors. In parallel, China has intensified its military demonstrations, spreading videos YKJ-1000 hypersonic missile destroying Japanese targets, a message designed to emphasize that any expansion of the Japanese military footprint will be met with a response. The strategic dilemma. Far from backing down, Japan has adopted a tone unusually firm. Under the leadership of Takaichi, the political heir to Shinzo Abe’s strategic nationalism, Tokyo has made Yonaguni the tangible manifestation of a doctrinal turn: accept that Japanese stability requires preventing China from dominating the Taiwan Strait. from there the proliferation of radar installations, electronic warfare capabilities and additional plans that contemplate systems such as US Patriots, US Army Typhon, HIMARS and the NMESIS equipped with NSM missiles, capable of denying access to Chinese ships around the Taiwanese eastern coast. USA discreetly supports this redesign: approved sales of NASAMS and spare parts to the Taiwan Air Force, deployed CH-53E helicopters in Yonaguni (an unprecedented milestone) and coordinates with Japan a doctrine that assumes that, in the event of an outbreak of hostilities, the Marines must operate from the lethality zone itself of Chinese missiles. All of this positions Yonaguni not only as an advanced observatory, but as a critical point whose defense and survival would determine the first stages of any crisis in the strait. Yonaguni Taiwan’s hardening. While Japan reinforces the front line, Taiwan assumes that time to prepare is running out. President Lai Ching-te has announced a massive increase in military spending, raising it by $40 billion until 2033, with a roadmap that will place it at 3.3% of GDP in 2026 and with the declared ambition of reaching 5% before 2030. What Taipei is proposing is not a simple rearmament, but a comprehensive redesign: new missiles and drones, integrating AI into existing systems, protecting against infiltration operations, dramatically improving procurement (often delayed in the United States), and measures against transnational Chinese repression targeting Taiwanese abroad. For Lai, the most dangerous threat is not a Chinese landing but internal erosion: that Taiwan “gives up” due to psychological or economic pressure. It flatly rejects the “one country, two systems” model and affirms that the only way to maintain peace is to make an invasion too costly for Beijing. The United States, through its de facto representation, has described the decision as a crucial step to strengthen deterrence. A strategic powder keg. The juxtaposition of Japanese military movements, Chinese threats and unprecedented rearmament of Taiwan produces a “traffic” that raises the risk of calculation errors. The experts warn that a poorly calibrated comment, a overflight unreported or a maritime incident could accelerate a spiral that is difficult to contain, especially when Beijing tries to use its contacts with Washington to simultaneously pressure Tokyo and Taipei. In this context, Yonaguni becomes symbol and detonator: too close to Taiwan to be irrelevant, too exposed to be invulnerable, and too strategic for either side to relinquish control or influence. Plus: the island is both within immediate range of Chinese missiles and within the American concept of advanced distributed operationsmeaning it could be both a multiplier of Allied defense and a priority objective in the first minute of a war. A fragile balance. In short, China hardens his stanceJapan resignation definitely to ambiguity, Taiwan accelerate the shielding of its sovereignty and the United States consolidates its role as operational guarantor. In the midst of all this, Yonaguni emerges as a microcosm where the resistance of that regional order is tested. An enclave of barely 1,700 inhabitants that, due to its geographical positionhas become a thermometer, border and barrier. Its immediate … Read more

Europe has been closing refineries for 10 years. Now even a fire in Nigeria raises the price of diesel

by

Diesel prices in Europe have once again set off alarm bells. In a matter of days, the market has experienced a sharp rebound that cannot be interpreted as a one-off shock, but rather as the symptom of a fragile energy system that, in the face of a global chain of incidents, has left the continent without defenses. A chain of critical interruptions. The immediate origin is in a succession of stoppages in refineries and international tensions. According to the Financial TimesEuropean operators reacted with concern after several facilities in Kuwait, the United States and Nigeria were forced to stop or reduce production due to fires or technical problems. These interruptions coincided with already very low inventories and with demand that remains stronger than expected. Adding to this instability was the announcement that United States sanctions against the two largest Russian producers, Lukoil and Rosneft, will come into effect immediately. As the British media explains, these measures will block any operation related to the international assets of both companies, including refineries that still indirectly supply the European market. Only the Bulgarian Lukoil refinery has received a temporary exemption until 2026. The scenario is even more complicated with the fall of Russian crude oil. According to Bloombergits price has fallen to the lowest level in more than two years, just when large Asian buyers have paused purchases due to the entry into force of sanctions. In addition, the EU has also sanctioned Russian refined products that arrive re-exported from India or Türkiye, a flow that had served as an indirect way to compensate for the lack of European diesel. An extremely vulnerable market. Europe has lost refining capacity over the last decade. According to data cited by the Financial Timesthe continent has closed about 400,000 barrels per day since 2024. This reduction means that it is increasingly dependent on imported fuels and a global market that has become more volatile and unpredictable. The European industrial crisis amplifies this problem. Based on data from the petrochemical industry, high energy costs and Asian competition have caused massive closures of plants in the Netherlands, Germany and the United Kingdom. This industrial deterioration also affects the infrastructure linked to fuel processing. For analyst Benedict Georgethe result is clear: “European prices are much more sensitive to any disruption because Europe has closed many refineries in recent years.” A tense world. Although the price of diesel has skyrocketed, the global crude oil market presents a paradox. The International Energy Agency foresees a record surplus in 2026powered by the increase in OPEC+ production and for the rebirth of the American offshore. However, this future abundance is not alleviating current tension. As Bloomberg points outthe market remains trapped between sanctions, fears of specific shortages and sudden changes in global flows. Added to this is a particularly delicate geopolitical context for Europe. The peace plan proposed by the United States for Ukraine has generated a “diplomatic storm” in Brussels and kyiv for their apparent alignment with pro-Moscow positions. This diplomatic uncertainty – which affects sanctions, energy and continental security – adds pressure to an EU that already depends on abroad to guarantee its diesel supply after two years of war. A direct hit. Europe faces a structural problem: it has little of its own refining capacity, low inventories and a growing dependence on imports. Every global incident reaches the European consumer almost unmuffled. And this directly affects Spain for three reasons: Spanish transport depends mainly on diesel. Trucks, logistics vans, buses and much of rural transport continue to use diesel. The escalation is transferred to the prices of goods. Food, imported products, construction materials… Everything that moves by road becomes more expensive when diesel does. Price spikes are amplified. Being a net importer, Spain especially suffers from international volatility. The rapidity with which diesel has risen shows that Europe “has no margin”: each shock becomes a direct blow for consumers and companies. For a standard 55 liter tank, filling a diesel car is already around 79 euros, while with 95 gasoline the cost is close to 82 euros, according to current average prices. Is there relief in sight? In the short term, analysts cited by Financial Times They believe the rebound could moderate during the winter months, when refineries avoid scheduled shutdowns to maximize production. But they warn that the market will remain “vulnerable to any disruption.” In the medium term, the perspective is contradictory. On the one hand, the International Energy Agency anticipates a global surplus in 2026 and an increase in production in both the United States and OPEC+. On the other hand, Chinawhich has purchased more than 150 million barrels for reserves— could stop its acquisitions at any time, releasing an excess capable of sinking global prices or further tightening the chains if it decides to continue accumulating. The warning of a weak system. Europe faces uncomfortable evidence: it has built a fragile energy system at a time of maximum global tension. The combination of refinery shutdowns, sanctions on Russia, diplomatic tensions and loss of industrial capacity has left the continent exposed. As the London media summarizes, “inventories are extremely low and demand is better than expected.” An explosive mixture. While the world navigates between a future surplus and constant geopolitical crises, the present shows that any spark – a fire, a sanction or a diplomatic disagreement – ​​can reignite the European diesel market. And Europe, for now, appears to have few tools to prevent the next shock from hitting even harder. Image | FreePik Xataka | The world is heading towards an oil surplus: the US responds by filling the Gulf of Mexico with platforms again

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password.

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

Here you'll find all collections you've created before.