Mobile Tech & Gadgets

Mercadona already sells 51% of all prepared dishes

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Does almost a year Juan Roig astonished everyone and everyone with a prediction that sounded almost like dystopian science fiction. In his opinion, shared the founder of Mercadona, ceramic hobs, ovens, extractor hoods and other culinary appliances have their days numbered in homes. “I said it and I maintain it: in the middle of the 21st century there will be no kitchens,” claimed. It is not that we are going to stop eating at home. We will simply arrive there with our already prepared dishes, stews, pastas, fish… that have previously been prepared in supermarkets. Sector data suggest that Roig was not wrong. Perhaps it is too early to know if the kitchens are mortally wounded, but one thing is clear: the prepared meals business is growing and Mercadona has been able to position itself in it. A percentage: 51.2%. That Mercadona has found the key to become the heavyweight in the sector is nothing new. The data may vary from one study to another, but in general they show that the Valencian company has managed to gain a market share of between 25 and 30%. The curious thing is that there is a niche in which its dominance is even greater: that of the distribution of prepared dishes. According to Algori data advanced by Food Retail In that segment its footprint reaches a surprising (and overwhelming) 51.2%. Getting perspective. The percentage is striking in itself, but it is even more curious when it is put into context and both the overall results of the company and that of its direct rivals are taken into account. Mercadona’s share in the prepared meals segment (54.2%) far exceeds that of the chain as a whole called “FMCG”the total of fast-moving consumer goods. Its footprint in that business niche is ‘only’ 36.9%. As for the rest of the chains, their weight in the cooked food business is much lower. The second best positioned is Grupo Carrefour, with 9.9%, followed by Lidl (8.1%) and (already quite a distance away) Consum (3.9%). Food Retail specifies that the data refers to the “modern distribution”the large-scale sales channel in stores such as supermarkets or hypermarkets. A growing sector…Beyond how each company is doing or the slice of the pie they are taking, Algori data They reflect that prepared dishes represent an increasingly juicy business. According to the consulting firm’s report, its sales have grown by 8.9% year-on-year, almost double that of the total FMCG (5.3%). The pace of purchase stands out above all, which gives us a clue of its growing success among households. While mass consumption as a whole has risen a discreet 0.8% in 2025, prepared food rose by 6.2%. …and it diversifies. In its analysis Algori also explores what we Spaniards buy when we go to Mercadona, Lidl, Carrefour stores… in search of already cooked dishes. And its conclusion is clear. Almost all branches of the business are growing. Meat-based dishes increased by around 18%, as did creams and gazpachos, which already represent 23% of all sales. Even though we Spaniards buy and cook less and less fishsupermarket menus based on this food also grew by 13%, even more than pasta and rice (10%), tortillas (10%) or pizzas (3%). The report does not clarify whether this data is related to the (increasingly common and diversified) supply of sushi and salmon pokés in supermarkets. “Ready to eat”. These data have little of mystery. As it has become clear This Christmas (and it is not something exclusive to the holidays), we Spaniards are less and less willing to spend hours in the kitchen. The reason? Cultural changes, lack of time, a restructuring of families and even changes in homessmaller and therefore with less space to cook. The industry itself dedicated to the preparation of dishes detected in 2024 an increase in demand of 6.6%, which left average consumption at almost 17.2 kg per person per year. Mercadona has been able to read that scenario and has been betting for years for a specific section of already prepared menus: “Ready to eat”. In 2024 the service was available in 1,260 of its premises. Goodbye cooking? The question that these data leave behind is… Was Roig right when he predicted that by the middle of this century kitchens will have lost ground in Spanish homes? Algori data certainly demonstrates a growing interest in ready-made dishes. Others however, such as a report published in 2025 in the academic journal TIJFGSshow that the majority of Spaniards (59%) still put on our apron daily. Images | Andalusian Government (Flickr) and Mercadona In Xataka | Years ago Mercadona decided to conquer the market with its white brands. And that is making gold for some companies

drones converted into Uber of combat robots

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In Ukraine, the war is transforming at brutal speed due to the massive irruption of drones and robotsmachines and devices that have ceased to be a complement to central part of the fight. Every week they appear new shapes to use them to reconnoitre, attack, evacuate or move supplies without exposing soldiersand that is forcing us to adapt tactics almost in real time. What we did not imagine was to what extent. Cross a line. In Ukraine, this “machine war” has entered a phase as delusional as it is logicalone in which a drone is no longer just a weapon or an eye in the sky, but a means of transportation: Ukrainian soldiers have started using aerial drones as if they were improvised Ubers for combat robots, loading small ground vehicles and dropping them near Russian positions to save time and, above all, blood. The image was described by military commanders to the Insider mediumwhen the soldiers at the front saw with stupefaction and surprise the almost absurd scene (a flying platform carrying another armed platform), but which summarizes better than anything the technological moment of the front: the continuous impossible combinations that are born from a simple and brutal need, to put capabilities on the ground without exposing a human even a second more than is essential. The trick. Here is a company that we have talked before. Ark Roboticswhich supplies autonomous robots to more than 20 brigades, says that this tactic has even surprised its own CEO, Achi, who speaks on Insider under a pseudonym for safety and that when he saw it he reacted with a mixture of disbelief and alarm, before admitting that it made all the sense in the world. A large drone transports a small ground robot forward and “drops” it to deploy it directly where it matters, avoiding the most vulnerable part of the trip, that slow advance over land that exposes the UGV to mines, direct fire, mud, craters and detection. The idea is so simple that it is scary: it is not about inventing a marvel, but about skipping the route that produces casualties, and converting the deployment into something fast and safe for the human operator. Why does it make sense? The reason this madness works is that air and ground combat complement each other in modern warfare: aerial drones are numerous, can cover distances quickly and cross dangerous areas more easily, but they are noisy, visible and need to stay close to observe or attack. Terrestrial robots, on the other hand, they are slow to arrivebut when they are already in position they can do things that cannot be done in the same way from the air: get into trenches, enter shelters, approach without announcing their presence, place explosives, collect intelligence, shoot with more stability and remain hidden next to an enemy point as if they were part of the landscape. That species drone-Uber It precisely solves the bottleneck: it does not improve the robot itself, it improves “how you take it” to the place where it starts to be really dangerous. Ukrainian land robot Crazy innovation… with logic. This type of hybrid shows to what extent the war in Ukraine has become in a laboratory that no longer differentiates between classic categories, because everything is mixed in order to gain seconds and reduce casualties. It’s not just creativity: it’s creativity for survival, squeezing out any tool until you get uses from it that weren’t in the plans. Other manufacturers as Milrem Robotics They have also recognized that the Ukrainians have used their robots in unexpected waysand that pressure from the front is rewriting the design of systems in real time, in cycles of change so rapid that they seem impossible in traditional industry. The cost of speed. The problem for companies like Ark is that this “insane phase” of machine warfare forces them to innovate with a speed that can turn against: If you change too much, you no longer mass produce, and if you produce without changing, you fall behind. Achi describe an almost inhuman pace of iteration, with multiple modifications in weeks, and the permanent risk of following wrong trends that compromise reliability and volume. In practice, war requires them to do two incompatible things at once: experiment as an improvised workshop and manufacture as a real industry. The future that looms. Although hethe terrestrial robots are still a minority in the face of the torrent of aerial drones, the scene with Ark robots makes it clear that it is an expanding sector and that the front is pushing towards a model in which the front line is increasingly supported by machines. The company develops a system called Frontier to coordinate thousands of drones and robots with minimal human intervention, and the idea that floats above everything is as disturbing as it is coherent: if moving people near the front is increasingly absurd, war will tend to move machines, and Ukraine this exploiting that logic in a big way. Image | Ministry of Defense of Ukraine In Xataka | The drone war in Ukraine is scary for a reason: It’s called Sirius-82 and it has turned rivers into modern minefields In Xataka | Ukraine has called in a group of hunters for an unprecedented mission: to prevent Russian missiles from freezing it

traffic jams, collapsed buses and 400,000 people without a planned alternative

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Closed with a message at midnight and no backup plan. This is what the 400,000 people who take one of the Rodalies trains in Catalonia every day have found. The railway system has come to a complete halt after the an accident in Gelida (Barcelona) in which a trainee driver died and a second train derailed, this one without consequences, between the stations of Blanes and Maçanet (Girona). What has happened? Last night, Rodalies Catalunya reported that a train on Rodalies line R4 in Barcelona had suffered an accident. In it, everything indicates, a retaining wall fell on the train as it passed. On impact A 28-year-old trainee train driver has died and 37 injuries have been recorded, of which five are in serious condition. Furthermore, between the stations of Blanes and Maçanet (Girona), a few hours earlier another train had derailed. This time as a result of a landslide that left some rocks on the road. In this case there have been no victims on a train in which only 10 people were traveling. Click on the image to go to the original tweet Rodalies closes. A few minutes before midnight, Adif confirmed that all Rodalies lines in Catalonia were suspended until the status of all the lines was checked, but assured that, when it was verified that there were no obstacles on the tracks, the service would be restored. This morning, the trains have not left the depots. Rodalies confirmed that the train service will remain suspended until Adif checks the status of all the tracks. Rodalies points to the damage caused by Storm Harry, which has left heavy rains in Catalonia and has even been warned of flooding. The stoppage also comes after SEMAF (Spanish Union of Railway Machinists) will release a statement announcing that they are going to call a general strike in the sector and that they would stop the service if security was guaranteed throughout the Catalan network. Click on the image to go to the original tweet 400,000 people. Every day, around 400,000 people move around Catalonia using the Rodalies service. Today, Wednesday, January 21, they learned that there are no trains to get to work or drop the children off at school. But, above all, there is no alternative plan to replace the trains, so passengers have to find their own means to get around. Rodalies has 134 stations and its 462.7 kilometers of tracks cover the most extensive Cercanías service in Spain. In total, it is made up of 13 Cercanías lines and 6 regional train lines. The Barcelona Cercanías service, with six lines and two branches (R2 Nord and R2 Sud), is the most extensive. a challenge. The suspension of the service without alternative measures anticipated a chaotic day in Catalonia and, especially, in Barcelona. And the forecasts have been fulfilled. In The Country They note that many passengers were not aware of the measure when they arrived at the stations and that they were not offered any alternative there. In The Vanguard They collect complaints from passengers who are not being told when service can return. Some of them, they point out in the newspaper, have waited for an hour at the stations for trains that have never arrived. It was not until 7:00 when the stations closed definitively. From early in the morning, bus services are saturated in Barcelona. In 20 Minutes They collect the voice of a driver from Barcelona, ​​who assures that “it is chaos. Normally we are always full, but today even more so.” Given the difficulties students face in arriving, the University of Barcelona has canceled all exams. The rest of the universities in Catalonia maintain normal activity although they have asked students who cannot travel to an exam to contact their teacher as soon as possible. For now, the only alternative proposed by the Generalitat It is the recommendation to prioritize teleworking wherever it is allowed or possible. The roads. On the roads, Trànsit has chosen to raise the toll barriers on the C-32 south in both directions of travel. To the suspension of Rodalies we must add the impact on traffic on fifteen roads (ten of them are cut off by floods or landslides) as a result of the storm that is hitting the autonomous community. In The Newspaper They report that all accesses to Barcelona are jammed or have been jammed early in the morning. In addition, various accidents have made traffic even more complicated. Photo | Transit In Xataka | The liberalization of the AVE has not gone down well with Renfe, so now it has a plan: delay the Cercanías movement as much as possible.

How does this number of questions about housing work and what is it for?

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Let’s tell you What is telephone 047 and how does it work?. This is a toll-free government telephone number to make inquiries related to housing, and it comes into force from February 2026. With this number, the Government tries to offer citizens a reliable and truthful way to resolve any doubts they may have about housing, but also advice regarding possible conflicts. Let’s explain everything to you. How telephone 047 works The telephone number 047 is intended to access accurate information related to housing. Come on, if you have any questions related to legal or technical aspects of the home, you can call and ask about your rights and obligations. In this number you can make inquiries about topics such as rentals, sales or problems of coexistence with neighbors. You may also ask about urban leases, horizontal property, eviction procedures, prevention mechanisms, social housing and situations of vulnerability or legal protection of tenants. This phone also offers legal advice and support against market abuses. If you believe that your rights are being violated, you can call for help. For this legal part, the Ministry has the collaboration of the General Council of Lawyers of Spain (CGAE), which brings together 83 professional associations promoting arbitration and mediation methods. The idea is that mediation can be done to avoid going to court unnecessarily when there are conflicts. There are three levels when answering calls. The first level of attention is for basic consultations on the first call, those that are about general issues regarding rights and obligations regarding rental, property and cohabitation. It is expected that the first level can resolve between 90 and 95% of calls. There will also be a level for more specific and less general questions, such as those about specific cases or specialized areas. And there will also be a level to help with legal support or legal advice related to conflicts regarding housing. This advice and advice will be extrajudicial, meaning it will not be helped if the conflict is already judicialized. This number will be available to all Spanish users, regardless of the telecommunications company we have contracted. We will simply have to dial 047 without any type of prefix or anything else, and you will be put in contact with the helpline. Initially this service will have 25 people of different profiles and levelswho are the ones who will answer the calls. Among them there will be lawyers and personnel with specific training in housing matters.

positive thoughts can “hack” your brain and improve your immunity

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For decades, science has looked askance at the famous placebo effect with medications. We know it exists, we know it worksbut he as exact has always had gray areas that have prevented us from exploiting it to the fullest. Its presence is such that in scientific studies it must be kept in mind in order to be able to avoid your bias. Discovering it. Now, a recently published study in Nature Medicine has just shed light on this mechanism, and the conclusion is fascinating: training your brain to have positive expectations can physically boost the immune response. Something that can cause a drug or vaccine to work with great effectiveness thanks to having ‘positive thinking’. And a team of researchers led by Nitzan Lubianiker has shown that there is a direct biological connection between the brain’s reward system and the body’s ability to generate antibodies after a vaccine. A training. The experiment, which sounds like something out of a white science fiction novel, recruited 85 healthy participants. The objective was not to give them drugs, but to subject them to neurofeedback sessions using functional magnetic resonance imaging. That is, activating a part of your brain to generate an organic response. Specifically, the goal is to activate the Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA)a key deep brain region in the reward circuit and motivation. The same one that ‘turns on’ when we eat something very delicious or receive a ‘like’ on the last published reel. In this way, during four sessions the participants learned to increase the activity of this area by evoking pleasant memories or positive mental strategies. They were literally flooded with Mr. Wonderful quotes. A vaccine. After doing this training with the brain to activate the reward zone, the participants received a vaccine against hepatitis B. The researchers’ objective was to see if having previously received good motivation with positive thoughts had an influence on the effectiveness of the vaccine. The result. A week after receiving the vaccine, blood tests revealed a key fact: those subjects who achieved greater activation of the VTA showed higher levels of antibodies. That is, they had developed a greater body response against the virus. Something that would offer better resistance in the event of being exposed to the hepatitis B virus. A missing link. What this study puts on the table is solid evidence for psychoneuroimmunology. It’s not magic, it’s biology: the brain’s reward circuits seem to have a “direct line” with the immune system that until now we had not had controlled. Ignacio J. Molina Pineda, professor of Immunology at the University of Granada, highlights the importance of the discoveryor by pointing out that it demonstrates how positive expectations modulate immune potency. It is the other side of the coin nocebo effectsomething we already saw during the COVID-19 vaccine trialswhere fear of side effects caused real symptoms in patients who had only received saline water. But there is fine print. Although in this study there was a correlation between brain activation and the presence of more antibodies, there were no large differences in the average total antibody concentrations between the trained and control groups. It must be taken into account that the antibodies were only measured a week later, meaning that we do not know if this ‘super protection’ lasts months or years. Something that also adds to a very small sample of 85 people that could require replicating the study on a large scale. Future applications. This is undoubtedly the most important thing we can think of with these results. And if it ends up being confirmed, we could be facing the birth of complementary therapies where, before an immunological treatment or an important vaccination, the patient goes through a brief mental training to maximize the effectiveness of the drug. Images | Robina Weermeijer Tim Mossholder In Xataka | Adolescents up to 32 years old: neuroscience explains why the brain takes much longer than we thought to mature

From today Aldi has this lowered V16 beacon and it is compact, light and very resistant

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Although, since January 1, 2026, it is mandatory to carry a V16 beacon connected to notify of any emergency in the vehicleeitherthere are many users who still do not have it. If this is your case, in the Aldi flyerwe have discovered that, from today, this Trophy beacon arrives in your supermarkets and on top of that, at a discount, for 34.99 euros. This Aldi beacon It is fully approved and stands out for being compact and light. Offers 360º visibility in all types of weather and is easily fixed using its magnetic base. It works on batteries and offers a range of use of up to two hours and up to three years of standby. TROPHY V16 Approved DGT Geolocated NB-IoT Resistant Beacon Yellow The price could vary. We earn commission from these links The Amazon alternative that succeeds If you don’t have an Aldi supermarket nearby and don’t sell online, it may not be worth traveling to buy this one. emergency light. But don’t worry, on Amazon there is a very interesting alternative that is among the best sellers. It is about the Help Flash IoT+ and its price is 31.99 euros. help flash IoT+, V16 Approved Emergency Light with Geolocation, The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Fully approved to comply with the new DGT regulationsthis beacon has advanced geolocation and, through anonymous eSIMoffers full connectivity with DGT 3.0 systems. One of its main hallmarks is that it is made in Spain. Its LED light is 250 candela (much higher than most models sold on the market) and is visible at 360º and up to a kilometer. Is compatible with myIncidencewhich allows you to link the beacon to this app using QR, to register the data of your vehicle and insurance policy. This will allow you to contact emergency services or your insurance company directly in the event of an accident. Other V16 beacons that may interest you ISSE SAFETY Approved Beacon v16 The price could vary. We earn commission from these links LEDONE – DGT Approved v16 Beacon with Geolocator 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 | Aldi and Netum Solutions In Xataka | Don’t wait until January 1: if you have to buy your V16 beacon, Leroy Merlin has them for less than 40 euros In Xataka | Safety, organization and entertainment gadgets and accessories for cars on long trips

Apple Creator Studio is not just a subscription. It’s Apple looking to conquer the little tiktoker who uses CapCut and Canva

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Just a few days ago, Apple announced the launch of a new service: Apple Creator Studio. Roughly speaking, The apple firm has updated its suite of creative tools to bring them to a more specific audience who, instead of a single payment per tool, may be more interested in an affordable subscription that allows access to all of them. Looking at it with perspective, and without losing sight of the fact that it is another recurring expense to add to the current account, perhaps it makes a lot of sense for a very particular profile: the small creator. What’s included in Apple Creator Studio. To give a quick summary, the subscription costs 12.99 euros per month (129 euros if you pay annually or 2.99 if you are a student) and allows access to the entire suite of Apple creativity apps. We are talking, of course, about Final Cut, Logic Pro, Pixelmator ProMotion, Compressor and MainStage. Additionally, some generative AI features and exclusive content are included in Freeform, Keynote, Pages and Numbers. Pixelmator Pro | Image: Apple Some quick accounts. Thinking only about the Mac versions, the cost of all the creativity apps would amount to 794.94 euros. One-time payment, yes, but close to 800 euros. Apple Creator Studio costs 12.99 euros. It would take 61 monthly payments, that is, five years, to reach the total amount of the single payment. And who is this for? Although for a professional user 800 euros may not be such a high figure, for the small creator looking to use professional tools on their Mac, 12.99 euros per month may sound more attractive than 800 euros in one fell swoop. Not to mention that the subscription includes access on all platforms, namely Mac, iPad and iPhone, whenever possible. And Apple is clear that this subscription is not for Pixar, but for the small creator who has and manages himself a TikTok account, a YouTube channel, an Instagram profile and a podcast. For those who, right now, pay for CapCut, Photoshop, Premiere or Canva. Apple wants to tempt you with a more affordable, all-inclusive subscription and integration. Pixelmator Pro | Image: Apple Why now? From Xataka we have had the opportunity to speak with Bryan O’Neil Hughes (Global Director of App Product Marketing at Apple) and John Danty (Senior Global App Product Marketing Manager at Apple). Brian explains to us that this service responds to the “change in the nature of creators.” According to the executive, creators “no longer do just one thing; they need to manage multiple creative workflows and we want to serve them with these evolved apps.” According to Brian, “today’s creators are multidisciplinary: a musician not only writes songs, he also produces, designs his art, edits videos and creates promotional material.” Final Cut Pro | Image: Apple That explains the two options.. However, one thing is worth asking. If Apple is betting so heavily on services, being an almost more important source of income than the iPhonewhy keep the single payment? Danty explains to us that they want to “preserve our relationship with the professional community. Those who already have versions of Final Cut or Logic Pro will continue to receive updates and features such as beat detection.” This makes sense from a practical point of view. The video editor that only edits video will not take advantage of an app like Logic Pro or Pixelmator Pro, in the same way that an illustrator will not take advantage of Logic Pro or MainStage. The single payment is, in that case, more attractive. But to the tiktoker, instagramer, youtuber or budding singer who does everything himself, having access to all the tools doesn’t sound bad. In Brian’s words, “There is an explosion of content, driven in large part by the iPhone. More video is being captured, edited and shared than ever before and our apps are there to participate in that user journey.” Chord ID in Logic Pro | Image: Apple The topic of AI. John Danty explains to us that Apple’s philosophy is to “amplify, not replace human dexterity.” Features like Montage Maker and Chord ID They automate tasks that previously required learning technical skills, but now AI has a role in that creative flow that, in some way, could prevent the user from learning on their own. Brian and John understand it differently. For example, Montage Maker allows you to put together a quick video with the best moments of all the b-roll. For Bryan, “it helps those who have a lot of material and want to move quickly, but the editing and final polishing still depends on the user.” chord ID uses AI to pull chords from any recording and turn it into a progression, so “it helps you understand what you’re playing, which becomes a learning tool,” according to Danty. A matter of preferences. Be that as it may, there are three undeniable realities in this new release. The first, that Apple is going to start charging for applied AI functions. The second, that Canva, CapCut and Adobe have come up with a new-rather-renewed rival. The third, which even though it has an attractive price, is one more subscription that is added to the ones we already have and to generalized satiety with this monetization. How it will gel and evolve is something we will see over time. Images | Apple In Xataka | The incredible stock market performance of Big Tech, in a graph: the magnificent seven are now the unleashed seven

Spain is stopping making its potato tortillas at home. And that is why the Mercadona supplier is growing by 20%

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After decades of debate Spain hasn’t decided yet Whether or not the tortilla should contain onion, what thousands and thousands of Spaniards do seem to be clear about is that the ideal is for someone else to cook it. More and more people prefer to go from peeling potatoes, heating oil and making their own tortillas to buying them directly at the supermarket. And so is making gold to one of Mercadona’s allied companies, a Navarrese firm which in 2025 increased its turnover by 20% to reach almost 200 million euros and this year it hopes to make another growth spurt to reach 230. It is the financial data of a company in the food sector, but it also tells us a lot about the market and our consumer habits. Sincebollists V.S. concebollistas. It is not easy to classify the Spanish population into tight compartments, but there is something that does not fail: the majority of 49.4 million of people who live in this country can be defined as sincebollists either concebollistas depending on whether you prefer the potato omelette (one of the great emblems of the native cuisine) with or without onion. The curious thing is that both seem to increasingly opt to abandon the stove and buy ready-made tortillas. At least that’s what they suggest. the latest data from Grupo Elaborados Naturales, Mercadona supplier and one of the largest tortilla manufacturers in the country. One figure: 197 million. The company presume that since its founding in 2006, it has managed to achieve “a dizzying pace” of growth of between 15 and 40% annually. 2025 has not been an exception. His last balance shows that last year it had a turnover of 197 million, 20% more than the previous year. This year it hopes to maintain that pace with another growth of 16.7% that will allow it to reach a turnover of around 230 million. As? Basically with your offer of refrigerated and frozen tortillas, although in the HORECA channel (the professional hospitality industry) also works with processed potatoes and vegetables. 2026, big. To achieve this growth, the company has redoubled its industrial muscle. The firm has dedicated approximately 40 million euros to strengthening its facilities, expanding its factory in Funes (Navarra) by 20,000 square meters and equipping itself with 12 new lines which will allow it to double the production capacity in that plant: from 300,000 units per day to 600,000. The company assures that it will also generate hundreds of jobs. In total, the company has three factories: Funes, dedicated to the production of tortillas; that of Corella (Navarra), which combines the manufacture of tortillas with prepared refrigerated potato-based dishes; and Aguilar del Río Alhama (La Rioja), where 150 people work dedicated to cooking migas and ‘fifth range’ foods (ready to eat) with vegetables. Apart from the national market, the company exports to a dozen and a half countries. The (long) shadow of Mercadona. Beyond its production capacity, there is one fact about the company that draws attention: its weight in the sector. Elaborados Naturales has reached a market share in the ‘potato tortillas’ category of 56% in large national distribution. This enormous footprint is better understood when knowing a key fact about the Navarrese company: its alliance with Mercadona. The firm is a supplier to the Juan Roig chain, which has in turn expanded throughout the sector until it has gained a market share of between 25 and 30%a percentage that has been reinforced thanks to its good rhythm of growth. More than just a business balance sheet. The balance sheet of Elaborados Naturales is nothing more than that: the balance sheet of a company in the food industry. If it is interesting to read beyond the company’s offices, it is because it connects with other underlying trends that are clearly identifiable in both the industry and Spanish society. For example, the growing demand of prepared foods. The latest data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Food (MITECO) they talk to us of an increase in the consumption of prepared dishes of around 6% while that of fish, fruits and vegetables declines. Much of it Of that demand is also satisfied in supermarkets. Rain of millions. A good example is Mercadona, which has seen how its line of ready-to-eat dishes has been taking over a growing gap in that business niche. Its success (also supported by white label) is in turn boosting its extensive ecosystem of suppliers, including Elaborados. In fact, the tortilla manufacturer is just one of the many companies that have seen their turnover grow by close to 20% in recent years driven largely by the commercial expansion of the Valencian chain. Images | Kent Wang (Flickr) and Natural Prepared In Xataka | Years ago Mercadona decided to conquer the market with its white brands. And that is making gold for some companies

The alleged PcComponentes hack affects 16 million customers. It’s another nightmare for phishing attacks

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In Hackmanac Cybersecurity alerts reporting alleged hacks and massive data thefts around the world are frequent. One of the last notices, posted yesterdayaffects a Spanish company on the rise: PcComponentes. If confirmed, the alleged data theft would have affected a huge number of users. 16 million affected. According to these data, a cyber attacker using the alias ‘daghetiaw’ claimed to have managed to infiltrate PcComponentes. By doing so, it has obtained the data of 16.3 million customers, specifically: DNI/NIF Orders and invoices Address Contact details (phone) Credit card metadata (type, expiration date) IP address A sample that seems to confirm the hack. The author of the cyberattack wanted to demonstrate that the database he managed to obtain is legitimate, and to do so he has published a free extract of 500,000 users. That is already a very bad sign and seems to confirm that this hack and massive data theft has indeed been successful. There were already problems a year ago. An This failure exposed a database with access credentials. And everything fits. In The Computer Chapuzas They have contacted 0xBogart and obtained more information about that incident. This user actually talks about the fact that a database from August 2023 was already stolen and that then “it had 11,951,125 users, it makes sense that in 2026 they will have 16 million.” This expert had access to PcComponentes’ servers for five years, and only lost it “when they abandoned their data center for Amazon Web Services,” he indicates in the El Chapuzas Informático text. Pc Componentes has not confirmed the hack. At the moment those responsible for Pc Componentes have neither confirmed nor denied the massive data theft. At Xataka we are trying to contact the company to clarify the details. Meanwhile, those responsible have 72 hours from when the hack was discovered to notify the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD). Up next: phishing attacks. This new massive data theft represents a potential nightmare for PcComponentes customers. If the hack is confirmed, all that data could be used for much more convincing phishing attacks: the more information cyber attackers have about us, the more they can “convince” us with messages that appear to be authentic and that manage to confuse us. Or phishing. There is also the danger of identity theft: the stolen data allows the creation of a “user profile” with which a cybercriminal can impersonate one person to deceive another with social engineering techniques. If the database has been leaked there is little that PcComponentes clients can do because their information will already be exposed. It has not been clear if there are passwords included for access to the company website in the massive data theft, but our recommendation is to change that access password as soon as possible. In Xataka | The leak of 16 billion passwords would be the largest in history. If it weren’t for the fact that it’s a gigantic rehash

Relying on US AI is a strategic danger

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When DeepSeek R1 It was presented a year ago now, caused a real earthquake in the technological world. What was surprising was not its capabilities, but that China had managed to reach that level despite the blockades and setbacks of the United States. DeepSeek was proof that AI can be done without the United States and now it is Europe that needs to replicate this success. Tensions and dependence. Relations between the United States and Europe they are going through their worst moment. Trump’s obsession with take control of Greenland and the response of several European countries that They have sent their troops to the region have caused an unprecedented clash. Amid the threats of invasion, the deployment of troops and tariffs, there is also the issue of technological war, a war in which Europe is in a position of strong disengagement from the US. The US executed and Europe regulated. Far behind. If China lags behind the US in AI, Europe is light years away. While American companies were developing the models and infrastructure to train their AI models, in Europe regulation was reinforced with the AI Act. The European Union itself understood that this approach was leaving them behind in the AI ​​race and recently They greatly simplified the rules. It was late, the technological gap was already enormous. Dependence. The United States not only controls the language models, it also controls the chips to train them, the data centers and, above all, the investment to get all this going. Miguel De Bruycker, head of the Brussels Cybersecurity Center, is very forceful: “Europe has lost the internet (…) If I want my information to be 100% in the EU… keep dreaming,” he told the Financial Times. In the current context, this dependency puts Europe in a very vulnerable position and becomes a major strategic risk. The US could use its dominance as a pressure point in negotiations or, in the worst case, restrict access to its services. A sovereign AI. They count in Wired that the concern to create a European AI is growing and there are already several projects underway to achieve it. The best known model is the French one Mistralbut there are others like Apertus in Switzerland or ALIA in Spain. In Germany they are developing SOOFIa project that aims to launch an open source language model with 100 billion parameters designed specifically to reduce European dependence on the US. Chinese inspiration. The US seemed unattainable, but DeepSeek showed that it was possible to achieve competitive results without having the best GPUs or the largest data centers. The fact of bet on open source It also gives an advantage since it allows creating a larger user base in less time, in addition to more actors can participate in the developments. There is also talk that Europe could encourage its companies to use its own AI, a strategy similar to that followed by China with the use of national chips. Image | Karola G, Pexels. Engin Akyurt, Unsplash In Xataka | The ASML-Mistral alliance reveals the European plan B: if we cannot manufacture chips, at least we will control how they are manufactured

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