wants to be the center of your daily diet

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Mercadona It no longer wants to be the place where you make your purchases. Or not alone at least. What he aspires to now is to become the default place where you eat, where they prepare your food, heat it, devour it and even have your mid-morning or after-dinner coffee. The first step to achieve this was taken already some years with the launch of its section ‘Ready to Eat’ and since then he has not stopped doubling the bet, spreading it to its wide local network. Now he has gone one step further. In addition to cooking you an omelette, a Teriyaki chicken, a sandwich, some stuffed eggplants, a poke salmon or even a Valencian paellaMercadona wants to serve you freshly ground coffee. AND seen the data of the sector makes a lot of sense. To Mercadona to drink coffee That there are people (many) who go to Mercadona in search of coffee is nothing new. In fact some of their articles have become so popular that they have their own followers. What is new is that people do not go to Juan Roig stores looking for packages, bags of grain or capsules for their machines, but to prepare freshly ground coffee and serve it in a glass ready to drink, which is what the company has started to do in Valencia. So confirmed it the company to The Economist in March, when he revealed that he was taking a test in dozens of stores spread throughout the Valencian geography. “In some stores in the province we have incorporated the option that the boss, which is what we call our customers, can take freshly ground coffee. It is a laboratory,” they explained. The idea started in 58 points and four products: black coffee, coffee, with milk and cappuccino. Everything (or almost everything) related to Mercadona generates excitement inside and outside the networks and its coffee service has been no exception. In x, instagram either TikTok It didn’t take long for videos to appear of people showing the new machines in Roig’s stores and even testing the result, as Cafemaxpag did in one piece (with a bittersweet balance) that soon gained thousands of views. You can even see photos that show the same service in Portugal. Expectation is no guarantee of success, but the chain made it clear that I would be attentive to the answer in its stores in the province of Valencia. “We plan to expand this laboratory after the summer and the coffee can be purchased in stores in the Community of Madrid,” advanced in March. Today the service is announced already on their website, where a map confirms that it offers freshly ground coffee in several locations throughout Madrid and the Valencian Community. In Cuenca it has an establishment that also incorporates a machine for consumption. At this point, the question is… Why is Mercadona launched, which in 2024 achieved a net profit of 1,384 millionto the adventure of freshly ground coffee? Three words: ‘Ready to Eat’ Coffee is not an experiment disconnected from Mercadona’s global strategy. On the contrary. The company itself recognize that connects with a much broader initiative, worked on and whose origins can be traced back to at least 2018: ‘Ready to Eat’a branch of the company that aspires to turn Roig’s stores into the food reference for Spanish families. The central idea is what we mentioned at the beginning of this report: that people not only go to the supermarket to buy food to fill the refrigerator at home, but that they leave there with food already prepared. Or even eaten. In summary, the service consists of a section within Mercadona stores in which a series of products are sold. ready-made dishes. And that includes everything from different starters and appetizers to pizzas, burgers, sandwiches and main dishes such as lentils, meatballs, pasta, paella, chicken, sushi assortments or Teriyaki chicken. In 2024 the list was expanded with salmon with vegetables, ribs and seafood salad. Now Mercadona completes it with a freshly ground coffee service. In some stores the idea is not only that the customer finds their food already ready, but that they can taste it right there. Without leaving the premises. “You can heat any dish in one of our microwaves, grab cutlery and, in some of our stores, you can consume right there,” explains the company. The model is not exclusive from Mercadona. Other chains, such as Alcampo, The English Court either Carrefour (to name just a handful of examples) they have also opted for prepared dishes. Sometimes with spaces to taste them. Because at Mercadona they are convinced that, to a large extent, the future of supermarket chains is not so much about marketing food for customers to prepare at home, but rather offering them already prepared and ready dishes. Instead of chicken, potatoes, oil and salt, you are offered the tray with the roasted thighs directly. Instead of coffee packets, they switch to freshly ground coffee. I explained it clearly Roig himself during the last presentation of results. “I said it and I maintain it: in the middle of the century there will be no kitchens.” All to save you time Beyond the rhetoric Mercadona seems to be betting on that conviction in its stores. In his last annual report The company explains that last year the service was incorporated into one hundred and a half new stores, which brings the total network to 1,260 supermarkets, 1,200 in Spain and the existing 60 in Portugal. Taking into account that the chain has a little more 1,600 establishments In Spain, the level of implementation is more than considerable and already exceeds 70%. The company does not publish detailed financial data for its different business areas, but ensures that the ‘Ready to eat’ section, “has not stopped growing”. In 2024 the entire company invoiced 38,835 millionwhich allowed him increase by 37% its net profit to reach 1,384 million. Mercadona’s bet (like that of chains such as Alcampo or … Read more

240 km without curves, in the middle of the desert and with truck traffic

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Imagine driving for more than two hours without turning the steering wheel even a single degree. No curves, no noticeable slopes, no changes on the horizon. That is the reality of Highway 10 (Highway 10) of Saudi Arabia, which holds the Guinness record as the longest straight road on the planet with a completely linear section of 240 kilometers. A highway born for a king. Highway 10 stretches 1,480 kilometers from Ad Darb to the border with the United Arab Emirates, but it is its segment between Haradh and Al Batha that has received all the attention. The road was originally built as a private road for King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, although today it has become a fundamental artery for the transport of goods between the center and west of the country with the Emirates. The Empty Quarter desert as a setting. The road crosses the Rub’ al Khaliknown as the Empty Quarter, the largest sand desert in the world. The area itself explains why it is possible to build such a straight line: there are no mountains to surround, valleys to cross or geographical features to avoid. Just sand and more sand as far as the eye can see. The infrastructure is completely paved and has mainly two lanes in each direction, supporting intense truck traffic that crosses the desert. Speed ​​limits adjusted for heavy traffic. The maximum speed allowed on this highway varies depending on the type of vehicle: passenger cars can travel up to 120 km/h on fast sections, buses 100 km/h and trucks 80 km/h. Although in 2018 were announced Upper limits of up to 140 km/h for light vehicles in certain sections, the constant presence of heavy transport makes maintaining these speeds complicated in practice. A mental challenge more than a physical one. Believe it or not, driving on the straightest road in the world is not as easy as it seems, especially due to fatigue. The monotony of the desert landscape and the total absence of visual stimuli can cause drowsiness and even a dangerous disconnection while driving. Added to this is the occasional threat of camels wandering across the road. So, although the route is ‘easy’ to handle, mentally it can become a nightmare. Not for nothing is it found in Dangerous Roads website. Reinforced security measures. Aware of the risks involved in driving on such a monotonous road, the Saudi Ministry of Transport and Logistics has implemented various improvements safety features, including paved shoulders, reflective pavement markings (known as “cat’s eyes”), protective barriers, kilometer signs, and directional and warning signs. Here the driver’s attention must be vital, especially on a road with so few changes. Other legendary straights. Before Highway 10 snatched the title, the Australia’s Eyre Highway boasted the record with a 146 kilometer straight stretch through the Nullarbor Desert. Although almost 100 kilometers shorter, this Australian road remains one of the most unique driving experiences on the continent. Also noteworthy are roads such as ND-46 in North Dakotathe United States, or some sections of the Argentine Route 40which although they do not compete in length of absolute straightness, offer endless kilometers of visual monotony. Cover image | City Vibes In Xataka | Yes, the V16 beacons transmit your position in the event of an accident. No, the DGT cannot “spy” on you with them

The longest train in history was born in 2001 and since then no one has surpassed it

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The train is the backbone of many countries. In Europe we know it wellin Latin America is catching up and the China and Japan current ones would not be understood without it. Another country where it is vital is Australia, although more than for the movement of the population, for the transport of goods. And, in 2001, in the heart of Western Australia, the BHP Iron Ore It made history by becoming the longest train in the world. More than seven kilometers long that have not yet been equaled. Necessary. One of the most powerful industries in Australia is mining, so much so that there are even mining influencers that recruit workers from any country. In the late 90s, mining companies faced a challenge: an increasing amount of mineral had to be transported from the source to the export ports. It was a challenge because logistics costs had to be kept under control so that prices did not skyrocket. Traditionally, we would have chosen to put more trains into operation, but it would not be efficient because we would have to pay for more fuel, for the use of the infrastructure and the salaries of a larger crew. Come into play BHPthe Australian giant that is one of the largest mining companies in the world, with an idea: what if we set up a huge train to load iron? This is how the Iron Ore train was born. The BHP Iron Ore train. Its dimensions were extraordinary: a convoy made up of 682 wagons, 5,648 wheels, a loaded weight of almost 100,000 tons and a length of 7,353 kilometers. Imagine 22 Eiffel Towers lying down and aligned, like this. To pull such a monster, eight locomotives GE AC6000CW (each with 6,000 HP) with 16-cylinder engines were distributed throughout the vehicle. Apart from the front, the rest were within a kilometer of each other and managed to complete a 275 kilometer Yandi journey, with a cargo of Newman mines, to Port Hedland in just ten hours. The pace was slow, yes, but the important thing about this was not It was the Guinness record that he achieved, but the proof of a technology called Distributed Power. Distributed Power. This was BHP’s goal, to prove that the technology worked. And it basically consists of what we have said: distributing the locomotives along the train instead of concentrating them in the front so that the traction and braking force is greater, more uniform and, also, more efficient. Everything worked like a Swiss clock thanks to great precision and harmony between the locomotives, which were controlled by a single driver in the front system. It’s long, and there’s no train If Distributed Power was the technology, the control system was the LOCOTROL. The leading locomotive communicated with the remote ones through a radio frequency system that synchronized all acceleration and braking operations. This allowed lateral forces and friction to be drastically reduced when cornering, which reduced both wheel wear and the risk of derailment and, in turn, it is estimated that between 4 and 6% less fuel was consumed. Pilbara. The BHP Iron Ore was a technical prodigy that set the record for the longest train in the world in 2001, but if you are a train enthusiast, don’t pack your bags yet to see it in action: it was a one-time event, so much so that there is very little material about it. Once the technology was proven, what BHP did was apply it to smaller trains. The Pilbara is the region in which much of its operations are concentrated, and what the company currently operates are several regular trains with formations of about four locomotives with about 270 carriages. It is still impressive, since the length of these trains is close to three kilometers and they have a loaded weight of about 40,000 tons. The company’s next steps are to electrify these trains to reduce emissions, and one trick will be to use regenerative braking to recharge the batteries in sloped areas. It is something that other companies are also testing in the country. Similar attempts. Thus, the BHP Iron Ore was a prodigy, but also something unique that has not been matched, not even close, more than 20 years after its launch for that test. In August this year, Indian Railways commissioned the Rudrastraa 354-car, 4.5-kilometer-long train powered by seven locomotives (two at the front and one every 59 cars). And in Europe, tests are also being carried out with distributed power trains, but for kilometer and a half trains. In the end, they are all very far from the Iron Ore both in length and weight, but beyond the record in 2001 it was shown that this distributed power technology was a solution for trains longer than conventional ones. We’ll see if at some point someone needs to create a longer train, but it seems complicated. Images | WabtecBHP In Xataka | The longest train journey in the world: more than 18,000 kilometers between Portugal and Singapore without changing transport

Having China manufacture its cars in Europe seemed like a perfect plan. Until they were filled with Chinese workers

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Manufacture their electric cars in Europe so that they can sell them without tariffs. That was the promise of the European Union to Chinese manufacturers. The objective was to consolidate the electric car industry for Europe in Europe, closing the door to proposals from China at a much more attractive price. And the result is not what was expected. Manufacture in Europe. In October 2024, the European Union confirmed the tariffs to all the companies that bring their electric cars from China. Including European ones. With this measure that applies individually to each company (ensuring that not all have received the same benefits from the Chinese State) it was intended to attract factories to Europe. Why does an electric car have less autonomy than advertised? The strategy has gone well. First, because the Chinese State ordered to stop all investments in Europe that were in the negotiation phase, initially turning off the tap. Secondly, because it is not clear that the installed factories are giving great results in terms of employment. From China for Chinese. “There are currently manufacturers in Europe that assemble Chinese cars with Chinese components and Chinese personnel: this happens in Spain and Hungary. This is not right.” The words are from Stéphane Séjourné Vice President of Prosperity and Industrial Strategy of the European Commission, in an interview for the Italian newspaper La Stampa. In it he pointed out Spain and Hungary as the two hot spots. In this second country, BYD is building its first plant in Europe to produce electric cars. In Spain we have the Chery plant in Barcelona and, under construction, the CATL battery plant in Aragon. In all previous cases, criticism has multiplied because they are not impacting the area as expected. The Hungarian case. Séjourné refers to the plant that BYD has planned in Hungary. There, the Chinese company is building a factory that should produce 150,000 cars a year (with potential for 300,000 units) and employ 10,000 workers. However, the European Union is studying if the Chinese giant is receiving covert subsidies to carry it out, paralyzing its construction. In the early phases of the project, BYD has employed about 1,000 workers Chinese which has raised the suspicions of the European Commission as to whether there is really an intention to produce wealth on European soil. some of them They staged protests last summer by claiming that they had been fired just six months after joining despite receiving promises of large salaries upon arrival in Europe. BYD is at the center of controversy because the European Commission suspects that in the future Chinese workers may be the majority at the plant, since they would aspire to lower salaries. The company, yes, He already promised that he would employ local workers to advance vehicle production. The question is whether this first hiring of Chinese personnel responds to the start-up of the factory or the advancement of a way of acting that extends over time. The Spanish case. In Spain, two factories have concentrated China’s interest. The first to arrive was the one from Chery to Barcelona. There, the Chinese company has found that it already had the necessary machinery to remove cars from it since it responds to the occupation of the old Nissan plant. However, the plans are not meeting the expected deadlines. Chery is assembling kits of cars in Barcelona. That is, the car arrives in large pieces to Spain and is finished being assembled here, so the local impact is reduced. In this case we are not talking about employment but we are talking about the fact that the network of suppliers generated is minimal. The European Commission did not like this and, in fact, the electric Omoda 5 has been delayed in Barcelona because the regulators threaten to impose tariffs on them when they understand that the added value is zero. The other point of friction is that of CATL in Aragón. The Chinese battery producer announced an agreement with Stellantis to produce there the components that the automotive giant will use in its small cars. For now, we know that 2,000 Chinese employees will arrive and, again, the shadow of what impact the new factory will have on the local labor market is looming. According to T&Eit is not guaranteed that the CATL plant will guarantee long-term knowledge transfer. More pressures. In addition to the statements by European regulators, other voices have also raised their voices. France is one of the countries that is most under pressure to create a new category of cars to make electric vehicles cheaper. Their proposal is that they meet certain size requirements… but also that production be entirely European. These days, Josep María Recasens, president of Renault Spain, returned to the charge ensuring that “we cannot allow China to come to Europe to make four plates with wheels without added value.” In his statements he asked that Europe force Chinese companies to associate with European ones so that there is a transfer of knowledge as China itself demanded from Europe when its manufacturers began to produce on Asian soil. Photo | Official Lula on Wikimedia and BYD In Xataka | China is manufacturing many more cars than the world wants to buy. And that is a foretaste of serious problems.

We have been believing that bacteria are a weapon against tumors for 150 years. And finally we have discovered how

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In the fight against cancer, there are many treatments that are emerging, being the immunotherapy one of the most innovative, although there are also other alternatives such as based on LED light. Now therapies continue to advance and science is already pointing to a group of bacteria to be able to destroy tumors without depending on the immune response, opening a new era in oncological medicine. It’s not something new. The idea of ​​using bacteria to treat cancer is not new: already in 1868 the German doctor Busch observed that some cancer patients experienced remissions after bacterial infections. Later, William Colby developed bacteria-based treatments that they laid the foundation of modern immunotherapy. However, these traditional therapies require a functional immune system, which is a serious problem for patients who are immunocompromised due to cancer. The present. a study published in Nature Biomedical Engineering presented an innovative “drug-free” strategy that uses a group of bacteria to fight cancer, rescuing this old idea of ​​bacteria against cancer. This treatment has not only demonstrated powerful antitumor efficacy, but it has done so by achieving complete remission of the tumor and, most importantly, it has been maintained for years in mouse models, even in those who are immunosuppressed. The most relevant thing is that the fact that a bacteria helps us with this disease has been achieved without the need to use genetic engineering that alters your RNA. And also, without generating toxicity on the body. A priori they are all advantages. A bacterial duo. The protagonists of this therapy are a bacterial group called AUN, composed of two specific bacteria: Proteus mirabilis (nicknamed A-gyo) and Rhodopseudomonas palustris (UN-gyo). And although we may all have in mind that bacteria are bad for humans, the reality is that They help us (a lot) starting with all those that are in our intestine. When this bacterial duo was administered directly into the blood of tumor-bearing mice, the results were dramatic: complete tumor remission and prolonged survival. And it wasn’t magic. How does it work? It is the obligatory question after seeing the results of this study. The researchers explain that what these bacteria do in short is block the arrival of oxygen and nutrients to the tumors, which literally causes them to suffocate. And a tumor is nothing more than a set of cells that have an advanced metabolism. When taking away their food they end up dead. In essence, these bacteria can reach the tumor and enter its interior, as if it were a Trojan horse. Upon arrival, it causes very small blood clots to form and only in the blood vessels that go to the tumor. In this way, blood clots block the passage of blood and, therefore, its food source. Bacterial transformation. Bacteria are STILL not passive agents, but are dynamic actors that change their behavior when detecting cancer. In this way, the study observed that the A-gyo bacteria undergoes a “wonderful fibrous transformation.” This change is not random. It is specifically activated when the bacteria encounters “oncometabolites“, chemical signals emitted by cancer cells. This highly mobile form of “swarm”, together with the toxins and hemolysins secreted by the consortium, seems to be responsible for the tumor vascular destruction without affecting the rest of the healthy cells. A safe treatment. Using live bacteria as therapy may sound risky, but the study spends much of its time demonstrating the safety and control of AUN. The first thing that has been seen is that the bacterial strains have a unique non-pathogenic profile. Furthermore, to achieve a 100% complete response and avoid the lethality of a single high dose, the researchers developed a “double dose” regimen: a first injection at a low dose, followed days later by a high dose. The low dose “primes” the body, consuming aggressive neutrophils and mitigating the risk of severe cytokine release syndrome. Looking to the future. Although the experiments were performed in mice, the therapy was tested against human cancer cell lines in xenograft models. In this case, cells from human colon adenocarcinoma, ovarian cancer and pancreatic cancer were used. The results in this case were very clear: all the tumors tested successfully disappeared in the mouse models, without very serious side effects. In this way, we are faced with a therapy that does not require any type of drug a priori and that can be self-managed. The authors of the study point out that this approach can revolutionize cancer therapy, but there is still a long way to go. Images | CDC In Xataka | Colon cancers are increasing alarmingly among young people. We have a suspect: sedentary lifestyle

The first is illegal constructions, the second is not knowing what to do with them

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In 2021, the Community of Madrid began to think that it was time to know what was happening in its territory. It seems like an absurd idea, but the truth is that the Spanish administration has been organizing its territory blindly for decades. And in that context, “reestablishing urban planning legality” is impossible. So they got to it and It took them four years to do it.. What have they found? Generally speaking, you have a problem: There are 5,334 hectares affected by illegal settlements in 56 municipalities. Of course, the problem is not perfectly distributed: 80% of these lands are concentrated in the plains of the main Madrid rivers, mainly in the areas of Tajuña (2,712 hectares), Jarama (1,019), Guadarrama (363) and Tajo (150). And of course that makes the problem much bigger. Because failing to comply with urban planning regulations is not only an administrative issue; On the contrary, there is an enormous risk for people and the environment. The latter is easily verifiable: there are regional parks, special areas and protected places that are key to biodiversity; and overlap with the areas affected by illegal constructions. But, in addition, as the Community itself attests, it entails an enormous physical risk because many buildings are in flood-prone areas, riverbeds and meadows. And we don’t talk about catastrophic events like DANAbut that the floods of towns (like Las Sabinas in Móstoles) has put the issue on the table. And no one has concrete answers. Above all, because it is nothing new: the state of impunity is endemic (and not only in Madrid) for at least 20 years. And we are not only talking about “lack of control” or “turning a blind eye”: we are talking about that, while jurisprudence is clear that actions on non-developable land They can only be exceptionalThere is always a license, a specific modification or a technical fix that makes it difficult to comply with the regulations. What is behind it, deep down, are the conflicting incentives between local and regional dynamics. It’s something we’ve been seeing from the eternal conflict of Algarrobico. That is, now we know the real magnitude of the problem. The study, which aims to demonstrate the regional executive’s commitment to soil protection, reflects above all decades of tolerance. Now it’s time for a complex debate: demolish everything or regularize it. And it is not just about luxury chalets or precarious settlements: there is a lot of informal productive use that fully affects local activity. Furthermore, this is Madrid, a region that, due to its demographic growth, has already organized many areas that until recently were the same or worse. If we zoomed in: the data for Spain would not be better. And there are no solutions in sight. Image | Community of Madrid / Elentir In Xataka | The Government is working on a coastal regulation with a question in the air: whether it can expropriate a house on the beach

a 100 square meter spider web where two enemy species live in peace

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He fear of spiders is one of the most common phobias. So much so that there are video games that allow you to change the design of spiders for that of other animals and there is even research into how. recreate them in less scary ways. With this I want to tell you that, if they give you the creepswhat they have discovered in a cave between Albania and Greece will be the new scene of your nightmares: the biggest spider web in the world, a megacity that has more than 111,000 spiders. And the most curious thing has nothing to do with the size of the structure. In short. A few days ago, in the magazine Subterranean Biologya team of researchers described their great discovery: in the Sulfur Cave between Albania and Greece, they had found a mega city of spiders. Actually, the initial discovery was made by speleologists from the Czech Speleological Society in 2022, but scientists from Transylvania University were the ones who visited and documented the cave in recent years. What draws the most attention is a nightmare scenario: a ‘silk’ structure that covers about 106 square meters and in which a whopping 111,000 spiders live. It is located about 50 meters from the cave entrance, in a very narrow, permanently dark area, and researchers believe there are thousands of individual funnel-shaped spider webs that have come together to create the structure. The colony. For that reason alone, the find is worth mentioning, but the most interesting thing is not the size, but rather the people responsible. If we were talking about a single species, well, it would be impressive due to its dimensions, but what is relevant here is that there are two species that coexist in the megacity: The curious thing is that both are solitary species and have never before been documented to form colonies. Furthermore, under normal conditions, the domestic tegenaria would hunt the Prinerigone vagansmuch smaller, but the researchers realized that both coexisted peacefully. Paradise. The reason? The total darkness may be inhibiting the spiders’ senses, allowing coexistence, but the toxic sulfuric environment may also be playing a role. What they are clear about is that the ecosystem is perfectly oiled: There is no photosynthesis as there is no light, so the microorganisms that are present are sulfur-oxidizing bacteriaconverting inorganic compounds into organic matter that sticks to the walls. There are chironomid larvae that feed on these biofilms. From the larvae, Tanytarsus albisutus emerge, mosquitoes that do not bite and that form dense swarms in an inland stream and of which there are an estimated 2.4 million individuals. By accident, they fall into the webs of the spider megacity and estimate that each spider touches 200 mosquitoes, so they are well fed, they do not need to hunt or leave the structure and they continue to expand the colony. The two species in love and company Implications. One of the researchers, István Urák, has commented that they often think they completely know a species “to the point that we think we understand everything about it, but even then unexpected discoveries can happen.” And he does not say this because the two species coexist, but because they have carried out DNA analyzes that have revealed that the populations of the Sulfur Cave are genetically different from their conspecifics that inhabit the surface. This means one thing: in the evolutionary line, those on the surface have gone one way and those in the cave have gone another, remaining isolated enough to evolve in another way and adapt specifically to the hostile environment they inhabit. These differences mean that microbial diversity is lower in cave spiders and females produce fewer eggs per sac than those on the surface, possibly because since they do not have predators, they do not have to produce as many offspring. a mine. Urák’s team is working on a follow-up study that may shed more light on these spiders, but in addition to the silk megacity, other teams have documented another thirty species of invertebrates that have adapted to this peculiar environment. Among them, another spider: the Metellina merianae who, unlike the other two, prefers to live in solitude. And, regardless of curiosity and even scientific interest, researchers have stressed the importance of protecting this colony. For this reason, the exact location of the cave has not been shared, but the situation is complex because it is located on the border between Albania and Greece and it remains to be seen which country has the power to protect it. In the end, they have been developed in a very specific way and any external element that is introduced can be a contaminant. Beyond the rejection that spiders produce for many of us, this discovery puts on the table that, even in conditions as hostile as a cave without light, with little oxygen and the presence of toxic gaseslife not only makes its way, but “enemy” species can form enormous communities that live in harmony. For the sake of the Prinerigone vagansmay there never be a lack of mosquitoes… Images | Marek Audy, Subterranean Biology In Xataka | We have genetically edited a spider to produce a fluorescent red web. And the implications are promising.

Álvaro Moreno and his Catholic clothing brand is just the tip of the iceberg: the fever for "chic christianity"

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During the inauguration of one of its stores in Zaragoza, the Álvaro Moreno brand repeated his usual ritual: A priest toured the facilities blessing the premises and the employees, while the motto “May it be for the glory of God” was read on a large screen. The gesture summarizes the philosophy of the Sevillian businessman who has made his Catholic faith part of his business model. Showing faith. “When I open a store I say let it be for the glory of God, because if it is not for his glory, why are we here?” he said in an interview with El Español. He was 21 years old when he opened his first store in Osuna; Today, his brand employs 700 people and has an annual profit of almost 11 million. In the midst of the pandemic, after attending mass one morning, he says he found something more than comfort: a new way of understanding the company. Your company seeks to integrate “social and solidarity projects” through initiatives such as Tiendas con Alma, which collaborates with NGOs such as Down España, ELA Andalucía, Tu Casa Azul or the Daughters of Charity of Pumarejo. “Doing a company with soul” is not marketing, he insists. But the truth is that his way of mixing religion and business fits perfectly with a broader cultural trend: the return of Catholicism as an aesthetic, story and, in some cases, as a brand strategy. In Xataka Rosalía has entered her Catholic phase: she is only the latest in a long list of Spanish artists and filmmakers A new spiritual language? Álvaro Moreno’s public devotion does not come from nowhere. It is part of a broader movement, where religion once again appears among pop songs, fashion shows or company slogans. Catholicism, previously relegated to silence or modesty, now becomes a visible sign, even a form of style. The singer Rosalía has been the most visible face of that trend. Their new album, Lux, is crossed by religious symbols and songs. On the cover she appears dressed in a white habit and in the presentation video you can hear Gregorian choirs and verses about God in fourteen languages. This gesture is located within a broader artistic movementwhere religiosity is no longer taboo for the new generations. Spirituality has become, in other words, a new cultural language. From Rosalía’s habit to Catholic festivals like Hakuna, which brought together 85,000 young people At a massive concert in April, faith is leaving the sacristies and entering the timelines. From TikTok to the pulpit. The phenomenon is not limited to Spain. In the United States, a report from the Wall Street Journal describes how Christian music contemporary “is on fire again for God. Artists like Forrest Frank, former member of the pop duo Surfaces, have brought their faith to TikTok with songs like God’s Got My Back, accumulating more than 15 million streams on Spotify and millions of views on social networks. According to the same medium, Christian artists accumulated more than 1.2 billion views in the US this year. And not just artists: even convents have learned to move in the digital age. Nuns like Sister Marta, Sister Verónica or the Argentine Josefina Cattaneo They accumulate hundreds of thousands of followers showing their daily life in the convents: from how a habit is prepared to how a birthday is celebrated in community. The formula works because it humanizes the religious vocation and makes it accessible to young people who perhaps would never approach a church. What was previously communicated from the pulpit is now shared from the algorithm. From modesty to believing pride. In Spain, the data confirm a generational change. According to the CIS36.4% of young people between 18 and 24 years old declare themselves Catholic, compared to 28% in 2021. 10.5% are practicing. It is the only age group in which religiosity grows. “There is a rise in identity-based Catholicism and a visibility of religious identity among part of the youth,” explains anthropologist Mónica Cornejo in El Correo. “They wear crosses and claim their faith without shame. They say: ‘I’m a Christian, so what?’” For Cornejo, it is a Catholicism that is “more cultural, less dogmatic. They are not as interested in read religion as in lived religion.” In a country where religion seemed a thing of the past, faith is once again a flag—aesthetic, emotional or political. And he does it, curiously, from Instagram, from the reels or from a walkway. {“videoId”:”x8ldfb3″,”autoplay”:false,”title”:”HOW ELON MUSK MAKES MONEY if MANY of his companies ARE NOT PROFITABLE”, “tag”:”Webedia-prod”, “duration”:”797″} Towards chic Catholicism. But there is a question underlying all of this: is it devotion, strategy or both? As Noemí López Trujillo warns in Newtralthe religious aesthetic that Rosalía has embraced “does not seem to renounce or contradict itself, but rather deliberately embrace the idea that what is conservative is subversive.” In the case of Álvaro Moreno, the phrase “Let it be for the glory of God” resonates with authenticity, yes, but also with a precision of branding: store, ritual, history of improvement, visible values. And in a market where consumers seek purpose as much as they seek product, that narrative works. The question is whether something essential is not diluted along the way. Deep spirituality becomes consumer aesthetics, and faith—like almost everything—into a market value. Because believing in something offers comfort; But commodifying belief offers a story that sells. And at that border—between conviction and strategy—we may have to look beyond the blessed display cases. Image | TikTok Xataka |Shein has opened its first store in Europe in Paris. Paris has reacted as always: staging a revolt (function() { window._JS_MODULES = window._JS_MODULES || {}; var headElement = document.getElementsByTagName(‘head’)(0); if (_JS_MODULES.instagram) { var instagramScript = document.createElement(‘script’); instagramScript.src=”https://platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js”; instagramScript.async = true; instagramScript.defer = true; headElement.appendChild(instagramScript); – The news Álvaro Moreno and his Catholic clothing brand is just the tip of the iceberg: the fever for “chic Christianity” was originally published in Xataka by Alba Otero .

China is already experiencing it

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Is it worth ordering three family pizzas to take advantage of a 3 for 2 promotion? The answer is: it depends. It depends on if you are ordering just for yourself or if you are going to share them with four or five friends, although my friends would say that three pizzas for five is not enough, but that is another story. Be that as it may, the logic is overwhelming: better price, more people among whom to divide the expense and payment for a single shipment. It makes sense. Now let’s raise this, but with all the neighbors on the block or colleagues in the office. The savings would be considerable, especially if everyone orders the same thing from the same site. Well, in China this is an increasingly popular trend. Context. He increased cost of living It is not something that affects only us. He house pricehe rising prices of consumer goodsthe stagnant wages and other factors that make your hair stand on end mean that you have to tighten your belt and take action. In China, where eating out is practically a religion, it is acceptable A menu costs between 20 and 30 yuan (two-four euros, more or less). Meituan delivery driver | Image: Meituan Inequality. The problem is that salary inequality is absolutely brutal, to the point that the average really tells us little. What they tell us the data is that the top 1% of China’s earners have a larger share of the country’s wealth than the top 50%. Or what is the same, if 100 people lived in China, only one person would have half of the wealth of the entire country. Therefore, it will not surprise anyone that with the average salary of 353,000 yuan per year, about 45,000 euros at the exchange rate, it is difficult to live in many places. Eat out. It is, as we said, something common in China. The question is: how can we make menus cheaper? Indeed, asking for a lot of the same thing from the same place. That idea is the one that applied Meituana Chinese shopping platform for consumer products and local retail services, to the delivery industry. 拼好饭. Or translated into the language of Cervantes, “group food delivery.” It is more or less the same premise that we proposed when eating this text: recommendations of popular dishes, group orders and a single delivery. This system It allows certain authorized establishments to prepare food in batches and for delivery people to make several deliveries in a single trip, since everyone is nearby and has ordered the same thing. Image | Meituan Coordinating. It requires more coordination and the food may take a little longer, but it allows you to save up to 50% on certain menus, as explained from Sinica Podcasts. “In central Guangzhou, a roast duck leg with rice usually costs 28.8 yuan if ordered individually, but drops to only 11.2 yuan with the group takeaway option,” they say. The cost of shipping represents up to 80% of the cost of the order, so adding dishes to the order dilutes the price for more people. and it works. It is clear that users are willing to wait a little longer for food if it is much cheaper. Meituan began testing this system in 2020 in poorer markets and by April 2023 had already established a department dedicated only to group orders focused on first-tier cities. Only in 2023, Meituan processed 1.16 billion group orders, which represented 6% of all orders. And in Spain? It is not a very widespread or popular thing, at least at the user level. Yes, it is possible to take advantage of promotions and share food to dilute the shipping and make the price per head better, but there is no proposal similar to the Chinese one. Companies like Uber do allow something similar, but it is focused on small groups of people or companies, not so much on large volumes. But perhaps it is a matter of time, especially in large capitals. Cover image | zhang kaiyv In Xataka | China has found a huge health problem in its kitchens: record per capita salt consumption

science has discovered why

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Sleeping little is still one of the great silent evils of modern life. Long workdays, screens on until dawn, and the glorification of eternal productivity have normalized something that science has been warning about for decades: subtracting hours of sleep is not freeand can even be likened to going through life drunk. The psychologist specialized in sleep Nuria Roure summed it up on the podcast from ‘Mommy, what are you saying’: “People who have spent more than 20 hours awake have a level of attention similar to that of someone who has consumed about six beers”. It may seem like an exaggeration, but science backs up his claim. Like he was drunk. If you have slept very few hours, surely when you get out of bed the first steps you take hardly follow a straight line, but rather they may seem quite similar to the house having become a real boat. Something that also happens when we have two too many drinks. And it’s not that during the night you woke up sleepwalking and grabbed a few beers from the fridge, but the fault lies in your sleep hygiene. A study from the University of South Australia published in Occupational and Environmental Medicine compared the effects of lack of sleep with those of alcohol. After 17 to 19 hours without sleep, the participants showed cognitive and motor impairment equivalent to a blood alcohol level of 0.05%. That is, the tired brain and the drunk brain process information with comparable slowness and clumsiness. And this is something that also justifies that Driving without sleep is as dangerous as being a little drunk. Although it is not the only evidence we have, since a great study has confirmed that even partial sleep deprivation, which consists of sleeping four or five hours for several consecutive days, affects attention and decision making. You can also get sick. Although we focus on the effects on our brain, the reality is that it goes much further. A study published in the journal Sleep concluded that sleeping less than six hours a night was associated with an increased risk of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, or obesity. But we must not forget about Alzheimer’s. It must be remembered that during sleep, the brain activates its ‘cleaning’ systems to eliminate the garbage produced by neurons, including beta-amyloid that is implicated in Alzheimer’s. In the magazine itself Nature we can find solid evidence which warns that people who consistently slept less than six hours a night in middle age were more likely to develop dementia. Adolescents at the center of the problem. Sleep deficit begins every time before. According to the Spanish Sleep Society, Spanish adolescents sleep on average between six and six and a half hours a day, when their brain needs between eight and ten. One of the culprits in this case for science is the educational system, as pointed out by the American neurologist Mary Carskdon who has been pointing because having to get up early to go to class is a key factor in chronic fatigue syndromes among youth. Images | Shane BENCE BOROS In Xataka | Modern life is destroying the dream. Science explains how to fight back using your greatest ally: light

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