The great fortunes in Spain had dodged the heritage tax for decades. In 2023 99% have chosen to pay it

According to him last report Of the Tax Agency, the collection of the Patrimony Tax in Spain marked an important rebound in 2023, with an increase of 58% compared to the previous year, reaching 1,970.7 million euros, compared to the 1,250 million that were collected in 2022. This significant increase is not exclusively due to the boom in the number of Millionaires in Spainbut to Reactivation of the Patrimony Tax in several autonomous communities that previously or totally bonus it. Thus, the number of statements and payments has increased significantly after modifying the fiscal rules that affect To the great fortunes. Taxpayers and declarants. According to data of Tax Agency, in the last decade the number of taxpayers who declare to have assets exceeding 30 million euros has passed from 471 in 2013 to 865 in 2023. During this period the number of declarants with high assets has increased by different stages, with notable increases between 2018 and 2019 and then between 2020 and 2021. At the same time, the total statement of the Patrimony Tax descended slightly in 2023, standing at 228,575 compared to 230,365 of the previous year. It should be noted that being a declarant of this tax does not imply being a taxpayer, since sometimes the declarants are exempt from paying that tax since an exempt minimum of 700,000 euros is established (in most communities) and that exist Deductions in habitual home or certain business goods. 99% of millionaires pay the assets tax. The Finance data suggest that, with a lower number of declarants, it was possible to increase the annual collection in 2023, increasing the number of those who had to pay this tax. In 2022, the number of declarants with assets above 30 million euros was 852, of which only 235 (27.6%) paid the assets tax for living in communities that did not bonate this tax. In 2023, of the 865 declarants with more than 30 million euros, 853 pay this tax, which implies that almost 99% of the great fortunes already pay tax for their assets. THE KEY: TEMPORARY TAX OF SOLIDARITY OF THE GREAT FORTS. The increase in collection at 720.7 million euros between 2022 and 2023 is due to the elimination of bonuses to assets that applied communities such as Madrid and Andalusia that in 2022 allowed to pay Little or nothing of this tax. With the entry into force of the Temporary Tax of Solidarity of the Great Fortures in 2023, the State applied a rule that, with the excuse of Avoid double impositionI could tax with this tax those assets that were not taxed by the Patrimony Tax. Being especially exposed those communities that had this bonus tax. The communities were not going to give up that income. With this maneuver, the State could directly raise what autonomies insisted on bonus. Given this new scenario, communities such as Andalusia or Madrid, which applied 100% bonus in this tax, lost the “Fiscal advantage” for great fortunes With respect to their neighboring communities and if they did not collect it, they would lose those income that would also be collected for the state coffers. The Community of Madrid, for example, He went from raising Zero euros in 2022 to enter 613.7 million in 2023 of 10,659 declarants who did not pay for this tax before. Andalusia also increased its income In 20.79 million euros Thanks to this measure that allows homogenizing the Taxation to great fortunes throughout the country through the coexistence of the state tax and the autonomic, preventing that Great heritages are exempt Thanks to regional bonuses. As evidence of this rebalancing in the collection, the Tax Agency ensures that the entry by the Temporary Solidarity Tax of the great fortunes of 2023 was only 35 million euros, compared to the 630 million euros that collected in 2022, when the autonomies bonus the assets tax. In Xataka | How much money Amancio Ortega has: how the fortune of the richest man in Spain is distributed Image | Unspash (Shane)

The OIEA finds evidence of the secret nuclear reactor of Syria

In September 2007, Israeli combat aircraft reduced a complex in the Syrian desert of Deir Ezzor to debris. Israel said that there was a nuclear reactor there with the help of North Korea. The Bashar al Asad government replied that it was nothing more than a military base. For years, both versions met in the field of suspicion. Now, eighteen years later, the International Atomic Energy Agency (OIEA) provides evidence that incline the balance: in that place there was processed uranium. A few particles. According to a confidential report quoted by APNewsthe agency’s inspectors found “a significant amount of natural uranium particles” in one of the three sites examined in the last two years. As Reuters has pointed outit is not a rich uranium, but of anthropogenic origin: it had gone through a chemical process. “The analysis indicated that uranium occurred as a result of chemical processing,” the document said. According to Apnewssome of these particles coincide with the conversion of mineral concentrate into uranium oxide, a usual step in fuel production for reactors. A nuclear plan never recognized. The history of this “ghost reactor” begins in 2011. The OIEA had already estimated that the building destroyed by Israel was “most likely a nuclear reactor that should have been declared” by Syria. According to Apnewsthe installation would have been built with the support of North Korean engineers, which would explain the secrecy of the Bashar al Asad regime. Rafael Grossi, current director of the OIEA, acknowledged in statements collected by the news agency that some of the Syrian activities “were probably related to nuclear weapons.” However, Damascus always denied it. After the Israeli bombing, he leveled the land of Deir Ezzor to erase traces and refused to fully answer the questions of the international organism. The fall of Al-ásad. The turn came with the end of the Bashar al Asad regime, overthrown last year After almost three lustra of civil war. The new interim government, led by Ahmed al Sharaa, agreed to cooperate with the UN Nuclear Agency. Besides, As Reuters has had accessin June the authorities allowed for the second time the taking of environmental samples. It was not a linear process. According to The IndependentAsad’s departure temporarily interrupted the investigation: “We are still evaluating what we find there and we have a large questioning sign, because we do not have an interlocutor,” Grossi admitted in December 2024. With the restoration of contacts this year, the OIEA is optimistic: “Once the results are evaluated, it will be possible to resolve the pending issues related to the past nuclear activities of Syria.” A region marked by proliferation. Beyond the Syrian case, the findings are registered in a region marked by the shadow of nuclear proliferation. As we have pointed out in XatakaIsrael has bombarded on different occasions facilities in Iraq, Iran and Syria under the argument of preventing their enemies Develop atomic weapons. Grossi himself warned Bloomberg statements that the power vacuum in Syria opens the risk of looting nuclear materials in research centers. A civil nuclear future for Syria? Paradoxically, the new Syrian leadership has expressed interest in exploring a civil nuclear program. According to Al Jazeerathe interim president Al Sharaa discussed with the OIEA the possibility of resorting to small modular reactors to generate energy and asked for help to rebuild nuclear medical infrastructure, devastated by more than a decade of war. The OIEA has expressed willingness to collaborate in these areas, always under a transparent framework of safeguards. A file to close. The history of Deir Ezzor reactor seems to reach its final chapter. What began as a bombing wrapped in controversy and denials is now corroborated with scientific evidence. The OIEA insists that the new samples will allow the case to close, but the questions persist: How far did the Syrian clandestine nuclear program really arrive? What external actors fed him? And can a country devastated by war reorient its relationship with nuclear energy towards peaceful uses? Eighteen years after the Israeli attack, the ghost reactor is no longer a rumor: it is the proof of a secret that Damascus tried to bury in the desert sand. Image | IAEA IMEBANK and Unspash Xataka | Natural gas has become essential in the AI ​​era, and this chart exposes countries with the largest reserves

The return to Cole de Neobyte makes it easy for us to renew pc gaming

We are already fully involved in September, the month where the return to school becomes a reality. Many stores take the opportunity to launch offers on the occasion of this event, although they do not necessarily do it with products that we would consider aimed at children and school. Neobyte is the test With a new promo that has a clear objective: Get easier Update our Gaming PC. If we are looking for the best quality-price to give up our team to play, we have several very interesting offers in this store. It doesn’t matter if you need a new processor or a graph: We have several AMD components at the most attractive prices. And not only that: we also have the opportunity to buy whole Gaming PC with discounts. Update our PC Gaming comes cheaper with these offers As we say, if we already have a gaming PC and what we want is to give it an upgrade, then we must go for new pieces for it. It is obvious that these updates can go through A new SSD Or more RAM, but the two key points will always be the same: CPU and graphics card. Graphics cards AMD RX 9060 XT Quality-quality, AMD Radeon ™ RX 9060 XT are now some of the most outstanding options on the market. These compete from you to you with the RTX 5060 and RTX 5060 TI of Nvidia at much more attractive pricesespecially if we can get on an offer, as is in the case of Neobyte. It doesn’t matter if we want the model with 8 GB or 16 GB of VRM, since both have the highlights. Ideal if we want to play at 1080p or 1440p with great performance. Sapphire Press AMD RADEON RX 9060 XT GAMING OC 8GB GDDR6 – Graphics Card * Some price may have changed from the last review Architecture Rdna 4 They use gives them a significant performance to the previous generation of AMD cards, something to add how well it works FSR 4 to increase video game performance. We can take home one of these graphics from 319.90 euros In the case of the Sapphire assembly, But there are more options within the Neobyte catalog: SAPPHIRE NITRO+ AMD RADEON RX 9060 XT GAMING OC 16GB GDDR6: 399.89 euros. GIGABYTE RADEON RX 9060 XT GAMING OC 8GB GDDR6: 319.90 euros. Gigabyte Radeon Rx 9060 XT Gaming OC 16GB GDDR6: 399.89 euros. AMD AM5 9000 series processors What do we want a new CPU for our Gaming PC? There is no problem. It is true that there are more powerful processors, but we again prioritize the quality-price, the Ryzen 7 9800x3d is one of the best options we can buy right now. And more, if we take into account that we can buy it reduced to the 489.89 euros. AMD Ryzen 7 9800x3D – AM5 processor * Some price may have changed from the last review This AMD Ryzen ™ 7 9800x3d, which uses Zen 5 architectureit has 8 nuclei and 16 threadsa figure more than plenty to play. In addition, this Ryzen model stands out for having technology AMD 3D V-Cachethanks to which we can achieve a great frame rate while we play. For less than 500 euros, one of the best CPU we can buy. We can also take home a complete gaming PC It may happen that, instead of updating the computer we already have at home, we want a new whole. It is true that there is the possibility of riding it by pieces, but there are offers that make it a lot of penalty Bet on PC Premmed Gaming. Neobyte has some very interesting, such as this with Ryzen 5 9600x and RX 9060 XT by 1,098.99 euros. PC NEO GAMING RYZEN 5 9600X RADEON RX 9060 XT 1TB 32GB * Some price may have changed from the last review This team is perfect to play 1080p or 1440p and has more points to stand out, As its 1 TB SSD, its 32 GB of RAM or its design, with warm glass. We might want more powerful options, but we also have some more teams in this lowered store. We leave two of them very prominent: PC NEO GAMING R7 9800X3D RX 9070 XT 32GB 1TB SSD: 1,949 euros. PC NEO GAMING RYZEN 7 9800X3D RX 9070 XT 32GB 2TB SSD: 2,198.99 euros. Some of the links of this article are affiliated and can report a benefit to Xataka. In case of non -availability, offers may vary. Image | Neobyte In Xataka | This is the gaming tower that I would buy. Computers with better value for money recommended by Xataka In Xataka | Best gaming laptops. Which buy and eight computers recommended from 770 to 3,000 euros

The AI ​​is doing the work that the Junior did before

The labor panorama of the four great consultants in Spain (Deloitte, PWC, EY and KPMG) is about to turn That, a priori, it could be considered a mere change in the hiring criteria for the new employees: they will hire 20% less juniors profiles than in previous years. However, the new rules that will apply known as Big Four They go much further to become a structural change for their future. Tijeretazo to the hiring of juniors. According to information publishedby The confidentialBig Four are joining the trend that had already been observed in some US companies, and will reduce between 10% and 20% the hiring of professionals under 30 years. This is not an isolated phenomenon. According to published The newspaperin the United Kingdom a similar cut since 2022 has been applied. This implies the elimination of between 700 and more than 1,400 junior jobs in Spain, a measure that, according to the sources consulted by The confidentialis being applied homogeneously in all business lines. However, this cut will be more notable in those areas where automation, such as finance, human resources, IT or marketing. Replaced by an AI. The trend It is not new. The automation capacity provided by AI has caused large companies to apply AI to expedite routine and data analysis tasks – as the Preparation of reports o Contracts, validate data, review transactions – that Junior employees used to do as part of their learning process. Such and as they counted in The New York TimesWhen these tasks are covered, companies no longer need such numerous juniors template because, de facto, AI agents become the assistants of the most senior profiles to make them more productive. The result: the learning chain of the professional career of these young people loses its first link formative. Seniors profiles. The Reduction in hiring Junior profiles It implies a change towards priority hiring of senior personnel, increasing its incorporations between 8% and 10% for 2025. This change is carried out with the intention of strengthening the profiles with more experience and strategic vision for its clients, which allows them to open new business roads. Digitization has transformed the business of consultants who no longer focus their model on the billing of consulting hours, but now customers pay for access to tools of artificial intelligence and automated processes that accelerate the delivery of results and They optimize efficiency of the projects. The quarry model falls. The juniors profile cuts far beyond a conjunctural adjustment: this change modifies the traditional pyramidal model of the great consultants, whose base was permanently nourished by young professionals. This constant quarry of new employees allowed gradual training and internal promotion towards management and partners positions. The reduction of that quarry puts at risk the future generation of managers and hinders the rotation and generational relief that characterized these companies. Before they were employees, then customers. In addition, from the merely labor environment, the cut in the hiring of Junior profiles also threatens a key commercial pillar of the sector: many young employees, after a few years in the firm, made the leap to positions of responsibility in other companies. From that position, the new managers They hired the services of his “Alma Mater”, which was a constant source of new clients. The loss of that virtuous circle can weaken one of the most relevant indirect roads of new business generation that these consultants currently have. In Xataka | Billionaire Mark Cuban has a advice for generation Z: “If you have time, use it to learn more about AI” Image | Wikimedia Commons (Luis García)

The voice recorders seemed dead. AI and new hardware are causing them to be irresistible again

There was a time when voice recorders were essential for journalists, students and professionals who needed to register conversations. With the rise of the smartphone, They were relegated to a drawer corner. Today, artificial intelligence has returned them to the scene: compact and connected devices offer automatic transcripts and summary summaries in seconds. What seemed like a dead category returns to the attention of users and manufacturers, with proposals that modernize a classic tool. The Startup Plaud, based in San Francisco and Shenzhen, has found the key to reinvent a classic device. His Notepinwith format similar to a pendrive, allows you to record conversations and turn them into ordered transcripts and automatic summaries. The recorder connects to an application that offers intelligent searches and answers to questions about recorded content. Plaud thus bets on joining minimalist design and software to differentiate themselves from the basic functions offered by mobiles. From recorder to notes with ia Plaud has managed to turn an idea of ​​niche into a profitable business. Since its launch in 2023, the company has sold more than one million devices, According to Forbes. Its model combines hardware and subscription: the note Cuesta 169.90 euroswhile other proposals such as the Note and the Note Pro reach 169.90 and 189 euros, respectively. With this formula, the startup plans to reach about 250 million dollars of annualized income and boasts of margins close to 25%, comparable to those of the iPhone. Plaud does not arise in a vacuum: hardware with AI lives a moment of effervescence. The aforementioned means estimates that the sector has received more than 350 million dollars in recent investment. Amazon has also joined the movement acquiring Beea startup that bet on compact recorders for executives. The idea of ​​carrying an assistant always seduces investors, but the results do not always accompany: some projects have become warnings for the entire sector. Rabbit is a clear example of those unfulfilled promises. His R1 It was announced as the future of interaction with AI, but The initial emotion gave way to disappointment When users verified that Its functions were practically those of a mobile app. Humane went further with his Ai pina futuristic device that sought to replace the phone, But that ended up being an expensive failure. Faced with these stumbling blocks, Plaud has earned a hole focusing on real productivity: record, transcribe and organize information without impossible distractions or ambitions. Dingtalk China is also betting strongly on this category. South China Morning Post details That Dingtalk, the Alibaba business collaboration platform, presented in August the A1, a recorder with the compact size capable of transcribing, summarizing and translating conversations into more than 100 languages. The device is based on the Tongyi AI laboratory, trained with more than 100 million audio hours and specialized in 200 sectors. With prices from 499 yuan (about 60 euros to change), it is presented as a more affordable alternative to the plan of Plaud, which costs 169.90 euros, although it is not available outside China. The big question is evident: if the mobile can record, why load with another device? Plaud has found its space by focusing on functions that the phone does not offer with the same effectiveness. Your recorders incorporate dedicated microphones and extended autonomyideal for long days of meetings or interviews. The application includes specific templates for doctors, lawyers or commercials, which simplifies the workflow. This practical approach makes note to something more than a simple engraver: it is a tool designed for those who depend on registering information without interruptions. PLAUD PRODUCTS None of this is free. Plaud offers three plans: one basic, without cost, with limited functions, and two payment that unlock the entire potential of the device. The Pro Plan, which costs 110.99 euros a year, allows 1,200 minutes of transcription per month, more advanced templates and personalized summaries. The unlimited plan rises to 249.99 euros a year and offers continuous recording and transcription, in addition to all the functions of the platform. This structure reinforces the hybrid business model: attractive hardware and a subscription that converts the device into a complete service. Recording conversations is no longer an exclusive practice of journalists. Nathan Xu, plaud co -founder, believes that the device is conceived as a professional tool and Not like a spy device. To reinforce that idea, the note includes a state light that warns when recording. In the case of the United States, in some places such as California record without permission, it can carry fines or even prison sentences, although regulations are rarely applied. The ethical debate about carrying a microphone always on is still open. Plaud was born in Shenzhen, but Xu wanted to strengthen his identity as an American company. The firm is registered in Delaware, is based in San Francisco. An important point, At least according to the official website for the Spanish marketis that the service stores the data of its users on servers located in the United States. This strategy, apparently, seeks to dissipate suspicions in a context of growing tensions between Washington and Beijing in terms of privacy. The future of these recorders will depend on several factors. Plaud has already begun to explore sectors such as Health, where he acquired a hospital software startup to reinforce its position against competitors such as Open or Nuance, owned by Microsoft. This highly regulated market requires precision and security, which can favor specialized companies If they manage to gain user confidence. The return of voice recorders is not a simple fashion. Plaud has shown that the public is willing to pay for tools that optimize their time, even in an era dominated by the smartphone. With rivals such as Alibaba reinforcing its bet, competition intensifies. These solutions must prove that they are not only a bridge to mobile functions, but their own category. What seems clear is that recording and processing precision had never had so much potential. Images | Plaud | Dingtalk In Xataka | 100 million Tamagotchis … Read more

The domestic robot with which many dream is already real. F.02 Figure has just learned to load a dishwasher

We have been imagining a future with robots that help us at home. From robotine of ‘The supersonic‘even Andrew from’The Bicentennial Man‘, Fantasy has always been there, but it had never seemed so real. The advances in recent years have taken us to a point where automatons begin to touch the field of everyday life. Figure AI, one of the most ambitious companies in humanoid robotics, has taken a step that brings that future. Your model Figure 02known as F.02, has shown that it can Fold clothes, reorganize packages and load a dishwasher: simple tasks for us, but greatly complex for a robot. A jump that redefines the potential of humanoids With 1.68 meters high and 70 kilos, F.02 is a fully electric robot with an autonomy of about five hours per load. You can walk 1.2 meters per second and transport objects of up to 20 kilos, which places it near the physical range of an average adult. What makes this robot special is that F.02 does not depend on human operators to execute their functions. Unlike Optimus, The Tesla robot we saw in the event ‘We, Robot’ with several assisted capabilitiesthis model works totally autonomously thanks to an artificial intelligence system called Vision Language Action (VLA), designed to interpret instructions and act on your own. The second key point is its ability to learn new skills from training data. F.02 could already fold clothes and move packages, but has incorporated the task of loading a dishwasher No need to redesign your hardware nor to create a new AI model. The company indicates that this task, which seems trivial, hides huge challenges: separating disorder of messy batteries, reorienting them and manipulating them with centimeter precision, coordinating both arms and handling fragile or slippery objects. Each dishwasher is different, each load is a puzzle, and the system must adapt in real time to unexpected errors or collisions. The most interesting thing is that everything has been achieved with the same robot and the same digital brain, only adding data. This draws a future in which domestic robots can receive updates for Expand their abilities without replacing them. They could even learn from their own experience at home, closer to a realistic vision of autonomous and useful robots on a day -to -day basis. Images | Figure ai In Xataka | Anthropic is worth 183,000 million even though he invoices 5,000 million a year. Or it is the business of the century, or it is the madness of the century

A spherical robot incapable of dumping

In a Texas laboratory, a team of engineers has materialized a concept that NASA investigated to Explore the craters of the moon: A ball -shaped robot incapable of dumping. Roboball In his stage in NASA, mechanical engineer Robert Ambrose made several of his inventions come true: the Robonaut 2 humanoid robot or the Robotic robotic glove. But he failed to move forward a concept he had developed for the space agency in 2003. The premise was simple: create a robot that could not pour. His idea was a perfect sphere capable of accessing places where wheels and legs were a risk. Roboball did not see the light until, two decades later, Ambrose guarded the students Rishi Jangale and Derek Pravecek For your doctorate at the University of Texas A&M. A pendulum in an airbag. Roboball’s secret is not its spherical and soft housing, made of the same materials as an airbag, but the propulsion system inside. Composed of a pendulum and some engines, Roboball Rued in the desired direction by oscillating the pendulum to transfer impulse to the sphere. One of the most innovative characteristics of the robot sphere is its ability to inflate and deflate, which allows you to alter your traction to adapt to different surfaces. In the tests of the researchers, Roboball has proven to be able to move through grass, gravel, sand and even water, reaching speeds of up to 32 km/h. Taking up is never a problem because it does not have a “right side.” There are two prototypes. Roboball II has a diameter of 61 centimeters and is the laboratory version, used to adjust control algorithms and monitor the power of subsystems. Roboball III has an imposing diameter of 183 cm and is the commercial version, designed to carry useful loads such as sensors, cameras and sampling tools. The jump from one to another has not been easy. As there is no literature on spherical robots of this size, the team faces new challenges every day. In Pravecek’s words: “If an engine fails or a sensor disconnects, you can’t simply open a panel. You have to disassemble the entire robot and rebuild it. It’s like an open heart surgery in a rolling ball.” From the moon to earth. Despite the obstacles, Roboball’s performance is surprising, and his long -term objectives are ambitious. The team hopes that it can be deployed in a lunar landing module to explore the steep walls of cratersa place where “nothing would roll better than a ball,” says Ambrose. But its potential is not limited to space. The team is also exploring land applications, especially in search and rescue missions. “Imagine a swarm of these balls deployed after a hurricane,” says Jangale. “They could map flooded areas, find survivors and bring essential data, all without risking human lives.” Image | Texas A&M University In Xataka | The United States has returned to the moon after 50 years with a fleet of “low cost” ships. It is being chaotic

dismiss sellers to hire other expert sellers in AI

In July, Microsoft proved to have radically changed strategy as its investment in AI. The Batacazo were The 9,000 layoffs that affected several of their departments, but there was also a change of sight: their approach to corporate sales. After having fired thousands of commercials traditional, the firm opted for replace them with solution engineers Specialized in artificial intelligence. A transformation that seems to be marking trend in the technological sector and that responds to the new demands of the business market. A change in the sales model. Microsoft’s strategy is to eliminate the figure of the general seller, that profile focused on commercial relationships but with limited technical knowledge. Instead, the company is committed to professionals who can make technical demonstrations from the first contact with the client. Judson Althoff, commercial director of Microsoft, It has reorganized completely its division with the aim of turning the company into “the firm of the avant -garde”. Why Microsoft makes this decision. According to Business Insider sources Near to the company, some business clients transferred their frustration to Microsoft for having to go through several vendors before reaching the technical aspects of the product. “The client wants Microsoft to present their people technically,” according to internal sources of the company. Artificial intelligence has raised expectations, as there are more and more companies that prefer to have first hand a deep understanding of the product from the first meeting, not superficial commercial talks. The competition presses. Microsoft faces a fierce battle with OpenAi and Google for the business market. Although it has the advantage that many large companies already use their tools, Your employees prefer chatgpt for being better known. This competitive pressure has accelerated the reorganization of the six areas of previous solutions in only three: business solutions, Cloud and IA platforms, and security. The domino effect on the sector. Microsoft’s strategy is not an isolated case. Salesforce has already applied a similar approachreducing your support staff from 9,000 to 5,000 employees thanks to AI agents. Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, explained that “I managed to rebalance the number of support personnel because I need less.” This restructuring has allowed it to redirect resources towards R&D departments and more specialized sales. Eliminating layers. What is really happening is a redefinition of commercial value in the AI ​​era. Sector investors and analysts interpret These movements as a sign of technological maturity. And it is that companies such as Microsoft are showing that sales teams that do not understand the complexity of their products can no longer allow. Jason Lemkin, Specialized Software Startup Investor, esteem that “between 30% and 40% of sales representatives of one or two calls will be replaced by AI”. Cover image | Simon Ray In Xataka | “I’m afraid we’re going to be more busy”: Jensen Huang Discrepa from Musk and sees at AF a deep labor transformation

More than half come from four Chinese manufacturers

In the aspirating robots segment, THE ROOM They seemed to dominate everything with iron hand. However, in recent times the situation has changed radically, and the protagonist of that revolution is China, which does not stop conquering more and more segments that seemed untouchable before. What happened. The Last data From the IDC consultant they reveal that in the first quarter of the year, the first four world vacuum robots manufacturers come from China. All of them have ended up unseating the traditional market leader, Irobot, a company known for developing the Robot Roba Robots Family. Chinese robots conquer the world. Chinese manufacturers who have broken the market are Beijing Roborock Technology (19.3%market share), Ecovacs Robotics (13.6%), Dreame Technology (11.3%) and Xiaomi (9.9%). Together those four companies managed to monopolize 54.1% of the total units distributed in that period, when the previous quarter that percentage had been 47.2%. Source: IDC Irobot sinks. Meanwhile, the Roomba falls significantly. A year ago they were in the first position in number of distributed units, but their current market share is only 9.3%, and their global sales have fallen 30.6% compared to the same period of 2024. Recall that Amazon was about to buy Irobot for 1.4 billion dollars, when the company today It is worth seven times less. Source: IDC. The aspiring robot are fashionable. Chinese firms have benefited in addition to a positive trend in this segment. At the global level they were distributed (not necessarily the same as “sold”) 5.09 million units in the first quarter, 11.9% more than in the same quarter of 2024. And the commercial war, what? China benefited especially from a curious fact: its best client is none other than the United States, and it seems that commercial war and tariffs are not significantly affecting this market. As indicated In Nikkeiexport tariffs of this type of products have been reduced to 30, although both countries must continue to negotiate since this tariff truce has the expiration date on November 10. In China the competition is fierce. Claire Zhao, an analyst at IDC, highlighted how these Chinese manufacturers face “fierce” competition in China, and there they barely manage to get benefits. New competitors also appear everywhere. DJI, known for his drones, has entered this segment with his family of Romo aspiring robots that adapt technologies of their air navigation systems. Meanwhile, Narkal Robotics, a Shenzhen startup, built 100 million dollars in April with investors such as Tencent. There were few … Roborock, for all. The market leader, Roborock, indicated that he has achieved “a significant increase in income in our business abroad” thanks to the development of new sales channels and expansion to new markets. The company’s revenues in the first half of 2025 are 79% higher than those of the same period last year, and have reached 1,100 million dollars. Ecovacs follows closely. Second is ecovacs, whose sales have grown by 86.5% in the second quarter with respect to the same period of 2024. Again the reason is in the Sales of your robots Outside China, in addition to the opening of new production lines to meet the growing demand that comes from the United States. China does not stop innovating. Chinese manufacturers do not stop launching new models and innovations, such as vacuum robots with arms and pier. The new X11 ecovacs have a new mop and new elements to clean corners more effectively. The model, which in Shanghai costs $ 840, costs $ 1,500 in the US, a price clearly affected by the sarancels. Roborock is, like its competitors, insatiable in terms of innovationalready end of June had increased the template of its R&D division by 73.5% compared to the previous year: it has 1,364 employees thinking how to improve its devices. In Xataka | Mopa is one of the skinny points of vacuum robots. Dreame’s proposal: change it for a roller

Toledo has proposed to change mass tourism for another “quality”. And it is clear where to look for it: in China

With the flow of foreign visitors at record levels and the touristry converted into Hot debate themeToledo has proposed to rethink its tourism. The city lasts a ordinance that regulates the sector and He has recognized openly that he wants his flow of travelers to be more compatible with the day -to -day life of his neighbors, enhancing “quality tourism against mass.” Given that challenge, your City Council It is very clear Where you should look: China. That is why he has decided to go to the Asian giant has promoted himself. To the hunt for tourists. Toledo wants more Chinese tourists. And is willing to travel thousands of kilometers to achieve it. The city has just launched a commercial mission Headed by its mayor, Carlos Velázquez, to sell the benefits of the Castillanomanchega town in the Asian market. The delegation, in which local representatives and representatives of the hoteliers and the Toledo business fabric will participate, part today with a clear purpose: “reinforce tourism promotion” in China and (an important nuance) “attract quality tourism.” And what exactly will they do? In The statement In which he reports the campaign, the City Council does not give too many details, but it does advance that it will include “commercial meetings”, aspires to “consolidate” the image of Toledo as “quality tourism destination” and contemplates meetings with representatives of Chinese provinces. The team also wants to start the procedures for The twinning From Toledo with Xi´an, the city of the celebration Terracota warriors. What … and when. The initiative is interesting both for its content and (especially) for its context. After all, it is not any time for Toledo tourism. The City Council expects to approve This same month a New Ordinance which aspires to “make coexistence easier” between visitors and residents of their historic center and above all, In words of Carlos Velázquez himself, “to enhance quality tourism against mass.” That expression (“quality tourism”) is repeated half a dozen in The statement in which the City Council informs of the commercial mission. The New standard which will regulate the tourism of Toledo contemplates the declaration of certain streets of the Historic Center as saturated areas, in which special rules will be applied that facilitate the passage of visitors and neighbors. It also foresees that broad groups (formed by more than 30 people) must use individual audio systems, prohibit the use of megaphones at night and establishes that the guides Free Tours They will not be able to use colored umbrellas to capture customers. Why Chinese tourists? For several reasons. The main (and obvious) is the size of the Chinese market, a country of 1.4 billion of potential visitors. The Toledo Consistory himself remembers that only in the Xi´an metropolitan region, a territory with which he wants Portugal. And although the flow of travelers of the Asian giant is in a way conditioned By the war in Ukraine (the conflict affects aerial connections), Europe remains a Popular destination For the Chinese, whose tourism sector He recovers After the pandemic sake. In fact Toledo is not the only city that seeks to cut its visitors. Others locations and companies Spanish have already traveled to the Asian giant to strengthen ties. Carlos Velázquez himself has shown in other occasions His interest in China as the engine of a “quality tourism.” A figure: 3,150 euros. The Chinese visitor usually highlights for another reason, especially interesting for the tourism industry in its broader spectrum: the portfolio. According to the UNChina leads the ranking of international tourism spending, standing well above the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom and France, which complete the ‘Top 5’. And the United Nations is not the only source that points in that direction. In July Visa published A report on expenses of foreign visitors in Spain that places the Chinese in first position. “Each international tourist plans to spend on their trip to Spain up to € 3,150, which reinforces the positive impact of the sector on the national economy. For markets, Chinese tourists lead the average expenditure (€ 3,150), followed by Americans (€ 2,850) and Mexicans (€ 2,435)”, collect the reportwhich recalls that those who visit Spain do it above all for their cultural wealth, their attractiveness as a destination of sun and beach and the desire to know emblematic cities. The authors of the study They slide In addition, another interesting idea: as well as the British who arrive in Spain, they seek especially sun and beach and Mexican cultural experiences, the Chinese especially value purchases. Is there more data? Yes. And show the potential of the Chinese market that now hopes to conquer Toledo. While the flow of visitors to the Asian giant continues to be far from other countries such as the United Kingdom or Germany, The INE shows That last year Spain received just over 640,000 Chinese visitors, still below the 700,700 it reached before the pandemic. As for spending, the INE agrees that the average by Chinese visitor was around last year the € 2,900in front of the 1,300 of the Germans or 1,200 of the English. Statistics does not detail if it includes the value of flights. In any case, your half -day/person is also high: 406in front of the 165 of the Germans. Images | Daniel Velásquez (UNSPLASH), David Stanley (Flickr) and A Tourism (X) In Xataka | In San Juan de Luz they are discovering something: tourists are going from “picnic” to the beach before the prices of the bars

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