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Two gigantic submarine cables between Spain and Italy, among the large European electrical interconnection projects

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The European Union is immersed in a full energy transformation at two levels: the transition towards renewable sources and a structural change deep, so that success depends less on each country’s individual generation and more on the ability to move that energy efficiently across borders. In this framework, the European Network of Electricity Transmission Network Operators (ENTSO-E) works on a continental grid that eliminates technical bottlenecks. An example: the energy island called the Iberian Peninsula. The objective is for energy to flow from areas with surplus to others with deficit, preventing it from being trapped without a commercial outlet due to lack of transportation capacity. With that logic, the ENTSO-E just published its complete portfolio of the Ten-Year Network Development Plan 2026 with almost 200 transmission projects, 22 of them completely new. Among these novelties there are two particularly important for the Iberian Peninsula: they connect Spain with Italy. The cables. Apollo Link and Iberia Link are two high-voltage direct current submarine cable projects that would cross the Mediterranean to connect the Iberian Peninsula with northern Italy. They are independent of each other but share the same mission: to create a direct electric highway between an area with great renewable generation capacity such as Spain and one of the industrial regions with the highest electricity consumption in Europe, northern Italy. None of the projects has support from the transport network operators of each state, Red Eléctrica and Terna, respectively, but rather They are initiatives of private investors of Italian origin whose identity has not been revealed. Why is it important. The emerging continental grid is vital for the decarbonization of the continent as it allows the full use of renewable energy surpluses: Spain is one of the leaders in solar and wind energy (Italy stands out in solar, but not so much in wind) and this interconnection makes it possible that when there is excess production in the Iberian Peninsula, that clean energy can supply Italian demand instead of being left without a commercial outlet due to lack of transport capacity. The foreseeable net flow would be predominantly from west to east, although the connection would also allow energy to be imported from Italy in times of shortage on the Peninsula. But for the Iberian Peninsula it is even more relevant: this future east-west corridor allows its surpluses to be evacuated to the rest of Europe, thus ending its limited interconnection capacity. And also something essential: this connection provides security of supply (as evidenced the blackout) and the possibility of coupling markets to reduce electricity prices for the final consumer. Context. The Iberian Peninsula is considered an energy island within Europe. Its interconnection capacity with France round 3,000 MW, far below of the 15% target of installed capacity established by European regulations. And this has consequences: in times of high renewable generation, prices become negative within the peninsula and surplus energy cannot be exported. In times of scarcity, it cannot be easily imported either. This is just one of the projects that seek to end the energy isolation of the peninsula: they are also on the table the Bay of Biscay submarine cable planned for 2028 and included in all PCI lists since 2013. And under construction is a new northern interconnection of Portugal with Galicia which will add an extra 1,000 MW of exchange capacity. On the other hand, the trans-Pyrenean projects in Navarra and Aragon they are still blocked and with no date on the horizon to unclog them. Retail. Some technical curiosities of both cables: Apollo Link is the more ambitious of the two. It consists of an interconnection between Spain and northern Italy with a capacity of 2 GW planned to enter service in 2032. It would implement the most modern standard for long-distance underwater transmission for bidirectional control and minimize losses, bipolar HVDC technology with VSC converters. It would operate with the standard adopted by the European industry of 525 kV, facilitating interoperability. Its capacity allows it to supply several million homes. According to its promoters, it would generate more than 300 million euros annually in net social benefits. Iberia Link shares the same technology and operating voltage, but has a lower capacity: 1.2 GW. What distinguishes it is its length: 1,034 kilometers of submarine cable between southern Spain and northern Italy, which would make it one of the longest underwater electrical links in the world. It has no published entry into service date. Specifications of both cables. TYNDP map Yes, but. That they are included in the TYNDP 2026 is the prerequisite to qualify for the status of Project of Common Interest that opens the doors to community financing and an accelerated regulatory framework, but for the moment the situation of both is “under consideration”, which means that they are in the study phase and do not yet have European regulatory approval: they will have to pass the cost-benefit analyzes of the ENTSO-E to take the first step to materialize (we will know in the last quarter of 2026). And furthermore, they do not have the support of state operators, nor permits or approved layout because they are in preliminary phases. Likewise, the history of blocking similar projects invites caution. But even if they became a reality, these projects would only partially mitigate the electrical isolation of the peninsula: they are only 3.2GW of the 10-15GW of total interconnection necessary to truly influence the European market. In Xataka | The submarine cables belonged to the teleoperators, and now the big technology companies are controlling them In Xataka | The first great Atlantic submarine cable that connected us to the internet says goodbye for a simple reason: it was too expensive to repair it Cover | ENTSOE

Minimum prices on iPhone and Google Pixel, offers on TVs and more among the best deals from MediaMarkt and El Corte Inglés

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During the last weekend of March, some stores have launched a good assortment of offers that have stood out both for their number and for their quality. For this same reason, in this article we are going to review the best offers from MediaMarkt and El Corte Inglés in technology that will be available throughout the weekend. iPhone 16 by 699 eurosone of the best current gateways to the Apple ecosystem. Marshall Major V by 84.15 eurosBluetooth headphones that according to the brand offer an autonomy of more than 100 hours. Google Pixel 9a by 419 eurosthe lowest price that MediaMarkt has had on this mobile to date. Xiaomi A Pro 2026 by 389 eurosa television that incorporates a 65-inch QLED screen. ZTE Nubia Flip 2 by 455.92 eurosone of the most economical folding phones that we can find. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links iPhone 16 Although the iPhone 17 was launched almost half a year ago, it was now that the iPhone 16 has reached a new all-time low price. By 699 eurosthe Apple mobile continues to be a good purchase option, especially for those people who want to make the leap to the Apple ecosystemfor those looking for a compact 6.1-inch mobile or for those looking for a very well balanced mobile. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Marshall Major V More than 100 hours of use is what the brand promises with the Marshall Major Vheadphones that are on sale at El Corte Inglés for 84.15 euros. They maintain the brand’s striking retro design and the format of its previous generation, adding improvements in audio quality with dynamic drivers and a customizable button through the brand’s app. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Google Pixel 9a Similar to what we have seen with the iPhone 16, the Google Pixel 9a has dropped in price with a new historical low in MediaMarkt, specifically in the 256 GB internal storage version. By 419 euroswe are talking about a mobile phone that performs very well thanks to its Google Tensor G4 processor, it has an excellent brightness on the screen and a good photographic section. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Xiaomi A Pro 2026 If you were thinking of buying a good television ahead of the World Cup, be careful with what MediaMarkt has this weekend: a Xiaomi A Pro for alone 389 euros. And we say “only” because it comes with a 65-inch panel with QLED technology, as well as Google TV operating system, compatibility with HDR10+ and also with Dolby Audio. Xiaomi A Pro 2026 (65 inches) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links ZTE Nubia Flip 2 Folding mobile phones are expensive, sometimes very expensive, but there are exceptions that are usually found for much more competitive prices. We have the best example with the ZTE Nubia Flip 2a clamshell-type folding mobile with 6.9-inch foldable internal screen and 3-inch external screen. It does not stand out too much internally (its chip is the MediaTek Dimensity 7300X) and it comes with 6 GB of RAM, but for being foldable in El Corte Inglés it has a very reasonable price of 455.92 eurosalthough right now PcComponentes has it cheaper, for 419.99 euros. ZTE Nubia Flip 2 (256GB) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | MediaMarkt, El Corte Inglés and Compradicción (header), Apple, Marshall, Google, Xiaomi, ZTE In Xataka | The best mobile phones, we have tested them and here are their analyzes In Xataka | Best televisions in quality price. Which one to buy and seven recommended 4K smart TVs

Employment among those over 65 triples and reaches the maximum in the historical series. There is a good reason: retirement

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The labor market in Spain has recorded several notable milestones in recent months: record contributions, lowest unemployment rate in decades and recovery of youth employment. However, the last annualized EPA data They hide a story that goes beyond global figures. According to Annual average data for 2025 published this week by the INE, the employment rate among those over 65 has reached its historical maximum, and the reason is not that older Spaniards have discovered a sudden love for work. There is something structural behind it that deserves a closer look. An aging workforce. The aging of the population in Spain, and the changes in the pension system that were approved in the 2011 reform, are quietly but very significantly redrawing the Spanish labor map. What a decade ago seemed like a statistical anomaly has today become a consolidated trend with direct consequences on the future and viability of public pensions. The EPA data of the fourth quarter of 2025 indicate that at the end of the year there were 4,926,300 employed people over 55 years of age in Spain. This represents a growth of 23.3% in this age range since the 2022 labor reform, compared to the 11.3% average increase recorded by the rest of the ages. But the most striking thing is that the employment rate among those over 65 years of age has tripled compared to the levels of a decade ago, with 14.25% for men between 65 and 69 years old and 12.29% for women in the same age group, compared to the 5% that was registered in 2015. The employment rate for men between 60 and 64 years old is around 58% in 2025. highest since the early 1980s. All this used to be retirement. What largely explains this rebound in employment among the population over 65 years of age is not a greater demand for experienced workers, but rather the progressive delay in the legal retirement age. In 2026, the legal age for access ordinary retirement For those who have less than 38 years and 3 months of contributions it is 66 years and 10 months. This displacement forces many people to remain active beyond the age of 65 at which they could previously retire. Howeverthe report ‘Quarterly Labor Market Observatory‘ prepared by Fedea and BBVA Research confirms that the increase in senior membership is mainly due to the aging of the population and the delay of retirement agewhich often responds to the need to continue working due to financial difficulties. Staying in the job market at that age is not easy. However, although the data points to record percentages compared to historical figures, the reality is that their employment situation is not a bed of roses. a study of the BBVA and Ivie Foundation has revealed that those over 55 years of age register for the first time an unemployment rate of 9.8%, exceeding the unemployment rate of the group of people between 25 and 54 years of age. Furthermore, six out of ten unemployed of that age group They are long-term unemployed, a percentage that triples that of young people between 16 and 24 years old. The data depict a labor market in which workers over 55 years of age they lose their jobs a decade before their retirement age, and must survive throughout that time either with temporary employment, or in a situation of chronic unemployment due to lack of opportunities. At the other extreme, the employment rate of 14.2% shows those who have managed to stay afloat or get out of that hole. The pension system, the backdrop. Behind all these figures there is a reality that economists have been pointing out for years: the pension system needs people to work longer. to be sustainable. The reforms have been moving incentives in that direction, tightening the requirements for early retirement with greater pension reduction coefficientsand with a progressive increase in the necessary years of contributions. The result is what the data is already showing: there are more and more people who cannot retire at age 65 and must extend their working life until age 67 (effective in 2027) to access their retirement pension. In Xataka | What is the regulatory base: how it is calculated in 2026 with examples Image | Unsplash (Matt Bennett)

The countries with the highest number of billionaires among their population, brought together in a very revealing graph

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The great fortunes they are not distributed uniformly across the planet. A few countries concentrate the majority of the world’s billionaires, while others barely contribute names to that exclusive club. The geographical distribution of extreme wealth leaves us with a snapshot that gives clues about which countries or tax policies encourage capital accumulation and they are the perfect breeding ground for generating wealth. In 2025, the wealth gap between the average population and the great fortunes has skyrocketed, but it has also left evidence of this difference between countries. The comparative graph prepared by Visual Capitalist allows you to compare this distribution in a very visual and direct way. The graph is powered by data provided by the study’Billionaire Ambitions Report 2025‘ prepared by UBS and the consulting firm PwC, in which an annual record of the number of billionaires is maintained. That is, people with assets exceeding one billion dollars at the beginning of the year. A billionaire factory To no one’s surprise, the US dominates by a wide margin the world ranking of countries according to the number of billionaires. The country hosts 924 people with a net worth of over a billion dollars, a figure that practically doubles that of the second-ranked player. This concentration also translates into a increase in joint wealthsince the sum of the US fortunes reaches a total of about 6.9 trillion dollars. China is in second place with 470 billionaires among its population. However, despite accounting for almost 50% of the billionaires in the US, their combined wealth is much lower, being close to 1.8 trillion dollars. That is to say, we only have half as many millionaires as the US, their combined assets are almost four times less. Third place on the list of countries with the most billionaires is occupied by India with 188 people with assets exceeding one billion dollars. Again, the comparison between India and China reveals a asynchronous growth between the number of millionaires and their total assets, with a combined capital of 888,000 million dollars. That is, with one third of China’s millionaires, the sum of the assets of the Indian magnates It is half of its Chinese counterparts. This reveals that a good number of Chinese millionaires have managed to overcome the billion-dollar barrier, but the accumulation of wealth from these great fortunes is not as pronounced as in other countries such as the US or India. The European map of billionaires Europe presents a internal distribution marked by notable differences between countries. According to data from the UBS report, Germany tops the European list with 156 billionairesbeing the main country on the continent in this aspect. Their combined fortune amounts to 692 billion dollars, which places them in a position alienated from the proportions of the United States or India. Common names also appear in the list in the lists of countries with millionaire populations, What are the United Kingdom like?which occupies fifth place with 91 billionairesor Switzerland with 84 great fortunes. In the following ranks are countries like Italy, which with 61 billionaires occupies the eighth position in number of great fortunes. France is also among the countries with outstanding figures, although well below these three leaders as it occupies thirteenth position in the ranking. In these cases, the harsh sales crisis in the Chinese and Asian markets for luxury products have seriously affected the balance sheets of exclusive brands like LVMH or Ferrariwhose owners are located as standard bearers of those great fortunes. The distribution of fortunes makes it clear that, even within Europethe concentration of billionaires tends to cluster in industrialized economies or with fiscal policies very oriented to capital returns. Spain takes positions Spain is not among the European countries with more billionairesalthough it has experienced recent growth in that select group. According to UBS data for 2025, the total number of Spanish billionaires who exceed the billion-dollar threshold It is 32 people. This figure places Spain as the seventeenth country with the most billionaires behind countries such as Germany, the United Kingdom or Italy in the continental ranking. The total combined wealth of the Spanish billionaires reaches $213.1 billion (about 182,602 million euros) in 2025, with an increase of 21.5% compared to previous years. However, in the Spanish case, the concentration of assets is not uniform, there is one figure that monopolizes a good part of that total assets: Amancio Ortega. In Xataka | Seven of the ten largest fortunes in the world in 2026 are due to AI: this illustrative graph makes it very clear Image | Visual Capitalist

Claude Code is being the big favorite among programmers. So much so that he already signs 4% of everything that is uploaded to GitHub

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It is worth taking a look at how generative AI It is transforming the daily lives of many programmers. And little by little these tools are conquering the environments of millions of developers. The achievement in this aspect is for Claude CodeAnthropic tool, which already represents 4% of all public commits uploaded to GitHub, according to a report by SemiAnalysis. The media says that, if it maintains its current pace of adoption, it is very possible that it will reach 20% of all daily contributions before the end of 2026. Although there are nuances that should be highlighted. Why is it important. Claude Code is slowly gaining the reputation of being the favorite tool for programming with AI. The tool works radically differently than traditional code wizards. It is not a chatbot integrated into an editor like Cursorbut rather a terminal tool that reads entire code bases, schedules multi-step tasks, and executes them with full access to the developer’s computer. You can start from spreadsheets, entire repositories, or web links, understand context, verify details, and complete complex objectives iteratively. The interesting thing is that, by default, Claude Code includes a co-authorship note if the user has used this tool in their program and uploads it to Github. But the user can also decide not to include that signature if modify the parameters by Claude Code, so that 4% could remain small. In March of last year, a month after its launch in private beta, Claude Code already had the co-authorship of about 15,000 Github commits in a period of 48 hours. Things have ended up escalating quickly. Opinions. The newsletter stands out the comments of some industry professionals regarding the vibe codding. Andrej Karpathy, one of the first to coin the term vibe codding, recognized in a post that he is “starting to lose the ability to write code manually.” Ryan Dahl, creator of Node.js, counted directly that “the era of humans writing code is over.” Boris Cherny, creator of Claude Code, assures that “practically 100% of our code is written by Claude Code + Opus 4.5“. Even Linus Torvalds, creator of Linux, has fooled around with vibe codding for some of his personal projects. It should be noted that, despite all the benefits of Claude Code, it is not perfect. Already we pointed out some time ago the words of Kelsey PiperAmerican journalist for The Argument, who explained that 99% of the time using Claude Code is like having a magical, tireless genie, but 1% of the time it’s like yelling at a pet for peeing on the couch. He can and does make mistakes. It also gets stuck. Hence, the expertise of the person who uses it also plays a very important role. Beyond programming. There is an increasingly latent threat with the use of AI tools (well there are a few that accumulate already). And according to account SemiAnalysis, any information work that follows the READ-THINK-WRITE-CHECK pattern can be automated with this technology. The report mentions sectors such as financial services, legal, consulting and data analysis, which add up to billions of workers globally. Anthropic has already taken the next step with coworkreleased a few weeks ago, which is basically Claude Code applied to general office work. According to the company itself, Cowork was developed by four engineers in ten days, mostly with code generated by Claude Code himself. The tool can create spreadsheets from receipts, organize files by content, write reports from scattered notes… And all with access to your computer. The big consultancies and AI. In December, Accenture signed an agreement to train 30,000 professionals on Claude, the largest deployment of Claude Code to date. OpenAI, for its part, Frontier has launched focused on business adoption so as not to lose steam in the field of corporate use of AI, a business that can end up being very lucrative for startups. Cover image | Anthropic and Mohammad Rahmani In Xataka | Programming is the new board of AI. OpenAI and Anthropic have made it clear with GPT-5.3-Codex and Claude Opus 4.6

The most popular artist among Generation Z right now is AI

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That AI is going to be even in the soup is no longer a surprise: we saw it at CES 2026 and we confirm it more and more on the internet. Of course, music is no exception: Spotify has already had to use scissors to delete 75 million songs while already there are hits made in IA that triumph on legendary lists like Billboard. Three hours a week. While there are those who continue to debate whether or not to use artificial intelligence in art, life continues its course with a reality in the shape of a steamroller: agree with the “Audio Habits Survey” from Morgan Stanley prepared by Alphawise, in which for the first time they have included among their questions about music in AI, young people listen to music generated by artificial intelligence three hours a week. Why is it important. Because while there are artists associating on the one hand and on the other hand platforms acting against content generated with artificial intelligence, the fact that the younger audience is not only not reluctant but also feels comfortable with this type of audio gives food for thought. It may be that while media companies are debating whether to adopt or resist, the potential audience is making the decision for them. If you can’t beat the enemy… In fact, that is the invitation of the team led by analyst Benjamin Swinburne in his conclusions: “We believe AI will be a key driver for Spotify in 2026 and beyond. Specifically, we expect AI to be critical to Spotify’s efforts toward personalization 2.0.” They have also remembered the Warner Music Group record company, which recently partnered with Suno to monetize music made in AI: “The rise of AI music will increase the value of scarce catalog resources, while potentially generating new competition for top-of-the-line content.” In figures. According to the aforementioned survey carried out in the United States, on average 36% of the people interviewed listen to music made by AI for an average of 1.7 hours on average. But if there is an age segment that listens and accepts this reality more, it is between 18 and 29 years old, with 60% and three hours. Millennials follow, with 55% of people surveyed and 2.5 hours on average. In generation The generational division of those who listen to music made in AI. Via: Sherwood News In detail. The small print of the survey is that the most common sources from which this music generated with artificial intelligence comes are TikTok and YouTube. The first of them, the entertainment app par excellence of generation Z and the very young Alpha. However, the policies of different platforms regarding AI vary: TikTok encourages the use of AI as a creative tool although it is strict when it comes to labeling it, it also YouTube sees AI as an ally creative with the corresponding labeling and only allows monetization if there is added human value. Spotify, on the other hand, prioritizes the quality and protection of real catalogs and although it allows AI, it has declared war on music spam that it considers to be of low quality. In Xataka | The first chorus decides everything: streaming is making today’s songs much simpler In Xataka | Gen Z has become so disengaged from addiction that it is holding daytime raves with coffee and sound healing. Cover | Photo of Vitaly Gariev in Unsplash

What they are and how to use them to put order among the members of a group

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Let’s explain to you what it is and how to use it Member Tagsa new WhatsApp feature for groups that has been rolling out over the last month. It is something that can serve both as entertainment within a group of friends and for the organization of more serious groups. We are going to start the article by explaining what exactly this new function is, as well as its possibilities. And then we will guide you step by step how you can create yours in any of your groups. What are member tags Member tags is a feature for WhatsApp groups. With them, any of the members of a name can add a label or nickname, and What you type will appear under your name when you write in one of these groups. The label will be visible to all group members, and will appear every time you type. Just as the name you appear under will depend on how each person has added you to their contacts, The label you put will be the same for everyoneand all members of a group will see the same thing. This means that the labels can be used to give context of who is who in those groups where you do not have the members in their contacts. When you don’t have someone in contacts, within a group you will only see their number or a kind of nickname that the person has set up, and the label can serve to better identify who each person is. You can change your label whenever you want and as many times as you want. Therefore, if you are not satisfied or if you have gotten bored with one you have placed, you can change it as many times as you want. And finally, The label you put on yourself in a group is only for that group.and it will not be seen in others where you participate. In fact, you can give yourself a different label in each group you are in. What can you use these labels for? Labels can be used for different things depending on the context of each group. In groups that are more serious, these can serve to identify each person that is inside. For example, in a group of parents of students each person can say who they are the father or mother of. In a more professional setting, member tags can be used to clarify the roles of each of the members. Think that you are in a group related to your work, because with them the human resources person or the boss can identify themselves so that everyone recognizes them. And in groups of friends, labels can also serve as entertainmentso that each member can give themselves a nickname, something descriptive or simply an inside joke. How to set your label in a WhatsApp group To configure your personal tag in a group, the first thing is Click on the image or group name to enter your settings. The easiest thing is to click on the image, since it is easier to hit it with your finger. Once you are in the group settings, you have to go to the members list and click on your name. The list of members will appear almost at the bottom. In the list you will also see the tags of the other members so that you can identify them as well. If you have never configured your tag in a group, you will directly go to the screen where you can write the one you want to use. And if you already have a label, an intermediate screen will appear with your name, telephone number and label, and you will have to press where it says Edit member tag. When you enter the screen to add or edit your tag, a writing field will appear where you can put the word or phrase you want. Below you’ll see a preview that shows you how the label will appear in messages you write. And that’s it. From now on, when you write in a group, all members will be able to see your tag below your name or phone number. You can also always see other people’s tags every time they write something. In Xataka Basics | How to translate WhatsApp messages: converting them from any language to Spanish

The fashion among Spanish operators is the ERE. Meanwhile, Digi is hiring more than anyone else

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DIGI’s ambition has not been enough to become one of the three largest operators in the country. It also wants to be one of the main job refuges in the national telecom sector. In a context of uncertainty and restructuring, the Romanian operator is close to tripling its workforce while the rest adjust their workforce. Closing 2025. Digi closed last year with 10,200 direct employees in Spain. Data that is better understood if we put it in context. Against the current. While the telecommunications industry shrinks its workforce, destroying more than 14,000 jobs together, Digi does just the opposite: grow in customers and employment. One of the pillars that cements this stage of growth for the company is its first national agreement, signed last November. In it, the conditions of its employees are homogenized and progressive salary increases linked to performance are proposed. what’s happening. Digi’s strategy collides head-on with a classic among large telecos: outsourcing. The Romanian operator has opted for an internalization strategy: While the three large operators in the country have been focused for years on increasing income per customer, Digi is doing just the opposite: taking away customer volume, sacrificing profitability per user. No changes in the short term. Digi’s strategy seems clear: volume over margin and commitment to not outsourcing its services. The plan to become the third operator nationwide continues from strength to strength: In 2022 it managed to take over 60% of portability in Spain. It is currently the fourth national operator, behind Vodafone. While the rest raises prices, Digi maintains them or adjusts them even more. It is on track to become the third largest operator in fiber lines if it maintains its growth in 2026. The big question. Whether or not Telefónica will end up taking over Digi is the big question. The Spanish giant neither confirms nor rules out future purchases and mergers in its growth plan until 2030. For the moment, Digi is an ally: the Romanian operator uses Movistar coverage and infrastructure and will continue to do so for at least 16 years. Image | Digi In Xataka | All teleoperators plan to raise prices in Spain from 2026. All? No: DIGI still resists

MG, Omoda and BYD close a spectacular 2025 and are among the best sellers

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It was the last days of March 2023 when we traveled to the north of Madrid to attend the BYD launch. “Europe has had its eyes closed for a long time”they told us from the company. That felt like the arrival of the first Chinese brand to our country, the one that came to confront Tesla in the electric car. At that time, MG was already selling thousands of units in our country and there were minority alternatives but the arrival of a manufacturer that was approaching two million cars sold It was already more serious. Months later Chery would arrivewith Omoda and Jaecoo, but also Ebrounder the arm. Along the way, other minority brands such as Lynk&Co or Xpeng have also been bringing new models to the market. But the bulk of Chinese sales and impact in our country is concentrated in the three companies we have listed. MG is completely established in our country, BYD has completed its second full year (with a change of direction included) and Omoda, Jaecoo and Ebro have now established their offer. And the result has been very good for them. More models and more sales If the year of Chinese brands in Spain has been characterized by something, it is because have put more points of sale on the streetmore cars in those points of sale and, above all, more cars in the garages of your potential customers. At the end of 2025, in Spain the main Chinese brands have obtained the following results: MG: 45,163 units (growth of 46.78%) BYD: 25,556 units (growth of 373.87%) Omoda: 13,963 units (growth of 79.33%) Jaecoo: 9,728 units (growth of 785.17%) Ebro: 12,459 units (growth of 44396.43%, they only had one car available at the end of 2024) Are very striking data due to several factors: MG sold more cars in Spain than Citroën (34,286 units), with which it competes on price. And it sold more cars than classics like Ford (29,065 units), Nissan (34,711 units), Opel (26,549) or Skoda (42,387 units). BYD only sells plug-in hybrid and electric cars so its potential customer market is much smaller Omoda, Jaecoo and Ebro are three brands of the Chery Group but each of them competes with three or four cars that, in addition, can be stepped on in price but not in positioning. If the sales of the Chery Group are added, they exceed 35,000 units. Brand by brand If we focus on the approach of each of these companies, we must take into account that MG already has a wide range of vehicles but is managing to attract customers in one of the most complicated markets: that of the cheapest cars on the market. Almost half of the sales of the best positioned one are accumulated by the MG ZS, one of the most affordable options on the market that for just over 20,000 euros delivers the ECO sticker so sought after in a Spain with growing low-emission zones. This has been the first year with its hybrid version working at full capacity and that has been noticed. The same has happened with the MG3which accumulates more than 9,000 units and is its second best-selling car. He good result The MG ZS among hybrids can be seen on the list of best sellers. And, of the non-plug-in hybrids, the Chinese SUV is in seventh position, surpassed by a Peugeot 2008 that has accumulated just five more registrations and in a field where Toyota clearly dominates (three of the four best-selling cars in this segment are its). MG’s third big best-seller is a good example of where the strength of Chinese brands lies. The MG EHS is a plug-in hybrid that, again, conquers by price. It has managed to become the second best-selling plug-in hybrid of the year, surpassing a Toyota C-HR that could be the great favorite. But no one is offering as much size and equipment at a lower price among plug-ins than the Chinese brands. That’s why the BYD Seal U has been the best-selling plug-in hybrid. As we said in our testcosts the same as the Toyota C-HR powered by this technology but for a family it can be much more interesting. The BYD SUV is not the only Chinese one that sneaks into the plug-in hybrid. The Jaecoo 7 also has its market share, a model that has also focused on offering extensive equipment at a reasonable price, which has allowed it to position itself as the sixth best-selling vehicle of this type in our country. The appearance of all of them and the Omoda 9 and the Ebro S700 among the best sellers of December, it gives us a preview of 2026 where everything indicates that The plug-in hybrid is the other great asset of Chinese models for next year (after the entry range). In that low range, the Chery group has already begun to make room for itself with the Omoda 5 but hopes to hit the table with its hybrid version. The car not only has an ECO label, The SHS-H version is a hybrid with all the letters and a particular touch. Attractive price, a design that is being liked and extensive equipment are its great assets for next year. And if we look at BYD, the result can also be underlined as excellent. Surviving with electric cars exclusively was becoming difficult to grow quickly and they have put all their efforts into action. They tested the BYD Seal U DM-i and found that they have a gap among plug-in hybrids. Maybe your Signal 6 DM-ias a family sedan, has it more complicated but the BYD Atto 2 DM-i It is priced to be the most attractive option on the market right now. Despite everything, the company is the first of the mortals after Tesla. Elon Musk’s people continue to dominate the electric market in our country with an iron fist, where the autonomy/price ratio continues to outweigh the rest of the values. Of course, the … Read more

OpenAI, Google and Anthropic fight among themselves. Samsung fights everyone else elsewhere

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Samsung has presented at the CES 2026 its “AI philosophy,” a grandiloquent concept that sums up its strategy: using its 430 million SmartThings users as moat (or ‘defensive moat’) against the invasion of AI in homes. Why is it important. OpenAI, Google and company remain focused on announcing the most powerful model. There is little to do against them on that side if you haven’t been doing it for years, so Samsung is playing something else that is not about winning the algorithm war, but about controlling where those algorithms live. SmartThings is not just an app. It is a platform Matter compatible that connects hundreds of millions of devices already in homes around the world. That means Samsung can add AI to products people already use, without asking them to buy anything new or change their habits. Others have to convince you to put a smart speaker in the kitchen. Samsung already has your refrigerator, your television, your washing machine and your vacuum cleaner. And everyone talks to each other. Between the lines. Samsung’s “AI philosophy” seems, above all, a response to Amazon with its Alexa+. Both proposals have things in common: they understand that if AI models tend to commoditize (to be technically equal until they are not easily distinguishable), the value is in who has the speaker in your kitchen, the TV in your living room and the refrigerator that knows what you eat. Samsung has been building that ecosystem for years and now it is activating it for something else. Implementation makes the difference: Family Hubwith AI and Gemini vision, recognizes what you put in and out of the refrigerator, suggests recipes and connects with other appliances. It’s real tracking so that when you ask yourself “what can I make for snack-dinner?”, the system suggests recipes based on what you have, not on an inventory you made by hand three weeks ago. Vision AI Companion It recognizes what you’re watching on TV and suggests recipes if food appears on the screen. Then send that recipe to the Family Hub in your refrigerator, which checks what ingredients you have and tells you what you’re missing. If you decide to cook it, send the instructions to the oven so that it is preheated to the exact temperature. AI Soccer Mode Pro Automatically adjusts image and sound when it detects that you are watching football. You can turn up the audience volume, turn down the commentators, or balance both. It’s AI applied to something as specific as “I want to enhance the field atmosphere” or “I want to prioritize the narrator’s voice.” It is perhaps not as attractive an approach as the war of chatbots that are increasingly capable of more, but maybe (just maybe) it will end up being more profitable. And something else: SmartThings as a Matter-compatible standard. That expands the potential ecosystem far beyond Samsung’s own products. Yes, but. There are two weak points in that strategy: Samsung depends on third-party models. Gemini is your main partner, also for the home, for the smart component. If the models run out commoditizingwe will have to compete on price. And in the price war there always appears a Chinese manufacturer willing to go lower. privacy. An ecosystem that knows what you eat, what you see, when you sleep or how you move is also an ecosystem that can monetize that data. The last threat It’s called Dreame. and there is a red flag On that second point: Samsung has announced an agreement with the insurer HSB to give discounts on home insurance in exchange for connecting home appliances to SmartThings. That is, saving some money in exchange for handing over your behavioral data. As what we already saw with health insurance and wearables. It’s a double-edged sword: if your behavior reduces your premium, it can also increase it. Or directly invalidate coverage. The bet. If it works, Apple will speed up with Home (previously HomeKit), Google will push with its Nest and Amazon will double down with Alexa+ and Ring. The battle is no longer for the best language model. It’s because more devices in more homes capturing more data. Samsung has been losing ground in mobile phones for years fruit of Apple’s clamp in premium and Chinese manufacturers in price. Also against LG in some appliances not to mention Chinese baking for the home. But in the sum of connected devices per home, it does not have so many rivals. That is its trump card: converting the fragmentation of its catalog into the advantage of its ecosystem. The question is whether consumers will give up control of their home in exchange for convenience. The answer determines whether Samsung ends up being the silent winner of the AI ​​era or simply the maker of gadgets that run other people’s intelligence. In Xataka | I would never have imagined answering a call from the washing machine. Until I tried the latest from Samsung Featured image | Screens even in washing machines and appliances that talk to each other: this is how Samsung imagines the future of the connected home

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