Andalusia

While Andalusia and Extremadura fight against floods, the water system prepares for the next drought

by

The rains of the last days They have put end to the pertinaz drought that still affected some Spanish basins. However, water so longed for in some areas has also flooded some areas of the country, especially in the south and west of the peninsula. Flooded areas. Numerous areas of the country have dawned under the threat of floods. The rainfall associated with Borrasca Laurence has made Cut roads and evict homes Faced with the risk of floods In Andalusia and Estremadura. Part of Murcia is now under orange warning decreed by the State Meteorology Agency (Aemet). It rains a lot. A determining factor in which we have reached this situation has been the persistence of these rains. Not only has it rained much, The three successive fronts that Laurence has brought the peninsula have put pressure on the water systems of the southwest, forcing water at various points. As if this were not enough, on the Atlantic Horizon A new storm appears: Martinho. This new storm is expected to reach the Peninsula tomorrow Wednesday. Not just rain. The risk of floods has also been exacerbated by spring thaw. In this sense, Aemet has also issued Several notices yellow by thaw in areas of the central system. To what extent the situation is “normal”. We are in spring, rainfall is not something anomalous on these dates, but Aemet’s forecasts For the remainder of the month of March they are clear: the next few days are also expected wetter than usual in much of the country (except for the Cantabrian mountain range and the island communities), and especially in the southwest quadrant. End of drought? We were therefore before the end of an important drought that affected practically the entire country between 2023 and 2024. A drought that still kept some basins such as the Catalans or those of the south, despite the intense rain episodes seen in the second half of 2024. Now, we see that the reservoirs have been maintained almost constantly with filling levels above average of the last 10 years during what we have been in 2025, and this month of rainfall seems aimed at accentuating this increase (compensating A drier February than usual). Everything seems to indicate that the drought situation has been reversed. The problem is now to prepare for the next. A paradox. This leads us to a paradoxical situation and is duty Plan a drought While we disembark water to avoid risks derived from the intense rainfall we are seeing these days (and that we will continue to see during the coming ones). On the one hand, because the increase in oceanic and atmospheric temperatures facilitate the accumulation of water in the atmosphere. More loaded clouds involve an increase in the risk of intense rainfall and with it the risk of flooding. On the other hand, the drought that we live seems to be more than one of the consequences of A aridification process which affects many areas of Spain. This process implies a trend that will make the most recurring droughts. In Xataka | With the reservoirs to be overflowed with the rains of March, there is a reason for hope on the horizon: the light of the light Image | ECMWF

This is how Andalusia is becoming a strategic mining hub

by

If you wonder how your mobile is done and what elements are used for it, I can tell you that they use a common mineral with the computer screen, solar panels and even magnets. This element is making the province of Granada a strategic hub of Strontium. Short. Granada is charging a very large prominence in the mining sector of essential minerals for Europe. As The Granada medium has advanced Idealin the province, Celestina deposits (strontium sulfate) and fluorite have been found. In fact, the Andalusian province has covered 35% of the world production of strontium. The extraction. Both necessary elements in the world of technology, chemistry and renewable energies are found in different mines. On the one hand, Celestina is obtained through two active mines: the listen mine, operated by the German multinational Kandelium mineralsand the Montevive mine, at the intersection of the Gabias, Alhendín and La Malahá, exploited by CANTERAS INDUSTRIALES SL. On the other hand, the fluorite is extracted in the Alpujarra Granada, in the Minera de Órgiva SL. Without impact. The approach to perform the extractions are being made of a sustainable mining approach, especially in the Montevive mine. In this type of deposits the dumps are used and no blasting is used. In addition, the Government of Spain has announced Plans to finance the search for strategic minerals with 400 million euros of the recovery, transformation and resilience plan, also supporting sustainable mining. More in depth. Sustainable mining It consists of balance the protection of the environment and the well -being of local communities. In Spain, projects such as Granada and other regions are adopting the use of the aforementioned dumps, that is, the reuse of excess material in mining extraction. Also, the reduction of explosive use and Implementation of technologies that minimize the environmental impact. The only one in Spain? And the only one in Europe that Celestina obtains. However, Andalusia concentrates about 90% of national metal mining production, highlighting the extraction of metals such as copper, zinc and lead. However, this is not like that, because in the rest of Spain other important minerals such as rare lands are also extracted, we have already seen the different cases of Ciudad Real either Estremaduraalthough there are many more. Also, Rubidio and Lithium In the province of Salamanca. Or the case of the Spanish potassa, which He has resurfaced Spanish mining. Finally, although still paralyzed, Underwater mining of the Canary Islands. Together, Spain is a country with a great mining capacity in this new technological era. Forecasts. Granada has aspirations to become a strategic point for Europe. The revaluation of resources in a context of global energy transition and Geopolitical conflicts They make the Andalusian province thanks to copper, strontium and fluorite. Image | Pexels Xataka | Spain, with a treasure under his feet: how his mining potential makes him a key pawn from the EU in front of China

If the question is when the rain is going to end, Aemet has bad news. Especially for Andalusia

by

It has been raining in Andalusia since February 28. That is to say, As they said from Storm Málagathat is “15 consecutive days registering precipitation at some point.” But the thing does not end there, because it looks like this streak “could be extended for at least 8 more days.” What is happening in Andalusia? What is happening in Spain this March? The great Atlantic game. In recent days, Aemet Special fact emphasis In what we have been repeating for days: that a “anticyclone, displaced to northern Europe and another to the south of the Azores, (created) a wide corridor that allows the entrance of Atlantic storms from west to this.” On the one hand, the anticyclone to the north facilitates the circulation of these storms to low latitudes; On the other, the South Anticyclone facilitates the transport of humid and warm air from the Caribbean. Actually, it is nothing mysterious. In fact, it is A phenomenon relatively common that usually gives us great joys. What is happening now is that the pieces have conceded perfectly: the storms are powerful, they are well directed and the hall is lasting a more than considerable time. So much time that many farmers have already activated panic protocols. As we said a few days ago, “too much water suddenly creates problems.” The best example is Huelva: Strawberry crops can begin to rot (or infect with fungi) in full campaign. Yes, they are small problems if we compare them with the years of drought that we have been dragging, but They are problems after all. Problems that point out that, as usual, We do not have the necessary infrastructure nor well thought out plans. And what can we expect in the next few days? On paper and although it will continue raining in some areas of the country, the time time will give us a small truce. However, As Marta Almarcha points outthe latest updates suggest that new storms will arrive. The same Monday, without going any further, a new one will enter the southwest. And so again and again until at least next Friday (which is when). What we know from Monday. I would not want to close the subject without commenting what we know about the Borrasca on Monday; of Laurencethe twelfth storm of high impact of the season. Above all, because (in the Atlantic aspect) the rains can become very intense. In points of Huelva, Cádiz and the central system more than 100 l/m² can be collected in 24 hours. Again. We also have to keep in mind that all this water must be added a problem: the thaw. The subsidiary fronts of Konrad have left (or leave) enough snow in low levels. The rain will help melt that snow and that will be a “more problem” In the river flow. Image | ECMWF | Sami Ullah In Xataka | Aemet special notices are just the beginning: everything points to an extremely rainy March in Spain

In a corner of Andalusia the reservoirs are at 94% of their capacity. It seems excellent news, but it is not so much

by

Until a few months ago, drought was a problem that affected almost the entire country, even to the greatest northern areas that saw an important reduction in rainfall and even the introduction of temporary water savings measures. Now the situation has changed, although the threat is still in force in some areas of the country, especially along the Mediterranean coast. Odiel, red and stones, the exception. However, if we look at one of the maps that show us the Situation of Basin Reservoirs Hydrographic, perhaps otherwise what caught our attention. Surrounded by the great hydrographic basins of Guadiana and Guadalquivir, the Odiel basin, red and stones seems to show us a humid anomaly in the south of the Peninsula. The swamps of the basin are, according to the Last data availableat 94.3% of its capacity. This makes it the second largest hydrographic basin, behind the Internal Basins of the Basque Country (95.2%) and ahead of basins such as Galicia coast (87.6%) and the Eastern Cantabrian (83.6%). A figure that contrasts in a striking way with the state of the reservoirs in the hydrographic basins of its surroundings: 48.4% in the Pantans of the Guadiana, 40.5% in those of the Guadalquivir, and 30.5% in Guadalete-Barbate. What happens in this little basin for? Statistical issue? The first thing we can consider is statistics. The Hydrographic Basin of Los Ríos Odiel, Tinto and Piedras is a small basin, both in extension and capacity: the swamps of this Huelva basin can store a maximum of 229 cubic hectometers (HM³). Surrounded by greater extension demarcations, such as those of the Guadiana and the Guadalquivir, the most similar basin in extension in the south would be that of the Guadalete-Barbate. However, the Cadiz basin has A capacity of 1,651 hm³. This fact could justify the anomaly due to pure statistics: less capacity would imply greater ease for filling and emptying, more variability and with it more likely that at some time of time extreme values ​​are achieved. The problem is that the reservoirs of this area have been maintained rather persistent as the most full of the south. Rainfall. One of the reasons why the Odiel, Tinto and Piedras Rivers Basin attracts attention is due to the general contrast with the southern basins of the Peninsula, which in turn is associated with the fact that the South receives less rainfall than the north. Although that is true if we compare the north third with the rest of the country, the truth is that the image It is more complexand Andalusia is a good example of this. In Andalusia it exists A marked difference in rainfall between The Eastern Zone and the rest of the Autonomous Community, especially in the West. The province of Huelva is usually among those that receive the most water, being the north of the province one of the regions that record the most rainfall. To that we must add that 2024 was A slightly more wet year than the average in almost the entire province of Huelva. The beginning of 2025 has exacerbated this trend, with almost the entire province receiving more than double water than average During the month of January. The “dead” reservoir. The reservoirs of the Odiel basin, red and stones receive a lot of water, yes, but also others in Western Andalusia. To explain the phenomenon of this basin, perhaps we also have to attend to emptying. And here we find another determining factor: the reservoirs of this basin do not empty the same ease. The reason is pollution. This basin has a peculiarity, that of reservoirs useless for the contamination of its waters. To illustrate it, the El Sancho reservoir, The “Dead Reservoir” of the Odiel Basin. The waters of this reservoir are extremely acidic, with a pH value close to 3.6, to which high concentrations of toxic metals must be added, as explained In an article for The conversation Manuel Olías and José Miguel Nieto, both experts from the University of Huelva. The reservoir is in a situation of Perennial filling at 82.76%contributing 48 hm³ of waters to the accounts of the reservoirs of a basin that add up to a capacity, remember, of 216 hm³. The problem Nor is it exclusive of the El Sancho reservoir. Complementary explanations. None of the three explanations (size, rainfall and pollution) explains in itself the state of the reservoirs in this basin, but as a whole they can explain the anomaly of this basin and the associated problem. In Xataka | We have been trying to understand why droughts are more destructive than ever. We start having some idea Image | Miteco / Rodelar

Vodafone displays the largest public Wi -Fi network in Spain connecting all Andalusia. Even the Alhambra

by

Vodafone and the Junta de Andalucía have announced in the MWC 2025 – and among mutual praise – the implementation of the largest public Wi -Fi network in Spain, connecting 3,100 administrative venues in 700 Andalusian municipalities. The Vuela Plan offers free Internet access for 8 million citizens and public employees through an infrastructure that has required 27,000 access points and 800 km wiring. Why it is important. The network guarantees universal Internet access throughout Andalusia, in view of “overcoming the digital divide” and modernizing public administration. The infrastructure allows any Andalusian to connect to the Internet for free to any of the administrative venues, from small municipalities to hospitals, through historical buildings such as The Alhambrawhere the installation works were extended for almost a year to respect their patrimonial value, according to the announcement of the Teleco. In figures. The project has meant a massive technological deployment that we do not remember precedents in the Spanish public administration. 27,000 Wi -Fi access points. 4,500 concentrators installed. 800 kilometers of wiring. 700 connected municipalities. 82 Coordinated organizations in the deployment. In detail. The plan flies, announced by Antonio SanzDirector of the Presidency, Interior, Social Dialogue and Administrative Simplification of the Junta de Andalucía, Structure connectivity in three different networks that fulfill specific functions according to the type of user. The Vuela network offers public access with safe authentication for citizens. The corporate network connects public employees in the 5,500 headquarters allowing mobility between buildings. The third is dedicated to IoT devices to manage sensors, hospital equipment and asset location. During the presentation, the counselor has talked about increasing the utility for the citizen and “being more agile”, coming to talk about the ability to attract Digital nomads. “No one is left behind.” Between bambalins. The deployment has had to overcome several technical and logistics challenges to respect the characteristics of each space. It has been necessary to adapt the installation to hospitals with strict protocols, remote municipalities or protected historical buildings. The network has a dedicated core that guarantees professional benefits, similar to those of any commercial operator. And now what? The network solves the poor connectivity that affected many administrative buildings, as stated during the presentation, and responds to the demand for a Wi -Fi network. Now citizens will have internet in health centers, libraries and public offices where there was not before. O It was limited to the cable for employees. Outstanding image | Xataka In Xataka | European telecos in front of their existential battle: “If our hands unleashed, we will score goals”

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

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

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

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