average

a polar Spain in the middle of a world above average

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The climatological autumn has its days numbered and is going to say goodbye in style. After a little rain and mild temperatures, the cold returns to our latitudes. And he is going to do it with force. However, that is not the worrying thing. The worrying thing is what comes next: that in the rain department, we are going to lose a good part of December. “Three days of pure cold.” That’s the summary of the rest of the week. And so says Roberto Granda, one of our greatest temperature experts. As explainedthe cold has already been noticeable in Tuesday’s lows. We have seen “drops of up to 4 and 6 degrees across the board.” Wednesday will be the coldest day of this episode with widespread frost and much of the interior of the country below 10 degrees. However, the coldest night will be Thursday and the minimum temperatures will be below five degrees in most of the peninsular territory. And after? Then we will have a reminder that we are still in autumn. One of those seasons in which the atmosphere casts lots for what is going to happen just before it happens. In this case, despite there being many scenarios on the table, the most likely is that at the end of the week a ridge will settle over Spain to collapse almost immediately, allowing a trough from the north to approach our positions. That would mean more rain: not a lot, but it’s something. Above all, because they may be the last for a long time. The European model has changed its forecast and everything seems to indicate that A NAO+ will be imposed during the first week of December. NAO positive? In general terms, the North Atlantic Oscillation It is the ‘dance’ between the Azores anticyclone and the Icelandic low, the two major atmospheric phenomena that govern the meteorology of the North Atlantic. When the index we use for “measure who is winning” is negative, the Azores anticyclone is weaker than normal and, for this reason, it cannot block the deep Atlantic storms. The direct consequence is that they circulate further south than usual: right at our latitude. yes how everything seems to indicate the NAO becomes positivenot a drop of moisture will enter from the west. The storms will move towards high latitudes (near Iceland and the Nordic countries) and, although stability will not be absolute, the situation will be very dry. Good news for tourism, I guess. Because as explains Samuel Biener“a predominant flow from the west or southwest, the temperatures could be between 1 and 3 ºC above the average in the center, northern third and on the shores of the Mediterranean” during the December long weekend. We do not have any quantification of what will happen in the south and in the Canary Islands, but we can get an idea. Image | TropicalTridBits In Xataka | The last hope of winter in Spain is desperate, but increasingly possible: the breaking of the polar vortex

Young people have become more spiritual than the average in Spain. The problem for the Church is that no more Catholics

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Religion is the great terrain of certainties, but if what we are talking about is religion and youth ‘certainty’ is precisely what is in short supply. With the country talking about Rosalía dressed as a nun and the resurgence of the Catholicism among Generation Z, a new study prepared by a foundation linked to the State provides an alternative perspective: indeed, young Spaniards are more spiritual than the country average, but no more Catholics. In fact, the percentage of those who define themselves as such is much lower than the average for society as a whole. More religious, perhaps; but… The religion that Rome is looking for? What has happened? that the Pluralism and Coexistence Foundationan organization linked to the Ministry of the Presidency, has prepared a study on religion that leaves a few interesting conclusions. The main one (perhaps) is the one that suggests that to talk about religiosity and youth we increasingly need to resort more to nuances and less to pure colors. From black and white, we move to gray. At the moment the foundation has not published the full report, prepared after conducting 4,712 online interviews, but we can get an idea of ​​its content thanks to a progress published exclusively this weekend by The Country. What does the study say? To understand it, it is good to review a few figures. The first, the percentage of Spaniards who define themselves as religious believers. If we talk about the general population, this figure stands at 49%. In 46%, if we focus only on the Catholic faith. Things change when we examine the population by age and look especially at the youngest cohorts. Between 25 and 34 years old, only 31% of the population declares themselves Catholic and in the 18 to 24 year old segment the figure is even lower, 29%. What’s more, in the younger sector the mark of atheism, agnosticism or indifference towards religion stands out. Also the few people who pray or attend religious services. Do young people believe less? Depends. In fact, that is where the nuances that complicate the photo begin. The study shows that the percentage of young people aged 18 to 24 who define themselves as Catholic is lower than that of the population as a whole (29% compared to 46%), but that does not mean that they have turned their backs on religiosity. On the contrary. The report suggests that they have a strong spiritual streak, although one that is likely to raise eyebrows at Spanish Episcopal Confederation (CEE) or to any defender of traditional Catholic dogma. Why is that? Perhaps they are the least frequently defined as Catholic, but according to the information advanced by The Country Young people are the ones who most believe in the existence of “some kind of spiritual reality or life force.” Those between 18 and 24 years old are in fact the age group most convinced of the existence of a soul (59%), the one who most believes in life after death (40%), astrology (29%), clairvoyance (23%) or the “energies” that operate in our world (45%). Young people are also those who show the most interest in tarots (23%). They do it so much that their percentage exceeds that of young people who read the Bible. Spain, a religious country? Tapping the religiosity of a country is not an easy task. Not at least in Spain. A Google search arrives to find different studies that emphasize one detail or another. The study of the Pluralism and Coexistence Foundation (FPC) contrasts in fact with another published a few months ago by the CIS, which pointed out that the percentage of Spaniards who declare themselves Catholic around 52.8% (17.3% practicing and 35.5% non-practicing). Within the survey itself advanced by The Country There are apparent contradictions, such as that in Spain there are fewer monotheists (37%) than Catholics (46%). Does context matter? A lot. The study is interesting for what it says, but also for when it says it. It comes in the midst of a debate on the resurgence of faith among Generation Z and “green shoots” of religiosity, with Rosalía (and other artists) throwing winks at Catholicism, Hakuna moving crowds and the Church boasting of gathering together more than 20,000 young people at the Jubilee in Rome. And the truth is that there are signs that speak of change. Although if we analyze the data from recent decades we can see a secularization of Spanish society, in recent years the percentage of young people who declare themselves practicing Catholics has grown several points. In the 18 to 24 year old cohort, the proportion of believers who acknowledge never or almost never attending religious services, even has gone down. There are those who warn, however, that behind these figures there could be a “paradox”: “There are fewer people who believe, but among those who believe, more explicit forms of practices increase.” reflect Víctor Albert-Blanco, sociologist. Other authors even believe that winks like Rosalía’s are the result of the “deregulation of religious symbology” in a more secularized country. Does the study say anything else? Yes. And its conclusions are unflattering for those who want a return to Catholicism. For its report, the FPC asked those interviewed “what gives a lot or a lot of meaning to your life?”, focusing on eight different aspects. The most popular response was family (90%), followed by friendships (79%), personal growth (78%) and nature (71%). At the opposite end of the list is “religion or spirituality”, with only 31%. In fact, the percentage is lower than that of those who pointed out pets (47%) or social activism (36%). The picture is (even) clearer if we talk about the youngest population cohort, those between 18 and 24 years old. In that case, only 15% point to religion as a source of inspiration, almost four times less than those who claim that pets are what give meaning to their lives. Images | Vick Bufano (Unsplash) and British Province of Carmelites … Read more

“Salaries above the sector average”

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A few days ago, Juan Roig, founder of Mercadona, took the floor before 1,500 businessmen from the mass consumption sector (AECOC) to claim the pride of making money leading a company, but also championing a message that has surprised many: the defense of employee well-being. “You need the worker to feel well treated as a human being, and well treated,” he said. Beyond the discursive epic of the moment, Mercadona supports the words of its founder with data: “We offer salaries above the sector average,” they assure in a corporate statement. That can be your best business strategy in the long term. Juan Roig: Richard Branson in the Spanish way. The millionaire founder of Virgin published in your X profile a memorable phrase: “Take care of your employees and they will take care of your business.” That is, in essence, the message that Juan Roig gave to the businessmen who gathered in his presentation within the framework of the 40th AECOC Congress in Valencia that was held in the new stadium that bears his name. “You can buy the hands, the heart and brain you need for the worker to feel well treated as a human being. And well treated is not doing what the worker wants, but what the worker needs,” said the businessman who claimed to be very proud of his staff. Well-being starts with your pocket: your salary. According to Roig in his presentation, “a Mercadona manager A earns 2,100 euros net per month,” the data provided by Mercadona they confirm it and they place their employees among the best paid in the large supermarket segment. According what was published by News Worka manager A (the largest category in Mercadona’s workforce) earns: Full time (40 hours/week) GROSS monthly salary (approx.) NET Salary (estimated) Manager A (less than 1 year) 1,686 euros/month 1,470 euros/month Manager A (less than 2 years) 1,851 euros/month 1,546 euros/month Manager A (less than 3 years) 2,054 euros/month 1,566 euros/month Manager A (4+ years) 2,280 euros/month 1,830 euros/month Annual bonus for objectives (Less than 5 years) 1 extra monthly payment Annual bonus for objectives (More than 5 years) 2 extra monthly payments Incentives. However, the most differential thing is in the bonuses and incentives for objectives, which can add one or two additional monthly payments to the set if they have been in the company for more than five years. Altogether, the data confirm Juan Roig’s statement. A category A manager with more than five years of seniority can receive a monthly net salary of around 2,100 euros, being between 27% and 72% above the SMI. How the rest of the supermarkets pay. If we compare these salaries with those of other supermarkets, we find that Lidl, its main competitor, offers base salaries slightly higher than those of Mercadona, with 1,539 euros net per month, according to comparative data by Skello. However, the bonuses and incentives are not as generous, so the total sum is slightly behind. The rest of the supermarkets, such as Carrefour, do distance themselves with base salaries of 1,387 euros for the majority of their store staff and few incentives that increase that salary. Playing attrition in an environment of labor shortage. As and as highlighted María Miralles, senior partner of the retail sector in Iberia at the consulting firm McKinsey, in statements to financial times, “Employee retention becomes an increasingly important business imperative. If a rival supermarket chain loses a qualified fishmonger or butcher, finding a replacement on the high street is almost impossible.” This analysis perfectly summarizes the “Mercadona Model“in which they bet on better salaries than their competition and encourage the long-term stability of the workforce to make it an attractive asset to attract talent and avoid let them go to their competition. Bet on training. With an inverted demographic pyramid, staff shortages are going to be a growing problem, so taking care of employees is no longer going to be an option, at least to remain competitive in a expansion scenario to Portugal like the one proposed by Mercadona. According what was published through the medium specialized in food retail Food, Retail & ServiceMercadona invested 128 million euros in training in 2024 with four million training hours for its staff. This implies an individual investment of 1,164 euros per employee and 1,894 people promoted to positions of greater responsibility. That is, Mercadona not only seeks recruit your qualified personnel with better salaries than its direct competition, but also establishes that talent by offering them training and an internal professional career. As Elena Orden, spokesperson for Merco in Spain, pointed out in the article in Financial Times: “In Spain, we have an inverted pyramid in terms of the active population. So, if you want to have the best workers, you need to offer them what others do not offer them and prioritize their well-being.” In Xataka | Juan Roig, Amancio Ortega and Ana Botín in contention for being the highest-rated leaders. Inditex does not find a rival as the best company Image | Mercadona

The average price of Mb/s in each country in the world, arranged in a graph in which there is a unicorn: United Arab Emirates

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Accessing the Internet is a necessity. In an increasingly connected world and in which we trust practically all aspects of our lives to online applicationshave a good coverage and speed It has become something essential. In fact, a server “blackout” like him recently lived with those from AWS demonstrates to what extent we depend on this connection. However, although the Internet is global, there is a huge digital divide. To the point that there are some who pay a cent per Mbps… and others exceed four euros for the same amount. The graph. With data from We Are Socialthe graph prepared by Visual Capitalist compare the price of megabit per secondor Mbps, in more than 60 countries in 2025. Before commenting on individual cases, because there are very striking ones, it must be said that the estimate is that the average price of Mbps worldwide is around 45 cents. The global average is also around 40 euros, but as we can see in the data, there are countries above and below that completely distort that average. And something important to understand is that the price of Internet responds to infrastructure and population density (it is expensive to bring broadband Internet to remote populations), but also to factors such as competition and tax policies. One question: United Arab Emirates. The United Arab Emirates perfectly exemplifies those last two points. It almost seems incredible, but the price of Mbps in the country exceeds four euros. Data from We Are Social puts it at $4.31 per Mb/s, almost double what is paid in the next most expensive country: Ghana with its $2.58 per Mb/s. On average, an Emirati pays between 100 and 140 dollars just to have Internet, and the big question is what is happening to make that happen. The answer? Politics and competition. In the UAE there are only two companies that provide the service, so this lack of real competition means that they do not have a need to lower the price. Do you want Internet? Well, take it or leave it. Plus, there is the political part. The State forces operators to transfer up to 30% of their profits to the country’s coffers, and it is something that directly affects the price of the final bill for the consumer. The speed not bad (an average of 300 Mbps), but it is evident that the price is prohibitive for many, potentially generating the aforementioned digital divide. The Romanian secret. In it opposite side On the spectrum we have the countries of Eastern Europe, specifically in a country whose flagship company we know well in Spain: Romania and DIGI. The average prices for fiber optics in the country are around 10 euros and the price of Mb/s is just 0.01 dollars. Russia and Poland are not far behind, and what has caused this is precisely the opposite of what is happening in the UAE. After the fall of communism, dozens of private operators They began to deploy decentralized fiber optic networks. Taking advantage of community wiring in cities and building blocks, the “last mile” problem was solved, allowing Internet to be offered to a large number of people with minimal costs. It is estimated that almost 90% of Romanian homes have high-speed Internet and DIGI has exported that “policy” outside its borders, offering the longed for 10 Gbps at the price of 1 Gbps in countries like Spain. Above the dollar. Commenting on each country is a complex process because there are multiple factors that come into play, but I find it almost more interesting to see which countries are whose Mbps exceeds the dollar. In fact, these countries perfectly exemplify everything that comes into play when it comes to offering a cheap connection: Swiss: The average price is just over two dollars per Mbps due to the dominance of a single operator and the country’s salary structure: high salaries and, therefore, high maintenance costs. Kenya: averages about $1.54 per Mbps due to its poor fiber infrastructure that makes the country depend to technologies like starlink or the google balloons. Now, the competition is increasing little by little. Morocco: its $1.16 is explained by uneven infrastructure and just three companies that dominate the market. Australia: At its $1.33 per Mbps, the tremendously dispersed geography comes into play, with rural areas very far from each other. Germany: It is the one that is around a dollar per Mb/s and is not the fastest connection in Europe, far from it. In fact, it is a paradoxical situation as it is a power in Europe while having a worse cost/speed ratio than its neighbors. Reason? A large operator that dominates the sector and an old infrastructure, with many areas in which copper continues to be the trend. The Spanish situation. Within our borders, Spain has a comfortable position. There is enough competition so that prices are affordable, with an average of about 10 cents per Mb/s and 1 Gbps packages that are around 30-40 euros per month, depending on the company. Unlimited data is not uncommon on smartphones either. There are many companies that compete in a controlled and regulated environment, with obligations such as sharing infrastructure, and all of this has caused Spain to be a benchmark in the fiber deploymenteven in rural areas. In Xataka | How to improve your WiFi signal in seven easy steps

In Japan, the average trains delay is 96 seconds. It is not magic, his secret is called “Paka-Yoke”

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We are not going to discover anything if we tell you that the high Spanish speed has not lived its best summer. To get an idea, Four out of 10 Renfe trains They have suffered some type of delay. We have had breakdowns, Lost trains during the night and the final tip of the fires. But beyond summer, the truth is that the Spanish road network is giving important symptoms of fatigue. Only last June, The birds arrived with a medium delay of 19 minutes About the scheduled time. In April the figure was almost 21 minutes. According to the published report by the company, of the 9,607 trains that circulated last June, only one in three arrived in time Or they were delayed less than five minutes. We know this because Renfe herself has published it but the breakdowns have also affected the trains of Iryo and Ouigo that have to circulate on the same ways. The data point to two possible reasons. First, Spain begins to give symptoms of having an infradimensive infrastructure to host the arrival of new operators (OUIGO and IRYO) and a Growth sustained in the number of trips. Second, the data warn that not enough has been invested in maintenance and modernization of the roads. It is very likely that the situation we are living is a mixture of both reasons. But a question overwhelm: if in Spain we have problems with three trains companies … how do they work in Japan where six different companies operate? 96 seconds Move by Japan, especially for Honshu (his main island in which cities like Tokyo, Kyoto or Osaka are found) is very simple if you decide on the high -speed train. The frequencies are so bulky and the delays so exceptional that the reliability in the system is absolute. The known as Japan Rail It can, also, be chaos for those who visit the country for the first time, taking into account that even Six companies operate on their lines. However, each of them has its own reserved space so they do not compete on the same roads as it happens in Spain where Renfe has to deal with Iro and Ouigo. Despite this, four of those Six companies (JR East, JR Central, JR West and JR Kyushu) are completely privatized and only two (JR Hokkaido and JR Shikoku) are state -owned. There is, however, a fundamental difference. In Spain, following European orders, the management of the roads falls exclusively on Adif (which was public and also had to be privatized) that charges some canons to companies that want to operate in their railway framework. AND The roads are shared partly between medium distance and high speed trains. In Japan, however, companies manage infrastructure and maintenance of the roads in which they operate but the network of Shinkansenthe famous bullet trains, have a completely separated infrastructure from the rest of the trains and is managed by the Railway Construction, Transportation and Technology Agency of Japan (JRTT). This physical separation allows to reduce the risks (a fault of a slower train does not impact bullet trains) and install systems specifically designed for this type of trains. That has allowed them to evolve the acquaintance concept of Paka-Yoke which can be translated as “failure proof”, referring to the fact that all human decisions are supervised by an exahustive system monitoring system, which shields the network of those possible human errors. This has allowed Japan to be a reference in world high speed. Until Spain and China surpassed the country in railway kilometers of this type of trains, the Japanese country was a leader but it still is in punctuality. In 2024, The average delay in the Tokaid line was 96 seconds. However, systems are designed for trains to enter a margin of 15 seconds at the station. Most of them stop in the first 6 seconds scheduled. Japanese punctuality is an extremely valued quality. Culture forces to ask for public forgiveness when schedules are not fulfilled, sometimes reaching surreal extremes. Like the day that a railway company had to make its face because one of its trains He left the station 20 seconds earlier than expected. Photo | Henry Perks In Xataka | Japan asked its citizens what bothers them most about tourists on the train. The responses betrayed the nation

Follow in free fall despite a last “average” harvest

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A few months ago the headlines talked about the palpable escalation in the prices of olive oil but now the story is very different: prices fall loudly. So much that the olive sector has already requested measures to the government. The price, in free fall. The Latest consumer price index data (CPI) has served the olive sector to give the alarm: the price of olive oil is in free fall. The drop is 45.7% year -on -year for olive oil, while the category of “other edible oils” and the dedicated to butter showed rebounds of 18.7% and 6.7% respectively. Together, the category of “oils and fats” has shown A fall in 37.1% prices, which contrasts with the 2.8% rise in non -alcoholic foods and drinks and one 2.3% increase in the general index. Again attending to the annual variation of the month. In the latest IPC data, it is also indicated that oils and fats are the main bearish taxpayer of the monthly index. Never to everyone’s taste. Price drop has harmful clearings: farmers. The associations of olive producers, such as the union of small farmers and ranchers of Jaén, Upa Jaén, They recently claimed Urgent market measures to the Ministry of Agriculture to prevent this collapse in prices. “Untenable”. “What worries us most right now, especially in the traditional olive grove, is to at least the costs. Jesus Cózar Pérez saidgeneral secretary of UPA Jaén and Andalucía. Cózar Pérez, who described the situation as “unsustainable, artificially forced to leave the traditional olive grove,” asked the Ministry of Agriculture to implement “the market mechanisms necessary to achieve rise in prices at origin.” Future prices. According to the agrarian sector itself, the fall in prices It does not respond Both to the present dynamics of adjustments between supply and demand but to the futures market: after two years with pyrrhic crops, this year we are faced with a standard, not especially productive. The expectation of a future “great campaign” makes prices adjusting due to fall in demand, and with it also prices. The problem, they point out from the sector, is that nothing guarantees that the harvest that comes is excellent, much less: pests and abnormal temperatures can have an impact on a harvest that must still go through one of its critical points. An unequal inflation in food. If oil is one of the food whose fall has impact on the rate General of the CPI, we find the opposite case in fruits and meat. In the latter case, in large part because of the promotion in the prices of beefs (14.5% year -on -year) or sheep (12.2%). On the other hand, foods with less weight in the basket but with rapid ascent prices are eggs (18% year -on -year care); and coffee, and cocoa and chocolate powder (increases of 19.8% and 13.1% respectively). In Xataka | ‘Atomic Garden’: the “atomic” orchards to create the best tomatoes and cucumbers Image | Antgarprats

The weird event that humanity has witnessed on average, each billion the age of the universe

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Year 2019. In an underground laboratory, A kilometer and a half under the Masso del Gran Sasso in Italya dark matter detector witnessed something extraordinary: the radioactive disintegration of an atom of Xenon-124. It is the slowest process (And therefore, more rare) Never registered. They touched the cosmic lottery. The Xenon-124 has a semi-width of 1.8 × 10²² years. That is 18 followed by 21 zeros: 18,000 trillions of years. To put it into perspective, the universe has “just” about 13.8 billion years, so that the process that Italian scientists could observe in 2019 is a billion times more durable than the universe’s own age, as The researchers described it In Nature magazine. A little context. The “semi -experience” is a statistical measure similar to half -life, but specifically defines the semi -dear period of a radioactive substance. Uranium-238, for example, has a semi-width of 4.5 billion years. In the case at hand, the semi-experience tells us how long it has to pass so that half of a very large group of Xenon-124 atoms disintegrate and become another element, the teluro-124. For an individual atom, its disintegration is a purely random event. A concrete atom could disintegrate in the next second or be stable for a much greater time than its semi -experience. For a group of atoms, the semi -experience is a very reliable prediction of its collective behavior. If you had a container with a large number of Xenon-124 atoms, you would have to wait 18,000 trillions of years for half of the atoms to transform. How did they do it? With a very large container, which contained 3.2 tons of ultra -overthopuro liquid xenon. We refer to Xenon1t experiment of the National Laboratory of Gran Sassoin the center of Italy. A dark matter detector designed for the direct search for hypothetical Massive weak interaction particles (WIMP). The detector was designed with extreme sensitivity and built under a mountain to isolate it from cosmic radiation. But what he captured was not dark matter, but the whisper of an atom of Xenón-124 decomposing; transforming into Teluro-124. The weirdest event ever witnessed. It is not a hyperbole. It really was a milestone of experimental physics that we should not have seen even in a billion lives of the universe. But although the probability that an atom of Xenon-124 disintegrate in a year is practically nil, the detector contained almost 10,000 billion xenon atoms in the two tons of volume that were analyzed. With such an overwhelming amount of “lottery tickets”, the probability that at least one disintegrate during the observation period increased dramatically. During the 177 days of data collection, the team observed not one, but a total of 126 events that could later confirm how the decay of the Xenon-124, a type of radioactive disintegration allowed by the standard model of particle physics, but practically undetectable. What did they see. An atom of Xenón-124 disintegrates when its nucleus simultaneously captures two electrons of the innermost layers. This causes two protons to become neutrons, transforming the atom into Teluro-124. But the energy released is carried by two neutrinos, which escape without being detected. What the Xenon1T photomultipliers detected up to 126 times was the X-ray waterfall and omer electrons that occur when the electrons of the upper layers of the Xenon-124 fall to fill the gaps that have left the two captured electrons. This is the energy firm, the “flash” that betrays the weird event of the universe. Has it served for something? For more than it seems. Although there was no luck with dark matter, the detection showed that Xenon1T can capture an incredibly weak and rare signals, validating its design. But the measurement also provided experimental data to test and improve the theoretical models that describe the structure and stability of atomic nuclei. This observation is a general trial for an even more ambitious goal: the search for double electron catches without neutrinos. If this hypothetical process was detected, it would demonstrate that Neutrinos are their own antiparticles (What is known as Majorana particles). This would explain why the universe is made of matter and not of antimatter. Image | Lngs In Xataka | When no result is a good result: Xenon’s story and the search for dark matter

More and more countries see how the average age of its population approaches 50 years

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Europe ages. That is not No novelty. Not an exclusive phenomenon of the old continent. In other regions of the planet, such as Japan, South Korea or even ChinaThey also suffer more or less clearly The effects of A demography marked by the collapse of birth rate and the increase in life expectancy. With everything and despite the fact that the trend is known, from time to time data arises that help us better understand the scope of change. Eurostat has shared one that shows to what extent the EU begins to become a territory of middle -aged people. The data also reveals another trend: aging is much clearer among the native population, those born within the EU itself, which among immigrants. A figure: 44.7. Recently Eurostat technicians made accounts and calculated that The middle ages From the EU population it is already at 44.7 years. The data is interesting for several reasons. The first, because confirms the gradual aging of Europe. Does A decade That same statistical indicator was 42.5 years ago, two ago it was 39.3 and if we looked back further back, 2001 (the first year documented by Eurostat), it did not reach 38.5. The second reason why the data is interesting is for What reveals us. The median is not the same as the average, but it shows us the value located just in the middle of the statistical series. In this case that means that 50% of the EU population is already above 44.7 years. They are probably even more because the median was calculated based on the statistics of January 2024 and the indicator has not stopped growing over the years. Differences in the EU. 44.7 is the data of the European Union as a whole, which means that there are countries in which the median age is even higher. The clearest cases are Monaco and Italy. In the first, the indicator is already 50.5 years and in the second brand 48.7. In Bulgaria, Portugal and Greece approaches or exceeds 47 and in another half a dozen countries the median overcomes the 45 years. Is The case of Spainwhich started 2024 with half its population above 45.6 years. In 2014, the median was 41.8, two decades ago it marked 38.3 and in 1994 it did not even reach 35 years, which gives an aging. Native Foreign Vs.. Eurostat tables show something else: how immigration is serving to cushion the aging of the EU, just as it has helped some countries (Spain included) To win population despite prick of indigenous birth. According to the data of the EU Statistical Office, on January 1, 2024, the average age of the population born outside the 27 countries of the community club was two years lower than that of the natives. Moreover, Eurostat acknowledges that “compared to the native population, those born abroad are overrepresented between 20 and 54 years” and “underrepresented” in the groups located at the extremes, those of younger and more advanced ages. “59.7% of the population born abroad was between 20 and 54, compared to 42.1% of the native,” They need. A percentage: 6.1%. Eurostat data also reveal that the EU demographic pyramid narrows every time by the base and grows on the cusp, among the older population group. And clearly, in addition. Between 2004 and 2024 the proportion of citizens over 80 years in the EU increased from 3.8 to 6.1%. The statistical office Precise In addition, growth was recorded in all EU countries, with increases especially pronounced in Greece, Latvia and Portugal. The same happened with the group of those over 65: to assume 16.4 went on to represent 21.6%. The other face of the currency. The trend is diametrically opposite among people under 15. At the statistical level, today children and adolescents “weigh” much more in the EU that just two decades ago. If in 2004 they represented 14.6%, now they suppose 16.2%, a setback that has been even more pronounced in countries such as Malta or Cyprus. “During the same period the proportion of young people (children under 19) decreased in all EU countries at the level of the Union, the Fall was 2.4 percentage points, from 22.4% to 20.0%,” Clarifies Eurostat. Why is it important? Because demography is much more than mathematics or simple statistics. The evolution of the middle ages helps to understand where the whole of European society walks and better understand the scope of its aging with All drifts that this implies at a social, economic, welfare or even in defense level. It is not something exclusive to the EU or the West. TO late 2024 South Korea officially became a “overwhelming” society, a label that reveals that about 20% of the population already exceeds the 65 -year barrier. Japan’s example. The clearest case is probably Japan. After decades seeing how its birth rate collapsed, in the country it begins to talk about “Problem 2025”marked by the gradual aging of the millions of citizens who were born during the Baby Boom in the middle of the last century. There the experts already warn of the challenge that this growing imbalance between the population of working age and the elderly will have at a social and economic level. Images | Bennett Tobias (UNSPLASH) and Eurostat In Xataka | Russia is desperate to increase its birth. So you will veto the series that promote a “culture without children”

The reservoirs are almost 22% above the average of the last decade. There is an “but” important before celebrating

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The forecasts of meteorologists seem to indicate that spring You have your days counted: Next week we will see an increase in the temperatures and models of the State Metorology Agency, they foresee that in the middle of June the rainfall is less than what is usual for these dates. Despite this, this short spring has been intense, and that It has been reflected In the reservoirs. 77.5%reserves. The latest data indicates that the water reserve has been placed this week at 43,407 cubic hectometers (HM³), 77.5% of its capacity. As it stands out The Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, to this have contributed “abundant” rainfall in the Peninsula and especially in Lugo, where 55.8 mm have been reached. The internal basins of the Basque Country (95.2% of its capacity), the Duero (92.6%), and the western Cantabrian basins (92.2%) They are the ones closest to their theoretical maximum. In the south stands out The River Basin Odiel, red and stonesat 91.7% of its capacity. Almost 22% more than average. We have been more than a year in which the reservoirs accumulate more water than the average of the previous 10 years. The current 43,407 hm³ represent an increase of 21.79% above the average of the past decade, 35,641 hm³. It is good news, but it should be remembered that the data of the Decenal has been significantly weighed by last decade. If we go To data from five years ago, we will see that the average filling of the previous ten years (2010-2019) was 74.3% global and 71.8% if we focus on the reservoirs of consumptive use. The average of the last 10 years is now quite far, in 63.7% for the set of reservoirs, and in 58.1% if we focus on consumptive use. Unequal state. As usual, there are marked differences in the filling level of the different basins. We indicated before some of those that are closest to the full filling, all of them above 90% of their capacity. At the other end, the southern and southwest basins remain at relatively low levels, highlighting the safe basin, at 31% of its capacity. The positive reading is that even this basin has seen its level of filling in recent months. This last week, in fact, the basin has seen an increase of almost 1% compared to the previous week. The Andalusian Basins of the Mediterranean, also among the most empty, have also experienced a slight increase in their volume, until approaching the 57.6% of its capacity. The negative note is put by the Guadalete and Barbate basin, the second with the lowest average filling (at 54.88%), which has lost six Hm³ in recent days, a reduction of 0.36%. Of course, the basin shows a markedly superior filling last year by these dates (30.28%) and also slightly higher than the average of the last 10 years (53.31%). The end of spring. The state of the reservoirs allow us to face with slight optimism an uncertain and imminent summer. Meteorological forecasts They point out a drastic increase in temperatures in the next few days, and not just that. Aemet’s medium -term predictions also indicate that the trend of the coming weeks will not only point to warmer temperatures than usual by these dates, but also towards precipitations below average. This seems to imply the end of spring, at least from the meteorological point of view, and the beginning of a summer that we do not know what will hold us. In Xataka | “Thank you so much, reservoirs.net”: Spanish men are developing a peculiar obsession with swamps Image | Alina Rossoshanska / Miteco

The electric car has an average age of just 3.5 years and does not stop falling. It is very good news

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Changing car is usually a reason for joy in a house. Unless you are forced by the circumstances of an unexpected breakdown or before what has been expected, acquiring a new vehicle is usually exciting for the buyer. And it is because, on average, it occurs every long. Whenever it is not electric, of course. A study. The average age of electric vehicles is 3.5 years. That is what the latest available report states S&P global in which this dynamic is studied. The figure is inferior to that of past years and remains down. In 2022, the Middle Ages was 3.7 years and in 2023 of 3.6 years. The figure contrasts with that registered for diesel and gasoline cars. Following the reverse road, the Middle Ages of the American Mobile Park has been growing over the years until it is 12.6 years. Taking into account that the electric car barely represents 3.2 million vehicles of the 286 million units in operation in the country, its impact on the Middle Ages is negligible. And in Europe? In Europe there are no data segmented by technologies. Acea, employer of manufacturers in Europe, only refers to the average age of cars in the continent and by countries. Points out that in Spain, According to the latest studiesIt is 13.9 years. A figure higher than the European average. In the continent, the average is 12.5 years. A figure that is lower because in Germany and France, the two largest car markets in Europe, the decade is barely exceeded. They are also the markets where more electric cars are bought. Belgium, the Netherlands, Ireland or Sweden, countries that are located in the European average or in the upper part in the purchase of electric cars, also have lower figures in the Middle Ages of the mobile park compared to the rest of Europe. On the contrary, Spain, Italy and all the rest of Europe have the most aged mobile park. Although the almost 14 Spanish years are far from the more than 17 years of Greece, we share with those countries that the market share in the purchase of electric cars is very low, just a third of the European average. Why is the electric car important? The impact of the electric car on the Middle Ages of the mobile park is evident, especially the smaller the market. It is shown that where cars are growing are more modern. This is because the Middle Ages of the electric, as seen in the United States and is presupposed in Europe, is very low. It has all the meaning of the world. If electric car sales continue to grow, the Middle Ages has to go down. In the study of S&P global It is pointed out that in 2024 there were 50% more electric cars in American streets than in 2022. If sales are stopped, on the contrary, the age of the mobile park will increase in line. In the United States, where the sample is more than 286 million cars the impact is very low. In Europe, on the contrary, the impact is more evident because we can segment through countries. It is estimated that there is 256 million cars in circulation in Europe But Luxembourg, Germany, Sweden and Belgium are the countries where there is a higher percentage of cars with less than two years. Removing the peculiarities of Luxembourg, coincide (again) with electric sales. Two good news. That the electric car continues to expand its customer base are good news for the fleet of vehicles at European level. Confirms that every view more customers are trusting technology and that adequate incentives There are more drivers willing to jump into the electric car. It also means greater security. This is independent of the new car sold. With European obligationsa new car is always going to be safer than one with more than a decade behind it. Although they were systems that have already been seen ten years ago, now all cars (regardless of the price) have to have systems such as rear camera, emergency braking or lane output alert. And a regulate. Although with good prospects. And is that S&P globalin its report in this regard in 2023, it indicated that 6.6% of the electric cars that were in operation a decade before had been sent to recycle. The figure is higher than that of vehicles with combustion motor (5.5%). This means that the electric car becomes obsolete before, which has all the logic. We are talking about a technology that advances very quickly and, above all, has been widely improved in the autonomy offered by the vehicle. It’s easy to think about Many vehicle fleets They have gone to better life as better options have been offered. In addition, it must be taken into account that the same has been seen in the second -hand market. The depreciation of electric cars It is much faster and more accused than those of combustion. If the company interested in selling it cannot place the car, the most logical thing is to send it to destroy if you need space and replace its fleet. More and more cars. To all of the above we must add that the average age of the cars is expected to remain in the coming years since the electric car seems to have an ally between the fleets. Countries like Belgium or Germany They have discovered that the company car is an especially attractive means to boost sales of this type of car. While a individual aspires to have a car for many years in property, unless you opt for a rentiercompanies often use this formula since it allows them to renew the fleet every three or four years. If we take into account that the electric car has grown a lot among rentals And companies of all kinds, we have years ahead where its Middle Ages remains very low. Photo | In Xataka | I’ve been trying electric cars for … Read more

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