Barcelona

There is already a detainee for using the Meta Ray-Ban to record without consent. Recorded hundreds of women in Barcelona without finding out

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A young man has been arrested in Barcelona After recording hundreds of women with smart glasses without their knowledge. What he did with those recordings: use them in their “seduction” courses that sold for 3,000 euros. Why is it important. It is the first known case in Spain where Ray-Ban Meta They are used to commit crimes against intimacy. The victims did not know that a camera that they did not detect recorded conversations about personal information that later disseminated and monetized. The facts. The detainee approached foreign tourists in Barcelona, ​​held apparently casual conversations and recorded them with glasses that had an integrated camera. Without noticing it, and in fact hiding it. The videos were later published in Tiktok and Instagram as a claim for their “seduction techniques” courses. In figures: 329 videos analyzed by the police. 239 Conversations with intimate data of women. 700,000 visualizations reached the video of the complainant. 3,000 euros cost the full course (plus 45 euros per month of subscription) The technical problem. The Ray-Ban Meta (329 euros) emit a white light when recording, but it is easy to hide them with small tricks. The majority of victims did not detect being recorded, according to police investigation. Smart glasses pose a privacy dilemma that we had not had to face so far, although it already anticipated a decade ago with The Google Glass opening the way. Ray-Ban Meta are much more concealed. Let’s not talk compared to a mobile. Yes, but. Goal designed a safeguard: the indicator light. The problem arises when malicious users deliberately avoid them to record without consent and then make malicious use, or at least to monetize or spread them. Goal is preparing more AI functions for these glasses that will identify places or people in real time. Some users have achieved it on their own. This arrest promises to be the first of many conflicts that are yet to come between body technology and privacy. Outstanding image | Goal In Xataka | Technology are getting excited about smart glasses. I have serious doubts about your success

Barcelona began to excavate to build a parking. Ended up discovering a medieval ship of 10 my and uncertain origin

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His intention was to build a new parking, but the team in charge of the works of the Ciutadella del Coneixementin Barcelona, ​​has ended up doing something very different: finding an archaeological finding that has already captured the interest of the historians of the Catalan capital. And it’s normal. What technicians have located under the ground of the city, to five meters Under the sea level, it is neither more nor less than a medieval long -won over 10 meters long and three wide. The first studies estimate that the boat dates from the fifteenth or sixteenth centuries, but questions are left to answer. What happened? That the Barcelona subsoil has just given a surprise (and a joy) to historians. Another one. A few weeks ago, during the construction works of the future Parking of the BSM in the Ciutadella del Coneixement, archaeologists located the remains of a ship that, according to the first estimates, would date from the fifteenth or sixteenth centuries. It is not the first once the work on the site of the old Mercat del Peix brought to light remains of historical interest, but as Recognize The Archeology Service of the Barcelona City Council is “exceptional”. Good proof is that the town hall has launched A statement (and a wide image gallery) to value the wreck and team of archaeologists in charge of documenting the remains has spoken with the means to clear some doubts. What have you discovered? The “partial remains Of a sunk ship “, a boat that ended up wafraling or abandoned and priori (already waiting for her to advance her study), experts have dated between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. To be more precise, during their investigation, archaeologists have found a structure formed by thirty notebooks and part of the wooden pieces that covered the exterior of the fuselage. In total the pec ten meters long for just over three wide. “The tables are nailed in the notebooks with circular section timber, a kind of wooden nails that served to join the parts. Two longitudinal pieces set with iron nails are also preserved,” details The City Council Archeology Service. In the world’s surroundings, very fertile sand and alms have also been located that include “organic remains” of interest, such as hazelnut seeds or even pineapple remains. Do we know anything else? In addition to date it around the fifteenth and sixteenth, experts They point that the construction style of the ship was common in the Mediterranean medieval and extended throughout Europe from the mid -XV. They are however Some questions for responding, as its exact origin or what function I played. To clear some of those unknowns archaeologists are also investigating the remains of seeds and alms that surround the wreck. What will happen to him? The City Council He has stressed The importance of the finding because it is “a unique source of knowledge” on navigation and naval construction techniques that were used in the Barcelona of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. However, not everything is in his favor. The remains are found in a “very fragile state of conservation”, which forces experts to be cautious. To prevent the soaked from drying and degraded by being exposed to the weather, the technicians have partially kept it with the sand that has been used for centuries. The objective of the Archeology Service of Barcelona and the Archaeological Museum of Catalonia is now to document the remains and “guarantee the conservation” of the wreck, which has already been baptized as ‘Citadel I’. “The first actions have included three -dimensional documentation works, the marking of the pieces, the sampling and the preparation of the transfer in containers full of water that ensure the temporary conservation of the remains,” The Consistory requires. The materials will be transferred to “specialized facilities” so that they can treat them with water and hydrosoluble wax, a substance with which the structure is to be reinforced. What tells us about Barcelona? The wreck is not interesting only for the boat itself and what can be told about medieval navigation or naval. Another key is what can tell us about the development of Barcelona. After all, the remains appeared in the old Mercat del Peix, at a depth of more than five meters under sea level. Archaeologists have already They slid that its location can be related to the transformation of the maritime front. “The finding, which from a technical point of view is known as melter, is part of a historical context of transformation of the maritime front. From 1439, with the construction of the first artificial tenazes, the dynamics of the coastline was altered and the sand bar known as the task, which had protected the city for centuries” Clarify The City Council. In 2008 it was already located A similar ship near the station of France. Images | Barcelona’s Decrease In Xataka | We finally know what sailors ate at the high seas in the 16th century. Thanks to the CSIC and a sunk galeon

Barcelona erased a Google bus line so that tourists do not satura. Tourists have told him “good attempt”

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Barcelona’s metropolitan transport service has discovered something that The real estate market of the city knows from A long time ago: Tourist pressure is not always easy to combine with residents day to day. In a desperate attempt to end the saturation of bus 116, a route used by neighbors, but also by thousands of tourists who used it to visit Park Güell, a year ago the City Council got that the line disappeared from the recommended itineraries of Google Maps. And it worked. Without visibility in networks, demand seemed to relax. The problem is that at least part of the tourists who previously crowded bus 116 It seems to have an impact on other routes with which they can also reach Park Güell. Neighbors who use them to go to work or school are already warning that saturation affects their day to day. Delete a map bus. Sounds drastic, but that’s what he did last year The Barcelona City Council: it made bus 116 disappear from the map for the millions of tourists that visit the city every year. Or what is the same, that it ceases to appear in the recommended itineraries of Google Maps. The reason: although 116 is a small neighborhood bus, with capacity for about 20 people, its route passes very close to Park Güellan icon from Barcelona that receives per year More than four million of visitors. The combination of scarce capacity and high demand caused 116 to be often saturated to the astonishment of tourists and anger of residents, who need the bus to go to work, university or make the purchase. The City Council proved to increase the frequencies and reinforce the number of buses that covered the route, but it served. In the end he opted for another trick: “Invisible it” in Google Maps. And did it serve? More or less. The influx of tourists fell clearly. So much, that I recognized it The bus driver itself: “It has been to disappear from Google and change radically.” Even the neighbors, skeptics at the beginning with that strategy, verified the change. The problem is that the tourist pressure on the urban transport service does not seem to have been solved. Rather, it has been redistributed towards other alternative lines. Or that is at least what is pretending The data who has just published eldiario.es. Pending of 24 and V19. His information, based on the passenger balances of Transports Metropolitans of Barcelona (TMB), shows that while the influx of travelers fell on bus 116 was increased on other routes that can also be used to reach Park Güell, as 24 and V19. The percentages are of course eloquent. While between 2023 and 2024 the title “Hello Barcelona” (the payment for visitors) scored A 86% drop In bus 116, on line 24 the validations of that ticket increased by 32%. With regard to V19, in 2024 it transported more than six million people, 10% more than in 2023, with more than 19,000 validations on working days. Precisely to avoid saturation and improve the TMB service reinforced several sections on weekends. Has the problem moved? TMB Discard That there has been a passenger transfer, although there are neighbors who complain about that: that the pressure that was previously suffocated by bus 116 has moved to lines like 24. “Many times I have not been able to climb because when there are so many tourists they don’t even open the doors,” he acknowledged A few days ago To Eldiario.es a Barcelona student who takes the bus daily to go to college. “In the morning it is already full. Sometimes I arrive late because, with so many people, I can not get on the bus,” says another neighbor of La Salut on the itinerary 24. There are those who clarify that the problem actually comes from behind. A complex equation. Beyond the possible transfer of tourists who until last year resorted to 116 to visit Park Güell, at play other factors enter, such as the increase in the general demand for urban transport or tourism. Atm data show that in 2024 the use of public transport in the Metropolitan Area of ​​Barcelona grew by 7%. The year was also good for tourism, with 15.5 million of visitors. The data is practically identical to that of 2023 (he scored a very slight fall of 0.7%), but came accompanied by a remarkable rebound of 8.7% in spending per person. The great threat. The saturation on his day of bus 116 and the pressure in other lines used by tourists to visit Park Güell, such as 24 or V19, is a double departure. First for the impact on the service and for the residents of the city. Second, because that pressure has an impact on the attractiveness of Barcelona as a destination. Eldiario.es spoke A few days ago With a family of Bulgarian travelers who recognized their surprise after getting on 24 in Plaza de Catalunya: “It is very filled, what a burden.” If in spite they resorted to the service, they explained, it was for their “comfort” to get to Park Güell. The massification of points such as Mallorca, the Canary Islands or Barcelona itself has led to the popular Fodor´s travel guide To quote them In its “no list 2025”, a kind of OLD in which his experts cite destinations that risk dying of success. Images | Stay Grouted (Flickr) and M.peinado (Flickr) In Xataka | If the question is whether tourist floors take the price of rentals, we already have the answer: more than 30%

In the era of hybrid work there is a new unicorn of business management: the Barcelona factorial startup

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In 2020 and in full pandemic a technological startup of Barcelona called Factorial He lived his particular turning point. The company had an attractive and versatile online platform for human resources management, and the confinement gave a unique opportunity to make potential clients known: it offered its platform for free until confinement passed, and that made many known and realized how well that platform could work while the teleworking became strength. His CEO, Jordi Romero, explained So how many of the new clients who registered in factorial maintained their management in local files or at most “in a dropbox folderbut nothing more. “In April the firm achieved an investment of 16 million dollars of CRV, but that was a stressful round. Just before the pandemic came the company had” an agreement between knights (with CRV), so to speak, “Romero commented,” but the money had to be transferred yet. “ The decision to offer its platform for free was a success, and many companies verified the benefits of that comfortable online management that allowed everything very well organized and accessible in a simple way. At that time that round was the largest that was seen in Spain, and it happened at a time when the labor market was in a certainly strange situation. Factorial took advantage of something that no other company in the sector had previously taken advantage of: His platform was perfect for companies that or did not have HR professionals for being too small, or that if they had them were overcome by the workload or by having to make those tasks with others of management. The factorial solution precisely solved the problem, and that marked a before and after for her and her clients. New and important investment rounds After that round starring CRV, 18 months later factorial became one of the protagonists of the Spanish technological sector. In September 2021 the general investment firm Catalyst bet 80 million dollars for her and confirmed her remarkable projection. This bet was a success: the factorial growth has made it one of the most promising technological startups in our country. A year later, factorial lifted another 120 million dollars in a round with the majority participation of Atomico, but also of GIC, Tiger Global, CRV, K-Found and Creandum. That made it a de facto “unicorn”: its valuation was already 1,000 million dollars, twice what was a year earlier with the previous round. The company, which then had 7,000 clients in Europe and in Latin America – where those first years had its great focus— has not stopped growing And he has had a especially notable 2024. His number of customers is now 13,000 SMEs, and has just given another great news: General Catalyst, which as we said already invested 80 million dollars in it, has expanded that investment at $ 120 million, so that the total bet It becomes 200 million dollars. It is striking that this extension of the investment is carried out without diluting the capital of its shareholders. Jordi Romero, CEO of Factorial (on the left in the image with Bernat Farrero, another of the co -founders) explained how that is “something uncommon in hypercrection companies that, in addition, are financially sustainable.” Pau Ramón, the third co -founder and exco from the company, abandonment Factorial in 2023 for personal reasons. The funds, as those responsible for Factorial point out, will go to the expansion of the firm in Germany – where it is growing especially fast – France and Italy. Not only that: they will allow this firm to give the final impulse in a transition in which they have been working for years: to go from being a human resources software to a large business management platform. SANNED ACCOUNTS AND OWN RISK CAPITAL FUND They hope to reach about 20,000 clients before the end of the year, Romero said In the countryand its forecast is to exceed 100 million dollars of recurring income this year. As indicated in that article, 2024 has been the first year in which the company has grown up without consuming its own resourcessomething especially important to consolidate the profitability of the company. Bernat Farrero, Pau Ramón (now outside the company) and Jordi Romero, co -founders of the company. Source: Factorial. The firm had at the end of 2024 with 90 million dollars of cash reserves, something striking because it shows the financial solidity of a company that is capable of growing without practically boxing of cash. The investment round seemed almost unnecessary, but according to Romero that allows factorial to “continue its expansion without compromising its financial stability or diluting the capital of its shareholders,” as we mentioned earlier. The company has no immediate plans to go over – “We are not in a hurry,” Romero explains – and does not seem interested in inorganic growth inking or buying other companies. What they do, explained those responsible In araIt is to bill 1,000 million euros in five years. And although the exit to the parquet is for now an unknown, what those entrepreneurs have done has been, as they pointed out In the avant -garde, Create a risk capital fund of 15 million euros with which they want to finance emerging companies. It’s called Itnig Capital, and He has already invested One million euros in nine Spanish companies. The “Startup factory” of Factorial seems to have started with good foot, and is helping that new firms created by former factorial employees take their first steps, as pointed out expanding A few months ago. Growing, but with comparatively low wages During all this factorial time it has evolved. Its creators began working on a human resources platform to manage both employees and various administrative tasks, but in recent times they have become a “Comprehensive Business Management Platform“That allows the management of projects, training and control of expenses. Romero, Farrero and Ramón shared the same frustration when creating factorial: that in many companies there was little technology that helped to climb … Read more

has created with Barcelona the computational axis that Spain needed

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IBM will display in San Sebastián your System Two With 156 cubits heron processor, The most powerful quantum computer in Europe. Operational at the end of the year, will make Spain one of the six world nodes of quantum computing, together with the US, Canada, Germany, Japan and South Korea. The Basque system will exceed The recent German IBM installationwhich operates with Eagle processors of 127 cubits. Why is it important. Quantum computing promises to transform the science of materials, physics and medicine solving unabordable problems for conventional systems. He System Two It already reaches the “quantum advantage”, executing impossible operations for traditional supercomputers. Its modular design will allow expanding capabilities while the mitigation of errors progresses, the greatest challenge of this technology. In figures. The Basque Government will invest 50.8 million euros in the project, part of a regional strategy of 120 million. The performance of the new processor is spectacular: 16 times more precise and 25 times faster than its predecessors. With 156 cubits, the Heron processor inaugurates what IBM calls “it was of quantum utility.” The context. The announcement coincides with the recent presentation of the first quantum computer with 100% European technology in the Barcelona Supercomputing Centercreating an axis of quantum excellence in Spain. Barcelona bets on European technological autonomy with a system developed by Qilimanjaro and GMV. San Sebastián is associated with IBM to access the most advanced technology in the market. Both strategies complement and position Spain in the European avant -garde. And now what? The IBM-Euskadi center will be available for scientists, educators and companies through its open source software Qiskit. Remote access will allow researchers from all over the world to take advantage of their abilities. According to Lehendakari Pradalesthis infrastructure “will be key to the digital transformation and economic development of the Basque Country”, facilitating international collaborations. Deepen. The quantum race accelerates. IBM plans for 2029 Your “Starling” systemwith complete errors correction, multiplying the possibilities of practical application. With two development poles in San Sebastián and Barcelona, ​​Spain emerges as a power in a field that will define the global technological future in the coming decades. In Xataka | Europe wants to lead chips research of less than 2 nm. ASML is the cornerstone of your plan Outstanding image | IBM

I have got on a driver without a driver in Barcelona and I have not noticed many differences in the trip. That says a lot

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The completely autonomous driving It is one of the pending automotive subjects. Divided into levels, where the one is mere assistance and the five full autonomous, I have been able to get on a Level Bus Four. It is manufactured by Renault. And Barcelona lent its streets as an urban circuit. The experience was very positive. Surprising by its reduced size, by the amount of cameras and sensors that surround the vehicle and because, after climbing, All seats are from passenger. There was no driver. Of course, Renault reserved one for the security operator: this can take control of the autonomous bus if an incidence occurs. During my journey there was no smallest problem. Autonomous driving in the city and with traffic against Before going to the test I imagined that Renault and the City Council would have cordoned off a street piece to circulate the bus in a controlled way. Nothing is further from reality: contrary to what happened The first time we got on the busI made my journey on a circuit open to usual traffic. The center of Barcelona did not put it at all easy. Nothing better to test an eight -square robotaxi than to release it in the middle of the city with the rest of bus buses, the taxis crossing the lane, the pedestrians jumping in red by the zebra crossing and, ultimately, surviving the traffic of a city as large and chaotic as that of Barcelona. Renault’s autonomous bus faced obstacles each by responsible and with the maximum care. I already commented that he is small, Renault raises his autonomous transport as a shuttle or “shuttle” vehicle; Without this implying that technology is suitable only for minibuses, since it is scalable to larger shots (OA cars). The interior has several seats in rows and each of them has a belt. All passengers must fashed it, the “FASTEN YOUR SEAT BELTS” sounds for internal megaphony as in the airplanes. And the bus complains when you take it off. Soft, without accelerons and with a thousand eyes in the environment. Renault places two screens in the upper front area where the recognition made by the vehicle of the environment and the 3D representation of the circulation can be seen. The minibus has a complex recognition system that surrounds the outside with six Lidar, ten cameras, has four high -precision GPS RTK receptors and two 5G connection modules. Inside there are also cameras and sensors for the detection of passengers. Like the rest of the vehicles that circulate on the road, the Renault minibus signals the turns, maintains the safety distances, responds in advance to the rest of the moving elements and circulates through the lanes remaining through the preferred urban circuit. Since the test seeks to cover a traditional bus line, the circuit has stops where passengers can go down and get from the bus. The test is open to the public: anyone can get A real and open test to everyone. The one in Barcelona is the first test of an autonomous passenger vehicle in a Spanish city and out of controlled situations. In fact, not only could we get the journalists: anyone who is in Barcelona can take the bus between Passeig de Gràcia and Rambla de Catalunya. The tour lasts half an hour and has six stops. I appreciated a responsible, determined driving, without accelerons, the turns were soft and the speed according to the environment. I expected a somewhat more fearful driving, like someone who opens after taking the driving license. On the contrary: without losing safety for a moment, autonomous driving was very experienced. He even went through the narrow place that left a double row car: the bus did not hesitate for a second. I would have thought about it. Interior screens where real -time recognition (left) and 3D (right) route are seen In the end, the feeling of going on an autonomous bus does not move away from traveling in a conventional one. Only you look forward and you don’t see anyone piloting, this is something that, logically, attracts attention. More out than inside. The bus became a more tourist attraction. I was very surprised by the response of all the people who saw the bus. His feeling passed from the initial surprise to doubt, then to the intrigue. Many took their mobile and took pictures, greeted us, recorded us on video. And there was an answer that was recorded: the expectation of a group of taxi drivers when they saw the autonomous bus go ahead. I had to take the photo. Taxi drivers observing the passage of the autonomous minibus Having an experience that goes unnoticed once you get used to not seeing the driver is a success: autonomous driving is perfectly viable in the city, even with unpredictable traffic. Renault has developed a technology that responds perfectly and that can be anticipated even before a pedestrian that suddenly jumps to the road. The bus stopped almost dry when it perceived it several meters. And he resumed slowly once the pedestrian was on the sidewalk. You only need a 5G connection. I think it is the case of use of the 5G that I have experienced clearer to date: as explained by Renault, to display an autonomous bus line only a stable 5G connection is needed. The vehicle integrates two 5G modules that constantly send the information that the vehicle is collecting. They did not know how to tell me exactly the size in data of such information, it was huge. So much, that they had exhausted the rates of several SIM cards used during the tests. Emergency stop switch for passengers Renault uses 5G connectivity to manage the lines in real time from the control center, but the vehicle is completely autonomous at the local level: it has several computers that manage the information that collect cameras and sensors to act according to algorithms and training. To suffer a fall in the 5G network, or … Read more

Telefónica exhibits its defenses in Barcelona

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At some point the Quantum computers They will break the current encryption systems, and that risk will force all companies to completely rethink their safety protocols. Telefónica wants to anticipate with the creation of a center of excellence, as announced during the MWC 2025. Why is it important. The strategy initially focuses on what they have called “cryptility”: develop mechanisms that allow their systems to adapt quickly when quantum threats materialize. And this approach will also be offered to customers. The context. The advances in quantum computing are a counterreloj career for telecos. Who does not have their adapted systems when quantum threats materialize will remain in vulnerability situation. That will be when these computers reach enough power to break the current cryptography. Telefónica faces this transformation into full guard of guard, And not only in the presidency: Enrique Blanco, current Ctio Global, will leave the company at the end of March after four decades, being replaced by Andrea Folgueiras. Both appear in the image headed by this article. Between the lines. The “cryptility” strategy that seeks not only to protect its own networks, but to become a post-quantic security provider for third parties, opening a new business line. In other words: this announcement has to see that with improving security, but also with opening a new business line. Yes, but. The operator has not specified during the announcement the investment for the new center or how many professionals will integrate it, key aspects to understand the real magnitude of the commitment beyond the announcement. The statement also does not detail specific deadlines for the implementation of quantum solutions. It is limited to highlighting that they work on it as part of their future strategy. Asked the spokesmen for Xataka On this issue, Blanco did not give figures or specific deadlines, but he explained that they have been working in this field for a decade, doing limited evidence in areas such as Madrid or Vizcaya. Limited in distance (“no more than 70 kilometers”) or in the use of incipient, but not mature algorithms. Enrique Blanco at the end of the presentation, thanking the media for “his respect” in recent weeks in Telefónica. Image: Xataka. “We have a lot of knowledge in quantum technologies, we are starting to make applicable technology. And we begin to have an industry interested in this type of services, customers to work monographically,” Blanco said. He added that “I hope within three, four or five years we have a very relevant number of technicians who are managing services, sensory and quantum computing. The center is approved, we will begin to provide it with resources as Telefónica and outside of Telefónica.” In detail. The operator has presented three practical demonstrations in her stand of the MWC under the name ‘Quantum-Safe Networks‘: A ROV submarine operated remotely from Barcelona to Gran Canaria using 5G networks with post-chartic encryption, keeping low latency even under water. Smart accountants with protected ESIM through algorithms Quantum-Safpreventing future attackers to supplant operators or manipulate measurements. IoT devices with post-whattical encryption managed from the platform Kite. Image: Telefónica. In figures. This movement is part of a broader transformation that has already allowed Telefónica to reduce its energy consumption by 7.9% since 2015, while traffic multiplied by 9.3. The operator manages a network that reaches fiber 180 million homes and has deployed 5G SA In four key countries: Spain, Brazil, Germany and the United Kingdom. Missing? It remains to be seen if Telefónica will attract the necessary talent in a highly specialized field where the great technology around the world compete for the best Quantum Physics experts and engineering. Success will also depend on its ability to establish alliances with research centers and leading technology companies, since it can hardly develop all technology internally. And now what. The Center will coordinate the innovation lines of the different areas of Teleco, will promote new solutions and activate technological agreements with third parties, as Telefónica explained during its presentation. Meanwhile, Telefónica continues to advance in The hyper-automatization of your network through the ANJ programwith the aim of reaching this year the level 4 of autonomy in certain processes, allowing the network to make complex decisions for itself. In Xataka | European telecos in front of their existential battle: “If our hands unleashed, we will score goals” Outstanding image | Xataka

A direct link with Barcelona

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It doesn’t matter if we talk about art history, science, rebirth, Europe or even History in generalthus, with capital letters. Few figures have been in recent centuries as fascinating as Leonardo da Vincithe great polymata, the genius par excellence. Painter, musician, engineer, scientist (the latter in the extent more broad and precursor of the word) and compulsive writer of notes, Da Vinci has become the maximum exponent of humanism. Until now, telling their lives the biographers have cited mostly two points: The different regions of Italy in which he lived and France, where he died in 1519, with almost 70 years. Now a new work, cemented in a deep research work, establishes a new geographical link: Barcelona. Great painter, huge icon Da Vinci is not just a huge painter and a precursor of modern science. Next to some counted names, such as Van Gogh, Beethoven either Poe (not many more), is part of the group of artists elevated to the category of Pop icon timeless Hence in recent years he has starred tens hundreds of monographs that follow the wake of one of its first biographers, Giorgio Vasari. Only in the last decades they have investigated in the life of the Tuscan (sometimes putting the focus on some concrete aspect of its legacy) Fritjof Capra, Michael White, Frank Zöllner either Charles Nicholl either Walter Isaacsonknown for his biographies Steve Jobs and Elon Musk And who in 2017 dedicated a monumental work to Leonardo. Now that vast list is added an essay of more than 600 pages written by the teacher Carlo VecceExpert in the Renaissance. Its title cannot be clearer and gives an idea of ​​to what extent the book aspires to be a total compendium about Da Vinci: ‘Leonardo’s life’. To prepare it, Vecce has examined the painter’s manuscripts and divered in files And historical records, which has allowed him to enrich the image we had so far of the author of ‘La Gioconda’. Along the way, it has also reached some amazing conclusions. One of them is Leonardo’s family link with Spain. More specifically with Barcelona, ​​where he moved part of your family time before the painter was born in AnchianoVinci, in 1452. In fact, to find the connection with the city, you have to go back to the time of Leonardo’s great grandfather and grandfather, to whom his commercial vocation took him to the Spanish coast. To establish the link, Vecce starts talking about Guido Di Michele, a key figure in Leonardo’s family tree for two reasons. First, for carving a hole in the influential guild of Florentine judges and notaries between 1330 and 1360. Second, for their two children: Giovanni and Piero, great -grandfather of the future painter. Although both brothers studied laws and were admitted to Guido’s profession, over time they ended up following different paths. Piero made career as a diplomat and became a notary of The Signoria. Giovanni however decided to break the tradition and try fortune in Barcelona. That I opt for the city is no accident. In his work, Vecce remembers that Barcelona was “one of the capitals of the Mediterranean world “in which a rich community of Florentine merchants also prospered. Giovanni was installed near Santa María del Mar (under construction) Together with his wife Lottiera and managed to make his son, Frosino, dedicate himself to the lucrative trade of luxury fabrics and dyes Between Mallorca and Valencia. Leonardo’s link could have been left in that distant branch of his ancestors if it were not because one of Piero’s children, perhaps tired of life in Tuscany, was attracted to the life that his uncle Giovanni and his Frosino cousin like merchants in Barcelona took. His name was Antonio and the dessert would be remembered for being the father of being Piero Da Vinci. That is, Leonardo’s grandfather. Instead of following the footsteps of his father in Florence, Antonio moved to Barcelona and for almost 15 years he worked hand with Frosino, dedicating mainly to the sale of Spices and raw materials for the textile industry. Vecce recounts how Leonardo’s grandfather navigated the Mediterranean, between Barcelona, ​​Valencia, Mallorca and Morocco, and reached Fez, although over time his activity focused on Barcelona. When he was already 40 years old, Antonio decided to take a new turn to his life and Return to Tuscany. The exact reason is not known, but that decision would be crucial for Leonardo. Back in Italy Antonio started from scratch, he married a notary’s daughter and in 1417 he returned to Vinci, where the family lived from the few family income. His tight economy did not prevent marriage from having several children: Guliano, Violante, Francesco and Piero Frosino. We are interested in the latter, the eldest of all and who in the 1440s decided to move to Florence to resume the family tradition initiated by Guido Di Michele and become a notary. If Piero has gone down in history, it is not, however, because of his study of the laws or the role he performed in the capital of Tuscany, but for his son. In 1452 he had An illegitimate rod With a woman named Caterinaa healthy, creative and intelligence creature only surpassed by its very powerful curiosity. They called him Leonardo. Leonardo da Vinci. His father and mother would end up following different paths, marrying other people and having more offspring; But Piero soon realized his son’s talent for drawing and worried that Leonardo could train as an artist In Florence at the Pintor Academy Andrea del Verrocchio. The rest is already history. Who was the mysterious Caterina, her own past and her family is another investigation route that creates new links for Leonardo and in which Carlo Vecce also investigates in her work. But that is already subject to Another report. Images | Wikipedia 1 and 2 and Logan Armstrong (UNSPLASH) In Xataka | A drawing by Leonardo da Vinci hid a hidden map. The work has revealed the secret tunnels of a castle of … Read more

Only a few days after the MWC, at the Barcelona airport they have made a controversial decision: evict the synthes

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Airports are By definition places where they land and take off airplanes, where travelers pass and in which one hopes to meet suitcasespeople running, Farewell scenes (and reunions), screens full of numbers and Duty Frees. However, they are something else: the roof under which hundreds of homeless people are sheltered who find in the terminals covered and safe spaces where to spend the night. To a greater or lesser extent occurs or has occurred at the airports of Madrid, Malaga, Tenerife either Barcelonaalthough in the latter they have just move token For that to change. How he has done it and especially when, just a few days after the beginning of the Mobile World Congress and the arrival of thousands of visitors, It has generated controversy. Homeless people in Prat? Exactly, the figures dance depending on the source that is consul A hundred Syntch. There are those who raise the number of people who spend the night in the enclosure to 160 or who go further and talk about around 180 or even 200people who with greater or lesser frequency convert the terminal into their improvised home. Is it a unique case? At all. A quick search arrives on Google to verify that in other busy airports of the network managed by AENA, such as Madrid-Barajas, South Tenerife either Malaga-Costa del Solsomething similar happens or has happened in recent years. And it is not something exclusive to Spain. Similar cases are in United Kingdom, Argentina, USA either Italy. And that to cite some examples. Of all perhaps the most commented over the last weeks is that of the Madrid-Barajas airport. And the reason is basically An estimate: Little union alternative Aena Enaire (ASAE) calculated that among the four terminals that make up the airport there are around 500 people homeless, well above the handful of tens that added just a decade ago. And what happened in Barcelona? That the airport has just been the scene of An operation to evict the synthesch that sleep in their facilities. The avant -garde Explain that Tuesday night Aena deployed a device in which a dozen security guards participated and basically focused on the homeless people left the T1 terminal. In the operation, agents were also involved the Mossos d’esquadra, although they clarify That it was not his initiative and his task was to offer support, and emergency personnel and the social area of ​​El Prat and Barcelona. The eviction would have started the eleven and a half from the night and lasted until the early morning. The Catalan newspaper Precise That days ago there were already personnel who were in charge of informing the Sintecho that on Tuesday a device for the “disinfection” of the T1 would be deployed that would prevent them from following inside, an operation that has already been deployed before in the T2. Other media They pointwithout citing sources, that the objective was double: clean and send a message to the people who spend there. “Paso de Paso”. The phrase is Maurici LucenaPresident and CEO of Aena, who He has spoken of the theme: “Aena feels concerned with the people who spend the nights in our infrastructure. Airports are designed as a place of passage, not to structurally offer pernocentation solutions.” From the body has not come into details, but eldiario.es Precise that at least the initial plan was for the device to be repeated again. In its day the Generalitat de Cataluña, the municipalities of El Prat and Barcelona and Aena signed An agreement focused precisely on homeless people who live in the terminals, but that agreement expired on January 2024which affected the assistance they receive. In October police sources They already recognized to The country The complex thing that was becoming the situation: “We make social assistants and it is not our work.” At that time there was talk of a hundred synthesch. It matters where … And matters when. He AENA device In the Prat it arrives at a very specific moment, on the eve of the Mobile World Congress (MWC), which starts on Monday and stands out as one of the great citations of the congressman and fair calendar of Catalonia. The appointment mobilizes tens of thousands of people and the first and last one that many of them see in Barcelona is precisely their airport. That coincidence has not gone unnoticed. Not even for Lucena himself, who assures that Tuesday’s operation is not related to the technological fair. “It has nothing to do with that, I guarantee that,” insists the director of the airport manager. The MWC is not the only factor that marks the context of the operation. In autumn Airport employees manifested in T1 to report that they feel “fear” for thieves and some syntch in the terminal. “Punitive and cosmetic device”. From CCOO already They have warned that the improvement of the safety of the workforce “cannot be an excuse to stigmatize the extremely vulnerable population” and insists that the security of the personnel “should be negotiated with the social agents”, “which is not done”, Apostille. CCOO also questions the motivation of the measure on Tuesday and speaks of a “punitive and cosmetic device for the Mobile World Congress.” “It is unacceptable”. CCOO has not been the only one to show its discomfort because of what happened at the airport. Taula d´entitats of the third social sector of Catalunya and Ecas have issued A statement Also in critical tone: “We consider that it is unacceptable to have normalized the situation of these homeless people and not have planned an accompaniment device with overnight alternative.” Social entities regret transferred to the press that the device was activated for “security” and “unhealthiness” reasons. “We suspend that (these) terms are not used when referring to these people because they contribute to stigma on the situations of poverty and exclusion,” ditch The collective. Images | Jorge Fraganillo (Flickr), Contliciun (Flickr) In Xataka | The Olympic Games are just around the corner, so Paris has … Read more

The coipú, one of the 100 most harmful invasive species in the world, is at the gates of Barcelona

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You can remember the Castor or the musk, but Coipú is something else. Coming from South America, this rodent is “similar to a large rat of small ears, with the end of the snout and white cheeks.” It has the “robust and arched” body, the fur “of brown” and can exceed 60 cm long and 6 and a half kilos of weight. In addition, in Spain, it is an invasive species. An invasive species that does not stop growing. What does a mouse like you in a place like this? To Catalonia, According to the Ecological Research Center and Forest Applicationsthey were first introduced at the beginning of the 20th century with the intention of raising them to take advantage of their skin. And, although there are documented farm leaks since the 70s, only since 2000 (when a new source of coipús appeared: France) began to expand from Empordá. The problem is that they have now detected in the Congost river. That is, they are at the gates of the Metropolitan Region of Barcelona and everything suggests that they will end up arriving. Because? Because “Coipú has a high fertility, so when it reaches areas with a climate favorable and with food, as it has found in Catalonia, its expansion is unlikely,” Marc Riera explainsCREAF researcher. Moreover, Barcelona would only be the beginning. “This situation causes coipu to extend through the Catalan coast” and reach “to the Valencian Community.” And what exactly is the problem? That is what many people ask. After all, we talk about a harmless rodent. However, its impact on the environment is very documented: “Coipú is having a serious impact on the wet areas of all the countries to which it has reached.” And it is not only that it competes with the rest of species for resources such as food, it “causes impacts on the plant species of the places where it lives and in the nearby crops, since it feeds on the base of the stems of the plants and excavates to also reach the roots. “ In fact, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has included it in the list of 100 more harmful exotic species in the world. Spain in front of Coipú. The real problem, as explained from CreafIt is that “unfortunately, once an exotic species becomes an invader in a territory, its total eradication is practically impossible.” Above all, because we must be clear that the coipú will not be the last species that reaches our territory and threatens to put all ups up. In a context in The illegal introductions of animals are the order of the day It seems clear that we must reflect on how we are managing exotic species and what means we are putting to control the new world scenario. Image | Peleg | Exocat In Xataka | Franco introduced an exotic sheep in the Teide to content the hunters. Now it is ending its ecosystem

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