bought

In 1965, a notary bought an apartment of bare ownership from a 90-year-old owner. The old woman was already living her second life

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In 1965, in the picturesque city of Arles, in the south of France, the notary André-François Raffray believed he had found a bargain to invest. Jeanne Calment, a 90-year-old widow and no heirs owner of a large apartment in the historic center of the town, was willing to reach an agreement to sell her housing in exchange for a life annuity and to be able to live in it until his death. With the statistical data in hand, the purchase of the apartment was going to be a bargain for the notary, so he did not hesitate to reach an agreement with the elderly owner. What the young notary did not expect is that it was going to be the worst deal of his life: the old woman had a bombproof geneticsor at least that’s what everyone thought. The deal was a bargain, but not for who it seemed The purchase agreement was simple in its approach: Raffray would pay 2,500 francs per month to Calment (an amount equivalent to about 380 euros per month). until the death of the old woman (who we remember was already 90 years old), after which the property would be fully his. This type of contract (known in France as traveler) is based on the bare property. This legal concept establishes that the buyer acquires the right to property without enjoy the usufruct until an uncertain event occurs, in this case the death of the saleswoman. That is, it is like a deferred purchase in which a certain immediate payment is established and the seller can use the property until his death. The buyer then takes possession of the property. Given this condition, the price of the investment is considerably lower than the market value, since it is not available immediately. That reduction in the initial price has shot the number of operations that have been growing at a double-digit rate since the pandemic. According to published data by Expansionin 2021, this type of operations grew by 22.6%, 23.7% in 2022 and 11.3% in 2023. For a 47-year-old buyer like Raffray, that seemed like a smart move and a very low-risk investment. In 1965 and with the life expectancy statistics much smaller than the current ones, Raffray assumed that Calment would live perhaps a few more years and that the total amount he would pay would be less than the market price of the apartment. A saleswoman with a lot of attachment to life However, what seemed like an operation with few unknowns turned into a financial nightmare for Raffray. Jeanne Calment, the elderly nonagenarian, not only lived beyond any reasonable expectation at that time, but his longevity surpassed all calculations. Officially, Calment died in 1997 at the age of 122 years and 164 days. as he collected The New York Times. That is why he entered the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest person recorded to date, It’s also bad luck for Raffay. Raffray, in turn, died in 1995 at the age of 77, 30 years after signing the contract with Calment. Until that moment, the notary had paid fees that, together, They far exceeded the value of the property. However, after his death, his widow was forced to continue with payments to Calment, because the obligation agreed in the annuity contract only disappeared with the death of Calment, not Raffray. There was no escape. The result was that Raffray’s family ended up spending much more money than it would have cost to buy the apartment through conventional methods, without ever moving in. Calment herself, with irony, even commented in an article for The New York Times that “in life, sometimes bad deals are made.” A life worth two As expected, such remarkable longevity did not go unnoticed by science and medicine, with much interest being shown in investigating the details about the life and habits de Calment to try to reveal their secret…and boy did they do it. In 2018, a research team formed by the Russian mathematician Nikolay Zak and the gerontologist Valery Novoselov proposed a radical hypothesis: Jeanne Calment could have died in 1934. The Calment who had signed the bare ownership contract with André-François Raffray could be Yvonne Marie Nicolle Calment, daughter of Jeanne Calment who, supposedly, had died of pleurisy on January 19, 1934. The hypothesis was that Yvonne would have impersonated his mother’s identity to avoid paying inheritance taxes. That artificially “extended” the longevity of his mother, who was actually living two lives under the same name. This theory was supported by discrepancies in ancient documents, such as differences in physical characteristics between historical records and by comparing photographs of Yvonne and the supposed elderly Calment. So it was not only a fraud to avoid paying taxes, Raffay was also victim of deception. However, there is no scientific consensus on this version. Subsequent research by a team of Swiss and French demographers and historians, published in it Journal of Gerontologythey discard the hypothesis of fraud and maintain that, statistically, Calment could live to be 122 years old. In Xataka | There is a ‘good’ fat that hides a secret to aging better and being in shape. All that remains is to get the pill Image | Wikimedia Commons (Emilien Barral), grg.orgUnsplash (Jakub Zerdzicki)

For years, foreigners who wanted sun and beach bought a house in Spain. Now they are looking for something else: luxury housing

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The real estate market emits signals which show that foreigners have won a relevant weight in the sale and purchase of luxury homes, which leads us to think about changes in the profile of the international buyer. Spain is no longer just a destination for families or couples from other countries interested in getting a small apartment for their vacation in search of sun and beach. It also receives wealthy people who want settle herein the cities, and is able to pay for his house out of pocket. The data are certainly suggestive. “First level destination”. I warned him recently in an interview with Idealista Paloma Pérez Bravo, CEO of Residencial de Lucas Fox, a platform specialized in the premium market: “Spain has gone from being a sun and beach getaway to a top-level luxury destination.” From your experiencethe country “has stopped being the home of the sun and has become the home of investment. People want more first homes than second homes because they are moving to Spain.” It’s not the only change he appreciates. Upon your signature, Bravo explains to SERdigital nomads are now arriving, entrepreneurs from America, English and American, also businessmen and investors who used to invest in the US and now find themselves with problems there due to Trump’s immigration policy. Is there data? Yes, although they come mainly from companies, so they must be handled with some caution. In your report On market forecasts for 2026, Lucas Fox reveals for example that 62% of buyers Those who close transactions worth more than 2.5 million euros are foreigners, more than 60% of ultra-luxury sales are signed without the need for financing and a good part of the acquisitions are made in search of a “main residence”, not to convert the property into a vacation home or as an investment. Looking ahead to next year, the company also expects that activity in the segments prime and super prime grow 3-6% and 6-10% respectively and leaves behind a fundamental idea that tells us about the profile of those clients who purchase the most expensive houses: “The international buyer is already the majority.” Specifically, the weight of Europeans stands out, followed by Americans and British. Other percentage: 92%. Lucas Fox is not the first to warn of the frequency with which foreign accents are heard in real estate agencies specializing in the premium market. A few months ago Barnes claimed that 92% of buyers from the Spanish luxury market were already foreigners. Of them, around half (49%) were also investors from outside the EU, with a notable presence especially of Mexicans, Colombians, Venezuelans, Russians, Chinese and Arabs. The community members They accounted for 43% while the Spanish, according to the real estate agency, were left with a meager 8% of the total. Are there more clues? The answer is once again affirmative. Another company that shared data recently is LuxuryEstatea premium housing portal that confirms that searches by international buyers interested in the Spanish market already represent a substantial part of its traffic. Above all, the demand for information from european countries such as Germany, France, Italy, Belgium or the Netherlands and the interest aroused by the premium segment of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, Madrid or the Valencian Community. Other regions, such as the Canary Islands and the Basque Country, also seem to be emerging. A consolidated destination. LuxuryEstate confirm in fact that ours “is no longer just an aspirational destination, but a highly competitive market.” The comment is in line with what it points out to Lucas Fox or even CaixaBank Research, which in a recent analysis Regarding the changes in the profile of the resident foreigner who acquires housing in Spain, he warns: “Spain has established itself as one of the most attractive destinations for luxury investment in Europe.” Different buyers. In the same reportCaixaBank recalls that the demand for housing by foreigners has grown in recent years, first after the pandemic and then thanks to the improvement in financing. It also clarifies that there are differences between resident foreigners and those who do not live here and are mainly looking for houses for their vacations or as an investment. On average, the former (residents) paid around €1,795/m2 in 2024 and the latter (non-residents) €3,063/m2. These are values ​​significantly higher than those recorded by national buyers, which moved at 1,713. However, the last balance of Property Registrars shows that foreign demand for housing has reduced in the third quarter of the year, representing 13.6% of the total. The percentage reflects the entire market, not just the luxury segment, although there are those who warn that the latter is not immune to the shortage of supply, which among other issues affects its prices. Images | DaYsO (Unsplash) In Xataka | After Catalonia, there is another autonomous community considering prohibiting buying a home to invest: Canary Islands

When you bought a car you were supposed to control it 100%. The industry has managed to make us lose our desire

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An owner of a Hyundai Ioniq 5 N recently discovered that he couldn’t perform one of the most basic maintenance tasks on his electric car: changing the brake pads. The reason has nothing to do with how complex or not the task was mechanically, but rather with Hyundai’s proprietary software and the professional-level credentials necessary to access it. The episode has reopened the debate on the repairability of electrified vehiclesin an era in which we increasingly need professionals specialized in software and electronics in workshops, and carrying out maintenance on our own is increasingly more complicated. The underlying problem. Brake pads are wear components that any car needs replacing periodically, although in electric vehicles they last longer thanks to the regenerative braking. On most cars, this job can be done at home with more or less basic tools and moderate mechanical experience. However, the Ioniq 5 N incorporates an electronic parking brake that must be fully retracted by a computer to allow changing pads, and then recalibrated to adjust to the thickness of the new parts. What it cost the owner. According to shared user SoultronicPear on Reddit, no conventional diagnostic scanner worked on his 2025 Ioniq 5 N. After trying several options, he purchased a subscription to Hyundai’s J2534 software (costing $60 per week) and an approved adapter (about $2,000). Still, the system didn’t work. After contacting the software developers, he discovered that the Windows version was not updated for the 2025 models, while official dealers use a completely different program based on Android. a barrier. When I finally received the updated version of the software, a new obstacle appeared: the system requested credentials NASTF (National Automotive Service Task Force), a US organization that validates professional mechanics and regulates access to sensitive vehicle functions in the country. According to TheDriveHyundai’s technical documentation states in red that “access to two-way tests and special functions requires NASTF Diagnostic Professional or Vehicle Safety Professional credentials.” Therefore, the owner could not access this adjustment firsthand. Hyundai’s position. The middle consulted to the firm, which defended its procedure arguing reasons of security and functionality. “The official repair procedure requires placing the rear calipers into service mode using our Global Diagnostic System or the J2534 app. This ensures proper functionality and customer safety,” a spokesperson explained. The company he added that it is exploring ways to make routine maintenance easier by “balancing convenience with security,” and that its official tool is available for anyone to purchase, although it is worth mentioning that its price is around $6,000. Beyond legality. Technically, Hyundai does not violate the laws of law to repair because it offers access through systems compatible with the J2534 standard, not only through proprietary equipment. However, what has always been a task accessible to individuals with moderate mechanical knowledge who wanted to do it on their own, has been relegated exclusively to professional workshops, at least in this case. A growing problem. Although the case focuses on Hyundai, the Korean brand is not the only one that makes repairs on modern vehicles difficult. The electrification and digitalization of automobiles is creating new barriers for owners and even independent workshops, who also cannot access these functions. For many enthusiasts, this takes away autonomy over their own vehicles and creates confusion, especially for something that should be as accessible as routine car maintenance. Cover image | Tekton In Xataka | In 2001, Renault launched a car ahead of its time: it was a miserable failure that now has another chance

If you bought your house before 2013 and paid off the mortgage with its sale: The Treasury owes you money

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If you bought your house before 2013 we have good news for you: now you will be able to recover up to 1,356 euros on your tax return thanks to an important change in the way in which the Treasury recognizes mortgage deductions. If you used the money from the sale of your home to pay what you mortgage pendingthis change in Treasury doctrine can directly affect you. The new resolution of the Central Economic-Administrative Court (TEAC) opens the door for thousands of taxpayers to review their statements from recent years and request returns that they couldn’t ask for before. An opportunity to save on rent. The Central Economic-Administrative Court (TEAC) has dictated a change of doctrine in a resolution in which he has clarified that, if you use part of the money from the sale of your house to pay off the remaining mortgage, you can also deduct that amount on your income tax return. This changes the way the Treasury saw things until now and may mean recover more money on your taxes. Previously, you could only deduct mortgage payments while you lived in the house and owned it. If you sold the home, you lost the deduction from the day of the sale, even if you used part of the money to pay off the mortgage. An example to understand it easily. The TEAC resolution has been based on the binding consultation of a taxpayer from Santa Cruz de Tenerife, so his case can serve as a practical example. This taxpayer sold his home in June 2018 and used 10,202 euros of the amount obtained from the sale to pay off the mortgage. At that time, the Treasury only allowed him to deduct the installments paid until May, the month before the sale of the home, because the cancellation payment for the same, although it is part of the investment in that home, was no longer counted because it was no longer his property. With the new TEAC criteria, this cancellation with the money from the sale can also be deducted and therefore the excess withholding in personal income tax that was not previously recognized can be recovered. This represents a real change for those who have sold their house and paid off their debt with the money from the sale, since their right to the deduction does not disappear the day they sell the house, but remains in force as long as they use that money to pay the cancellation of their mortgage. Conditions to access the deduction. As and as they remember in IberleyIn order to benefit from this deduction, a series of conditions must be met. The first condition is that the home had to be your habitual residence until the moment of selling it. The second condition is to have purchased that home before 2013 and to have applied the personal income tax deduction prior to its sale. The maximum base for calculating the deduction is 9,040 euros per year, and the Treasury allows you to deduct 15% of what you pay for the loan. That leaves a maximum deduction of 1,356 euros per year which, if you had not applied it after the sale of the home, you can now claim if applicable. Review of declarations from 2021. From Idealistic stand out that, although this deduction is only for those who bought before 2013, those taxpayers who have sold their home and canceled the mortgage since 2021 can review their returns to see if the personal income tax deduction was correctly applied, including that final cancellation amount. This means that there may be pending returns for those who did not claim it at the time and meet the requirements in the years between 2021 and 2024, as long as their term has not expired. In Xataka | Just in case Madrid had few problems with housing, now it adds one more: US millionaires investing in the city Image | Wikimedia Commons (Jordiferrer, Ruth Leong)

A loaf of bread costs one euro in the supermarket. For the same price Europe just bought 18 fighter jets

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A loaf of bread from a supermarket or basic bakery usually around the euro in many cities. An automatic coffee machine in stations, hospitals or universities is also found at that price (okay, not always). In supermarkets, seasonal fruits such as a large apple, a banana or a loose piece of fruit can be around the amount. Even a single bus ticket in some cities is still close to the euro. What we were never going to imagine is that what a loaf of bread costs, 18 fighter jets cost. A strategic transfer. The transfer of 18 F-16 fighters from the Netherlands to Romania for the symbolic price of one euro It is, on the surface, an administrative gesture, but in practice it constitutes a strategic move with direct implications for the European security architecture and for the war in Ukraine. The formalized operation the full incorporation of these devices to the European F-16 Training Center (EFTC), installed at Fetești Air Base 86, in the southeast of Romania, and whose function is train Romanian and Ukrainian pilots in the management of the F-16 under interoperable NATO standards. Further. The presence of these aircraft on Romanian territory no longer depends on Dutch ownership, which allows expand and secure training places, adjust training rhythms to Allied needs and consolidate Romania as a key country on the eastern flank, in a context marked by Russian pressure in the Black Sea and on the border with Ukraine. Romania as a hub. The EFTC has become a space where instructors, pilots and technical personnel from multiple NATO countries and Ukraine work under homogeneous methodsensuring that new F-16 operators not only learn to fly the device, but also to integrate it into air defense doctrines, airspace control and combined operations. The center benefits from a tripartite structure: Romania provides the base, infrastructure and logistical support; The Netherlands provided the aircraft, and Lockheed Martin, as manufacturer, supplies instructors and advanced maintenance. Implications in war. This combination facilitates training of ukrainian pilots in an environment that reproduces real mission patterns and also guarantees constant course rotation without depending on US airspace or dispersed structures. The fact that these F-16s are European AM/BM standard models, the same ones that Ukraine has begun to receive from various allies, allows for immediate continuity: what is learned in Romania is translated without transition to combat operation. Relevance for Ukraine. The nation has received commitments to deliver dozens of F-16s from from Netherlands, Denmark, Norway and Belgiumand its arrival has marked a slow but cumulative turning point in the modernization of its air force, until now dominated by MiG-29 and Su-27 Soviet design. The pilots trained in Romania (and in parallel in the United States) are already operating on defensive missions against Russian attacks with missiles and drones, and the value of the F-16 depends on both its number and the degree of training and the ability to sustain its maintenance and doctrine. In that sense, the EFTC is a structural piece, since it guarantees not only initial learning, but continuous trainingthe accumulation of Ukrainian instructors and the doctrinal integration with allies who have already dominated the apparatus for decades. Furthermore, the future possibility of these same aircraft transferred to Romania ending up in Ukraine is not ruled out, especially as Romania moves towards adoption of the F-35planned for after 2030. Implications. Plus: The strengthening of the EFTC reflects a broader shift in European defense: The progressive reduction in the number of F-16 operators in Western Europe, replaced by the F-35, has left room to reorient these aircraft to training, interoperability and reinforcement functions on the eastern flank. Romania, together with Bulgaria and Slovakia, is part of the group of new F-16 operatorsbecoming recipients of capabilities previously concentrated in northern and western countries. This geographical shift of air capabilities towards the east is significant because it accompanies the shift from the center of gravity strategic of NATO after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Training, maintenance, doctrine and response capabilities are now concentrated in territories closer to the possible confrontation. Other transfers. The symbolic sale of weapons between allies has relevant precedents that show how the financial price can be irrelevant compared to the strategic objective. The best known case is the transfer of 22 fighters MiG-29 from Germany to Poland in 2002 for one euro per unit, an operation that allowed Polish air capacity to be maintained while Berlin advanced in its modernization and that, years later, facilitated the shipment of those same devices to Ukraine. Another example is the transfer of former Hamilton class coast guard cutters by the United States to the Philippines. for a dollarwithin the program Excess Defense Articlesstrengthening Philippine naval capabilities in the South China Sea without a prohibitive cost. Added to this is the howitzer transfer self-propelled M109L from Italian arsenals to Ukraine, also under symbolic conditions, when the priority was no longer their accounting value, but rather putting proven, repairable and compatible systems with available ammunition in the hands of the Ukrainian army. At one euro. The sale for one euro It is not an isolated symbolic gesture, but the formalization of a capacity transfer process that consolidates Romania as NATO strategic node in air training and preparation, reinforces the technical base of the Ukrainian air force in transition, and reflects the structural readjustment of European defense to the east. He EFTC It provides not only pilots, but also doctrine, interoperability and operational continuity at a time when the stability of the eastern flank depends both on the number of aircraft and the quality and consistency of those who operate them. Image | US Air Force, Dutch Ministry of Defense, Romanian Ministry of Defense In Xataka | A very dangerous idea is gaining strength in the corridors of Europe: paying Russia in kind In Xataka | The war in Ukraine has triggered delays and canceled flights. And Europe has the solution: a wall of drones

In 2007, 20% of homes were bought by young Spaniards. Now that gap is being filled by another group: foreigners

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With the skyrocketing priceshe decoupling between supply and demand in cities and a market increasingly inaccessiblethe notaries of Spain have found themselves with a curious fact (not unexpected) when reviewing the home buying and selling data. Operations led by young people have collapsed in recent decades. If in 2007 they represented 22.5% of the total, now they do not reach 10%. Of course, all groups have followed the same dynamic. The statistics Notaries show that there is another group of buyers that has experienced a diametrically opposite trend: foreigners. What has happened? That the General Council of Notaries (CGN) has launched a new tool on-line which helps us better understand the Spanish real estate market. Above all to study key aspects such as the evolution of prices, the pace of purchases and sales or the amount of operations, offering an alternative vision to that of portals such as Idealista. If something has attracted attention During its presentation, however, another indicator was: the weight of young people in the real estate market. Or rather, how it has been receding little by little. What does the data say? The conclusion of the notaries is quite clear. If we look back and analyze the last two decades, we see that “the presence of young people in the market has been drastically reduced.” In 2007, the younger population (those between 18 and 30 years old) was behind 22.53% of sales. Today that percentage has been reduced to 9.55%. In fact, the statistical portal shows that they are one of the groups with the smallest footprint on the market, only behind the group that is already over 70 years old. In general the latest data Updated CGN data show that those under 31 years of age have represented 9.35% of buyers over the last year, far from the 25.7% of the 31-40 age group or 26.89% of the 41-50 age group. For more than a decade, in fact, the average age of those who buy has been around 50 years old. It’s not surprising at all. Other studies have been pointing out for some time the difficulties with which young people encounter to access the real estate market (only a part manages to buy or rent) and above all its gradual weight loss. Do they show anything else? Yes. Young Spaniards may play a much more discreet role in the sector today than just a few years ago, but there is another group that has grown. So much in fact that has covered the gap left by those less than 30 years old. CGN data show that operations carried out by foreigners have skyrocketed in the last two decades: from representing 7.5% of the total in 2007, they have risen to 20.1%. The Vanguard specifies that the increase has been especially pronounced in the case of non-residents, who would be purchasing of the order of 50,000-60,000 properties per year. He statistical portal of notaries allows us to go a few steps further and get a more approximate idea of ​​which foreign citizens are interested in the Spanish real estate market. According to their updated data, the British represent 8.7%, the Moroccans 7.7% and the Italians are close to 7%. They are followed on the list by Germans (6.9%) and Romanians (6.4%). It is interesting that in some of these groups, such as the British, the percentage of non-resident buyers is higher than those who do have their habitual residence in Spanish territory. When comparing the evolution of foreign buyers and young people (between 18 and 31 years old), the data must however be handled with some caution, since the General Council of Notaries does not clarify to what extent they overlap. And what about the prices? In recent years the real estate market has been marked by another phenomenon as or even more relevant: rising prices. The data of Idealistic show that, in Spain, on average, the square meter of residential use cost 1,522 euros in September 2015. It now stands at 2,517. The data does not exactly match the calculated by the notaries, but it still gives an idea of ​​the increase in housing prices. The group estimates that last year the sector recorded a variation rate price increases of 7.12%, one of the highest in the last decade. In fact, it was only surpassed in 2022, when the figure was 7.23%. “From January to August 2025, apartment prices in Spain (new and second-hand housing) have increased by 8% compared to 2024. This situation is worsened in the country’s capital, with Madrid registering a price increase of 15.2%. In Barcelona the increase reaches 9.23%,” concludes the CGN. The director of the Technological Center of Notaries, Alberto Martínez Lacambra, admits In fact, the rise in housing prices “is beginning to be worrying.” And beyond prices? The weight loss of young people is explained by several factors. Although the increase in the price of residential m2 is a key factor, there is an added difficulty in saving (costs rise in the purchase and sale market, but also in the rental market) and accessing credit or deep imbalance between demand and supply that the most saturated markets suffer from. The situation is so complex and young people have it so difficult that in fact notaries have found another revealing surprise: they are increasingly most common donations of housing (or cash for purchases) between parents and children. Regarding the increase in foreign buyers, the trend coincides with another undeniable reality. One that goes beyond the effect of extinct ‘golden visa’: he general increase of the foreign population, which has helped Spain increase its GDP and strengthening of the registry, a reality recognized by the INE itself. In recent years, the country has also gained appeal as a vacation destination, to the point that it threatens to become with more visitors of the planet. Images | Emil Gabrovski (Unsplash) and Roberto Tjalondo (Unsplash) In Xataka | A 40m2 “capsule” for 25,000 euros: the Chinese solution to housing that … Read more

Thousands of people bought the “romantasy” fashion book because it was cute. An unpleasant surprise awaited them.

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The consumerist desire that invades any area of ​​our lives also contaminates our hobbies. We are no longer talking about your identity being determined by your style when it comes to dressing or the music you listen to; Now, not missing the latest literary viral phenomenon in #Booktok also forms that identity that is built through what we consume. And if not tell everyone who bought ‘Catabasis‘, the author’s new novel RF Kuangfor its colorful edition and supposed themes related to a whole legion of readers, only to end up with a disappointment that leads them to abandon it after a few pages. Be aware of the latest news and let your private library be ground zero of your literary diogenes, full of those decorated songs so instagrammableis a new aspect of consumerism. The essential thing is not to search and select a book that suits your taste or surprises you, but to look for that pompous edition in trend on Tiktok. With the rise and increase in the number of readers has given way to a community on social networks that consumes books, mostly from a specific genrehe romanticasyand that follows like a mantra literary fashion of the month. As we have mentioned, marketing strategies can confuse the public and in order to attract the largest number of buyers, sometimes blur categories and genres that should be delimited. The fever for colored songs As a regular reader, it is healthy to get out of that nebula and inform yourself well about the reading you are going to do or, on the contrary, go with an open mind and let yourself go when starting those new pages. Because if you don’t, you can come to ‘Catábasis’ looking for a romance within an academic-fantastic environment and end up with your head full of equations, formulas and philosophical postulates. If we dive in reviews from ‘Catábasis’, we will find an alleged romance Dark Academia with the clichés of rivals to lovers (rivals to lovers), forced proximity (forced proximity) or one bed (the famous trope of rom-coms where the protagonists are forced to share a single bed). This would lead us to place our perception of the work in an erroneous perspective. The novel has been sold as if it were addressed to the general public, when It’s niche. Doctoral thesis, graphic description. RF Kuang is not your typical romance writer. In his previous books such as the ‘Poppy War’ trilogy (named by Time as one of ‘The 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time‘) we find an epic fantasy of Asian inspiration; in ‘Babel’, a criticism of British imperialism; and in ‘Amarilla’, a satire on the publishing world. Perhaps it is from there that we have to establish the starting point of ‘Catábasis’. It may be that the public has been launched en masse to buy Kuang’s new novel infected by expectations, but just look at social networks to see that the outcome has been disappointing for not a few. The result of this phenomenon is curious because the criticisms of Kuang’s novel are based, for the most part, on issues that have little to do with its theme or the characters. It seemed that part of the book’s audience, directly, I didn’t know what he was facing. On this occasion the #Booktok community was a victim of “what goes” and an elegant and striking edition: but, dear readers, not everything has to be romance and romanticasy. This lucrative sales strategy that consists of labeling all the literary novelties under clichés that are associated with romance to attract more attention ends up being a double-edged sword for books like Kuang’s. hell is a campus In this new novel we find the story of two Cambridge doctoral students who, after the death of their thesis advisor, decide to travel to hell to look for him and obtain a letter of recommendation that will determine their professional future. And yes, we can accept the label Dark Academia since it has several of its elements, just as we also find a romance that floods and emerges throughout the story; but ‘Catabasis’ (a Greek term that refers to the descent to hell and subsequent exit from it), is about something else. RF Kuang, in essence, uses the underworld as MacGuffin to create a critique and a satire of the academic world through a raw and realistic vision. Sounds good, maybe not so good. The author shoots us with scenes in offices that cause more chills than Dante’s own inferno; while talking about toxic rivalries, directors who abuse their power, gender inequality and academic obsession with knowledge. And, despite fantasy and a system of magic based on logic and paradox, these unreal situations trigger a conversation and social criticism about the academy. While the protagonists Alice and Peter wander through the “eight circles of hell” we are immersed in numerous philosophical and mathematical elements. Dante, Piranesi, the myth of Orpheus or the scrolls of Hecate are part of the daily narrative. The book is full of mathematical theories, academic references, and terms that will make you stop several times to do a Google search. The fact that for some doctoral students hell is, literally, their own university, already makes us suspect that we are not facing a rivals to lovers to use; not even in the face of academic criticism of Ali Hazelwood style. ‘Catabasis’ is dense and requires active reading; In fact, we can say that it is an essay disguised as a novel that sometimes sacrifices the rhythm of the plot or its development in favor of the style and ideas it wants to convey. With an acidic, witty and harsh tone, Kuang uses Alice as the epicenter of the narrative. A character who is not designed to make you like him, but to embody the loss of health and identity caused by the pressure of his tutor and the academic environment. The message that we can filter is quite clear: Sartre said that … Read more

Hijos de Rivera began as a brewery in A Coruña. Now you have just bought the best gin in the world

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Children of Rivera, the owner of Estrella Galicia, has bought the Galician distillery Vánagandrproducer of London Dry gin, which was recognized as the best in the world in 2024 and double gold at the International Spirits Challenge 2025. The operation, the amount of which has not been revealed, marks a new chapter in the transformation of a Coruña brewery into a group that has gone much further with premium beverages. Why is it important. The purchase responds to a very clear strategy: prioritizing quality over volume in a market where traditional consumption is falling. Sales of this type of beverage fell by 3.7% in 2024, with young people drinking less and less. But those who have not reduced consumption are now looking for superior products. Hijos de Rivera has identified that niche and is occupying it. The facts. Vánagandr was founded in 2014 in Cambre, a few kilometers from the Hijos de Rivera headquarters. In a decade, this craft distillery has accumulated more than 40 international awards. Its master distiller, Enrique Pena, is the only Spanish member of the Gin Guildan organization that promotes excellence in gin. The brand manufactures just 8,000 bottles annually, a volume that is expected to grow significantly under the umbrella of the Galician group. The context. This is not an isolated bet. Hijos de Rivera has been expanding beyond its beer core for years: October 2023: purchases Soul K, specialized in kombucha. March 2025: acquires Basqueland Brewing, a Basque craft beer. Tyris, a Valencian craft brewer, has also incorporated. Its Cabreiroá water brand sold 237 million liters in 2024, 3% more. The spirits catalog already included F de Formentera, Hijos de Rivera and Quenza liqueurs, and the distribution of Arehucas and Destiny Spirits rums. Between the lines. The strategy follows a clear pattern: the pursuit of brands with artisanal identity, international prestige and limited production. They do not buy to mass produce, but to preserve the essence that made those brands valuable. It is the same approach that has made Estrella Galicia a benchmark compared to larger industrial breweries. In this strategy, the challenge is to maintain that balance. Grow without losing the artisanal character, produce more without having to industrialize, distribute better without commercializing. And now what. Enrique Pena will continue as master distiller within Hijos de Rivera, which is a sign of continuity. Its connection to the Gin Guild gives the group international credibility. This purchase goes beyond the commercial transaction: the Galician group is buying knowledge, reputation and access to a premium segment in full expansion… while the market mainstream continues to contract. In Xataka | The great cane crisis: how Spain is leaving aside its favorite measure to drink beer Featured image | Rivera’s children

has bought more missiles from the US in just two years than in the entire last century

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For months, Washington made Spain his example of disobedience within NATO. Trump came to threaten with punishment trade due to the “low” military spending, while Brussels and La Moncloa they defended their own pace of investment and warned that public accounts could not sustain an uncontrolled escalation. But behind that diplomatic struggle and there was something more to the reproaches exchanged. A “bill” that belittles both, and that reveals a very different story about how far Spain went to appease its most powerful ally. The tariff threat. It all started with an angry warning from the White House: Donald Trump, irritated for the rejection of Pedro Sánchez to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP, publicly stated “punish” Spain with tariffs. The threat, which occurred after a summit with Javier Milei in Washington, marked a new level of political pressure on a historic ally. The American president accused Madrid of “taking advantage” of NATO protection without contributing enough and, in a mix of bravado and electoral calculation, he hinted that he could turn the budget dispute into a commercial front. Behind the rhetoric there was an intention deeper: force Europe to finance the containment of Russia with its own resources and, in the process, prop up the military industry United States. The answer. Neither the European Commission nor the Spanish Government took long to respond. Brussels remembered that trade policy is the exclusive competence of the Union and that any attempt to penalize a Member State would have consequences. Madrid, for its part, took pains to emphasize that its military spending had grown more than double in just seven years (from 0.98% of GDP in 2017 to 2% in 2025) and that the debate was not about spending more as a slogan, but about doing it with a strategic sense and within the real capabilities of the country. At the same time, Spain insisted that it contributes to collective deterrence and that its budget increase, although more gradual than that desired by Washington, is part of a structural modernization of its Armed Forces. However, between the lines, the tension reflected something further: the fear that North American demands would end up conditioning the industrial and technological orientation of European defense. The silent turn. And neither one thing nor the other. The diary El País has published figures that confirm what until recently was just intuition: Spain has purchased more American weapons in the last two years than in almost a century. Between 2023 and 2024, the Spanish Government ordered military material for more than 4,500 millions of euros to the United States, a quarter of everything acquired since 1950. The contracts include Patriot systems, MH-60R helicopters and auxiliary equipment that represents the largest volume of expenditure with a single supplier in the recent history of Spanish defense. According to the DSCA (Defense Security Cooperation Agency), sales to Spain reached 2,907 million of dollars in 2024 and 1,682 million the previous year. In other words: while Washington was publicly denouncing the lack of commitment, Madrid was carrying out one of the largest purchasing operations in its history, channeling billions into the US military industry. The geopolitical context. The rebound coincides with the new cycle of European rearmament after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the same one has shot the military budgets of all of NATO. In this context, Spain has accelerated the modernization of its forces with additional spending of 10,471 million of euros in 2025, advancing the goal of 2% of GDP by four years. To finance it, the Executive has resorted to zero interest loans, industrial modernization programs and R&D items, a financial framework that allows keep spending without reform general budgets. However, this expansion has a reverse: the strengthening of technological dependence on the United States, which is consolidating itself as the main supplier of critical systems and reducing the room for maneuver to advance European strategic autonomy. Budget pragmatism. If you also want, the contrast between the Trump threats and the flow contract record with American companies illustrates the balance that Spain has tried to maintain: resisting the public discourse of punishment while, in practice, meeting Washington’s strategic demands and covering its own operational shortcomings. The result could not be more paradoxical. In the eyes of NATO, Madrid meets faster than expected, and in the eyes of its European partners, it risks weakening efforts to consolidate a common industrial base. The movement also redefines the bilateral relationship with Washington, which goes from rhetoric of reproach to the pragmatism of the transaction: while the North American president shows political muscleyour industry reaps the benefits. A lesson. The truth is that the history of these two years reveals how defense decisions, beyond percentages and headlines, are a geopolitical currency. Spain has demonstrated the ability to respond to external pressures without breaking its internal narrative, but the long-term cost (dependency, industrial coherence and technological autonomy) has yet to be measured. Thus, in essence, the question is once again the same as always: whether Europe can rearm itself without falling back into the old pattern of industrial subordination that for decades fueled the transatlantic divide. Spain, with its purchasing record to the American “friend” and his sovereignty speechembodies that contradiction today: that of a continent that seeks independence, but keep buying their safety on the other side of the Atlantic. Image | Kelly Michaels, BORN In Xataka | The US no longer has to worry about Spain or the rearmament bill in Europe. Germany had a plan B In Xataka | Spain committed to investing 2% of GDP in Defense but is not looking for soldiers: it needs 96,000 qualified employees

EA is about to be bought for 50,000 million dollars. Its buyer is the new great cover of the industry

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Electronic Arts is about to change hands in exchange for 50,000 million dollars (approximately 42,731 million euros to change). If the agreement is confirmed, the company behind exits such as FIFA or the Sims would star One of the greatest acquisitions in history of the sector, with a blow of effect that would transcend beyond video games. On the other side of the table and with the open portfolio, an investment group led by the Capital Manager Silver Lake Partners, which by the way too You have interest in buying the Tiktok part which operates in the United States, and the sovereign background of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia already has a part of the industry. Now he wants to lead her Of the rumor, which sounds strongly in the last hours, The Street Journal is echoed. With a market capitalization figure of EA is 48,000 million dollars, so the purchase offer is slightly above. After the publication of the rumor, the consequences have not been expected: EA shares have risen 15% and they already mark historical maximums. The operation would be quite advanced according to the medium and became official through an announcement in early October. So everything It seems imminent. The size of the movement is not so much the impressive figure itself, but The specific electronic arts weight within the industry of the video game. Thus Botepronto, EA is an institution in the sports genre. Thus, it has franchises such as EA Sports FC, Madden either NHL And he does not stay there, since he also has such iconic titles as THE SIMS, Battlefield either Need for Speed. This megaadquisition remembers, saving distances, to the purchase of Blizzard Activision by Xbox for 68.7 billion dollars. Of course, in that case there was a long process of procedures and look at a possible Microsoft monopoly. In this case and to materialize the agreement, Saudi Arabia would become one of the protagonists of the industry. Battlefield 6 In this sense, The country of East half would control brands and sagas of reference that report to the company millions of income each year and that are also played by millions of people. On the other hand, it would be necessary to see how the studies associated with the different projects, their competitors and also how the cultural influence of the Arab country would react. The one of Saudi Arabia with the video game industry is not a surprise: After years investing in signatures such as Nintendo either Capcom with the aim of diversifying its economy. Of course, one thing is not to put the eggs in the same basket and another to lead a market that moves more money than cinema and music together. We are waiting for upcoming movements and/ or the official announcement. In Xataka | Thus the switch 2 behaves after a month of use: the Nintendo console surprises more for what it maintains that for what it changes In Xataka | I’ve been without touching a football video game for 20 years. I have tried the ‘EA Sports FC 25’ and this has been my experience Cover | Photo of Maxim Abramov in Unspash and EA Sports

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