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Spanish banks have no problem letting you buy cryptocurrencies. What they don’t want to do is advise you on them.

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In March 2025 BBVA he stuck out his chest. It was the first large traditional bank in Spain that allowed its clients to operate in cryptocurrencies. Then other entities such as CaixaBank and OpenBank followed. In all of these cases there is a crucial detail: one thing is that they let you operate with cryptos. It’s quite another to advise you on how to do it. You cook it, you eat it. That traditional banking has made this move is definitive proof that cryptocurrencies have managed to convince even this very conservative sector. But these institutions are not willing to risk too much, so although they allow their clients to buy or sell cryptocurrencies, they leave all responsibility to the client: they do not advise or advise. And it’s not likely that they will. Nobody wants to advise. A report published by the ESMA and the EBA reveals that the vast majority of entities follow the same pattern: they allow trading with cryptocurrencies, but do not advise clients about them. Of the 110 entities that have achieved authorization of the MiCA regulation in Europe, only 20 have requested to provide crypto advice. 11 provide recommendations (like eToro) and another nine offer portfolio management. There is a clear reason why these entities leave the ball in the clients’ court. Too much risk. Caution is absolute not only on the part of traditional banking, but also of traditional exchanges or trading markets. These entities, which have traditionally been the only resource for users to operate with cryptocurrencies, have never offered advisory services, and one was clear when investing that they assumed full responsibility for their actions. The surprise is that exactly the same thing happens with traditional banking. They ignore it, and they do so because they have no interest in advising: the reputational risk is too high, and the volatility of these assets makes it especially difficult to make reliable recommendations. Crypto analyzes guarantee (almost) nothing. As explained in five days Gliroia Hernández Aler, co-founder and partner of finReg360, “Crypto assets have the value that the market assigns to them. By not having an underlying that can be analyzed, such as an income statement, for example, it is difficult to base advice on objective data. Although there is more and more news that can impact bitcoin, it is difficult to do a quantitative analysis with traditional methods.” MiCA opened the market. Europe wanted to try to regularize that “wild west” that the crypto market had become. To this end, in mid-2023 it approved the MiCA (Markets in Crypto Assets) regulation, a European regulation to regularize this activity. Among other things, it offers consumer and investor protection and establishes measures to prevent market abuses. Banks as the new exchanges. We had to wait two years to see how the first banks took advantage of this regulation, but little by little more and more entities joined in. The message was clear: you no longer have to resort to “mysterious” cryptocurrency trading markets (exchanges). You can buy at your usual bank. Image | BBVA | André Francois McKenzie In Xataka | A British man was not allowed to look for his bitcoin disk in the trash for years: now he is considering buying the landfill

In China you can buy an 800 HP Audi for a price of a bare A3. The only catch is that it’s not an Audi

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We already explained some time ago in this house how AUDI was formed in China and in what aspects it differs from the one we all know in Europe. in China its four rings disappear to display the manufacturer’s name in capital letters on the front of their cars. But beyond the difference in their logo, it is clear that their cars are completely different. This makes sense, since the firm embarked on a stage in which wanted to adapt to local tastes taking inspiration from the brands that are already established there. Even if that means eliminating all traces of what we know about Audi to date. In China, AUDI markets an electric vehicle with 770 HP of power and that costs between 28,000 and 40,000 euros in exchange. Meanwhile, an equivalent model in Europe could easily exceed 100,000 euros. We are talking about the AUDI E5 Sportback, which was already presented in 2024, and which continues to surprise due to the contrast of the figures they manage there and here in Europe. Although we make no mistake, we know perfectly well that it is not an Audi. An Audi that is not Audi. The E5 Sportback is the result of a joint venture between Audi AG and SAIC (Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation), the Chinese state company. Although it has German engineers behind the interior design and chassis development, the technical architecture, components and production are completely Chinese. In fact, the vehicle is based on the SAIC platform, the same one used by IM Motors, another brand of the Chinese group. German YouTuber Jean Pierre Kraemer, better known as JP Performance, has had quite a bit of traction on one of his latest videossince it has been able to show the ins and outs of this car through an imported unit. “This car has as much to do with an Audi technically as… well, many of our viewers have never seen it before,” he said. The trap of the Chinese market. 770 HP, 0-100 km/h in 3.4 seconds, 100 kWh battery, ultra-fast charging up to 424 kW and… it costs almost less than a basic Audi A3 in Spain. But hey, it’s really not the first case nor the last. This is due to cost structure in China. We are talking above all about lower wages, local production of batteries up to 15% cheaper than in Europe, according to data from Business Insider, massive state subsidies for production plants, aid for the purchase of electric vehicles, and a brutal price war between local manufacturers that forces even foreign premium brands to adjust their offerings to survive. The dilemma of German manufacturers. For brands like Audi, Volkswagen or BMW, China represents a critical market. According to account Audi, the firm sold approximately 650,000 units in China in 2024, compared to just 198,000 in Germany. That is, the Chinese market is three times larger than the German one for the Ingolstadt firm. These figures explain why Audi has surrendered to the conditions of the Asian giant: because to sell there, foreign brands are required by law to form joint ventures with local companies. The result is that Audi provides the design and part of the engineering, but SAIC provides the technology, factories and know-how for mass production at low cost. The reaction of the Chinese market. The E5 Sportback reached 10,000 units sold in its first 30 minutes since its launch. One week after the debut of the E5 Sportback, Audi presented the SUV versionand a luxury sedan on the same platform is even rumored. For Chinese consumers, the E5 competes directly with the Xiaomi SU7 and other high-end local electrics. Logically, the car will not reach our lands, and if something similar is done in terms of equipment and technology, it is clear that we will not see it at that price either. Cover image | AUDI In Xataka | In 1997, a Chinese student asked his grandmother for money to set up a stall. Today it is an emporium that surpasses McDonald’s

If the question is whether we will be able to buy a cheap combustion car in 2035, we already have the answer: no.

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The European Commission has presented its proposal for lighten emissions obligations for manufacturers in 2035. It is the confirmation that, if finally approved, Germany has won. And the country has gone on its own in its pressure on the European Union but, in addition, the new proposal reflects the true concerns of its industry. To better understand what has happened, we must remember. In 2022, The European Parliament approved the ban to sell cars that emit CO2 in 2035. The objective was reduce emissions by 100% pollutants target of 2021 and, therefore, that eliminated the possibility of selling any car that used this technology. That is to say, Europe had to jump to the electric car whether it wanted it or not. Some time later, with Germany and Italy putting pressure, the possibility was approved for cars sold from 2035 onwards to use combustion engines powered by efuel. These are synthetic fuels that, supposedly, during their production capture the same or greater amount of CO2 than that emitted by the exhaust pipe. If this is true, the car would be carbon neutral. With the wording that the car must be neutral in carbon emissions, the door was also open to the use of hydrogen cars (both in fuel cell as in format hydrogen combustion). These cars are also carbon neutral for the same reason, but along with their water vapor they do expel certain particles that are harmful to humans such as NOx or fine particles. At the time, the European Union kept a letter. The objectives could be revised and this This is what the European Commission has done. This has approved a proposal that has to be ratified by the European Parliament and the States (Council of Europe). Although it is not, therefore, official, it does anticipate that we will see changes in the rule. This regulation has several key points: The carbon emissions target is reduced from 100% to 90% compared to 2021 figures. The door opens to create a category that has become popular as eCarsmall electric cars (less than 4.2 meters), with their own regulation that will count as 1.3 cars when calculating the fleet’s emissions. The objectives of reducing emissions by 55% in 2030 are postponed to 2032. In those years, a space opens up in which manufacturers will have to comply with the proposed objectives by the end of 2032, with an average of those three years. A measure similar to the one that has been opened in the period 2025-2027. And this completely defines which cars can be sold. The data As we said, Germany has gotten away with these pressures. And in recent days we have seen two clearly differentiated fronts. Spain and France were willing to maintain regulation just as it was. Another group, cwith Germany in the leadproposed the revision of the objectives but the country, however, did not sign the letter of the six dissident countries in which Europe was asked to reverse its environmental policies regarding automobiles. Now, with the requirements that are proposed by the European Commission We know that, if it is finally approved, cars with combustion engines will continue to be sold. But as long as the average fleet of cars on the street guarantees that 90% reduction in emissions, which in practice leaves sales in a vast majority of electric cars punctuated by pure combustion vehicles. It must be taken into account that reducing CO2 polluting emissions by 90% compared to 2021 means that the fleet average will not be able to exceed 11.6 gr/km of CO2 (in 2021 it was 116 gr/km). That implies a ridiculous consumption of just 0.5 l/100 km of gasoline. A figure that is almost impossible to achieve for a specific car. Until now, plug-in hybrids were around 1l/100 km and CO2 averages of 50 gr/km in their official approvals. An already very high figure but will rise with the entry of the new calculation system multiplying the record in CO2 emissions. To compensate for this, a car only has one option left: increase its battery. The intention for 2035 is that plug-in hybrids will have a lot greater electrical autonomy. To give us an idea, the plug-in hybrid with the greatest autonomy on the market right now is the Lynk&Co 08 with 200 approved electric kilometers. Despite everything, Its CO2 emissions remain at 23 gr/km of CO2. That is, they double the maximum allowed in 2035. With this data, the company has to sell one electric car for each of these plug-in hybrids to be right within the limit of permitted CO2 emissions. But, in addition, Homologation criteria will be much stricter from 2028. So much so that a plug-in hybrid car that in 2021 registered around 50 gr/km of CO2 is expected to exceed 120 gr/km of CO2 with the new approval. Therefore, Lynk&Co should sell more than two electrics for each plug-in of the aforementioned Lynk&Co 08. The other option for an electrified vehicle with a combustion engine is the extended range electric vehicle. This type of car is, in practice, a plug-in hybrid but its combustion engine is designed for emergencies. So far we have seen cars like the Mazda MX-30 sold under this name but, in reality, they have a 50 liter fuel tank. What will have to arrive will be more similar to the first BMW i3 REX (the version with range extender) whose tank was 9 liters and, therefore, it was designed for an emergency. Expensive, very expensive Taking all this into account, it is clear that emissions obligations have been relaxed but it is still essential for manufacturers to continue selling a large number of electric vehicles. In practice, the best news for them is that 2025 fines postponed to 2027 and, therefore, they have two more years to comply with the obligation to place the average of emissions from its fleet at 93.6 gr/km of CO2. The plan was to fine 95 euros for each gram exceeded and … Read more

If you buy it you get a camera module. This is the new offer in this mobile with great power and autonomy

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Unlike what we saw a few years ago, Realme has taken a huge leap by betting on high-end mobile phones that, by all accounts, have managed to attract us both visually and technically. He Realme GT 8 Pro It arrived in stores just a few weeks ago and can now be purchased on Amazon for 899 euros. It is available in two colors: es and eye, because it comes with a charger and a camera module. Realme GT 8 Pro (12GB, 256GB) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links A mobile phone that can change the camera module At the design level the Realme GT 8 Pro It stands out above all for its camera module: It is quite large and can be exchanged with others sold by the brand. One comes by default, but when you buy it on Amazon the store gives you an additional one valued at 19.99 eurosthus allowing us to customize it. Beyond its design, the truth is that the Realme GT 8 Pro also manages to shine in power and autonomy. Regarding the first, it achieves this thanks to its processor Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 which comes, in this case, along with 12 GB of RAM and also has 256 GB of internal storage. The battery is well served thanks to its 7,000 mAh capacity. It also supports 120W fast charging and 50W wireless charging. In addition, its screen is excellent as it has a good 6.79-inch LTPO AMOLED panel that offers a QHD+ resolution and a 144 Hz refresh rate. You may also be interested realme Buds T200Lite True Wireless Bluetooth Headphones, 32dB Intelligent Active Noise Cancellation, 360° Spatial Sound, Autonomy up to 48 Hours, White The price could vary. We earn commission from these links realme Watch 5 Smart Watch for Women and Men, AMOLED 1.97″ Smartwatch, Bluetooth Calls, Independent GPS, 108+ Sports Modes, Health and Sleep Tracking/IP68/NFC, 14 Day Battery, Silver The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | Amparo BabiloniRealme In Xataka | The best mobile phones (2025), we have tested them and here are their analyzes In Xataka | The best quality-price mobile phones (2025). Their analyzes and videos are here

Jensen Huang managed to convince Trump to sell his H200 chips in China. Now China doesn’t want to buy them

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When something gets into Jensen Huang’s head, he goes after it and often succeeds. This is what happened in July of this year when managed to convince Trump to let him sell his H20 chip in China. History has just repeated itself and has managed to the president lifts the veto on H200 chips (although keeping a part). The problem is China, which does not see it very clearly. what has happened. China is preparing restrictions aimed at limiting access to NVIDIA’s H200 chips, according to Financial Times. If these restrictions end up being implemented, it will mean that the chips will not be available to any company that wants to buy them; They will first go through a pre-approval process, which includes explaining why chips from domestic companies do not meet their needs. In addition, there is another fact that adds up: for the first time, China has put national chips from companies like Huawei and Cambricon in its official procurement list. This list is a kind of purchasing guide for public institutions and large state groups that move billions a year in contracts. Why is it important. It is further proof that the Chinese government’s priority is not to depend on American technology for the development of its AI. Their bet is to favor the use of national chips even though they are not technologically at the level of NVIDIA chips. It’s not the same. China has already responded with distrust when NVIDIA obtained permission to sell H20 chips months ago and it seems that now they want to follow the same path, but there is a big difference: the H20 chips were the most basic, the H200 GPUs are much more advanced and represent a greater technological advantage, especially in more demanding tasks such as training large language models. What Chinese companies say. According to South China Morning PostAI companies in China such as ByteDance, Alibaba or Tencent continue to prefer to use H200s because they are much more powerful than the national alternatives offered by Huawei or Cambricon. Additionally, much of these companies’ code is based on NVIDIA’s Hopper microarchitecture, allowing them to use the chips without having to rewrite the code. On the other hand, developers who do not need maximum performance are wary of using American chips given the instability of the situation. The energy. NVIDIA’s CEO has been around for a while pressing for the US to lift these restrictions. Their pitch is that if China does not have access to NVIDIA chips, then they will improve their domestic chips and win the AI ​​race, but there is more. He has also warned that China has a huge energy advantagelargely thanks to government subsidies. He has already managed to convince Trump to sell chips and now the most difficult thing remains. Image | Wikipedia In Xataka | China is very clear about what it must do to win the chip war against the US: resort to its technological geniuses

Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel Buds Pro 2 have a 210 euro discount if we buy them together

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It is true that Black Friday is already over, but that does not mean that we have already missed the boat of taking advantage of some interesting promotions. It will depend a lot on what we are looking for, but if we are after a new mobile phone and we like what Android offers, the Google Store has a great promotion right now: we can take a Pixel 10 Pro next to some Buds Pro 2 with a discount of 210 euros: it would cost us the combo 1,138 euros. And be careful, because we would also get a great gift. Google Pixel 10 Pro + Pixel Buds Pro 2 The price could vary. We earn commission from these links A great combo that comes with a discount and gift This is a great option to renew two devices with a single purchase and with good savings along the way. This promo, which will only be active until next December 18 (or while supplies last), it is very easy to take advantage of: all we have to do is put both items in the cart and the discount will be applied automatically. The only thing we must keep in mind is that this offer cannot be combined with others. The discount that both devices have is very attractive, but it becomes even more so if we take into account that the combo also comes, with 70 euros of balance to spend in the Google Store. In this way, after making the purchase, we will receive the balance so that we can spend it within a period of one year from its issuance and with which we can save a good bit on other brand devices that we buy in the Google Store. And what would we get with this combo? First, a great phone like the Google Pixel 10 Pro. This device stands out for having the best Android experience and for being full of AI thanks to Gemini, but also for offering seven years of updatesvery good performance and a 6.3-inch screen that looks great. We can enjoy the phone together with our new Pixel Buds Pro 2, headphones that stand out for very good sound quality and corresponding noise cancellation. With this activated, we will be able to enjoy up to 30 hours of autonomy if we add the battery in the case. Furthermore, as we already highlighted in his analysis, They also stand out for being a super comfortable option. A combo that, if we add features, price and gift, will allow us to get two devices that we will enjoy for many years and that will also allow us to save a lot on our purchase if we take advantage of this Google Store promo. Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | Google In Xataka | The best mobile phones, we have tested them and here are their analyzes In Xataka | Best wireless headphones. Which one to buy and 21 models from 15 euros to 470 euros

Sam Altman is trying to buy his own rocket company to compete with SpaceX. The key: data centers

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The rivalry between Sam Altman and Elon Musk has just reached its highest point: space. And all so that OpenAI can deploy its own data centers in space. The news. As revealed by the Wall Street Journalthe CEO of OpenAI has been exploring the purchase of Stoke Space, a Seattle startup that develops reusable rockets, with the goal of building data centers in space. Although talks with Stoke Space cooled in the fall, the move confirms a trend we’ve been observing for months: Silicon Valley is outgrowing the Earth to fuel AI. Sam’s plan. According to the Journal’s sources, Sam Altman was not looking for a launch provider, but rather an investment that would ensure OpenAI majority control of Stoke Space. Stoke Space, founded in 2020 by former Blue Origin engineers, is developing a fully reusable rocket called ‘Nova’ to compete with SpaceX’s Falcon 9. So that. Altman maintains a tense rivalry with Elon Musk, so the logic of this move would be to reduce OpenAI’s dependence on Musk’s rockets in the event that it decided to deploy servers in space. But above that there is a purely energetic motivation. The computing demand for AI is so insatiable that the environmental consequences of keeping it on Earth will be unsustainable. In certain orbits, however, solar energy is available 24/7 and the vacuum of space offers an infinite heat sink to cool equipment without wasting water. The fever of space data centers. Altman is not alone in this race. What until recently seemed like an eccentricity has become a serious project for big technology companies: And what does Musk say? The irony of Altman pursuing his own rocket company is that the industry’s undisputed leader, Elon Musk’s SpaceX, already has the infrastructure in place. While his competitors design prototypes and seek financing, Musk has cut off the debate with his usual forcefulness: in the face of the discussion about the need to build new orbital data centers, He assured that there is no need to reinvent the wheel: “It will be enough to scale the Starlink V3 satellites… SpaceX is going to do it.” Images | Brazilian Ministry of Communications | Village Global In Xataka | Building data centers in space was the new hot business. Elon Musk just broke it with a tweet

If the question is why we buy a home in Spain, mortgages have the answer: to invest

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In the middle of the debate on the weight of speculation in the Spanish real estate market and with the Catalan Government immersed in the debate Regarding whether or not it should put limits on the purchase of housing for investment purposes, the sector has come across data that adds even more fuel to the fire. According to a study carried out by the Financial Users Association (Asufin), the 47.7% of the mortgages signed are aimed at acquiring homes for investment purposes. That is to say, the idea of ​​those who take mortgages is not to convert houses into homes, but to put their savings in a safe security in search of good returns. What does the study say? The report by Asufin is just that, a report with its biases and limitations prepared based on a survey with 1,301 interviewees and data from different official sources, but it still offers an interesting ‘photo’. And a resounding conclusion: among those who go to the bank in search of financing to buy a home, there are many more people with an investment mentality than there are families looking for a home in which to settle. What figures do you use? The study concludes that only 15.9% of the new mortgage holders will convert the home into their first residence. Another 18.5% are looking for credit to get a second home that they will dedicate to personal use and 17.9% intend to change their usual residence. The photo is completed with the 47.7% that we mentioned before: buyers who knock on the doors of banks in search of credit to purchase a second home as an investment. The size of this last percentage is not surprising if we take into account that the price per residential square meter has been climbing for years (both in the purchase and rental markets) and there are those who estimate that buying an apartment for rent offers returns of more than 6% (either even older), significantly above what more traditional investments guarantee. Why do we buy houses? Asufin’s study has given rise to another interpretation that shows us more clearly what percentage of buyers go to the real estate market with an investment mentality, not in search of a home. If what we are talking about is the reasons that lead buyers to consider requesting a loan, investment is the main motivation 65%. The data shows that brick is still seen as a refuge value. And so, recognizes the associationleads to “the cycle of buying to rent or saving value to sell more expensively continuing to significantly stress the market.” It’s actually nothing new. Previous studies Asufin itself already reflected that more mortgages are requested to invest than to buy homes. Does the report say anything else? Yes. It confirms the low flow of new housing entering the market, that today the cheapest option is fixed mortgages and that foreign buyers they account for a total of 14%although the data varies depending on the region and the market segment we are talking about. For example, in the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands they account for almost 30%, while there are half a dozen autonomous communities in which foreigners do not even reach 4%. Another interesting reading is that credits take up a considerable part of the finances of Spanish households. To be more precise, the average mortgage payments are already They represent 35% of salaries, a percentage that rises to 40% if we talk about the segment of young buyers, between 25 and 35 years old. However, the Asufin data show a slight change in trend, with a clear decline in the percentage of buyers who go into debt to buy second homes for investment purposes. Although they continue to represent an important part of the pie (47.7%), at the beginning of the year they represented 56.2%. Image | Ján Jakub Naništa (Unsplash) In Xataka | Buying a house is already an impossible mission for many young Spaniards. So his parents donate it to him

If you buy a house there it is to live there

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The Canary Islands have an idea to alleviate their serious residential crisis and make it easier for people who live and work on the islands but are unable to find an affordable home: limit purchases of housing among non-residents. It is not a new proposal nor is it free of controversybut in recent days the island Government has managed to sneak it back into the center of the public debate. He has even achieved the direct backup of the Ministry of Housing. The big question, in view of the latest data of purchase and sale, it is… Will it really help the Canaries to opt for “decent homes”? What has happened? That the Canary Islands want to limit the purchase of housing among non-residents on the islands. It’s not a new idea and it’s not easy either put it into practicesince it would have to fit into the community legal framework, but in recent days the island Government has managed to sneak it into the center of the debate. First to raise that restriction publicly during a European summit. Second, by getting the Ministry of Housing support your position. What exactly has he done? To begin the Government of the Canary Islands has transferred to Brussels for its “concern” about the lack of a “courageous strategy” on crucial issues affecting the island territories, such as housing. This was stated last week by the vice-adviser of the President’s Cabinet, Octavio Caraballo, during the Conference of EU Peripheral and Maritime Regions held in Barcelona. In that forum, Canarias went further and put an idea on the table: protect those who buy houses to actually live in them. “The Canary Islands maintains its efforts to establish limits on the purchase of housing on the islands by non-residents to guarantee a decent home for the people who live in the archipelago,” explains the regional government, which reminded the conference that foreign purchases and vacation rental boom is “straining” the market and reducing the housing supply available to locals. “It compromises social sustainability.” Has it stayed there? No. His proposal has been in the news again this week because the Canary Islands Executive he put it on the table during the meeting held on Thursday with Minister Isabel Rodríguez to discuss the State Housing Plan. From that meeting the Canarian authorities left with the “express support” of the State to limit the purchase of housing by people outside the islands. “He has shown his support for the defense that we are carrying out before the EU to protect the right to housing of all Canary Islands and limit the purchase of housing by non-resident foreigners,” assures counselor Pablo Rodríguez. Without going into details, the ministry issued a statement after the meeting in which he confirmed that he is in favor of the EU allowing “speculative purchases” to be prohibited. Is it a new proposal? No. Just a year ago the Canarian Government already announced which was looking for a way to take advantage of the islands’ Outermost Region (ORP) status to restrict the weight of non-resident foreigners in its real estate market. The truth is that the idea it’s been a while installed in the public and political debate, where it has not reached the necessary consensus for get ahead. Nor is it an idea exclusive to the Canary Islands. In 2024 Add came to present a non-legal proposal for the Government to veto the acquisition of houses by investment funds and non-resident buyers in Spain for three years. It did not prosper, among other reasons due to the vote against the PSOE. The same idea has sounded in the Balearic Islands either Cataloniawhere the markets are also very marked by vacation rentals. Why this interest? In the words of the Canary Islands Government, to guarantee that those who live and work on the islands can reside there and are not “expelled” by rentals for tourists and a market in full escalation. According to Idealista, since 2020 rents have become more expensive than 50% and the price of residential m2 has risen 68.3%. Housing is so expensive that there are temporary workers who have no choice but to stay in caravans. The island government assures that in recent years “a third of sales in the Canary Islands have been carried out by non-resident foreigners”, which complicates accessibility to a residential market that already deals with a “limited supply and growing demand”. To solve this, the Executive proposes restricting purchases by foreigners who do not live in the region, a measure that has precedents in other countries but faces a challenge: the European lawthat explicitly protects the “free movement of capital.” Is housing that expensive? Yes. At least it’s expensive enough to be in production. a curious phenomenon: foreigners themselves are being expelled from the market. a report published in October by the General Council of Notaries shows that, while in communities such as Asturias, Castilla y León or Galicia, home purchase and sale operations grew during the first half of the year, in tourist-rich markets such as the Canary Islands they have declined. In the Balearic Islands they ‘punctured’ by 6.8%, in Navarra by 3.7%, in the Valencian Community by 3.6% and in the Canary Islands by 7.7%, a decline that comes in the midst of a rise in prices. Images | Reiseuhu (Unsplash) and Bastian Pudill (Unsplash) In Xataka | There are those who think that the housing crisis can be solved by building. At the Polytechnic University of Catalonia they believe they are wrong

more and more people buy alone

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The Spanish housing market emits signals that lend themselves to curious reading. In full price escalationwith the residential square meter (m2) fooling around with values Prior to the real estate bubble, more and more people chose to buy a house alone. Without sharing the burden of the mortgage with a partner. There are three indicators that point in that direction. The first is the clear increase in single-person households in Spain, which are on their way to representing 33% of the total. The second, the increasing weight of singles in the real estate market. And third, the ever increasing number of buyers who sign their mortgages alone. All this while increases the single population of the country, which is already around 15 million people. More singles in agencies? Exact. It reflects it clearly the latest study from Fotocasa Research on the Spanish real estate market: if in 2023 singles represented 25% of applicants looking to buy a home, in 2024 the percentage had risen to 31%. Now it is around 32%. Curiously, the trend has been much more hesitant in the rental market. According to FotocasaAfter the pandemic, the proportion of tenants living alone shot up several points, from 15% in 2021 to 18% in 2023. Since then, this increase has slowed and reversed, falling again to 16%. Is there more data? Yes. Recently The Country public the detailed results of the Fotocasa study, in which the trend is seen more clearly. Their graphs reflect that in 2018 only 23% of the “buyers and demanders” of home ownership were single. Today that percentage is around 38%. The percentage is slightly higher than the 32% in the original Fotocasa Research study because it includes both those who have already formalized the purchase of a home and those who are considering doing so. In your analysis, The Country It also speaks interchangeably of the ‘single’ population and people who ‘live alone’. If we focus on married people and de facto or cohabiting couples, the trend is opposite: in 2018 they represented 70% of the demand for home ownership. Today that shadow has been reduced to around 51%. What about mortgages? It is another key indicator that something is changing in the Spanish real estate market. Although it may attract attention in view of the rising cost of housing, more and more people choose to sign their loans on their own, without the help of a partner with whom to share expenses. It reflects it clearly the firm iAhorro, which has confirmed how the percentage of people who take out mortgages alone has increased 7.5 percentage points in a matter of a few years. From representing 37.5% in 2022, they have risen to just over 45%. The percentages are based on the data recorded by iAhorro itself, so they must be handled with caution, but they are still revealing. Do more people live alone? Yes. It’s not exactly a noveltybut still the data is eloquent. The INE calculates that at the beginning of last year there were 5.4 million households in Spain made up of a single person. If current trends do not change, in 2039 there will be more than 7.7 million, which means that the single-person household is the type of household that will register the greatest growth in the next decade and a half, both in absolute and relative values. In fact, by the end of the 2030s it would already represent a third of all households in the country. “We are witnessing a profound transformation of the social model. In a decade, the number of people living alone has doubled,” recognizes María Matosspokesperson for Fotocasa. “This change has a direct reflection on the housing market, since it multiplies the demand for smaller apartments and increases pressure on supply.” The phenomenon coincides with a evident increase of the single population in the country, which has gone from 14 million at the beginning of 2021 to 14.9 at the end of 20236.5% more. During the same period the number of married people has barely fluctuated, going from 20 million to 20.12, 0.5% more. Is it just housing? No. The real estate market is a reflection of society. More people buy homes alone because life approaches have changed over the decades. “It is nothing new that there are more and more people living their lives alone. It has been happening for the last 20 or 30 years, which is why many have now left their fears behind and have embarked on this adventure,” explains to The Country Antonio Cano, professor of Psychology. The increase in purchases among singles also coincides with two other relevant trends: a reduction in price of new mortgages that are already tending to stabilize and the attractiveness of housing for investors in the midst of rising prices, which is motivating even express purchases via Telegram. Who buys? In view of the previous data, the question is obvious: Who buys a home alone right now in Spain? Who chooses to sign a mortgage alone? “We are talking about people with high purchasing power, young people and with a clear preference for quick, simple and 100% online processes,” explains the general director of Trioteca, a mortgage comparator, who recalls that this independence allows them to sign mortgages with much greater agility. The photo is similar to the one provided by iAhorro. According to your recordssingles who are applying for mortgages right now in Spain are on average 38.2 years old, have a permanent contract, have more than seven years of seniority in their companies and have a monthly net salary that slightly exceeds 3,000 euros. They also come to the market with a solid cushion of more than 80,000 euros. The vast majority focuses their attention on second-hand homes with an average price of 234,000 euros. Images | Ansar Naib (Unsplash) and INE In Xataka | For years, motorhomes were a luxury. Now they are something else: the last stronghold against the housing crisis

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