Catalonia

A year ago Catalonia decided to start regulating her rentals. Now it has something that seemed impossible: lower prices

by

In a context marked by the Price climbingrecord rents and a real estate market that Start nonsense With the costs prior to the 2008 brick crisis, Catalonia wanted to break yesterday with the bullish rhetoric. Their rentals are going down. And quite clear in addition. In the region as a whole, the leases cost today, on average, 4.7% less that a year ago, a decrease that reaches 8.9% If we talk about Barcelona. With that data, the Generalitat wants to breastfeed by the First year of price regulation in the 140 tension municipalities in which the Housing Law applies. What happened? That the Generalitat of Catalonia has just done something unusual in real estate information in recent years: to use a negative sign to talk about prices. According to The data broken down By the Minister of Territory and Housing, Sílvia Paneque, the average lease It has been cheaper In the region as a whole and, in a special way, in those municipalities in which the price regulation was applied a year ago under the protection of the state law Housing How much has it dropped? The information handled by paneque is based mainly on the Bail deposits And it shows the “photo” of the Catalan real estate market throughout the first quarter of the year, which allows analyzing how prices have evolved between the beginning of 2024 and 2025. Its first conclusion is that the whole of Catalonia the middle rent has experienced a year -on -year fall of 4.7%. If we look concretely in the 140 municipalities that declared tension markets in March 2024 And in which, therefore, prices were allowed to regulate in certain cases, the descent is somewhat more pronounced: reaches 4.9%. The big surprise leaves her specifically Barcelona. There the average cost of rentals has collapsed several more points, to mark an annual fall of the 8.9%. And how do contracts evolve? That is the second surprise that has left paneque. The counselor ensures that this price drop has not arrived accompanied by a contraction of the Catalan rental market. Moreover, according to your data in the first quarter of 2025, the number of lease contracts in force in the region has increased by 3,112. “It continues to grow, which tells us that the rental park increases,” defended The leader. He release Shared by the Generalitat does not allow, yes, to assess whether the rhythm of the new leases has risen or down the last year. What the counselor clarifies is that “a large part” of the contracts that were already in force have lengthened. Or what is the same, moves are reduced. The country Precise that in the tensioning municipalities the new contracts have decreased by 22%. How do you interpret the data? “We believe that the clarification in the contracts has helped to have these good data that allow us to say that there are 11,807 more homes for rent than a year ago,” celebrate The head of Housing, who points out that the majority (7,865 contracts) are concentrated in the 140 municipalities declared tension in 2024. In the Barcelona case, during the first quarter of 2025 the total number of rental homes has increased by 423. “There are 1,202 more households for rent than a year”, Apostille The Generalitat. Why is it important? Because beyond the implications it has for the Catalan real estate market and, specifically, the landlords and tenants of the region, the data presented by Paneque shows the practical effects of the regulation of rentals and the application of the housing law released to In March of 2024. Generalitat herself wanted to emphasize a message whose interest transcends its borders. After all, Catalonia was The only community that applied the law. “The data are good and show us that containment and legislative and regulatory measures help to guarantee the right to housing on this road until reaching a public park of 15%,” insisted The counselor of the branch. Are the first data known? No. Paneque is not the first to slide that idea. In Marchwhen an exact year of the application of the rental price index in 140 municipalities of Catalonia, Minister Isabel Rodríguez already claimed that the data in the region showed that “the Housing Law works”. By then the fall of the amount of leases in Catalonia it was 3.3%. In the city, the decrease reached 6.4%. Is it all positive? No. On Tuesday, Generalitat himself shared data that show a seasonal rental boom, a formula that is normally agreed for periods below the year and It allows to dodge The norm. If in 2019 it represented just 2.1% Of the rental floors announced in Barcelona, ​​in 2023 it already meant 14.4%. And the information revealed yesterday by Paneque suggests that they have gained weight in the community real estate market. The data handled by the Generalitat shows that 2,242 contracts Temporary of the first quarter of 2024 has passed, during the same period of 2025, to 3,415. In other words: the formula has experienced has increased considerable, from 52%, in just one year, gaining weight among the new contracts. During the first three months of last year, 6.1% of the new agreements signed in Catalonia were adjusted to that temporary modality. At the start of 2025 they already represented 11%. Aware of that accelerated boom, the Generalitat It has been proposed Limit prices in those seasonal rentals that have residential use, a decision that the Generalitat creates more justified than ever. And the rest of the contracts? The counselor He celebrated yesterday That the new regulatory framework and price regulation offer more stability to tenants by now having the great less incentive to get their homes to the rental market. “We are seeing that a large part of the contracts in force are extending their duration, which translates into the reduction of extinguished and, therefore, in greater stabilization,” Highlight. His statement is however some nuances. Shortly after the new regulation in the 140 Catalan municipalities … Read more

There is already an autonomous community taking note of the blackout and putting measures to avoid it: Catalonia

by

The electrical invoice It has risen After the blackout for the reinforcement system, but the real challenge is not only in reinforcing the system, but in transforming it. Catalonia has understood and got to work. Short. The Government of Catalonia has approved by urgent a new decree-law with the aim of increasing the resilience of the electrical system. The standard introduces reforms both in energy legislation and urban regulations to facilitate energy transition. Specifically, it modifies Decree Law 16/2019, oriented to climate emergency, and adapts the regulatory framework to accommodate energy storage through batteries. A double purpose. On the one hand, it streamlines the administrative process of renewable energy projects. On the other hand, and pioneer, regulates the installation of high -power batteries, both independent (Stand Alone) as hybridized with solar and wind farms. In addition, the Catalan Government has decided to grant these infrastructure the condition of higher public interest, which allows them to be installed even on non -urbanizable land, by legally equating them with technical services of public utility. This measure responds to an old demand for the energy storage sector in Spain, As it took place in the AEPIBAL Day. Treading the accelerator. The Generalitat has processed 94 Energy storage projects through batteries. Of these, 87 are independent and add up to 920 MW, while the other 7 are hybridized with renewable facilities and provide additional 22 MW. Catalonia thus becomes one of the first communities to create a specific regulatory framework for these technologies. The rest trapped in an obsolete framework. As experts in the energy sector pointed out To Xatakathe storage problem is not only technical, but also regulatory and economic. Today, batteries that are not linked to self -consumption cannot participate in balance markets, which hinders their profitability and slows its mass implementation. However, beyond the regulations, the future of storage will also depend on technological and economic evolution. Technologies like him Grid formingwhich allows batteries to stabilize the network imitating the inertia of traditional centrals, or the development of local micro -redes Able to operate autonomously, they are already being successfully tested. Criticisms have jumped. Battery deployment has also aroused social and critical resistance resistance. According to publicsome groups have warned of the risk that the energy transition becomes a new form of extractivism, without rethinking the consumption model. Specifically they have accused the project of the Korean company Lotte in Mont-Roig of the Camp. In addition, organizations such as the Observatori del Deute in Globalització (ODG) have remembered the same medium as the extraction of materials such as lithium, tungsten or sodium depends on mines in countries such as Chile or Australia, which reinforces the dependence of external resources and raises environmental and geopolitical dilemmas. A map yet to define. Catalonia wanted to advance with a strategy that seeks to combine energy resilience, administrative agility and technological impulse. Storage by batteries is not just a technical solution: it is an essential piece to balance an increasingly decentralized, renewable and exposed crisis system. The road is drawn. The question is whether the rest of Spain will know – and want – follow it on time. Image | Unspash and Unienergy technologies Xataka | The surprising thing is that the light is still on 99% of the time: the blackouts of Spain and London are a good example

We already know what was ate in the restaurants of Catalonia in 1625. And we have very little to envy

by

If today you turn around the center of Barcelona you will surely find pizzerías, hamburger, Asian restaurants, springs, grills, premises specialized in Vegetarian food or vegan and a long (very long) and so on business willing to fill your palate with flavors. Some even with Regional dishes. But … what if instead of being in Barcelona of 2025 you were in the 1625? What would you find in the Catalan fondas in the early seventeenth century, when Cocoa either The potato were almost newly arrived foods from America? Those old “menus” are already far behind, but despite the passage of the centuries we can get an idea of ​​how they were thanks to the historical archives. “What is in the menu?” The 2025 Catalonia resembles that of the early seventeenth. Your menus too. We know it thanks to the information preserved in dietary and goats, documents on the payment of taxes. Recently the historiographic and articulist researcher Marc Pons published in The National A brief essay In which he explains precisely what the goats of 1625 show, the annual liquidation in species that the free peasantry paid to the order of Sant Joan del Hospital. The document is interesting because it reveals to us what reached the markets and what ingredients ended in the stoves of the hostels. Speciler: neither rich nor varied. Despite the image of big and opiparos banquets that Hollywood sometimes shows, the reality is that food in the fondas of That Bandoleros Catalonia It was not especially rich or varied. The menus were rather sparse, there was not too much diversity and many of the dishes that seem to us today were a luxury reserved for the best pockets or certain times of the year. The desserts were not available to all the diners and not even the wine served to relieve penalties: in the fondas they did not worry about how it was preserved, so it was common for it to be chopped. The star dish: the Catalan pot. As Pons explainsthe goats of 1625 show us that in the markets the cooks of the fondas could basically be found with legumes, tubers and fruits of the forest, that is, foods that could be easily kept in pantries. That includes from beans, chickpeas and pea, nabos or chestnuts. Also vegetables taken from the garden, such as onions, garlic, chard or pumpkins. With those ingredients one of the dishes they used to prepare was the Catalan pot, a broth that thickened with wheat and millet. Nothing else? To complete the broth to the diners, a bacon slice, a sardine, a boquerrón or a herring was also served, depending on the type of fonda and how much the client was willing to pay. The menus did not stand out for their diversity, but in the establishments of the region it was also not strange to find dishes made from turnip and boiled col, a popular option despite their reputation. Other option was boiled rice with thyme. And for dessert? If you are a friend of sweets, in the Catalan fondas of the early seventeenth century you would not have a great time. Not at least they had a few coins in your bag. The desserts used to enjoy them the wealthiest customers, although in some hostels they could find biscuits with fruits of the forest or fruits taken from the private garden, such as apples, pears or peaches. Nor were they places for sommeliers. The single dish used to be accompanied by a jug of wine (safer than water, which could be contaminated); But in the wineries they did not care too much about how the mouths were preserved, so it was not strange that the drink reached the client in more than questionable, hot and chopped conditions. If I didn’t have convincing you, you could always opt for something a little stronger and go to fondas with brandy. Looking beyond 1625. It is not the first time that the dietary, old tax records or even kitchen books allow us to get an idea of ​​what our ancestors ate. ‘The Free of Soví’for example, the oldest recipe. What was served during the great banquets of the low Middle Ages. Goats have also allowed us take an eye on to the menus of the early 18th and years ago, thanks to the collaboration of chefs, anthropologists and historians, even We could reproduce some dishes of the Catalan cuisine of 1714, “a survival kitchen” in which “what could be”, ” remember The Catalan cook Sergi de Meiá. Images | Wikipedia 1 and 2 In Xataka | We finally know what sailors ate at the high seas in the 16th century. Thanks to the CSIC and a sunk galeon

Half of Catalonia has its contaminated aquifers. And the rains are the perfect excuse to do nothing

by

In January of this year, the Catalan Agència de l’Aigua He updated his data on areas vulnerable to excess nitrates of agroganadera origin. The figures are a jug of cold water (and very polluted): 49.2% of Catalan municipalities They have contamination levels by nitrogen compounds above the legal. That is, 39.9% of the surface of Catalonia. It is a huge problem that does not stop growing, but that the rains of these weeks can end up making invisible. And, at a time when the Government began to be forced to take action, postponing them would be a difficult mistake. Doesn’t it stop growing? As Antonio Cerrillo explainedin 1998 “the percentage of municipalities cataloged with vulnerable area was 21.5%of the total; in 2004, the figure rose to 33.7%; in 2009 it reached 44.2%; in 2015 it was 44.5%.” It is true that some municipalities (three: Blanes, Cubells and Tavertet) have left the list because they have allowed the indicators; But, on the other hand, eight (Corbera d’Ebre, Gavet de la Conca, Jorba, Marçà, Pla de Santa Maria, Perelló, Ponts and Sant Sadurní d’Alcoia have entered). According to the Generalitat, the trend was stable, but “with a slight increase in nitrate pollution in certain areas.” Now the indicators will improve. There is no doubt about that. Above all, because a part of the problem was related to drought. The mechanism is simple: agribusiness contamination filters to the subsoil and there meets the huge aquifer system of the country. If there is a lot of water, those nitrates are diluted and the legal limits are not overcome. If there is not, the alarms jump. Right now, the Catalonia reserves They are at 76.46%, those in Barcelona are at 78.83%and those of Girona (the lowest) to 47.28%. Right now, while I write this, aquifers throughout the country are filling with water and, by pure logic, the situation will improve. However, the rest of the problems persist (or increase). Above all, because you have to keep in mind that those nitrates, Those purines They do not appear alone: ​​they are the result of hyperintensive models of agroganade exploitation. Models that base part of their profitability on Not having to put their negative externalities In the results account. And it is not a strictly Catalan problem (although it is true that it affects especially): according to the citizen network of nitrate measurement, almost 60% of Spanish underground waters is contaminated by nitrates and growing. The matter is such a caliber that also reaches reservoirs and evidences the country’s disastrous water management. In summer 2013, 161 municipalities in Castilla y León They discovered that had been drinking contaminated water for years without knowing it. It’s alone An example of the rosary of problems We have been seeing. All reflect and, above all, take action. Antonio Cerrillo saidthat the Generalitat “prepares an order to review the areas of the territory with groundwater contaminated by nitrates from livestock purines.” But the truth is that we always go with the foot changed. A good example was that of “Royal Decree that establishes rules for sustainable nutrition in agrarian soils“which was approved with more than three years of delay. The same three years that it took to transpose the”European Directive related to the quality of the waters for human consumption“It is our way of doing things. As we said days ago, March rains have given us a historical opportunity to save the country’s aquifers. But it will also give a victory (pyrrhic, but victory after all) to those who manage the problem they can use to leave us in worse situation we have. It’s not The first time what’s happening. Image | Copernicus | Scott Goodwill In Xataka | Spain has been overexpling its aquifers. March rains have given us the historical opportunity to save them

He will be in Catalonia and will support the Alba syrrtron

by

Little by little, projects of some ambition are flourishing that seek to put Spain on the map of the semiconductor industry. One of them is The Godic planan initiative led by the Asturian company Nanoker, the Burgos Hiperbaric and the Basque Electronic Fagor with the purpose of developing advanced silicon carbide chips. In addition, Spain also actively participates in the tuning of The new European pilot line which seeks to lead the integration and encapsulation of components and electronic systems. The Spanish institution that is involved in this plan is the CSIC Barcelona Microelectronics Institute (IMB-CNM-CSIC), a center that has a lot of experience in both microelectronics and in advanced techniques for manufacturing integrated circuits. Precisely this is one of the institutions that participate in the project that stars this article: Innofab. Although the governments of Spain and the Generalitat approved it at the end of 2023 is now when it seems to be taking shape. An integrated avant -garde circuit factory for 2028 INNOFAB will be a state -of -the -art semiconductor factory that will be housed in the Catalan town of Cerdanyola del Vallès, which is located just 6 km from the center of Barcelona. This installation will cost approximately 392 million euros and will be financed with funds from the Plan Plan Generation of the European Union, as well as with capital contributed by the governments of Spain and the Generalitat. Construction works will begin soon with the purpose of the plant starting chips in 2028. The INNOFAB project is led by the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology and will reside very close to the Autonomous University of Barcelona and the Alba Sincrotron A priori everything looks good, but there are two things that are worth not overlooking. The first is that 392 million euros seem scarce if we keep in mind that a manufacturing plant of integrated avant -garde circuits such as, for example, those that are those that TSMC is building in Arizona (USA) or the one Intel plans to point on Magdeburg (Germany), it costs some 30,000 million euros. On the other hand, its installation in Cerdanyola del Vallès is not casual. The INNOFAB project is led by the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology and will reside very close to the Autonomous University of Barcelona and the Alba synchrotron. Its purpose is to develop, as I have mentioned a few lines above, next -generation semiconductors, but it will not be conventional chips; They will be integrated circuits in which advanced materials, such as graphene, will be used to unmark silicon semiconductors whose production It is controlled by Asia and the USA. The role of the Alba synestron will be crucial in this installation. A syncrotron is a circular electron accelerator that is used to analyze the properties of matter at the atomic level, such as various types of materials, or even proteins. Alba resides inside the building that you can see in the cover image of this article. When the INNOFAB factory is ready, this particle accelerator will allow to analyze at an atomic scale Candidate materials to be used in the production of semiconductors. And the properties of integrated avant -garde circuits. An important note is that Innofab will not produce chips in large quantities; Its role will be to develop advanced technologies that will then be commercially exploited in other plants. This role in a way justifies that its cost is somewhat less than 400 million euros. In any case, it is a very interesting project that is worth following the track very closely. Image | ABMARTINEZBONILLO In Xataka | Spain’s milestone in nuclear fusion: the first plasma produced by the Smart reactor invites us to optimism

Catalonia is determined to lead the conversion and sale of the electric car. His great objective is called Madrid

by

It is fulfilled a month since aids to MOVES III PLAN For the purchase of electric cars they fall. Silence since then. From experience with what lived in other countries, the electric car needs Purchase aids If you want to gain ground. An ambitious, stable and lasting aid program is the one that has achieved that almost all of the cars sold In Norway, they are electric. On the opposite side, Germany has seen how Their sales collapsed After withdrawing the aid forced. Taking into account that Spain was costing to take off in sales, we run the risk of unplugged with this technology And take a step back in the penetration of this technology just now that brands begin to propose vehicles at more affordable prices, with options of between 20,000 and 30,000 euros. In the middle of all this context, the Generalitat de Catalunya has presented a project to reimprorate sales of this type of technology, which also depends on its own automobile industry. A plan that revolves around the electric car Last January 2025, plug and electrical hybrids added 11,358 units in Spain. Of these, 4,571 units were recorded in Madrid. It accounted for 40.24% of sales throughout Spain. The figure is far from any other that can shade. Catalonia is the Second most populous autonomous community From Spain and takes more than one million inhabitants to the Community of Madrid. Barcelona It is also the second largest city in Spain, only behind the capital. Despite this, in January they only enrolled 1,624 cars classified as plug or electrical hybrids. 14.30% of the total sales of the territory. Given this perspective, the Government of the Generalitat has presented a plan to reimpulse the sale of this type of technology. The project, as we said a few days ago, has a transverse perspective because also Electrify the motorcycle fleet. The final intention is to make the electric car industry the stone on which the future of the automobile market turns. To achieve this you want to attack points that are considered keys: Multiply by five the recharge points network available in the next five years. Loans for self -employed and companies electrifying their fleets. Electrify 90% of the fleet used by the Catalan administration. The intention is to dedicate 150 million euros to sow the Catalan land of electric plugs. You want to move from the current 9,000 load points to a total of 45,000 plugs available. As for loans, a credit line of 400 million euros will be established to facilitate access to this type of technology and try to eliminate the barrier from the equation price. During the announcement of the Project, the Generalitat Catalan emphasized the importance of maintaining the good health of an industry that in the region generates 35,000 people occupied in 10,300 companies. By turnover, automotive represents the third sector of Catalonia. Photo | SEAT In Xataka | The electric car is sweeping so much in China that the natural step is already raised: stop calling it “electric”

Catalonia wants to triple the number of electric vehicles. Has put 1.4 billion euros on the table to get it

by

Salvador Illa, president of the Generalitat, I announced this week The mobilization of more than 1.4 billion euros until 2030 for its impulse plan of the electric vehicle. Catalonia wants to lead The decarbonization objectives imposed by Europeand has several proposals on the table to achieve it. “We have the will, we have talent, we have companies involved and we have a leadership position in the sustainable and automotive mobility sector. Now it’s time to make decisions and adapt with a large degree of self -examination to take advantage of opportunities and capture future investments in clean technologies and intelligent mobility. “He has declared. The plan is cemented on five key axes, which reflect the measures and actions that will be promoted from the Generalitat. Load infrastructure display. The first step is to create a recharge network that can support the ambitious plans of the Generalitat. You want to get promoting an electric recharge network “well sized and capillary, as well as stimulating the demand for load points (with financial incentives to companies, institutions and communities of owners). There are no specific data on how many load points will be necessary for such a high objective, but the Plan details that the availability of sufficient electrical power will be guaranteed through the modernization and expansion of the current network. Impulse for the demand for the electric vehicle. Without a doubt, the most complex objective of the plan is given as The demand for the electric vehicle. You can’t electrify a city if drivers do not want (either They cannot) Go to the electric. Catalonia wants to make the purchase of electric vehicles more affordable through aid, although it does not detail what they will be. It will try to promote the industrial transition of the combustion motorcycle, as well as to increase the use of the electric vehicle in business fleets. To do this, a credit line with “advantageous conditions” for SMEs will be developed. The Generalitat’s own fleet will be electrified, and the price of electrified vehicles will be bonus. Improvement of the perception of the electric vehicle. A somewhat more ambiguous plan is to improve the current perception of this type of vehicles. Catalonia will invest in campaigns to “sensitize citizens”, as well as the business sector. Lead the industry. It is proposed to enhance local production and innovation in batteries, electronic components and smart mobility solutions. The focus on attracting foreign investment, promoting pilot tests of new technologies and talent promotion and promotion. Enhanced with the private. The plan contemplates “effective” governance by coordinating with the private sector. The electric vehicle table will be created, composed of public administrations, private agents of the industrial and energy sector, and mobility companies (recharge points installers, software development, etc.) It is also intended to digitize the procedures to the maximum and reduce the administrative burden to facilitate and decentralize competences. A great ambition, difficult execution. The Catalan government has put an ambitious initiative on the table, which intends to triple the penetration rhythm of the electric vehicle, fold the deployment of load points and favor 150,000 enrollments of electrified vehicles. Figures to be reached on a horizon of less than five years, Image | Toyota In Xataka | Volkswagen Before the unavoidable reality: there is little demand for electric car, there is little demand for Volkswagen FacebookTwitterFlipboardE-mail Topics

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

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

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

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