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An 86-year-old farmer was offered $15 million to build a data center. He said no

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Get in the situation. You are an 86-year-old farmer who enjoys doing what he does, but from time to time you get the idea that maybe it’s time to retire. One fine day they knock on your door and offer you 15 million dollars which, hey, gives you to plug holes and pay for your hospital in the United States in case of misfortunebut you decide to reject it because accepting would imply the destruction of those lands to which you have dedicated 60 years of your life. Well, that’s what has happened to Mervin Raudabaugh: a farmer who has become a symbol of resistance to AI and data centers. An offer you can refuse. Raudabaugh is a farmer who owns land in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. He has spent his entire life cultivating the 100 hectares of his property, land that his family has been exploiting for generations, and has recently come to the fore after rejecting a proposal which, some, considered irrefutable. 60,000 dollars for every 4,000 m2 of their land, around 15 million dollars in total. The offer came from some developers interested in building a data center for artificial intelligence computing on the farm, but Mervin simply refused. Not on my farm. Mervin doesn’t seem like a guy who is against AI specifically or what it means for the planet. He simply has a much more romantic motive: he doesn’t want to see his land turned into a layer of concrete with huge ships on top. In some interviews, he assured that money does not matter to him and that what he wants is precisely that: for agricultural land to remain agricultural. He has expressed his worry for the future of family farming in a country where, if the soil is not protected, “every square centimeter runs the risk of being urbanized”, with what this implies for the land, the fauna and the rural communities themselves. But it has sold. However, Mervin is not going to retire with empty pockets because he did not accept the 15 million from the builders of data centersbut yes some million of Lancaster Farmland Trust. There is talk of a operation of around two million euros to sell the right to develop their lands to this entity that is dedicated to the conversation of agricultural lands. What Marvin has done is secure the land that he loves so much, since the operation implies that his land will be permanently protected for agricultural use, legally preventing the change of land use. And it doesn’t matter if his heirs wanted to sell or not in the future: now the lands are protected. a symbol. As is normal, Marvin’s rejection has been covered in many national media as a case of rebellion regarding data centers, the resounding “no” to Big Tech already something that is consuming all the conversation in technological news. It is an example by guaranteeing the protection of the soil against the specific compensation in the form of money that these Big Tech companies offer to ensure long-term deterioration of the agricultural fabric and the landscape. And although Marvin’s case is striking both for the amount and for the subsequent movement protecting his farm, is not the only one. In other parts of the world the debate has been ignited about Whether it is worth hosting data centersbut in the United States specifically, a country that is betting enormous amounts of money on the development of AI, we are seeing more and more examples of that resistance against data centers. And in an increasingly warlike environment, curiously it is something that is putting according to both Democrats and Republicans. Images | BlueChipFarmsGoal In Xatka | It’s not that AI makes us stupid: it’s that we are surrendering to it

AI needs electricity relentlessly. And that is returning the gas to the center of the system

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For years, big technology companies projected a clean image: data centers powered by renewables and commitments to climate neutrality. But the explosion of artificial intelligence is putting that narrative to the test. Electricity demand is growing at a rate that the grid cannot keep up with, and the fuel that is covering the gap is not the wind or the sun. It is natural gas. The contradiction is already visible in the numbers. Google and Microsoft consume around 24 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity per year each, more than more than a hundred countries. And while they announce record clean energy contracts, their emissions continue to rise: Google has increased its emissions by 48% in the last five years and Microsoft by 31% since 2020. An independent analysis rated climate integrity of several technologies as “poor” or “very deficient” in the face of the energy boom of AI. The cloud is not ethereal. It’s physics. And for AI to work without interruptions, we are starting to burn more hydrocarbons. The electron fever. The phenomenon is not marginal. A report from the Open Energy Outlook initiative—led by researchers at Carnegie Mellon and NC State— projects that electricity demand of data centers and crypto mining could grow by 350% between 2020 and 2030, going from representing 4% to 9% of total consumption in the United States. Goldman Sachs points in the same direction: Specific consumption of data centers could increase by 160% before the end of the decade. The pressure has already broken market balances. In December 2024, in the PJM region—which supplies 13 states in the eastern United States and has the highest density of data centers in the world—capacity prices went from $30 to $270 per MW-day in a single auction. The extra cost will end up affecting the bills of some 67 million customers. John Ketchum, CEO of NextEra Energy, described it as a “golden era of energy demand”, but warned of a physical limit: “the new electrons cannot reach the grid quickly enough.” And in that void between explosive demand and insufficient supply is where gas reappears. The tyranny of 24/7. If renewables are increasingly competitive, why not cover this demand with more wind and solar? The answer is technical. Artificial intelligence requires continuous, 24/7 supply. It cannot be turned off when the wind goes down or the sun goes down. As Manuel Losa, manager at Pictet Asset Management, explained, to the Financial Times: If demand grows and firm energy is needed 24 hours a day, “today, the only way to achieve this is with gas.” The problem is not the marginal cost of renewables, it is firmness. Without massive storage or reinforced grids, solar and wind generation cannot guarantee constant supply. And the deployment of new transmission lines is slow and contentious. Furthermore, traditional electrical planning assumed growth of 1-2% annually; Now there are areas with increases of 20-30% annually linked to data centers. The quickest solution today is to build or expand gas-fired generation. But even there there are limits. Gas turbines—critical equipment—have become a bottleneck. Just three years ago, Siemens Energy executives stated that the turbine market was “dead” in the face of renewable advancement. Today, the factories are overflowing. Global orders are expected to exceed 1,000 units this year, with the United States absorbing almost half. Delivery times can be extended up to five or even seven years in some cases. The bottleneck is no longer the chips. They are the turbines. So what happens with renewables? Renewables do not disappear. In fact, they continue to expand. Google has signed agreements to purchase nearly 1.2 gigawatts of new wind and solar energy in the United States from Clearway Energy. Big tech companies continue to sign clean energy contracts in multiple regions. However, the problem is temporary and structural. Purchasing renewable electricity does not guarantee that hourly consumption is supported by clean generation at that same time and place. In fact, there are solutions. Battery storage and grid upgrades can increase renewable integration. The Open Energy Outlook report shows which regions like Texas, with more investment in transmission, they manage to take better advantage of wind power to feed new demand. But deploying storage and hardening the network takes years, and AI is growing rapidly. For this reason, even companies traditionally focused on renewables are expanding their portfolio in gas, How did you have access? Financial Times. NextEra has announced plans to develop up to an additional 8 gigawatts of gas-fired generation. Clearway builds hybrid data center campuses combining renewables and combustion turbines. It is not an explicit abandonment of renewables. It is an emergency solution. But there is also nuclear. amazon tried to connect directly a data center to the Susquehanna nuclear power plant to ensure stable and clean supply. Federal regulators blocked the deal over potential effects on grid stability and the impact on other consumers. Furthermore, Google has signed an agreement with Kairos Power to develop seven small modular reactors (SMR), with the goal of adding 500 MW emissions-free by 2030. Microsoft and other companies are exploring similar deals. But even in the most optimistic scenario, new nuclear capacity will not be operational on a relevant scale before the end of the decade. AI needs electricity now. A clash of transitions. Five years ago, natural gas was presented as a retreating bridge fuel within the energy transition. Today it has become the structural support of artificial intelligence. A friction between two transitions that advance at different paces: the digital one, exponential; the energy, regulated and slow. As the Open Energy Outlook initiative warnsthe choice should not be between digital progress and network stability. But if energy planning doesn’t adapt more quickly—more transmission, more storage, better market design—the expansion of AI could mean more gas, more emissions, and higher bills. Artificial intelligence promises efficiency and intelligent decarbonization. But for now, its massive expansion is prolonging the life of the fossil generation. The digital future is advancing at full speed and the energy … Read more

Amazon’s new data center will be installed in La Puebla de Híjar

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AWS, Amazon Web Services, has chosen La Puebla de Híjar (935 inhabitants) to build its first data center in the province of Teruel. The multinational has secured 70 hectares next to the N-232 and plans to start works in autumn 2027, as reported Aragon Newsdependent on the public body CARTV. Why is it important. The project places a province historically relegated on the European technological map and confirms the strategy of Aragon as hub of digital infrastructure. With 100 MW of power already guaranteed and access to the water of the Ebro and the Gaén canal, the complex specialized in AI thus avoids electrical saturation problems that grip the metropolitan area of ​​Zaragoza. The figure. The investment is around 5,000 million euros, according to sources in the technology sector consulted by local media such as Teruel Diary. It would be the fourth main AWS hub in the community, after Huesca, Villanueva de Gállego and El Burgo de Ebro. The context. Aragón has managed to mobilize more than 47,000 million euros in data centers, according to a study by the Basilio Paraíso Foundation presented in September. The community could become the third European market in the sector, only behind London and Frankfurt. Bigger words. Yes, but. The project arrives surrounded by conflicts regarding water supply: Amazon needs 350,000 cubic meters of water per year for cooling, and although it plans to draw directly from the Ebro, it requires a backup source. Negotiations with the community of Gaén irrigators have been stuck for months. The irrigators insist that they will not take “any step” that compromises the territory’s water future. Between the lines. The choice of Teruel is not accidental. The metropolitan area of ​​Zaragoza suffers a collapse in the capacity of its electrical substations that has slowed down other projects. The availability of energy (100 MW through the Endesa network with connection to the Híjar substation) has been decisive. What has Aragón done to become a leader? The community has developed a recruitment strategy based on three pillars: Energy availability: Aragon has prioritized the reserve of electrical capacity for strategic industrial projects. Administrative streamlining: the figure of the Declaration of General Interest of Aragon (DIGA) allows these megaprojects to be processed as Plans of General Interest, shortening bureaucratic deadlines. It already happened with Stellantis and CATLand with Microsoft. Logistics infrastructure: The N-232 functions as a backbone, connecting the data centers from Huesca to Bajo Martín. The money trail. AWS has already mobilized more than 15,000 million euros in Aragonwith a forecast of creating 6,800 direct jobs. Companies such as Microsoft, QTS and the Aragonese company Forestalia have also opted for the region. Only Forestalia has planned invest an additional 12 billion in three new centers in Magallón, Botorrita and Alfamén. And now what. AWS must present the documentation for the DIGA to the regional government. The British engineering company Arup, in charge of the project, will finalize the application in the coming weeks. The final agreement on water with the irrigators remains pending, an obstacle that may delay the planned schedule. The project will transform the Venta del Barro industrial estate, which already employs a thousand people from the Bajo Aragón regions. In Xataka | The problem with data centers is not that they are running out of water or energy: it is that they are running out of copper Featured image | The Puebla de Híjar

How the Sinaloa Cartel turned the marble industry into its methamphetamine logistics center

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If Walter White had exchanged the New Mexico desert for the Mediterranean coast, his story would not have been very different from what the National Police has just revealed. in the series Breaking Badthe Albuquerque chemist hid his money under the sand and used a car wash to launder his “blue empire.” On the other hand, in the province of Alicante, the setting has been a marble industrial warehouse, an armored underground bunker and a statue of Popeye that, instead of spinach, kept the purest “crystal” of the Sinaloa Cartel. As if it were a script by Vince Gilligan, “Operation Saga” has revealed that the largest methamphetamine network in Europe did not operate from marginal shadows, but from the heart of the marble industry between Novelda and Monforte del Cid. He Heisenberg From this plot he decided that the marble blocks were the perfect container for the desires to expand the empire that Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán one day founded. The end of “Operation Saga”. The National Police, in a strategic alliance with the US DEA, has put the final lock on an investigation that began in 2023. According to the official press releasethis second phase has culminated in the total dismantling of a Spanish-Mexican organization responsible for turning Spain into the main hub of methamphetamine from the mainland. If in May 2024 the first phase already left a record number of 1,800 kilos of drugs seized, this new coup has ended with nine key arrests. The operation has managed to decapitate the infrastructure that the Sinaloa Cartel had woven between Tenerife, Madrid, Valencia and Alicante. A popeye 40 kilos. The logistics of the network were as ingenious as they were sophisticated. According to local mediathe narcotic was traveling from Mexico hidden inside imposing marble stones that were legally imported. Once in Spain, the organization used the business structure of a well-known marble worker in the area to move the drugs. We found the most surreal example in July 2024. The police intercepted a statue of Popeye, five feet tall and in metallic colors, bound for Tenerife. Its base was not solid metal, but contained 40 kilos of methamphetamine. The recipient, a “historic drug trafficker” on the island, was waiting for the shipment without knowing that the figure had been under police surveillance for months. This seizure made it possible to confirm that, after the 2024 coup, the organization was trying desperately refinance. The bunker and the salary of silence. Civil engineering put at the service of crime reached its zenith in a Novelda warehouse. There, the agents They found an underground bunker hidden under a heavy steel plate and a large stone block, where almost 3,000,000 euros in cash were kept. While the money was accumulating in Alicante, in the Madrid neighborhood of Malasaña, the organization supported a member of the Sinaloa Cartel “in reserve”. This man lived in a semi-cloistered regime in an apartment from which he barely left. He received a salary of 2,500 euros per month exclusively in exchange for his silence, since he knew the details of the entry of the 1,800 kilos of the first phase. A global drug network. The logistics brain was not at street level. The leader of the drug transporters, a Spaniard with a record of crimes against property, coordinated movements between Mexico and Spain through criminal teleworking from Dubai. From there he supervised not only the glass, but also secondary shipments, such as a 38-kilo shipment of marijuana intercepted in Finland. But why Spain? The answer lies in waste science. a study about wastewater (analyzing metabolites in urine) is the definitive tool to measure actual consumption. Although the consumption of methamphetamine in Spain is lower than that of cocaine, EUDA studies place Spain and the Netherlands as distribution hubs. In areas like Euskadi, for example, records of amphetamines in wastewater already show peaks that are eighty times the national average, an unequivocal sign that the market is there. The end of one era (or the beginning of another). The operation, directed by the Investigative Court number 6 of the National Court, has also seized seven luxury watches, geolocation devices and ammunition. With this, the Police consider that the most powerful criminal network of synthetic drugs in Europe has been dismantled. However, as Commissioner Alberto Morales warnsSinaloa’s persistence is legendary. Since 2009 they have tried to settle in Spain in every possible way: from “Chapo’s” cousin detained in the Palace Hotel in 2012, to the drug laboratories of “Los Chapitos” dismantled in Toledo in 2024. Today the Novelda bunker is empty and Popeye rests in the Canillas police facilities, but the authorities are clear that the “European dream” of the Mexican cartels is far from over. Image | lifestyle.sustainability and freepik Xataka | There is a huge gap between what we think medical marijuana does and what it actually does.

Migingo is a tin rock where 500 people live. It is also the center of the world’s smallest war

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Curious islands in the world there are several. Like Migingo… not so many, because we are talking about a geographical anomaly. It is a tiny rock formation that emerges in the lake victoria and in which it is difficult to find a millimeter that is not covered by a uralite shanty. There are about 500 people living in this space smaller than a football field, but apart from this situation, Migingo It is something much more. It is the scene of Africa’s smallest war. Kowloon 2. Okay, that’s an exaggeration because In Kowloon there were 1.9 million inhabitants per square kilometerbut in Migingo there is not much privacy either. The island is rocky and has an area of ​​about 2,000 m². It is estimated that the population density is about 65,000 people per km², but it is really difficult to make calculations because it depends a lot on the sources. In 2009 it was said that the island had a population of 131 people, but it has also been lying at 500 people (creating a much higher density of 250,000 per km²), and up to more than 1,000 people. There are no basic services, but there is a casino, four bars, several brothels and a pharmacy. Something is something and the question is… how did it get to this situation. two fishermen. It all started in 1991, when two Kenyan fishermen landed on the island. It is very close to a larger island, called Usingo, and at that time everything was covered by weeds. The receding of the lake’s waters left more of the land visible, and fishermen began to arrive and settle. The reason is that it was easier to operate directly from the island than to go to its vicinity every day in search of prey. In the 1950s, the Nile Perch was introduced to the lake. It is an invasive and predatory species that destroyed the local fauna, but transformed the region’s economy. An estimated one million metric tons were exported annually in 2006 and, by then, the industry had a commercial value of $250 million to Uganda. That is to say: this fish was the second economic engine of the country, only behind coffee. And Migingo is located in a strategic point as it is very close to some of the most important deep water points of the lake, and where there are the most fish. Pirates. Something I haven’t said is that Migingo belongs to Kenya. It is located within what the country considers its territory according to the colonial boundaries of 1926. But there is a problem: those banks rich in Nile perch are in Ugandan territory. The fishermen of Migingo go a few meters into the fishing territory of the neighboring country every morning, and we already know what happens when one country steps on another’s resources. There is reports which indicate that the boats unloaded more than 100 kilos of fish a day, generating profits in one day between three or four times more than what a Kenyan or Ugandan generates in a good month. Word spread and attracted the most undesirable: pirates who landed with assault rifles, threatening the few who lived on the island, stealing the fish, the gear or the menhaden motors. The locals called for help, and Uganda was the first to respond. Uganda comes into play. The logical thing would have been for Kenya to respond, since the island is theirs, but in 2004, those who arrived were Ugandan authorities and police. They saw that money was moving there and the maritime police planted two flags: theirs and that of Uganda. The reports of 2009 indicate that the authorities were not much better than the pirates. Fees for Kenyan fishermen to get to the island, taxes, fines, kidnappings, torture and claims of people disappearing and never returning. The island’s population (mostly Kenyans, but also Ugandans) asked Kenya for help. And, now, Kenya responded. The smallest war in the world. Following popular pressure, politicians were forced to act. In April 2009, a Kenyan official arrived, accompanied by a dozen police officers, and declared that the land belonged to his country. He brought down the Ugandan flag and raised the Kenyan flag. One day later, Uganda shipment 60 marines and the region was on the brink of armed conflict. Since then, the situation has eased somewhat, but the flags continue to fly in a disputed territory that has nothing to do with land, but with fish. There is nothing around Migingo, while in nearby Ugandan waters the production is extraordinary. Complicated. This conflict has been studied as if it were an example, or a test, of the resolution of postcolonial conflicts, when Europe divided up Africa with square and bevel. The problem is that it’s not getting anywhere. Kenya and Uganda formed a committee to sort things out, but it was abruptly dissolved after failing to reach an agreement on the mound. And most recently, in November 2025, the residents of Minigno they asked both governments to give some response. Meanwhile, human rights associations continue alerting regarding acts of slavery to which Kenyan citizens are supposedly subjected by the Ugandan authorities, the island still lacks basic services such as a sewage treatment plant or proper waste management and everything is dumped directly into the lake. And, although it has suggested a form of government based on a condominium scheme in which both exercise joint sovereignty, nothing has been achieved. Images | Google Earth In Xataka | This is life on the most remote inhabited island on Earth: the improbable story of Tristan da Cunha

a data center that will run on wind energy

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In the silent race that the world is waging to dominate digital infrastructure, every movement matters. And Brazil, far from being a spectatoronce again occupies a strategic place. The arrival of the TikTok project in the Brazilian northeast confirms a shift in the world technology map: critical infrastructures are no longer concentrated only in the United States, Europe or Asia, but are beginning to expand towards regions that offer abundant renewable energy and direct international connection. The advertisement. TikTok have decided to install a mega data center in the Pecém Industrial and Port Complex, in the state of Ceará. The company detailed in its press release that it will allocate more than 200,000 million reais —about 32,000 million euros—, the largest investment it has made in Latin America. Of that amount, 108 billion will be allocated exclusively to high-tech equipment until 2035; the rest will finance infrastructure, energy systems and future expansions. Operations are planned for 2027, and local authorities estimate the creation of more than 4,000 jobs. The infrastructure that the AI ​​era demands. Data centers have become the engine that makes AI, cloud and streaming possible. As Wired remembersthe push of artificial intelligence has skyrocketed the demand for computing and has opened a global competition to build larger and more efficient infrastructures. Brazilian interest in attracting data centers is supported by both its renewable energy matrix – cheap and abundant – and connectivity what Fortaleza offersentry point for most the submarine cables that link the country with the United States, Europe and Africa. A data center powered only by wind. For the initial phase, TikTok will work with Omnia, a local data center operator, and with Casa dos Ventos, one of the largest renewable energy developers in the country. The project is presented as an example of digital infrastructure powered entirely by clean energy. TikTok and its partners will build exclusive wind farms to supply the center, which will allow them not to use energy from the public grid. Depending on the platformthis will avoid any pressure on local supply. Technically, the company states that it will use a closed water reuse circuit combined with air cooling to reduce water consumption. However, as the Government of Ceará has pointed outrefrigeration will be 100% air-based, and the use of water will be limited to human activities and maintenance. Furthermore, the installation will incorporate PG25 technologywhich allows servers to operate at higher temperatures with less need for cooling, substantially reducing energy expenditure. The voices that question the project. Not everything is celebrations. The main resistance comes from the Anacé indigenous people, who denounce, as reported by El Paísthat part of the complex would occupy territories that they consider ancestral. Their organizations affirm that no prior consultation was carried out and express concern about the possible socio-environmental impacts: both on the use of water and on the transformation of the territory. TikTok maintains that it complies with Brazilian regulations and emphasizes that its energy and cooling model will minimize any pressure on natural resources. The Government of Ceará add thatThe companies involved must invest 15 million reais per year in the communities around the Pecém complex. On the global board of digital infrastructure. The megaproject is part of a broader strategy. Lula’s Government approved measures to reduce taxes and attract data centers, with the intention of transforming Brazil into a regional digital hub. In parallel, the United States promotes initiatives such as the stargate project to maintain competitiveness in artificial intelligence, while China accelerates the expansion of its technology companies abroad. TikTok, of Chinese origin, thus fits into a delicate diplomatic balance that Brazil tries to maintain. Beyond the economic investment, a data center of this scale raises debates about privacy, digital sovereignty and local data storage, dimensions increasingly present on the Brazilian legislative agenda. The speed of digitization. The TikTok megaproject in Ceará symbolizes the tension of a world that is digitizing at unprecedented speeds: it promises clean energy, employment and modernization, but it also reopens discussions about territory, regulation and environmental memory. Between the technological ambition of a digital power and the concerns of a community that defends its land, Brazil once again places itself at the intermediate point of global forces and local demands. The contrast is inevitable: while institutions celebrate the promise of a future powered by wind and data, indigenous communities in the northeast remember that the technology that connects the world also leaves footprints on the ground they walk on. At this intersection between progress and complaints the true impact of TikTok’s new digital heart in Latin America will be defined. Image | PXHere and Greenwish Xataka | Researchers removed Instagram and TikTok from 300 young people to see if their anxiety decreased. The results speak for themselves

A Spanish company is at the center of the new A320 headache. Airbus must inspect hundreds of planes

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At the heart of the A320 program, a recent discovery has triggered a wave of attention aimed squarely at a Spanish aerostructures supplier. This is a quality problem in fuselage panels that Airbus has decided to address with a large-scale inspection campaign, at a time when every delivery counts. According to Airbusthe episode has not affected flight safety, but it has opened a new front for the European manufacturer and for part of its industrial chain, especially in Andalusia. The manufacturer has confirmed that the origin of the situation is in metal panels of the A320 front fuselage that have thicknesses outside the specified values. According to industrial presentations consulted by Reuters, in some cases pieces that are too thick or too thin have been detected, forcing each potentially affected aircraft to be inspected. Airbus insists that flight safety has not been compromised and that inspections will determine which planes need intervention. Impact on the fleet. Data shared with operators and cited by Reuters raises the number of aircraft that will undergo inspection to 628, a figure that reflects the industrial scope of the process. Among them there are devices already in service and others on the assembly line, including a group that was due to be delivered in 2025 according to industry sources. This volume forces plant tasks to be reorganized while Airbus prepares the specific procedures that airlines must follow depending on the status of each unit. The adjustment that Airbus communicated on December 3 makes it clear that the quality problem has fully hit its delivery expectations for 2025. The manufacturer now sets its objective at “around 790” commercial aircraft, a figure lower than the initial forecast of about 820 units, according to data provided to Reuters. The cut shows the direct effect of the technical reorganization triggered by the A320 inspections and marks a notable change in industrial planning for next year. Inspections and recent context. The manufacturer maintains that the process will allow it to precisely identify which aircraft need intervention, insisting that this quality problem does not affect flight performance. Reuters points out that the inspections are relatively quick, while The Air Current estimates that repairs could take between three and five weeks. All this occurs after the massive update applied to more than 6,000 Airbus aircraft, motivated by a software vulnerability triggered by episodes of intense solar radiation. Who is Sofitec? Founded in 1999 and based in the Andalusian aeronautical hub, Sofitec is dedicated to the design, manufacture and repair of metallic and composite aerostructures for international programs. Its evolution has been accompanied by investments in engineering, final processes and facility expansions, which has consolidated it as a relevant supplier for the A320 family. Bloomberg identifies the company as one of the suppliers of the fuselage panels that require inspection, which explains its presence at the center of this industrial episode. Union accusations. Bloomberg revealed that the UGT FICA Sevilla union has reported to Airbus the existence of alleged irregularities in several internal Sofitec processes. In a letter addressed to the CEO, the union claims that dates were falsified at certain stages of production and that expired paints and sealants were used, in addition to unauthorized repairs being carried out on carbon fiber parts. Airbus said it acted in accordance with its internal quality procedures but declined to comment on the specific allegations, while Sofitec did not respond to requests for comment. The episode leaves several unknowns open for the European manufacturer and its supply chain. Airbus now faces a technical reorganization that will coexist with its delivery commitments and the usual scrutiny of airlines and regulators. For Sofitec, the situation means being under unusual visibility and managing it while the inspection campaign progresses. The Andalusian aeronautical sector, which has been consolidating its international presence for years, is watching the process carefully, waiting for the reviews to definitively limit the scope of the problem. Images | Airbus | Sofitec In Xataka | SpaceX is known for its rockets. What is less known is its growing and striking fleet of aircraft

The NFL was going to place the Bernabéu in the center of the United States. Americans have not been impressed

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The Santiago Bernabéu hosted its first NFL game this weekend, with more than 78,000 fans ready to watch the confrontation between the Miami Dolphins and the Washington Commanders. But beyond the sporting spectacle, the event was also a stage in which a quite prominent cultural clash could be seen, especially if we look at some of the reactions of American users who attended the game. And European and American stadiums respond to completely different philosophies about what the experience of the fan who goes to the games should be, and this event has demonstrated it. What has happened. The meeting left comments and opinions of all kinds about how the NFL experience has been translated in Spain, more specifically at the Santiago Bernabéu. In this sense, thousands of American fans who traveled to Madrid found a reality very different from that of their stadiums. The words by Jack Settleman, founder of Snapback Sports, went quite viral this weekend on X. “International stadiums never seem prepared for the amount that Americans consume,” he noted. According to affirmsthe drink taps were quickly sold out, as was the food, and he believes that the infrastructure was not designed for easy access to food stalls or for fluid mobility between the stands. Contrast between experiences. Of course there are differences. American stadiums are designed as comprehensive entertainment centers where fans can spend more than three and a half hours enjoying not only the game, but everything around it. In Europe, stadiums are usually conceived as spaces to watch whatever sport is playing for the duration of the match, without much more frills. “The European sports experience is very different from the American one,” commented Settleman. Even seemingly insignificant details like the lack of cupholders in the seats surprised some fans, including Settleman himself. Numbers. Despite the logistical differences, the impact of the event was notable. More than 40,000 people They went to a Dolphins fan zone between Thursday and Saturday, while the NFL temporary store at the Bernabéu received between 5,000 and 10,000 visitors in the days before the game. Initial ticket sales registered 700,000 different devices trying to buy tickets for a capacity of just over 78,000 spectators. According to the mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, the party has generated more than 70 million euros in economic income for the Spanish capital, including ticket sales, tourism and other economic aspects of the event. The food. If something generated real controversy, it was the gastronomic offer. In X there was a publication which attracted a lot of attention, and in which an Iberian ham sandwich with little chicha was seen and, according to the user, sold for 10 euros. The comments from several Spanish users were immediate, calling the management “shameful.” For many American fans, accustomed to a wide variety of options and fast service during matches, they encountered an uncomfortable reality at the Bernabéu. However, not everything was bad. And other visitors very positive aspects highlighted of Madrid, such as the gastronomy outside the stadium, the hospitality of its inhabitants or the attractiveness of the city as a tourist destination. What’s behind. The Bernabéu match is part of the strategy of international expansion of the NFLwhich has already held meetings in London, Mexico, Munich, Frankfurt, São Paulo, Berlin and Dublin. For the American league, these events represent generational work. NFL executive Jon Barker declared to the Washington Post that the organization has no idea what American soccer will look like on a global scale in 100 years, but that every international match is a step in that direction. The NFL invested 2.32 million dollars in temporarily adapting the Bernabéu: they expanded changing rooms, removed rows of seats to extend the field from 105 to 109 meters, created new entrances and eliminated all visual presence of Real Madrid during the event. Two models, two audiences. A day after the game, Settleman qualified his initial words in a long message: “I was making a lot of observations, I understand that the internet can confuse it with opinions. The European experience of not focusing on concessions seems good to me, it is simply different from the US.” He acknowledged that the Bernabéu is among the five best stadiums he has visited, although without anything extraordinary in terms of experience during the game. He also admitted that the energy around international NFL games is “a must-do experience,” with a fresh and positive vibe. If we stick to the numbers, the league generates about 23,000 million dollars annually compared to the 45,100 million that our football moves in Europe alone, according to Deloitte. Both sports are now exploring other regions, with European soccer heavily investing in the United States, while the NFL is also exploring other horizons. It remains to be seen how this North American sport faces cultural differences in other corners and whether or not its international expansion will encounter many bumps. Cover image | Jack Settleman In Xataka | The World Stone Throwing Championship seemed like the purest and most honest competition in the world. Until the fake stones appeared

wants to be the center of your daily diet

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Mercadona It no longer wants to be the place where you make your purchases. Or not alone at least. What he aspires to now is to become the default place where you eat, where they prepare your food, heat it, devour it and even have your mid-morning or after-dinner coffee. The first step to achieve this was taken already some years with the launch of its section ‘Ready to Eat’ and since then he has not stopped doubling the bet, spreading it to its wide local network. Now he has gone one step further. In addition to cooking you an omelette, a Teriyaki chicken, a sandwich, some stuffed eggplants, a poke salmon or even a Valencian paellaMercadona wants to serve you freshly ground coffee. AND seen the data of the sector makes a lot of sense. To Mercadona to drink coffee That there are people (many) who go to Mercadona in search of coffee is nothing new. In fact some of their articles have become so popular that they have their own followers. What is new is that people do not go to Juan Roig stores looking for packages, bags of grain or capsules for their machines, but to prepare freshly ground coffee and serve it in a glass ready to drink, which is what the company has started to do in Valencia. So confirmed it the company to The Economist in March, when he revealed that he was taking a test in dozens of stores spread throughout the Valencian geography. “In some stores in the province we have incorporated the option that the boss, which is what we call our customers, can take freshly ground coffee. It is a laboratory,” they explained. The idea started in 58 points and four products: black coffee, coffee, with milk and cappuccino. Everything (or almost everything) related to Mercadona generates excitement inside and outside the networks and its coffee service has been no exception. In x, instagram either TikTok It didn’t take long for videos to appear of people showing the new machines in Roig’s stores and even testing the result, as Cafemaxpag did in one piece (with a bittersweet balance) that soon gained thousands of views. You can even see photos that show the same service in Portugal. Expectation is no guarantee of success, but the chain made it clear that I would be attentive to the answer in its stores in the province of Valencia. “We plan to expand this laboratory after the summer and the coffee can be purchased in stores in the Community of Madrid,” advanced in March. Today the service is announced already on their website, where a map confirms that it offers freshly ground coffee in several locations throughout Madrid and the Valencian Community. In Cuenca it has an establishment that also incorporates a machine for consumption. At this point, the question is… Why is Mercadona launched, which in 2024 achieved a net profit of 1,384 millionto the adventure of freshly ground coffee? Three words: ‘Ready to Eat’ Coffee is not an experiment disconnected from Mercadona’s global strategy. On the contrary. The company itself recognize that connects with a much broader initiative, worked on and whose origins can be traced back to at least 2018: ‘Ready to Eat’a branch of the company that aspires to turn Roig’s stores into the food reference for Spanish families. The central idea is what we mentioned at the beginning of this report: that people not only go to the supermarket to buy food to fill the refrigerator at home, but that they leave there with food already prepared. Or even eaten. In summary, the service consists of a section within Mercadona stores in which a series of products are sold. ready-made dishes. And that includes everything from different starters and appetizers to pizzas, burgers, sandwiches and main dishes such as lentils, meatballs, pasta, paella, chicken, sushi assortments or Teriyaki chicken. In 2024 the list was expanded with salmon with vegetables, ribs and seafood salad. Now Mercadona completes it with a freshly ground coffee service. In some stores the idea is not only that the customer finds their food already ready, but that they can taste it right there. Without leaving the premises. “You can heat any dish in one of our microwaves, grab cutlery and, in some of our stores, you can consume right there,” explains the company. The model is not exclusive from Mercadona. Other chains, such as Alcampo, The English Court either Carrefour (to name just a handful of examples) they have also opted for prepared dishes. Sometimes with spaces to taste them. Because at Mercadona they are convinced that, to a large extent, the future of supermarket chains is not so much about marketing food for customers to prepare at home, but rather offering them already prepared and ready dishes. Instead of chicken, potatoes, oil and salt, you are offered the tray with the roasted thighs directly. Instead of coffee packets, they switch to freshly ground coffee. I explained it clearly Roig himself during the last presentation of results. “I said it and I maintain it: in the middle of the century there will be no kitchens.” All to save you time Beyond the rhetoric Mercadona seems to be betting on that conviction in its stores. In his last annual report The company explains that last year the service was incorporated into one hundred and a half new stores, which brings the total network to 1,260 supermarkets, 1,200 in Spain and the existing 60 in Portugal. Taking into account that the chain has a little more 1,600 establishments In Spain, the level of implementation is more than considerable and already exceeds 70%. The company does not publish detailed financial data for its different business areas, but ensures that the ‘Ready to eat’ section, “has not stopped growing”. In 2024 the entire company invoiced 38,835 millionwhich allowed him increase by 37% its net profit to reach 1,384 million. Mercadona’s bet (like that of chains such as Alcampo or … Read more

Aragón has just activated its second major data center project. The bet goes through a challenge that is difficult to ignore

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Aragón is going through a unique moment: in just a few years it has gone from competing to attract data centers to announce three mega facilities new ones promoted by Forestalia that aim to strengthen their position on the European cloud map. The announcement by the regional government comes in the midst of a race to attract technological investment, but also in a territory where the electrical network works to the limit and every great project depends on decisions that have not yet been made. The result is a scenario as ambitious as it is full of unknowns, which will determine the real impact of this expansion. How these digital complexes work. A data center is, in essence, a technological heart that stores and processes information for millions of users and companies. Every series that is streamed or every operation carried out in the cloud passes through servers that require stable power and constant cooling. That is why the choice of location is so relevant: electrical capacity and operational security are needed. Aragón has been gaining ground on that map and today is seen as a strategic option for new facilities. The project. The Government of Aragon has detailed that the Búfalo Project includes three data centers in Magallón, Botorrita and Alfamén, backed by an investment of 12,048 million euros. The deployment includes DCM Data, DCM Dédalo and DCM Blue, whose works would begin between 2028 and 2029 and will extend for approximately eight years. According to official estimates, the construction will generate about 30,000 temporary jobs. In the operational phase, each facility will add hundreds of workers, with a total that clearly exceeds a thousand stable positions. Aragón on the international board. The accumulated investments in data centers exceed 70,000 million euros and place the community in the same conversation as consolidated European hubs. According to the President of the Government of Aragon, Jorge Azcón, the computing capacity that is being configured rivals that of Dublin and Paris and aspires to approach that of Frankfurt. The regional Executive also states that the data that will be managed will have a European scope, from Germany or France to Italy and the United Kingdom, reinforcing the international dimension of the project. Distributed renewable self-consumption. The Government of Aragon presents self-consumption as a distinctive element of the Búfalo Project, since approximately half of the energy consumption will be associated with wind and photovoltaic parks powered by Forestalia. This volume of generation allows for a renewable supply, although it does not eliminate dependence on the general network, which will provide the rest of the energy. The underlying idea is to combine own generation with existing infrastructure to sustain large-scale facilities. Press to see the message in X The word “self-consumption” may lead one to think that data centers and renewable plants share the same physical space, but this is not the case. Forestalia is setting up parks in various regions of Zaragoza and Teruel, located where the natural resource is most favorable. The data centers, as we say, will be in Magallón, Botorrita and Alfamén, and the connection between both worlds is made entirely through the Red Eléctrica network. It is a distributed scheme that coordinates generation and consumption without a single energy campus. A network to the limit. Aragon produces more electricity than it consumes and exports about 54% of its generation, but that abundance contrasts with a distribution network that functions practically at maximum. A report published in September 2025 sets its occupancy level at 94.3%, well above the national average of 84.3%. This saturation leaves little room to incorporate large consumers such as data centers. The result is a paradox: available energy, but an infrastructure incapable of delivering it to all projects. Projects that have already reached their peak. The bottleneck is not a future hypothesis, but a reality that already affects several operators. According to Heraldothe data centers in the pipeline have requested more than 6,000 MW and only a part has firm access, with cases such as Vantage, which has 90 MW authorized despite aiming for 300. Microsoft also depends on tenders in saturated nodes. The Government itself recognizes that everything will be linked to Red Eléctrica’s planning and the decisions of the central Executive. Water, a debate that is still open? The cooling of data centers has generated concern in Aragon since Amazon asked for late 2024 48% more water for the complexes that already operate in the region. Ecologistas en Acción and the Tu Nube Seca Mi Río platform then warned of the water impact of these facilities in the midst of a structural drought. Azcón maintains that future Forestalia centers will use a closed circuit with “practically imperceptible” consumption and affirms that the debate “is over.” In any case, everything indicates that this matter remains under public scrutiny. To facilitate the path of the Buffalo Project, The Government of Aragon has declared the initiative as of Autonomous General Interest, a figure that allows procedures to be simplified and the different administrations involved better coordinated. This declaration speeds up procedures, but does not resolve the main point of friction: the available electrical capacity. Hence, the regional Executive insists on its willingness to work with the central Government and Red Eléctrica, the only actors that can modify the network planning. Real progress will depend on those decisions. The announcement of the three new data centers, together with the rest of the initiatives in the pipeline, places Aragón at a decisive moment to consolidate its presence on the European cloud map. The investment is notable and so is the promised employment, but much of the result will depend on decisions that are not entirely in the hands of the community. The region has shown intention and movement, although it remains to be seen what the real scope of this bet will be. Images | İsmail Enes Ayhan | Jorge Azcón (X) In Xataka | The European Commission’s pendulum with AI is real: it will sacrifice privacy to … Read more

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