Christmas

Chaplin died on Christmas. In March they were already asking for $600,000 in ransom for his body.

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On the night of March 1-2, 1978, a pair of unemployed mechanics dug up the coffin of the legendary Charles Chaplin from a Swiss cemetery, and moved it to a cornfield, where they hid it. They asked for $600,000 to return it and the widow refused to agree to their demands. Everything was solved with an intervention by the police, but with an unexpected final twist: the thieves did not remember where they had hidden it. Death. Chaplin had died on December 25, 1977, at the age of 88, at his residence in Corsier-sur-Vevey, a town on the shores of Lake Geneva. He had been there since 1952, when the US government denied him a visa to return to his country after being accused of communist sympathies. during McCarthyism: He had left the United States to attend the London premiere of ‘Candilejas’ and was never able to return. The funeral was discreet and the oak coffin was buried in the local cemetery without much fanfare. A quiet end for someone who had been, literally, the most famous person in the world in the 1920s. The robbery. The tranquility lasted ten weeks. In the early hours of March 1-2, 1978, two men crossed the unprotected cemetery carrying flashlights and shovels. They were Roman Wardas, Polish, 24 years old, political refugee who led a precarious life in Switzerland and Gantscho Ganev, Bulgarian, 38 years old, also a mechanic, also without stable work. They had come to the conclusion that Chaplin’s corpse was the solution to his financial problems. They unearthed the 135 kilo oak coffinthey dragged him to the street and loaded him into Ganev’s car. They drove to a cornfield a little over a mile from the Chaplins’ house and reburied him. You don’t negotiate with terrorists. On the morning of March 2, police discovered the empty hole and notified the family. Press speculation They were immediate: uncontrolled fans, local anti-Semites, neo-Nazis resentful of ‘The Great Dictator’… That same day, calls from tomb desecrators began to arrive. And they repeated themselves. Between March 2 and May 16, Oona Chaplin, the actor’s very young widow, received 27 calls demanding a ransom of $600,000. His refusal made history: “Charlie would have found it ridiculous.” In reality, there was a reason for delaying them: while he pretended to negotiate to buy time, the police tapped his phone and deployed agents to the two hundred public telephones in the region, because the thieves changed booths with each call. The situation was complicated because impostors appeared who claimed to have stolen the body, forcing the real kidnappers to photograph the coffin to prove that they were the ones who had it. The thieves also threatened the family’s youngest children, but Oona Chaplin stood her ground. The arrest. On May 16, 76 days after the robbery, Wardas was arrested in a telephone booth in Lausanne, and Ganev fell shortly after. The police took them to the cornfield to recover the coffin, but there was still comedy in the story: the thieves did not remember the exact point where they buried it. The agents had to use metal detectors to locate the coffin. Chaplin was reburied in the same place, this time with a concrete slab on top of the coffin. Oona died in 1991 and is buried next to him. More robberies. The theft of Chaplin’s body was not an isolated accident, but the continuation of a macabre tradition of famous kidnapped corpses. In 1876, a gang of counterfeiters attempted to steal Abraham Lincoln’s body to ask for a ransom and the plan was aborted when the thieves had already sawed off the tomb’s padlock. In 1977, weeks after Elvis Presley’s death, four people attempted to break into his mausoleum in Memphis, convincing the family to move the remains to Graceland, also sealed under a slab. Eva Perón lived a posthumous journey that lasted decades: her embalmed corpse was stolen by the Argentine military in 1955, stored in a van parked in the streets of Buenos Aires, secretly transferred to Italy and buried in Milan under a false name until she was able to return to Argentina in 1974. And in 2015, the skull of ‘Nosferatu’ director FW Murnau disappeared from his grave near Berlin, possibly stolen by satanists. He never recovered. In Xataka | This is how sound was added to cartoons before sound films: the complex simplicity of mechanical orchestras

ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent are spending $647 million on AI. Or rather: in Christmas bribes by AI

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The big three Chinese tech companies have decided that the best way to get users for their AI chatbots is to literally pay them to use them. Between them, they are investing more than $2.9 billion in incentives during the Lunar New Year, the biggest Chinese holiday. It is a war with a single intention: to be the gateway for AI in the country. Subsidy war. The Chinese Lunar New Year has become another major battleground to win the AI ​​race. As they say from the LatePost newsletter (translated by Recode China AI), Alibaba leads with 3,000 million yuan (about 431 million dollars) that it will distribute to its users for its app qwenfollowed by Tencent with 1 billion yuan to yuanbaoand Baidu with 500 million. ByteDance, for its part, has secured the most expensive sponsorship of the Spring Festival Gala to promote Doubaoits chatbot that already has 100 million daily active users. In Xataka ByteDance is not satisfied with TikTok and has just started a new career: one that leads it to create its own AI chip User acquisition. Companies are using money in different ways but with the same objective: hooking users. Alibaba is subsidizing real purchases, from milk tea to hotel reservations, all through its Qwen assistant. According to Bloombergsome stores that offered milk tea have been overwhelmed by orders that had been placed through the chatbot. Tencent offers digital envelopes of up to 10,000 yuan (1,219 euros) directly in cash. On the other hand, ByteDance has taken advantage of its muscle in social networks to integrate Doubao throughout its network of applications. Between the lines. The most interesting part of all this is that it seems that none of these companies yet know how to monetize their AI tools, according to industry sources cited by LatePost. “Monetization models for Chinese AI companies remain murky, a challenge that is also reflected in the United States,” points out Shi Jialong, analyst at Nomura. They are buying users in the hopes of later figuring out how to convert them into revenue. {“videoId”:”x8jpy2b”,”autoplay”:false,”title”:”What’s BEHIND AIs like CHATGPT, DALL-E or MIDJOURNEY? | ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE”, “tag”:”Webedia-prod”, “duration”:”1173″} Competence. The situation is radically different from that of a year ago. DeepSeek changed the rules of the game your R1 model last year, gaining 10 million active users in less than a month. And just as they mention in LatePost, that set off a chain reaction, causing Tencent to dive headlong into AI after years of caution, Alibaba to prioritize its Qwen app above everything (even its Quark browser), and ByteDance to accelerate its investment in talent and infrastructure. Yields. ByteDance reported net profits of about $40 billion in the first three quarters of the year, while Tencent reached $30 billion and Alibaba about $10 billion. according to LatePost. Despite having achieved lower profitability in its operations, Alibaba intends to increase its investment in AI infrastructure, specifically from 55 billion to 69 billion dollars in the next three years, as pointed out in the newsletter. ByteDance, for its part, was processing an average of 63 billion tokens daily with its AI models at the end of 2025, a growth of 200% in six months. In Xataka "The world is in danger": Anthropic’s security manager leaves the company to write poetry And now what. The subsidy war to be the gateway to China is not new. As well as remember In Bloomberg, in sectors such as shared transportation or food delivery, they have experienced this battle of companies throwing incentives at their users. And companies lose money massively until the market consolidates. The difference is that here users are not afraid to change AI models and quickly switch to the one that offers the best technical performance, as indicated the OpenRouter report. It will be interesting to see what the market share of the main AI models in China looks like when they stop flying the envelope. Cover image | Arthur Wang and Solen Feyissa In Xataka |Google is going to borrow money to pay back in 100 years. You have to believe that in 100 years Google will still be there (function() { window._JS_MODULES = window._JS_MODULES || {}; var headElement = document.getElementsByTagName(‘head’)(0); if (_JS_MODULES.instagram) { var instagramScript = document.createElement(‘script’); instagramScript.src=”https://platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js”; instagramScript.async = true; instagramScript.defer = true; headElement.appendChild(instagramScript); – The news ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent are spending $647 million on AI. Or rather: in Christmas bribes by AI was originally published in Xataka by Antonio Vallejo .

Barcelona believes it has a night security problem. So you’re going to leave the Christmas lights on all year long

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Vigo risks losing his position as “city of lights” (from Spain). Although the Galician City Council usually displays its Christmas decorations already in July and boasts every year of the millions and millions of LEDs that adorn its streets for almost two months, from November to January, there is another city that is about to raise the stakes: Barcelona. There the Consistory has decided maintain part of the lighting for the festivities Old City during the remainder of winter. Their reasons actually have little to do with Christmas. Lights, lights and more lights. Christmas may be over, but in Spain it is becoming common for us to talk about its lights for months and months. In Vigo they do it because the City Council begins to hang them in the middle of Julywith the thermometer flirting with 30º and the city full of tourists in shorts and flip-flops. Now they will do it too in Barcelonaalthough for other reasons. What do they want to do there? The news I advanced it on Monday The Vanguard: Barcelona is finalizing a plan to improve the lighting of some of the narrowest (and darkest) streets of Ciutat Vella, taking advantage of part of the decoration that was installed there this Christmas. That is to say, in the absence of traditional streetlights, garlands strung between facades are good. Although Jaume Collboni’s team has not yet revealed the details of the initiative, the idea does seem clear: it is not so much about neighbors, merchants and tourists continuing to walk for months under decorations of Santa Clauses, Three Wise Men and Christmas trees, but rather about maintaining the most ‘timeless’ designs. Walking under light bulbs. The key is therefore to take advantage of decoration that does not clash with the rest of the winter. To reinforce it, the municipal government also proposes maintaining the garlands that the merchants themselves have placed. In the Gòtic there are businesses that have been hanging decorative lights on their own, although as these were private initiatives they encountered challenges such as the passage of garbage trucks or some parades. Where, when and how. While waiting for the City Council to provide more details about where, when and how the initiative will be deployed, The Vanguard has advanced some keys: the measure will focus on points in Ciutat Vella, Gótic and Sant Pere streets, Santa Caterina and Ribera that aspire to improve their lighting. Regarding the calendar, councilor Albert Batlle explains that the Consistory proposes keeping the lights for several months: “The will is that the measure be implemented, now and in the future, during the winter time period, approximately between the last weekend of October and the last weekend of March.” Two keys: trade and security. Batlle too confirm that the measure pursues two objectives: to favor the businesses and residents of the area and to put an end to alleys in which pickpockets find refuge. “We want to improve the lighting of some small streets in Gòtic and Sant Pere, Santa Caterina and la Ribera to promote commercial, cultural and social revitalization, and also to improve the feeling of security, especially on days with fewer hours of daylight,” he adds. “We are working on the formula to enhance this network.” “They give them more qualms”. The measure appears to have had good reception among the businesses in the area, which even proposed expanding the list of roads that were initially going to benefit from the lights. “If the streets are more illuminated, walking becomes safer and commerce will benefit,” recognize to The Newspaper David González, from the Via Laietana Merchants Association. Proof of how convincing the measure is is that at the time some businessmen from Born they already started to hang garlands at your own risk. “People go along Paseo del Born very happy because the promenade and the streets are usually well lit. But the dark alleys make them hesitant.” The idea has also been found with detractors who consider it a patch. But… Does it work? Although he has achieved reduce your crimeBarcelona usually appears in the area highest of the rankings about the cities insecure from Spain. The key is whether more public lighting will translate into greater real safety, a question that has generated debate in recent years. What they do seem to confirm cases like that of Vigo is that a good commitment to street lighting (even if it is seasonal) serves to attract thousands of visitors. Images | Barcelona City Council (X) and Núria (Flickr) In Xataka | The upper area of ​​Barcelona no longer interests the rich: the Eixample has become fashionable and its neighbors tremble because of the prices

Half of Spain has gotten hooked this Christmas on a board game that is not a board game: ‘El Impostor’

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The Impostor game has dominated Spanish family gatherings during the 2025 holidays, going massively viral on social networks and causing the downloads of mobile applications to multiply that adapt the rules of an entertainment that, in reality, can be played without any type of add-on. We’ve dug into its origins and impact to find out why it’s making a splash this Christmas. The phenomenon. While families gathered over nougat, a dynamic of social deduction as simple as it was addictive crept into the dinners, turning every word into suspicion and every look into infallible proof. This is not a new game, but its massive viralization through TikTok During December, downloads of specialized applications such as “Imposter – Party Game” in the App Store or “Imposter: Word Game” on Google Play. It has not been an exclusively Spanish phenomenon, as articles such as this one from a Mexican digital. But the practical reason for its success is very clear: very simple and quick to explain rules, guaranteed light psychological tension and no preparations, only a handful of people are needed. How to play. The game works through an information asymmetry that starts with all participants knowing a secret word (“meatballs”, “Cuenca” or “car)” except one player. Your survival depends on pretending you know the word. Each person must offer a clue related to the word without saying it directly, balancing being specific enough not to seem suspicious and vague enough not to give away the answer to the imposter. After the clue round, the players debate and vote who is the imposter. If he manages to go unnoticed, victory is his. It can be played with paper and a human moderator, but apps facilitate randomness and word choice, sometimes online, sometimes with a single device passed from hand to hand that secretly assigns roles, which speeds up the pace of the game. Origins of the game. These date back to 1986, to the classroom of a psychology student at Moscow State University named Dimitry Davidoff. It began as a pedagogical exercise to teach “visual psychodiagnoses” (the interpretation of body language and non-verbal signals) and was named “Mafia.” Popular Mechanics He said that Davidoff’s objective was to create “a conflict between an informed minority and an uninformed majority”, that is, between gangsters and innocent citizens. The werewolves arrive. The thematic leap that would define the game came a decade later, in 1997, when designer Andrew Plotkin invented a reconversion: the gangsters were transformed into werewolves, the citizens into medieval villagers, and the game cycle adopted the day/night structure that suited the lycanthropic transformations under the full moon. This version introduced the role of the Seer (a villager with the ability to investigate other people’s identities every night), adding an additional strategic layer. Over time, these games (which fall into the category of “social deduction titles”) have been examined under multiple academic lenses, from the playful to the psychological. For example, in 2024 a paper It explored optimal strategies from a game theory perspective and built mathematical models to calculate what strategies each faction should follow to win. Institutions such as MIT developed their own regulatory variants and experts such as those on the web No Rolls Barred They theorized that these games work because they operate in “an information asymmetry where knowing something that others don’t know becomes a currency of social exchange.” The ‘Among Us’ revolution. It was this seemingly modest video game that would catapult the genre into the global mainstream. Developed by the small studio InnerSloth, it was launched in June 2018 for mobile and PC and for almost two years it languished in obscurity, averaging between 30 and 50 players connected simultaneously, a number so discreet that the studio considered abandoning the project. But when Twitch streamer Sodapoppin discovered the game in July 2020 and hosted a four-plus hour session with other content creators, he set off a chain reaction which would lead ‘Among Us’ to reach 3.8 million concurrent players in September, a growth of 1600% in just eight months. It was then spoken of the opportuneness of timing pandemic, with the world in confinement: ‘Among Us’ offered a form of remote socialization that replicated the experience of board games but without the need for physical proximity. In addition, the game was very accessible economically and technically: free on mobile devices and only five dollars on PC, with very simple mechanics thanks to which anyone with a phone could participate. Third, finally, he was ideal for the streaming: Watching games of ‘Among Us’ was almost as entertaining as playing them. Additionally, the game refined the original mechanics: there were tasks that players had to complete while investigating, eliminating the role of passive eliminated players. The viralization. TikTok has established itself as the true catalyst for the Impostor’s Christmas explosion. Unlike ‘Among Us’, the Impostor found its perfect ecosystem in the short vertical videos of TikTok, with grandmothers accusing grandchildren, groups of friends yelling at each other and entire families breaking up with suspicious laughter. The platform functioned as a visual instruction manual and eliminated the barrier to entry that ‘Mafia’ and ‘Werewolf’ had historically had, as well as mechanically inspired board gameslike ‘Little Secret’ or ‘The Liar’. The secret of the game’s success is that it has transcended generations: a 70-year-old can lie as convincingly as a 15-year-old. Grandparents have learned from their grandchildren how the game worked, parents have discovered that their children lied terrifyingly well, leading to a curious reversal of the usual roles in the family. Quite a game. Header | Alvaro Garcia

The iconic Game Boy is back in LEGO format and is a good Christmas gift for the most nostalgic

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Do you want to surprise a gamer from the ’90s, now a forty-something, and you don’t know what to do it with? Surely in his youth he had the iconic Game Boy. Now, you can buy a LEGO Game Boy set to build Nintendo’s first portable console, thus becoming a perfect gift for Twelfth Night. LEGO Super Mario Game Boy The price could vary. We earn commission from these links A LEGO set with surprising realism Some time ago, LEGO released a set inspired by the Nintendo Entertainment System. Although, now, this new set wants to give a tribute to the iconic Game Boythe Japanese company’s first portable console. Composed of 421 pieces and with a design endowed with realism, if you have it in your hands, you will believe that you are looking at the real console and not one made with LEGO pieces. In addition, it comes with many details and accessories, such as a stand to place it and several games and screens. Specifically,’The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening‘ and ‘Super Mario Land‘ are the two screens that the LEGO set includes. Furthermore, to make matters worse (as far as realism is concerned), the console buttons can be pressed and the cartridges (fully buildable) can be inserted into this Game Boy. Other LEGO sets for gamers that may interest you LEGO Mario Kart 72037: Mario and Standard Kart The price could vary. We earn commission from these links LEGO 21265 Minecraft Workbench 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 | LEGO In Xataka | Your favorite series, comics and movies also in LEGO: 15 construction kits ideal to assemble yourself or give as a gift In Xataka | LEGO constructions on another level: the Technic Series has the models that any collector would dream of

Five devices with Alexa that are perfect as a Christmas gift

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If you want to give technology in Reyes, a good option is to give an Amazon device with the Alexa voice assistant. This type of gift can be perfect for a music lover or for someone who is starting to set up their own connected home. Below, we offer you a selection with some of the Amazon devices with Alexa that you can consider. Echo Pop The echo speakers They are one of the most popular Alexa devices. Above all, if you don’t want to spend a lot of money on a Christmas gift, but you want to surprise, this Echo Pop It is a good option. He Echo Pop It is the most economical of the company. It has a hemispherical design and very compact measurements, which allows it to be placed in any corner. Integrate Alexa and offer lossless high definition audio. You can get it in four colors: black, white, purple and green. Echo Pop (Latest generation) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Echo Spot If you want to go further, the Echo Spot It is the Amazon speaker that we recommend. Its design reminds us a lot of the previous model that we have shown you, although it stands out for having a screen on the front. Launched in 2024, this Echo Spot It could be defined as a smart alarm clock with a touch screen. Its design is hemispherical and has a 2.83 inch touch screen and you can choose between different spheres. You can buy it in three colors: black, white and blue. Amazon Echo Spot (latest generation) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Echo Show 8 Although if you really want to surprise someone with more than just a speaker, the Echo Show 8 It is one of those devices that is worth buying for Reyes. This is nothing other than a hybrid between speaker and smart display and can become the epicenter of a connected home. This Echo Show 8 (3rd generation) has an 8-inch touch screen with HD resolution. Comes with Alexa integrated and offers Spatial Audiowhich is much more powerful than what simpler Echo speaker models offer. Some of its most interesting features are allowing you to play audiovisual content or audiobooks, as well as control the surveillance cameras in your home. Echo Show 8 (3rd generation, 2023 model) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Fire TV Stick 4K Select If you want to surprise someone who likes watch series and movies at home calmly, the Fire TV Stick 4K Select It is one of those very useful devices. Above all, it is perfect if someone has an old TV and is thinking of converting it into a smart one or simply does not like the operating system on theirs. This Fire TV Stick 4K Select It is the latest model of television dongles that Amazon has launched. It connects, in a simple way, via HDMI and offers 4K resolution. It comes with Alexa integrated as a voice assistant and its remote control has buttons with direct access to the main streaming platforms. Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Select (latest generation) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Ring Intercom Video The last of the devices with Alexa that we want to recommend to you to have as a gift is the Ring Intercom Video. This new Ring device is very useful, for example, if you usually place a lot of orders on Amazon, since you can give it temporary access to verified delivery driversyou can leave the package inside the building. It allows you to see, from the app and in real time, who is at the door of the building, so you know who is calling the intercom. It is compatible with Alexa and offers two-way audio. Furthermore, his removable design It allows you to easily take it with you, in case you move. Ring Intercom Video (2025 version, latest generation) 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 | Eva Rodríguez de Luis (Xataka) and Amazon In Xataka | Home alone: ​​buying guide for smart devices to take care of your home when you go on vacation In Xataka | Best surveillance cameras: which one to buy and 11 recommended models for indoors, outdoors, babies and pets

With the “late” eating into the Christmas holidays, a new phenomenon gains weight in Spain: the Australian New Year’s Eve

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The year changes with the twelve bells midnight on December 31st. That has no discussion. What is questionable is that the New Year has to be celebrated at night. If you are more of a daytime person than a night person, if you don’t want to go to bed in the wee hours of the morning, hungover and resigned to spending the first morning of 2026 tossing and turning in bed… Why not bring the party forward a few hours? What if instead of gathering our family and friends for dinner we meet at noon? What if we ring in 2026 (or any other New Year) when they do it in Sydney, where the 12 bells ring when we are having lunch? What has happened? Bells, grapes, firecrackers, the first advertisement of the year, the trappings of the star presenter on duty, whether the layer of Ramonchu either the dress of the Pedroche… In Spain, New Year’s Eve has its traditions (apparently immutable), but that does not mean that more and more people choose to rethink how and especially when they celebrate the change of year. In fact, for a long time there has been a way to celebrate it that has gained followers: “Australian New Year’s Eve”. And what does it mean? It sounds exotic, but it’s actually very simple. The “Australian New Year’s Eve” consists of nothing more nor less than bringing forward the celebration of the New Year by a few hours. There is a 10-hour lag between Madrid and Sydney, which means that while in mainland Spain we sit at the table to eat in the most populated city in Oceania, there are in full transition of year. It is a simple geographical curiosity, but there are those who have seen in it a perfect hook to rethink when we celebrate the New Year in this corner of the planet. Instead of doing it at midnight, after an extensive dinner, they join the “Australian New Year’s Eve” and uncork the cava when the residents of Sydney or other regions of Australia, where they govern, do so. multiple time zones. One celebration does not have to exclude the other (a Spaniard can celebrate the New Year at 2:00 p.m. and 12:00 a.m.), but it does help to shift the focus away from the night. It is similar to the “pre-grapes” that have been celebrated for years, but in a somewhat different way: with food, parties and using Australian time as a pretext. But… Is it successful? Yes. At least in certain regions of Spain, where the concept of “Australian New Year’s Eve” seems to have caught on. A quick search shows chronicles about early celebrations in Teruel, Castellon, Valencia, The Palm…but if there is a place where the ‘Australian-style’ party has found fertile ground, it is Alicante. It has been organized there for a long time a few years and has expanded to several municipalities. The celebration has become so profound, in fact, that it moves so many people in restaurants and at night parties. So many people? The newspaper recently Information asked that same question to hoteliers and found a surprising response. According to the president of the Alicante Restaurant Association (ARA) reservations for lunch and dinner on December 31 are already practically equal in number, which shows that more and more people are bringing forward the celebration of the New Year. What’s more, part of the nighttime demand appears to be shifting to midday, when customers find more diversity in exchange for cheaper rates. “In the evening pack, the normal thing is set menus, which are somewhat more expensive,” says the hotelier. Prices are around 100 or 110 euros, practically double that of lunch, which is also usually served without a set menu and includes a drink. At first glance it may seem that restaurants are losing, but the reality is that if the daily clientele and the dinner clientele are added, businesses gain demand. Furthermore, New Year’s Eve menus may be more expensive, but they also entail more expenses for the establishments, which reduces their final profitability. From another association of hoteliers in the province of Alicante, Apeha, confirm There are starting to be more reservations at midday than at night. Is it just business? No. The phenomenon is not only seen in bars and restaurants. Daytime celebrations, including symbolic grapes, music and “chimes” are also celebrated with institutional support of the town councils. In Senija they present them for example as “Bells in the Sun” and in Crevillent the City Council advertises both the “Australian Chimes” as the “New Year’s Eve Party”. They are not unique or isolated cases. In Alicante you can find other towns that have taken their festivals beyond nighttime hours. Why this success? The big question. Costs aside, Apeha provides a key piece of information: the regular customer who books a restaurant on the 31st at noon is usually, clarifypeople of a certain age or with small children. “It’s not so much young people who go to clubs as people who prefer to go out at noon to get home at a productive time.” The truth is that the “Australian New Year’s Eve” is not an isolated phenomenon. It coincides with two others that are going in the same direction. The first is the afternoon boom. As the supply (and demand) of leisure diversifies and is no longer monopolized at night, more and more people choose to visit bars and clubs earlier. Instead of going out at night he does it in the afternoon, which is felt at Christmas itself. “Australian New Year’s Eve” may be expanding, but so is the “Good Afternoon” and “New Year’s Afternoon”advanced versions of Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. More partying, less cooking. The other trend has to do with how we organize our Christmases and our habits in the kitchen. We start enjoying before December 24 or 31 because we are less willing to spend hours in the kitchen to prepare … Read more

Europe has experienced its cleanest electric Christmas. The problem is what comes next

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Europe has just said goodbye to the “cleanest” Christmas in its recent history in electrical terms, but the sector’s toast has been bittersweet. While families celebrated the holidays with electricity prices at a minimum, in the offices of regulators and analysis centers a very different scenario was already being drawn for the near future. We have the sun, we have the wind and we have broken production records, but the system shows signs of exhaustion. The success of this Christmas is, in reality, a reminder of the paradox that the continent is experiencing: we have never produced so much clean energy and, yet, the specter of gas, the saturation of the networks and an imminent rise in regulated costs threaten to spoil the party from 2026. The milestones of December. The fourth week of December 2025 will be recorded as an oasis of low prices. According to data from AleaSoft Energy Forecastingthe prices of the main European electricity markets fell significantly, with weekly averages below €85/MWh. In the Iberian Peninsula, the MIBEL market led this trend with a drop of 20%, the largest percentage decrease on the continent. This phenomenon, dubbed by analysts as the “Christmas effect”, is due to the combination of lower demand due to the festive break and a massive increase in wind and solar production, which put downward pressure on prices across almost the entire continent. The deployment of clean energies. As the report detailssolar photovoltaic production increased by 48% in Portugal and 21% in Spain during the week of December 22. This push was not exclusive to the peninsula: Germany, Italy and France set new historical highs for photovoltaic production for a day in December (Germany generated 87 GWh on the 25th). For its part, wind production maintained its upward trend, rising by 80% in Italy and 21% in Spain. According to the monthly report of OMIEthis force of the wind had already been brewing since November, the month in which wind energy reached a market share of 39.7% in the Spanish system. Abundance vs. rigidity. Despite these records, the transition faces critical obstacles: the disconnection between generation and the capacity to absorb it. According to AleaSoft forecastsAlthough solar production continues to grow, the European grid shows signs of saturation as demand falls. The technical problem is that, at times of maximum solar production and low demand, the system has nowhere to store the surplus. This forces prices collapse non-structurallywhich in the long term puts the profitability of new investments in check. Furthermore, added to this is a fiscal anomaly since in much of Europe, electricity is still burdened with tolls and taxes that make it up to three times more expensive than gas for the end user, slowing down the adoption of efficient technologies. like heat pumps. The Spanish case: the danger of bottlenecks. In Spain, this situation is especially delicate. The country has converted in a “case study on the dangers of saturation.” The lack of investment in networks (only 30 cents for every euro invested in renewables) has caused the curtailment —clean energy that is wasted because the grid cannot transport it—has tripled. The example most critical is Asturias. The network in the central Asturian area is at the technical limit; No more storage projects or new industry can be connected because the cables and transformers cannot support any more load. Furthermore, to avoid blackouts, Red Eléctrica operates in “reinforced mode”activating expensive gas plants to stabilize the tension, an extra cost that ends up in the citizens’ bill. A structural January slope. This Christmas’s price relief could be temporary. AleaSoft Energy Forecasting warns that future of CO2 have reached their highest closing prices since October 2024 (above €88/t), and TTF gas remains stressed due to low temperatures and European reserves below 65%. And in Spain we have to add the regulatory horizon of 2026. As we have detailedthe largest simultaneous increase in fixed costs in years is expected: transport tolls will rise by 12.1% and government charges by 10.5%. There is a real risk of returning to the tariff deficit if electricity demand does not grow as much as the Government expects, which would generate new structural debt in the system. The challenge of not dying of success. The European energy transition has shown that it can expel fossil fuels in certain days. However, this triumph has collided with an insurmountable physical reality: obsolete networks and a cost structure that still penalizes electricity. Christmas 2025 has given us a green market, but the shadow of 2026 reminds us that it is not enough to fill the landscape with mirrors and windmills. Without a real commitment to batteries, a modernization of cables and a reform of regulated costs, the abundance of clean energy will remain a mirage that fades just before reaching our pockets. Image | freepik Xataka | 2026 has not yet started but it has already managed to produce the first bad news: the light goes up

discounts of up to 50% on technology and delivery before Christmas

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Like every Monday, we return one more day to bring you the best deals we have found today on Amazon. This is a special day for two things: it is the last Monday of 2025 and, furthermore, we are very close to the Three Wise Men. Therefore, in addition to looking for discounted devices and tech products, we have also chosen those that have guaranteed delivery on time. Philips Series 5000 Shaver by 49.99 eurossuitable for the whole body and for use under water. Xiaomi Scooter 5 Max by 419.99 eurosan excellent mobility option with good power and autonomy. V16 help flash IoT+ beacon by 38.05 eurosone of the most popular that will arrive to you in time before it is mandatory to carry it in the car. Philips Ambilight ‘The One’ by 699 eurosa 65-inch Smart TV with very good features. Borderlands 4 by 39.90 eurosavailable at this price for both PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. Philips Series 5000 Shaver As the first interesting offer from Amazon we have this Philips shaver, model BG5485/30. It is a machine designed to be used on the entire body, which is always very practical. In addition, since it is waterproof, we also have the option of using it in the shower. It includes a travel case, which is very practical to take it everywhere with us. It is reduced to 49.99 euros. Philips Body Shaver Series 5000 – Trimmer for Men with Triple Protect System, Shaves and Trims the Intimate Area, Suitable for the Shower, 100 min. of autonomy. BG5485/30 The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Xiaomi Scooter 5 Max If we look for a electric scooter and we want a top option, we have this available Xiaomi Scooter 5 Max at a very good price: 419.99 euros. This model has double front and rear suspension so that we can drive more smoothly. In addition, it has a motor with a peak output of 1,000 W and a range of up to 60 km. And if we are worried about the battery charge, this Scooter 5 Max is fully charged in just 3 hours. Xiaomi Electric Scooter 5 MAX ES+Speaker – Maximum power of 1000 W – 400 W, Autonomy of 60 km, Bluetooth 4.1 BLE or Higher, Full charge in Just 3 Hours (ES Version) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links V16 help flash IoT+ beacon Starting next January 1, carrying a V16 beacon in the car is mandatory. If you are one of those who have left it until the last day (or are looking to give a gift to such a person), this one from Amazon is one of the most popular options and will arrive at your home before this obligation that we mention is applied. It has more than 290 candles, is compatible with the myIncidence app and comes out 38.05 euros. help flash IoT+, V16 Emergency Light with Geolocation and more than 290 candela power, Required from 2026, Connected with DGT 3.0, V-16 Signal for Cars, data plan included The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Philips Ambilight ‘The One’ If you are looking for a Smart TV to renew your old television, this ‘The One’ from Philips could fit you very well. It is a 65-inch model with QLED technology and 4K resolution, all without forgetting that it has one of the most popular technologies of this brand, such as Ambilight. It is compatible with Dolby Atmos and, in addition, its refresh rate reaches up to 144 Hz, which makes it ideal for gaming. Includes 6 free months of Movistar Plus+ and goes out 699 euros Philips Ambilight ‘The One’ 65PUS9010 4K Smart TV – 65-Inch Screen with P5 Picture Engine Ultra HD, Titan OS, Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos Sound The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Borderlands 4 Finally, we have available Borderlands 4 at a great price: 39.90 euros for PS5 (also for Xbox Series). It is one of the best installments that this very fun saga has left us in recent years, so we can expect frenetic shootouts and one of those stories that, although it does not invent the wheel, captures you from beginning to end. It’s great alone, but much better if we can play it cooperatively. Borderlands 4 PS5, Standard 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 | Amazon, Philips, Xiaomi, help flash, 2K In Xataka | The best mobile phones, we have tested them and here are their analyzes In Xataka | Best televisions in quality price. Which one to buy and seven recommended 4K smart TVs

Christmas has become the big business of happiness, and that turns sadness into something revolutionary

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“The second most important fact about Christmas is that it is one of the times of year when the suicide rate increases.” This is how a text by Alasdair MacIntyre, one of the most important moral philosophers of the 20th century, begins. circulates on the internet every Christmas. We know that the data is not true (no more people commit suicide at this time) and, in fact, we are not even sure that this text was written by MacIntyre (although the reference also appears in his main work): However, it is something that keeps repeating itself over and over again. It will be because, despite the lights and the fanfare, there are many people who approach the ‘happy holidays’ as something deeply sad. The great Christmas dissonance. There are many ways to view Christmas, but in almost all of them there is something of a great social celebration of happiness. It is the time of sharing, of meeting loved ones, of reconciliation, of taking advantage of the time as if another spring were not going to come after the barren winter. But what if we don’t want/need/can feel that way? That is, what if in the middle of that chorus of messages, posters and songs that tell us that we should be fine, what we feel is that, simply, “we are not”? Usually, when the implicit norm is “feeling grateful, generous and happy”, anything that goes beyond that is perceived with a mixture of shame and self-criticism; puts on a “good face” (emotional performance) and fatigue, irritability and you end up burning. And everything we lack. “Christmas is also a recounting”, said the writer Gonzalo Torné. “It is the day that as children they taught us what our family landscape was, the people who were interested in us and whom we could count on. And the day that, absence after absence, we confirmed the fragility of what as children we learned as something stable.” The duels. It is a quite precise text: during this type of festival, all the duels that we carry behind us are also activated. It’s not just about “nostalgia”, it’s about everything a ritual of remembering absences on which we have built our lives. Just as the idea that MacIntyre mentioned at the beginning does not fit the data, the truth is that, among the population treated in psychiatric emergencies at Christmas, the “stressors that are repeated the most“are loneliness and being-without-family. A “pressure cooker.” Because, let’s face it, last year up to 20% of Spaniards They experienced political fights at some family dinner. Six out of ten, in fact, avoid talking about controversial topics not to argue: the great “polarization” is converting all in one problem (that adds to material stress and unequal loads). Many reasons, only one why. MacIntyre said that much of this is because “we have lost any ability to understand our lives as something that embodies a narrative structure—not to mention narratives in which there is hope for a happy ending.” No need to go that far. Everything seems to indicate that it is something simpler: Christmas runs the risk of becoming something sad when it becomes an emotional obligation. That is the great design problem of these parties, which, being made to “feel accompanied”, by contrast, make losses, inequalities and fractures visible. We need to reclaim sadness… also at Christmas. In recent years, and with increasing force, positive thinking has become fashionable. Ideas like “You have to be optimistic”, “Don’t give up” or “Always positive, never negative” have become true mantras of our time. But as he says the teacher Jose César Peralesfrom the University of Granada, positive thinking has serious problems that we overlook due to its friendly and adorable appearance. Our culture, increasingly full of characters, is gradually distancing us from a simple truth: that “we suffer, hate or are envious because they are the way we live reality. Denying it, embracing an irrational and meaningless positivism, is the contemporary way of denying ourselves.” Isn’t Christmas a good time to accept ourselves? Image | Bryan Heng In Xataka | Toledo promised them happy holidays with its 49-day mega Christmas. Until the neighbors said ‘not so fast’

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