cities

In 2021, BBC released a video about China causing an earthquake. Now it’s a meme that glorifies Chinese cities

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Trends on social networks are, in many cases, inexplicable. Overnight something goes viral and it’s easy for us to not even know where it came from. In the summer of 2025, chinese networks began what from the West we could see as a simple memeeven nonsense: many videos that show panoramic views of Chinese cities to the rhythm of the mythical BBC intro. This meme spread and is useful for observing some of the most impressive cities in the world from a drone view. There are even users commenting on how some cities, like Chongqing, had undergone a radical transformation in just 20 years. The videos, without a doubt, are impressive and there is a example after other…and after other. But behind the meme there is something much more interesting: an outbreak of international conflict because of… the BBC. BBC News countdown intro style meme continues in China. Below in order is for Guiyang, Nanjing, Jinhua and Jieyang. https://t.co/EKZopt48Pc pic.twitter.com/LhjHVATMKW — JR Urbane Network (@JRUrbaneNetwork) September 1, 2025 The BBC video that angered 1 billion people In February 2021, the world was still reeling from the aftermath of COVID-19. Wuhan, the Chinese city identified as the focus of the global pandemic, was a monitoring point for world news due to the government’s policies to fight the virus. And the BBC published its controversial ‘How everyday life has changed in Wuhan’. It’s this video: Up to this point, we might think that it is just another report, but they published it in duplicate. The one above is the international version, in English. The one I leave you below is the version for China: Have you noticed any difference? Let’s go with some screenshots: International version Chinese version International version Chinese version International version Chinese version International version Chinese version Already we saw it in Xataka back in the day: The international version has a gray filter, while the Chinese version shows more vivid colors. That, without us realizing it, creates a narrative. And those who did notice were some Chinese Internet users and the state media Global Times. Chinese social networks named the filter used in the international version as “underworld filter” or “gloom filter”but the one who gave it the most importance was the aforementioned state tabloid. He accused the BBC of adding greyish filters to its reporting on China to make the country appear dystopian and polluted. It did not stop there: the matter spread like wildfire on networks and the tension escalated to the point that the international broadcast of BBC World News was banned in China that same month. In fact, international spokespersons have on occasion used the hashtag #GloomFilter to criticize Western coverage of China. The BBC defended its editorial independence, rejecting accusations of bias, but both the BBC and Chinese media have since starred cross attacks. A lot has rained since 2021 and, as I pointed out at the beginning of the article, it is now meme stuff. The BBC intro accompanies luminous images of Chinese cities without the “underworld filter.” And it is an example of how something that, at first glance, may be a story without much history, hides much more. And, well, the story of Global Times throwing darts at the BBC did not end in 2021, but has lasted until recently, mentioning that “BBC has become one of the most destructive negative examples in the global media landscape.” But beyond all this, the truth is that the videos are impressive, showing dystopian cities in some cases. Images | BBC In Xataka | China loves Europe so much that it has built its own: these are the replica cities that populate the country

Cities are becoming theme parks. The “ship” that has landed in Madrid is the latest example

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A spaceship has parked in the center of Madrid. No, you don’t have to you start running like you were Naruto because it will be there for a few days. This is not a real ship, but the Sol station. And the reason why the design of the subway entrance has been changed to that of this ship is because it is a PlayStation advertising action. And more than something special, it is part of a phenomenon. That of converting part of large cities into theme parks. what has happened. Last Tuesday, November 4, one of the entrances to the Sol station in Madrid appeared “tuned.” Representing a “crashed” ship, PlayStation itself gave some details about the action on your blog. Streamer The Grefg is involved in a campaign that will be resolved on November 19 and in which four PlayStation 5 Pro. It is not a celebration of the launch of any game, but rather a big raffle for which PlayStation has decorated an emblematic point in the city. Experiential Marketing. These types of interventions are not new, although in Spain it is one of the largest marketing movements seen in recent years. It is a strategy designed to create links with users beyond those that can be traced with traditional advertising. A giant LED screen or a billboard is something that we have so internalized that we even ignore it in many cases, but when the station you pass by every day becomes something else, it inevitably draws attention. It is something that reconfigures the perception of the urban environment and can manifest itself in multiple ways. Transportation stations are some of the favorite centers of companies because they are points where many, many people pass through. Sol, without going any further, was “Vodafone Sol” for many years and, although it is a different example, it serves to identify a place and a brand. Advertising outside the advertising space. It has come to be called “visual pollution of a commercial nature” by generating advertising exposure that the citizen cannot avoid. You are going to see it, whether you want to or not, but beyond the subway users themselves, it is an advertisement that generates a conversation on social networks. Public landscape = advertising canvas. As we said, Madrid is becoming an example of how public settings are converted to support a commercial narrative. Next to the PlayStation ship, and literally at kilometer zero of Madrid, the watch brand TAG Heuer placed a few weeks ago a giant clock with a countdown indicating the 365 days left until the Formula 1 returns to Madrid (something with which the neighbors also have their pluses and minuses). It is not very different from what happens with the Olympic Games, but there are other bloodier examples. Without leaving the metro, in 2016 the Chueca station was transformed with the colors of the rainbow. It was not something promoted by political movements in favor of the LGTBI+ collective, but rather an advertising action by Netflix under the slogan “Rainbow is the new black“The campaign was temporary, but the collective managed to keep the colors after Netflix withdrew its brand. And Puerta de España has also been personalized in the past. Pragmatism. This, obviously, does not come for free. Madrid, under Mayor Alberto Ruiz Gallardón, approved an ordinance that regulates outdoor advertising in Madrid by which advertising banners in Puerta del Sol and other central environments would be placed exclusively in buildings with certain characteristics. That is why Puerta del Sol is wallpapered with advertisements from big brands, series or movies, for which companies they have to pay a large fee to the city. In the end, looking at it from the most pragmatic point of view, these public-private activities finance infrastructure and furniture that municipal administrations could not afford. That is to say: cities obtain income through these advertising permits and companies gain a scenario that hundreds of thousands of people see every day. In a context in which many cities are attracting tourism and investment, it is a win-win if we think with a cooler head. The mentioned contract of Vodafone Sol was three million euros for changing the name of the station between 2013 and 2016, as well as the name change in the red line public address system. And, when the contract was not renewed, it was Vodafone that bore the management costs. Reactions. Now, while cities like Madrid, Barcelona or New York allow these activities, others restrict them. An example is Lyon, which has decided reduce outdoor advertising in public spaces by up to 75%, eliminating above all digital screens. Outside of the previous pragmatism, it is something that exerts a tension between municipal revenue, commercial freedom and the protection of the urban landscape. In the case of the PlayStation ship, varied reactions have been seen, from enthusiastic voices to those who criticize this conversion of the city into an amusement park. The truth is that PlayStation is a company that carries out very imaginative advertising campaigns in several cities and in Spain nothing this big has ever been seen. Another recent action also had much angrier reactions in the subway, when the company Uber Eats changed the name of the emblematic Goya station to… yes, you’re guessing: Gyoza. Or the former name change of the Blue Line to Stonewashed Blue. and the future Santiago Bernabéu station customized by Real Madrid. Images | PlayStation Spain In Xataka | Japan has an amusement park dedicated to Spain. And it’s as wonderful as it looks

The “foodies” have turned the historic centers of Italy into hell, so the cities are getting serious

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Italy is at war. In a not so particular one that it shares with other countries and cities: the battle to stop mass tourism. He is trying with all his might through higher rates, entrance fees that they folded After initial success, a veto key boxes and even taxes on tourist dogs. Now, several cities have agreed on one thing: stop the ‘foodies’. As? Prohibiting the opening of new restaurants in historic centers. In short. Going through the historic center of any Italian city is like entering a culinary amusement park. There is not only restaurants wherever you lookbut these constitute a fair in which eye-catching posters appealing to tradition and artisans who prepare fresh pasta in front of the windows of the premises, like circus animals, are a constant. Now, cities like Rome, Turin, Florence, Palermo and Bologna have launched restrictions when opening new restaurants in their historic centers. Displacing the population. Although Italians love their traditional cuisine as much as anyone, they are getting tired of their city centers becoming theme parks. There are especially bleeding streets, like Via Maqueda in Palermo or Via del Pellegrino in Rome (to a lesser extent), which are basically a succession of premises. As he comments The New York Timeshundreds of new restaurants have opened over the last decade in just a few streets of those tourist spots, establishments that dress in tradition, but are not and displace the local population far from their homes. It is something that is seen in many other cities in the world in which the tourism is doing that the price of land rises in very specific points, also that of rents, and the locals see how traditional businesses disappear while others linked to that consumerism flourish. “We must protect the center”. In the case of Italy, the aim is to fight against gastronomic gentrification, which is replacing historical markets and local stores with businesses aimed at mass tourists, and they also want to protect the authenticity and daily life of citizens. But we also want to preserve tradition and diversity compared to more homogeneous or franchised models. Luisa Guidone, Councilor for Commerce of Bologna, comment that “the center must be protected, maintaining the mix of existing stores that allow citizens to have their daily experience when shopping.” Everyone makes their war. As we say, the prohibition or limitation on opening premises is not part of a national initiative, but rather of each municipality. In Palermo, new restaurant licenses have been expressly prohibited in emblematic areas such as Via Maqueda. In Florence, no new openings of bars, restaurants or any food establishments in more than 50 streets in the center and some peripheral ones. In the aforementioned Bologna, until June 2028, new projects aimed at commercial activities that want to open in the historic center and in Rome or Turin will be carefully studied. more of the same (especially around the Vatican). Then, there are exceptions. For example, Florence allows you to open establishments such as art galleries, bookstores or crafts, anyone that is not focused on mass hospitality. Not just food. But this goes beyond gastronomic gentrification. In it Corriete di Bologna we can read that the restrictions They imply that, until 2028, it will be prohibited to open new money exchange stores, call centers (which are telephone centers, Internet connection points and money transfer points) in the historic center, as well as “buy gold” or automatic cash machines.slot machine‘. Debate. Now, promoting something like this is complicated when tourism represents almost 12% of the Italian economy and the gastronomic tourism It is an important source of income. In fact, in the NYP article they include statements from tourists who only want to eat. Also those responsible for FIPE, the Italian Federation of Food and Tourism Companies, who point out that “sometimes, the Coliseum is an excuse for an American among a cacio e pepe and one amatriciana“In addition, it is criticized that each city is waging war on its own and there is no law promoted at the national level. In any case, as we said at the beginning, it is evident that Italy has a problem with this mass tourism that is displacing the population that really lives in those cities. Traditional businesses have closed or have been converted, going from selling useful foods for citizens to traditional dishes wrapped in a striking way for tourists. And finding the balance seems tremendously complicated. Images | Anna Church, Maxime Steckle, Matej Buchla In Xataka | “Fodechinchos free”: in a bar in Galicia, tourismphobia is being redirected against Spaniards from other regions

the cities are no longer yellow

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Astronauts who have been lucky enough to travel to space more than once in the last decade are privileged witnesses of a chromatic change on a planetary scale. From their vantage point 400 kilometers high, they have been able to see that the cities, previously faint spots of amber, now shine with an intense white light. It’s not a metaphor. It is the visible trace of one of the most rapid and widespread infrastructure transformations in recent history: the great replacement of public lighting. We have retired the old sodium vapor streetlights and massively embraced LED. This change, driven by regulation in favor of energy efficiency, has redrawn the night map of the Earth, a phenomenon that can be seen more clearly from space. The invention that earned a Nobel Prize in Physics. Old sodium vapor lamps, especially low-pressure ones, were monochromatic in nature. They emitted light in a very narrow band of the spectrum, resulting in that characteristic and ubiquitous yellow-orange hue that tinted our streets and skies. LED lights work in a completely different way. His breakthrough, which earned Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physicswas the invention of the high-efficiency blue LED. By combining this blue LED with a phosphor coating, it was finally possible to generate a bright and affordable white light. This diode is not only more efficient (exceeding 300 lumens per watt, compared to 16 for an incandescent bulb), but it offers a much broader spectrum. Southern Europe in 2025 from the International Space Station. Image: Don Pettit The cities changed color. To the eyes of a night observer in space, cities have gone from being yellow to glowing bluish white. Milan is the paradigmatic case: it completed its transition to LED in 2015, and appears in an ESA comparison with before and after photos taken by astronauts André Kuipers and Samantha Cristoforetti. But it is by no means the only case. Los Angeles was a pioneering city: it ordered the replacement of 140,000 streetlights in 2009. Buenos Aires modernized its lighting with smart LED streetlights between 2013 and 2016. New York finished replacing 500,000 bulbs in 2023. Barcelona plans total remote management of public lighting by 2028. But India is the country that carries out the largest replacement in the world, with more than 13 million LED streetlights already installed. The b side of this transformation. Like any revolution, the LED has a dark side. Light is cheaper, so cities are not only replacing old streetlights, but also increasing the number of light points or their intensity. The result is that we are leaving a brighter planet, where it is most difficult to escape of light pollution. The statistics indicated otherwise, but it must be taken into account that light pollution is measured by satellites, and satellites are partially blind to blue light. This means that the actual increase in light pollution, especially that perceived by human beingsis much higher than official figures indicate. To make matters worse, blue light is the one that interferes the most with our biological clock, and can affect the quality of sleep, in the same way that disorients migratory birds and the moths. The future is adjustable. The solution is not to go back to sodium. The efficiency of the LED is indisputable. The key, as with any technology, is in its application. The next phase of this transition is not about changing light bulbs, but about installing smart streetlights. It is estimated that almost one in four streetlights will be smart by 2030. When connected, they can regulate their intensity depending on the time or traffic, detect faults in real time and collect environmental data. This remote management will allow one of the new lighting maxims to be applied: using only the necessary light, when and where it is needed. In parallel, other solutions have emerged to protect biodiversity, such as red light streetlights being tested in Nordic cities so as not to disturb the bats. and the idea of ​​bioluminescence as an organic way of generating light without any electrical consumption and with minimal environmental impact. Image | The Iberian Peninsula in 2012, by astronaut Don Pettit In Xataka | Why sunlight doesn’t illuminate space: solving the question a child sent to the ISS

Japan is so desperate for its bears that it will allow hunters to shoot them in cities. Problem: you run out of hunters

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Tuesday was not an easy day Numatain Gunma prefecture, north of Tokyo. Around seven thirty in the afternoon the police received the notice that a 1.4 meter bear He had sneaked into a supermarket with several dozen customers and destroyed the fish and sushi sections. He also injured two people, one in the parking lot and another inside the store. It is not an isolated case. Not anything exclusive to Numata. Japan has a serious problem of encounters with bears. To solve it, the authorities have decided to use their most experienced hunters, but they won’t make it easy either. There are less and less. What has happened? That Japan has a problem with encounters between bears and humans, episodes that in most cases result in scares or injuries, but that sometimes end with the worst outcomes. It’s not something newbut statistics show that the problem is far from being solved. CNS News assures that between April and September 108 people suffered injuries caused by bears, reflecting a similar rate to the year between March 2023 and 2024, when the Government recorded a record of 219 attacks. Is it that serious? Many of the encounters end in scares or injuries, but the Japanese media also talk about an all-time high number of deaths: seven, the highest number since records began in 2006. The people who have suffered attacks also include both locals and tourists from other countries. In fact, just a few days ago a Spaniard received the blow in the village of Shirakawa-goWorld Heritage Site. In Shiretokoanother place popular with tourists, the trails were closed after an attack in August. What is the reason? Better to talk about ‘reasons’, in plural. When analyzing the problem, a cocktail of causes is usually cited in which environmental issues are mixed with other social and demographic issues. At the end of the day the record of attacks arrives in full abandonment from rural areas and farmland and with a serious population decline that the country has been dragging on for several decades. There are those who include other causes in the equation, such as the effect of climate change on food availability or fluctuations in acorn and beechnut harvests, which cause food scarcity among the adult population. The truth is that Japan is losing inhabitantsis suffering a rural exodus, has seen the borders between populated centers and forests blur and the country has also seen a clear increase in the bear population. Yomiuri Shimbun ensures that the number of black bears has tripled since 2012, with tens of thousands of copies, to which are added the brown from Hokkaido. And how to solve it? The big question. A month ago the country took an important decision and not exempt from controversy: Amended its wildlife protection and management law to relax rules governing what hunters can and cannot do in densely populated neighborhoods. To be more precise, the new regulations allow municipalities to commission hunters to carry out “emergency hunts” for dangerous animals in inhabited areas. Until now, the general rule prohibited killing wild animals with weapons in public spaces. It could only be authorized (and exceptionally) by the police in cases of imminent danger. After the legislative changemunicipal governments may authorize hunts against brown or black bears in densely populated areas provided that certain requirements are met: first, it must be an emergency measure; second, there can be no room for other solutions; and third (and most importantly) it must be ensured that no stray bullet will end up harming a resident. The idea is that only authorized hunters intervene. End of the problem? Not quite. Japan has decided to rely on hunters to solve bear attacks, but the problem is that in the country (like in Spain) there are fewer and fewer hunters. The diary The Mainichi published on Thursday a extensive report in which he recalls that the number of licenses in force in Japan has been decreasing as the population has decreased, the fields have been abandoned and society has changed. If in 1976 there were 500,000 first-level permits approved, since 2012 the figure has always been below 100,000. Who will shoot the bears? In Japan, there is also debate about who will be able to kill bears in neighborhoods full of houses and people. The Government already has announced that the measure will be accompanied by training workshops to guarantee that the system works correctly, which also includes planning security measures, restricting access and evacuating residents. “Emergency shots” are not in any case the only solution that the country has on the table. On the trails of Fukushima, for example, they have installed devices with sensors that seek to scare away animals. The idea: that they emit an annoying buzzing sound that becomes more intense when the bears approach. Images | Suzi Kim (Unsplash) In Xataka | Wolf hunting throughout Spain depended on a red button that changes its status. And Europe has decided to press it

The most expensive cities in the world to live in 2025, explained in a very illustrative graphics

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In 2025, the cost of living in some cities is a combination of high prices in goods, services and housing, which can only face who have income enough for it. For those who do not reach enough income to cover those basic needs that each city demands are dedicated to poverty or to move to other cities More affordable, something that is already beginning to happen in our country in large cities such as Madrid or Barcelona. The “Numbeo Index” Numouso is a database Collaborative that collects the prices of restaurants, services and goods in the main cities of the world and, based on this data, it produces listings in which you can analyze which cities are the highest cost of life, in which the price of housing has a greater impact or determining the economic effort of its inhabitants to live in them. For establishing a reference point in the comparison, Numbeo uses New York data as a reference value 100 in all its data. That implies that, if another city has an index of 112 in one of its parameters, it means that, in that parameter, that city is 12% more expensive than New York. If the value of the index is 88, it implies that it is a cheaper 12%. Based on these data, the portal Visualcapitalist.com has elaborated a graph in which it is clearly represented in what cities in the world is more expensive to live. The most expensive cities to live The graph prepared by VisualcapitalistNew York leads the global ranking as the most expensive city in the world. According to data collected by Numbeo, New York is positioned as the most expensive city, with a fork in the rent price ranging from $ 1,100 to $ 4,108 for an apartment in a room and up to $ 8,174 for a three bedroom apartment. The Swiss cities of Zurich and Geneva are followed in the ranking, with an index of the Cost of life more rental of 93.2 and 90.6 respectively, indicating that living in them is around 7 and 10% cheaper than doing so In New York. In the fourth position there is San Francisco (85.3) that sneaks between the Swiss cities of Basel (83.9) and Lausana (83,4). If we focus on more expensive cities to live From Spain including the cost of life, we find Barcelona in position 137 with an index of cost of life including rental of 48.29, followed by Madrid (47.38) that occupies the 142nd position of the global ranking. Palma de Mallorca (43,79) and Malaga (39,24) follow them closely, occupying positions 180 and 203 of the world respectively. The weight of rent when living in a city The price of housing is a determining factor when establishing the cost of living in a city. For this reason, the list changes completely when the data is filtered to unlink the cost of the home of the equation. In that scenario, New York no longer leads the List of more expensive cities to livebut goes down to seventh place. Those who do maintain consistency are the Swiss cities, which remain the most expensive in the world to live, with Zurich (112.54) leading the list, followed by Geneva (111,41), Basel (110,71), Lausana (110.55) and Lugano (108,38). From the Spanish perspective, all cities fall several positions indicating the impact of the rental price at your cost of life. Barcelona (with a cost of life without rent of 57.03) goes on to position 183, while Madrid (55.79) falls less positions until 187. In the case of Palma de Mallorca (55,13) and Malaga (48,02) the fall is just ten positions, indicating that the housing price impact It is less than in Madrid and Barcelona, ​​but the cost of the rest of the index factors (food price, Public Transportation Pricerestaurants, services, etc.) It is higher in these cities. Living in some cities is more difficult A very important fact that can be extracted from this database on the cost of life in large cities, is the purchasing power index, which uses the salary average of that city and compares it to the base reference that is that of New York. The result leaves us a photo of which citizens do a minor economic effort to live In a certain city. In this scenario, the inhabitants of Mannheim in Germany are the ones who must make less effort to live in the city with an index of 198.64, which implies that these citizens can buy 98.64% more goods and services than a New York with their salary. The Swiss Basel (194,85), Bern (186.76) and Lausana (180,45) sneak into the top five, occupying positions two, four and five respectively. Only truncated Swiss hegemony the city of Erlangen (189,69) in Germany, which is placed in third position. Spanish cities draw a slightly different panorama, being Valencia (131,73) Alicante (113,27), Seville (102.62) and Madrid (101,39) the only ones in which its inhabitants They have greater purchasing power than a New Yorker in the field of his city. On the other hand, Barcelona (88,37), Málaga (86,34), Palma de Mallorca (86,34) are cities where the opposite happens, its inhabitants have a lower local purchasing power rate by having a lower average salary and a higher life cost. In Xataka | The cities with more billionaires as residents, gathered in this illustrative graphic Image | Visualcapitalist.com

a hypersonic weapon that hides in cities

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In a context of growing strategic rivalry with the United States, China has intensified their Naval operations long range as part of an explicit demonstration of its global ambition. If the domain of the Pacific becomes fundamental, the construction of the aircraft carriers that Beijin has never had are The best track of his efforts. Now, they have also added a powerful form of deterrence. Presentation of a strategic weapon. China He has spread An unusual two -minute footage showing the launch of its supersonic cruise missile DF-100considered one of the key pieces of deterrence against US carriers and bases in the Pacific. The video, part of a documentary for the 98th anniversary of the EPL, confirms for the first time Specifications already advanced in the Zhuhai Air Hall of 2024: range of 3,000 to 4,000 km, Mach 4 cruise speed, high precision, great penetration capacity and impact time of about 40 minutes. These characteristics place under direct threat Military facilities in Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and American bases in Okinawa and Guam, opening the possibility of hitting even beyond the second island chain. He DF-100 It is dual platform, capable of launching from off -road vehicles or from H-6N bomberswhich expands its radius of action about 6,000 km. Technical characteristics. The footage, although blurred to protect sensitive data, shows A conical eye Designed for supersonic penetration, large rear fins for high maneuverability and wings Strake type For stability. The system uses a Three stages propulsion: Solid starting rocket, supersonic combustion stator for sustained flight in the stratosphere and a high altitude propeller for the terminal phase. This configuration allows you to keep speed Mach 4 throughout the journey and execute evasive attacks at low level. Its guided combines inertial navigation, correspondence of land or images, and positioning By Beidou satellite to achieve precision at the level of meters. It can attack both mobile and fixed objectives of high value, including command centers, logistics knots and key points to paralyze operations. Mobility and operational flexibility. Unlike the tests in common desert areas, the launch was shown in An urban environmentwhich, according to analysts, seeks to show that DF-100 can operate from unconventional locations such as cities, hindering its detection and destruction by adversary forces. Under that prism, this flexibility would allow to deploy it quickly and from unpredictable positions, reinforcing its value as a weapon to “hit and disappear.” Its ability to launch from multiple platforms and in varied environments increases the tactical options of the EPL and complicates the countermeasures enemy. Strategic context. We have Cash before: the public appearance of DF-100 It is part of a moment of growing global military competence and responds, according to experts, to the will of Beijing of Project strength and reaffirm its arms modernization. Although the EPL rocket force has recently been dotted with corruption scandalsthe demonstration emphasizes that their material abilities remain intact. The DF-100, the only land cruise missile capable of maintaining supersonic speed During the whole flight It reinforces the Chinese strategy to deny access and limit the projection of American naval power in the Western Pacific, positioning itself as one of the “master letters” of the Chinese arsenal in a possible confrontation scenario. Image | CCTV In Xataka | China has realized something: missiles are not necessary if you are able to monitor 1,500 km away In Xataka | China’s domain is spreading far beyond rare earths. Even where the US had no rival: the sea

The arcade boom in Madrid and other Spanish cities

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The recreational have come back to stay. The neuralgic center of meeting so many young people from the eighties and the nineties seem to ride the wave of nostalgia, and they are more than a curiosity, or temporary exhibitions to rediscover the classic games. Throughout Spain, and especially in Madrid, they are emerging from arcade theme bars to associations that make their background available to visitors, and that guarantee a nostalgic zambombazo … and discovery. Madrid, Mecca del Arcade. Although they begin to abound throughout Spain, without a doubt the main core of recovery of recreational is in Madrid. The relocation in Vallecas of The Arcade temple (which is also an association in the southern Madrid area dedicated to the dissemination, preservation and restoration of Arcades and Pinballs) has caused this type of premises to speak again, which in most cases are arms of associations of friends of the retroinformatics (for example, NEXTAGEconsecrated to the recovery of dance machines). It also happens in Retro Factory From Alcorcón and Parla, which, like the Arcade Temple, includes in its facilities a video game memorabilia museum. But there are more variants in the capital: in Zoo arcade They are also dedicated to the repair and conservation of old machines, in a business parallel to the premises that allow players to test the recreational. And finally it is Next Levelthe most accessible of all these projects: bars with machines of all kinds that already have two very central stores in Madrid and have just opened an additional one in Barcelona. Retro Spain. Although they abound in Madrid, of course they are not the only places where retro recreational machines can be accessed. Some examples, apart from the new Next Level store: Arcade Planet and Check Point Arcade Bar In Seville, Arcade Levels in Zaragoza or Pixelandgames In Logroño. To all of them are added video game museums that usually include machines to try, such as the Muvi of Cangas, the Vintage Arcade Museum from IBI (Alicante) and the recent Video game museum from Madrid. Do you have change? As for the way of accessing the games, all these proposals work very similarly: in no machine you have to take coins, but the games are open to infinite credits. In some of these stores you have to pay a rate for spending all day (as in the specialized in Japanese machines Arcade Rebirth) or for a limited time (usually one hour, in most cases). And on the other hand there are bars like Next Level, where a consumption is required to play. Disseminating spirit The interesting thing about some of these proposals is the disseminating spirit that leads to riding something that works economically, but also disseminates the culture of arcade. Manuel Vargas, from The Arcade Museum, tells us that “I had been thinking about making an association with several colleagues”, and apart from the aforementioned exhibition, between their walls they have “105 arcades and several old consoles that can also be played. The space is about 600 meters, and we have a conference room for magazine presentations, books and games.” On the other hand, Curro Quevedo, from Zoo Arcade, tells us that they also related to that spirit, made “a chronology of the arcade world from the former like ‘Space Invaders’ to the last dance or augmented reality machines.” He also tells us that in his 42 machines “we have sought that each machine is unique and has different types of hardware and different controls to be able to see their evolution a bit.” Referring to the competition that has emerged in recent times between similar premises, he affirms that, related to that spirit of wanting to spread historical games, “nobody thinks of competitors, since they are not very profitable businesses, it is more about being able to share a passion” How does nostalgia work? By cycles: We return again and again to claim fashions, successes and trends from past decades (or decades as a whole, in fact), and then tired, declare them “burned” and let some time pass before The next generation decides to rescue that point from the past again. The eighties, after the absolute saturation we have lived with products such as ‘Stranger Things’, now go through that Phase of tiredalthough recreational rooms, for what is seen, seem to have dodged that trend. They are more active than ever. Fever for recreational. The recreational machine rooms were in the eighties A unique meeting point for the youngest: Not only the video games that were in them had a visual quality and a spectacularity far superior to the eight -bit consolers and microorder in the houses. They were also sites where relationships were developed and generated their own fauna that then did not translate with any subsequent environment: hence the powerful nostalgia effect they arouse. Games can be recovered through emulation (or even with Own Machines at home), But the atmosphere is not. That is why they sprout as mushrooms, a multitude of bars and recreational premises (removing the neighborhood danger plus that the rooms had a few decades ago, of course). Header | The Arcade temple In Xataka | How one of the most famous Windows saves emerged: the hypnotic 3D pipe network in motion

put their cities to compete with each other

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The United States dominates artificial intelligence, but China already steps on your heels and do not release the accelerator. China bets on a Focus centered on the AI Open Source and Much more efficient models From the economic point of view. But the only AI race is not with the United States, within China there is fierce competition among several cities to rise as the center of the AI. Subsidies. China is supporting AI companies with a carrier. As reported in SCMPthe Shanghai government has launched an ambitious subsidy program of 1,000 million yuan (about 120 million euros) for the artificial intelligence industry. The package is aimed at reducing costs for startups that offer AI solutions and also facilitate their adoption by local businesses. 60% of the money will be used for computing capacity, 30% will go to discounts of third -party AI models and 10% to acquire data to train the models. The other AI race. We always talk about the competition between the United States and China to lead the AI, but there is also a lot of rivalry within China itself. With this plan, Shanghai seeks to be more competitive in front of other cities that are also neuralgic centers for AI such as Hangzhou, Shenzhen or Beijing. Shanghai. It is one of the most important cities in China, but the cost of life is higher and expenses such as the rental of the offices are too high. This makes many startups choose other cheaper cities like Hangzhou. This plan seeks to attract new talent and that more companies Shenzhen. It is the technological city par excellence in China. In it they have their headquarters like Huawei, DJI and Tencent. In addition, there are many robotics companies and like Ubtech either Intellifusion. In Shenzhen they also have ambitious plans to compete in that internal race, such as this subsidy of 545 million euros which was announced months ago oriented to the AI industry. Hangzhou Shenzhen was the center of innovation, but for a while in Hangzhou they are stealing the position. Located only two hours from Shanghai, it has strengthened as the favorite destination for AI and Robotics companies. It is the home of the “six small dragons”, six startups that are leading the sector and among which are Deepseek and UNITREE. It also has its Government program To enhance AI companies and attract talent. Beijing. And the capital could not be missing. Here is the headquarters of some of the most important Chinese companies such as Baidu, Xiaomi, Bytedance (Tiktok), Meituan or JD.com. As for its role in the AI race, more than a Startup hub, Beijing rises as the core of the investigation. Here are The headquarters of the Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence and the Beijing Institute for Artificial Intelligencetwo organisms with strong government support. Compete inside to lead out. The internal race does not divert China from its global objective, in fact, it is part of its strategy to lead outside its borders. According to Guo WandaVice President of the Chinese Development Institute: ”China needs a set of nerve centers to overcome the United States, given its enormous size and talent reserve. China thus bets on a coordinated state strategy where everyone competes with each other, but at the same time compete together against the United States. Image | Ayala, Pexels In Xataka | You cannot climb to the Madrid subway with an electric scooter. In China’s, robots are already a passenger

Someone has seemed a great idea to propose a sculpture of a bull of more than 300 meters. There are already cities waiting to host it

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That the bull is since we have a kind of national symbol reason does not even mention it. But it seems that sometimes it insists on reminding us in increasingly creative ways, so the Spanish Bullfighting Academy Location for a monstrous 300 meter sculpture high that aspires to become a strong tourist attraction. After the rejection of Madrid, Castellanoleonese towns such as Ciudad Rodrigo, Toro, Benavente or Burgos have shown interest in being the hosts of this ambitious project. Colossal dimensions. The proposal contemplates a colossal structure that tripled the height of the Burgos Cathedralwith panoramic viewpoints in the animal’s horns and commercial spaces at its base. The initiative aims to emulate the tourist impact of monuments such as the Eiffel Tower or the Statue of Liberty, but using the bull as a sign of identity. The promoters seek a municipality that yields the necessary land, while the construction costs would be in charge of private companies. More tourism. The project promises to act as an economic engine for the chosen town, attracting national and international visitors. In Castilla y León, a region that has been characterized by a bullfighting tradition, several municipalities have seen a unique opportunity to attract tourism. Ciudad Rodrigo has been the first to show interest, followed by Toro, Benavente, Sahagún, El Maillo, Ledesma and Villatuelda. Even Burgos values the proposal, although Cristina Ayala, mayor of the city, I commented to Antena 3 that saw the “too large” dimensions. The reluctance. For Fernando Martínez-Acitores, deputy mayor in Burgos and Vox militant, building this bull can be “a great emblem” and “a claim for the city.” Naturally, not everyone looks good at the initiative. Daniel de la Rosa, former mayor and leader of the PSOE in the opposition qualifies the proposal as “crazy”, while animalist groups such as Proanbur the consider A provocation that extol animal abuse. In fact, its spokesman, Judith Sánchez, account That “with this bull figure, they seek to disguise something that is far from being.” What comes now. The Spanish Bullfighting Academy is evaluating the proposals received, also analyzing the technical and logistics viability. The selection process will continue in the coming weeks, everything while interested municipalities expect to know the answer. The project needs a lot at least 650 meters long for its construction, and this detail considerably limits the available options. Cover image | Jordi Vich Navarro AND SPANISH ACADEMY OF TUROMAQUIA In Xataka | The “Cayetans” are going to make noise to the squares. And it’s not just for the fond of bullfighting

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