Civil

Wanting to avoid fires in Oviedo, the cleaners have encountered another problem: the Civil War

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If we believed that Spain had already cataloged every last vestige of the Civil War, bad news. Artillery corners still pop up like mushrooms in autumn. Scars of a territory that reminds us of a broken country. Imagine the look on the faces of the city hall’s cleaning professionals when they put the brushcutter where it didn’t belong. Imagine the face of the municipal crew of Oviedo: cleaning any path in the municipality of El Campón in the middle of July, the machine trips over reinforced concrete and an embrasure from 1937, hidden under the ferns for 89 years. Anyone who knows Mount Naranco is not surprised. Those who only follow guided routes, tourist plates and school manuals, will be amazed. A front under the bushes. The archives say that Oviedo endured a republican siege in 1936 which ended up breaking towards October. So, Naranco was filled with trenches to watch the steps towards Grado. In El Rebollal they counted thirteen positions: two for machine gun, eleven for rifle. Campo Cimero has thirty-one, distributed in four arches towards the northwest, the largest defensive complex in Asturias. To cite an example, in Ayones the nest preserves its original geometry: seven sides on the outside, cylinder on the inside, built in 1937 by the Republicans. And of course, the undergrowth does not erase these structures, rather it preserves and contours them. And except for the nationalist constructions of Pando, almost everything preserved in this area—Rebollal, Campo Cimero, Fitoria, Ayones—is republican. Spain’s wounds. Although no one has the exact figure, the BunkerAtlas portal has registered and geolocated 192 positions. It is more of a sample than an official census, of course. Madrid concentrates almost 19% of what is catalogued; Catalonia is around 16%; Navarra 12%; Aragon 11%. And almost six out of every ten registered structures were built during the Civil War, by both sides. Only in Madrid have they documented more than 2,000 fortifications in a hundred municipalities, about 500 concrete; The capital already has 531 inventory tokens between Casa de Campo, El Pardo and Ciudad Universitaria. In the Pyrenees, the Franco regime designed Line P: ten thousand bunkers planned along 500 kilometers of border. Luckily the work stopped with less than half built, about 4,000, and became obsolete around 1980. Multiply that by each front—Ebro, Jarama, the Oviedo fence itself—and the real figure is surely around tens of thousands. Most remain under brambles, awaiting clearing. Who decides what is saved. Spain catalogs this heritage since the Historical Memory Law of 2007, expanded by the Democratic Memory Law 2022—revised March 2026—. Both require identifying and protecting these remains, and in some cases opening them to the public. The problem, as always, is one of resources: inventorying thousands of kilometers of trench costs money that does not always arrive, and each recovered nest depends on a city council, a memory association or a forestry crew that stumbles upon it. Present over past, as always. Let’s think about The Carmen of the Martyrsthe most beautiful garden around the Alhambra, which stands above the old Corral de los Cautivos, where Christian prisoners spent the night in Arab dungeons. After the Civil War it served as a residence for young people. In 1970, a hotel project razed a good part of the historic forest, until neighborhood protests stopped the work. Or the Turó de la Rovira. Everyone knows it as the Carmel Bunkers, although the name is a historical error: there was never a bunker or underground shelter there. What the Republic installed in 1938 was an open-air anti-aircraft battery, four 105 mm Vickers cannons, to stop the bombing by Italian aviation over Barcelona. When the war ended, the Republican army disabled the pieces and withdrew, leaving the concrete empty. Today is the most photographed sunset in Barcelona, ​​a nest of tiktokers. The other urgency: summer rules. The reality is that the vestige found in El Campón responds to a key action and none of this should stop the clearing. On the contrary. The summer of 2026 is already the worst start in the historical series: June closed with 90% more burned area than the average of the last twenty years, and quadrupled the data for the same month in 2025. The Almería fire devastated nearly 6,600 hectares, with projections that are close to 7,000. The European Union launched its largest historical firefighting deployment and it is not easy to suspect that it is still insufficient. Perimeter clearing responds to the law. Although the hoax that environmental regulations prohibit cleaning the mountain circulates every July; Neither the 2030 Agenda, nor the European Green Deal, nor the Forestry Law prohibit clearing. They demand it, with an annual plan. Memory and prevention do not compete. All you have to do is notify Heritage, let the nest breathe for a while in the sun and then decide what to do with it. The Civil War remains buried in half of Spain; chainsaw is just what is needed to clear brush and clean up against the spread of fires. Image | Flickr (Diego Valera) In Xataka | In 1938 Spain was divided in two. So two “Gordos” were delivered from the Christmas Lottery

The fastest civil aircraft since Concorde has just set its first record. Speed ​​is only part of the story

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For years we have assumed that civil aviation had stopped putting speed at the center of the discourse. The industry moved towards other areas: being more efficient, achieving greater autonomy and improving occupant comfort, especially on long flights. He concorde It remained a reference that was difficult to repeat, almost like a symbolic border from another era. That is why it is striking that Bombardier puts speed back on the table with the Global 8000a business jet that the company bills as the fastest civilian jet since Concorde. And yet, that’s only part of the story. A route with a showcase. The demonstration came with a very specific transatlantic flight. Last June 5Bombardier reported that the Global 8000 had set its first speed record after covering the route between Montreal, Canada, and Nice, France, in just over six hours. The firm explained that the plane was transporting passengers to the Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix and that among them was Éric Martel, president and CEO of the company. Not only does it show off flight time: it also puts the plane in the terrain for which it was designed. Speed, in figures. One of the big claims of the Global 8000 is its maximum speed of Mach 0.95, a fact that the manufacturer uses to place it above the rest of the business jets. The company also talks about an ultra-fast cruise of Mach 0.92, in addition to a high-speed cruise of Mach 0.90 and a typical speed of Mach 0.85. Added to this is a maximum autonomy of 8,000 nautical miles, about 14,800 kilometers. Further and more places. The other key is how you take off and land. Bombardier claims that the Global 8000 maintains unusual agility for a very long-range aircraft, with performance comparable to that of a light jet in certain runway operations. The explanation lies in its Smooth Flĕx wing, designed to combine low-speed lift and high-speed performance, along with specific leading edge slats. According to the manufacturerthis architecture allows it to operate in up to 30% more airports than its closest rival. The other part of the story. Beyond the flight figures, Bombardier wants the cabin to be another of the great arguments of the Global 8000. The plane can have a large kitchen, Nuage seats, Soleil lighting and connectivity options such as JetWave, Starlink and Gogo Galileo. It also highlights a cabin altitude of 2,691 feet when the aircraft flies at 41,000 feet, a figure that the manufacturer presents as the lowest in production business aviation. The Global 8000 is not understood only by the record. We are talking about a business aircraft capable of flying very fast, sustaining very long-range flights, expanding the range of possible airports and offering a cabin designed for customers who expect more than just a comfortable seat. Images | DUNCAN KIRK (CC BY 4.0) In Xataka | Brazil’s secret to becoming the first nation in Latin America with its own supersonic fighter is a number: 40

Against the extreme heat, the Civil Guard agents want to choose between the motorcycle or the car. And don’t let your bosses decide

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It has arrived and has placed itself at the center of the debate. The heat and what to do to remedy it is one of the hot topics every year. Whether or not to apply new measures against a summer that increasingly arrives earlier and leaves later is beginning to be a recurring part of the general conversation. From the classrooms and the children to the Civil Guard agents. The heat. Suffocating and sustained. The same one that gives very few breaks between May and September, if not October. We live in a country that is getting hot and what to do to cope with it in the best possible way is something that we repeat to ourselves starting in the month of May. The misfortunes, in fact, seem to have been the only reason that has made us reflect. One of the last major debates revolves around the how hot it is in schools. He’s not the only one. Weather alerts They have already modified the schedules of the most exposed workers, like sweepers or workers. And there is a group that already defends that it is in the same situation: the Civil Guard agents. What do they claim? The Unified Association of Civil Guards (AUGC) is claiming to the higher commands to allow the agents who monitor traffic to decide whether or not to get on the motorcycle or, on the contrary, prefer to patrol by car. The reason is obvious: the heat. Furthermore, this association demands that they not be forced to wear the vest with an airbag when the temperature exceeds 32ºC, claiming that it is a garment that makes heat evacuation difficult. Why all this? These claims have once again gained strength because the AUGC has met with the Head of the Traffic Group of the Civil Guard to send them their requests. And the latter is in charge of deciding the technical criteria to take into account to decide how to work. But the conflict, our colleagues explain Motorpassion Motorcycle comes from behind In July 2025, the PSI-08-25-OPCM report from the Civil Guard Prevention Service indicated that it was advisable not to wear the airbag vest above 32ºC. Later, in December, in the Plenary Session of the Civil Guard Council it was decided that the use of this vest and the decision to take the motorcycle or use the car would fall to the agent “according to his own professional criteria, without the need for authorization or any impediment,” according to the AUGC. And they emphasize that the Operations Command promised to put this in writing. Which have moved again from this association to the Headquarters of the Traffic Group of the Civil Guard is that this commitment never materialized and that, on the contrary, a circular from May once again emphasized that the airbag vest was mandatory up to 35ºC and that It is the Operations Command that ultimately decides whether the agent gets on the motorcycle or not, instead of the latter’s criteria prevailing. The risks. The officers’ claims are based on the extreme heat to which they are subjected on the motorcycle when temperatures far exceed 30ºC. It must be taken into account that a motorcyclist faces environmental heat but is also exposed to the heat generated by the motorcycle itself and the use of safety equipment. The risks riding the motorcycle in extreme heat are evident: greater fatigue, proliferation of headaches or possible dizziness. Photo | In Xataka | “With our heads, we would all ride 20 HP motorcycles”: there is a debate brewing about how much power is too much power for a motorcycle

So few babies have not been born since the Civil War

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Barcelona is a dynamic city, destination for thousands of foreigners looking for a new life in Europe and a territory that takes years seeing how its census grows almost uninterruptedly. Still, that doesn’t mean its demographic engine is well-oiled. On the contrary. The latest data published by the City Council show that, after almost a decade of decline, in 2025 its birth rate marked the second lowest level since 1900. Since the beginning of the 20th century there was only one year in which fewer babies were born in Barcelona: 1939, when the Civil War ended. In fact, if the Barcelona census remains more or less afloat it is basically thanks to the flow of immigrants. What has happened? That the Barcelona City Council has published their official demographic data as of January 1, 2026 and the general ‘photo’ they leave is full of chiaroscuros. The city’s population remains more or less stable, with 1,729,963 registered0.1% less than the previous year. It is not a bad figure if you take into account that Barcelona has been gaining residents from 2022 and that at the beginning of the century the census barely exceeded 1.5 million. What’s more, the local government relates this slight decline of 0.1% to a simple administrative issue. In his opinion they are explained (at least in part) because there are people who were still registered in Barcelona without living there and have now “regularized” their situation. “Barcelona is the administrative and physical gateway to the territory,” clarify the deputy mayor, Jordi Valls. Resident population in Barcelona (1900-2026) Perfect, right? Not quite. It is true that the loss of population has been minimal, almost negligible, and that Barcelona has been gaining population practically since the beginning of the century; But that doesn’t mean the city’s demographic engine is working well. On the contrary. Its vegetative balance (the difference between births and deaths) is in the red. To be more precise, last year Barcelona saw how they died 3,549 neighbors more than those who were born. This data is explained because, although in general the number of deaths was reduced, the number of births decreased even more. The statistics of the City Council also reveal that this imbalance occurs in practically the entire city. “The negative natural balance is spread across all districts with the exception of Ciutat Vella, where for the third consecutive year there are more births than deaths,” clarify from the Consistory. This is an interesting note because of what it reveals to us about the birth rate in Barcelona. Are so few children born? Yes. The Barcelona statistical office counted last year 11,012 birthsa bad fact no matter how you look at it. Not only does it represent a decline of 1.3% compared to 2024. If we broaden the focus we see that this decrease aggravates the negative trend that the municipality has suffered since 2017 and, above all, distances it (even further) from the peaks in birth rates that it registered during the ‘baby boom’. For reference, the 11,012 births in 2025 are almost three times lower than those recorded in 1973, when the city saw 31,689 cradle Barcelonans born. The 2025 figure is in fact the second lowest in the entire historical series of the Barcelona Department of Statistics and Data Dissemination, which dates back to 1900. Since then there has only been one year in which fewer babies were born: 1939. That year they came into the world in Barcelona. 8,992 people. It is not surprising if we take into account that it was the last of the war and in 1938 the municipality had registered a record number of deaths (almost 28,200). At that time the total registry was also very inferiorit barely exceeded a million. Births and deaths (1900-2025) Immigrants, emigrants and administrative movements (1971-2025) How is the census maintained? Thanks to immigration, basically. “During 2025 the natural balance between births and deaths was -3,549 people, but it was offset by a positive migration balance of +11,383 people,” recognize the City Council, which confirms that the flow of foreigners “continues to be the essential component of demographic dynamics.” This is not an isolated fact or something temporary. From the Town Hall confirm that the population arriving from other countries has been “the protagonist of demographic growth” in Barcelona so far in the 21st century. Last year, in fact, the number of those registered with foreign nationality rose another slight 0.7%. Can we go further? That immigration has become the great demographic driver of Barcelona is something that can already be felt in its social structure. The “native population” was no longer the majority in 2019 and today in the city it is easier to meet people born in other places than in a Barcelona hospital. To be more precise, the City Council calculates that on January 1 the native population barely represented 44.6% of the total. In Barcelona there are 626,924 people registered who were born outside of Spain, the vast majority (53.2%) from America, although there are also many residents born in Pakistan, Morocco, Italy and China. And that among a long list of 181 different nationalities. Almost a third (30%) of those born abroad have already acquired Spanish nationality and today they represent 11% of the registry. What happens with age? The municipal statistics They also allow us to understand how the Barcelona population pyramid evolves. Another interesting indicator, since, although the immigrants who come to the city tend to be young, the average age of the general population has risen to 44.6 years. Nothing surprising if we take into account that the pyramid is clearly widening at the summit. As of January 1, there were 1,196 people residing in Barcelona who had already blown out the 100 candles, an all-time high. Meanwhile, the number of homes in which children and adolescents live is decreasing, and they do not even represent a quarter. What does increase is the education of the population: 37.4% of those registered over … Read more

Spain will have 27,000 new civil servants. The surprise is that experts in AI, cybersecurity and data science are now sought

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In recent years, Spain has promoted the public employment calls. This has managed to beat historical figures in the number of places and, although the OEP (Public Employment Offer) of 2025 took its foot off the accelerator, the Council of Ministers has just approved the OEP corresponding to 2026 with figures somewhat higher than those of the previous period. What draws attention is something else: the 1,700 positions for information technology specialists to achieve a ambitious goal. Transform Administration thanks to AI. 27,000 for the AGE. How has published The Government through the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Service, the OEP 2026 includes 27,232 places for the General Administration of the State. It represents a small increase compared to the 26,889 places last yearalthough it continues to show that there is a personnel problem. The breakdown is 26,886 ordinary places and 346 corresponding to an extraordinary offer linked to the climate emergency. The Government points out that this offer will generate 6,200 net jobs and ensures that, since 2021, the different public employment offers have met the objective of rejuvenating the public workforce, with an average age now at 49 years. New specialists. Now, the big news is that the Administration wants profiles that are much more specialized in technology. Of these positions, 1,700 will be for information technology specialists. It is estimated that it is 42% more than those called in the previous offer and it is not only the increase in places, but also the profiles they are looking for. Because what they are looking for are “specialists in Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Data Science” with the aim of, according to Minister Óscar López, “transforming the Administration.” López points out that we have to see what the administration’s priorities are, the needs of citizens and, thus, “have a more effective and efficient administration with the use of AI and the creation of quality public employment.” More digitization. This increase in digital profiles is supported by Government figures that indicate that the percentage of citizens who use official websites or applications is 83% while the European average is 75%. Furthermore, they point out that Spain is seven points above the average in digitalization of the Public Administration. The objective they aspire to is to increase digital administrative procedures by 25%, digitizing public administration. If this is going to be accompanied by the destruction of jobs, López affirms no and that what they are going to do is transform those jobs, not destroy them. They do not detail much else, other than that a series of digital training courses will be carried out with AI modules and “data tools” to strengthen the digital skills of all public employees. Exceeding 37,000. In total, counting the beaches already announced for the National Police, Civil Guard and Armed Forces, the OEP 2026 will exceed 37,000 places, slightly above the 36,588 last year. And, beyond the striking nature of these digital offers in AI and “data”, the Government intends to reinforce strategic areas such as the energy transition, the prevention of climate emergencies and the fight against climate change. The problem is that, according to the OECD, Spanish public employment remains below the international average. In the 2025 report, the OECD pointed out that Spanish public employment represented 15.25% of the total active population in 2023, with the average for all OECD countries being 18.41%. We will have to wait for more recent reports to see if the record rally of 2023 and 2024 has reversed the situation. Image | Treball Generalitat (edited) In Xataka | The easiest oppositions to pass in Spain following three criteria: by syllabus, by places and by requirements

a poacher, two 200 kilo specimens and a stratospheric fine from the Civil Guard

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On April 20, the Civil Guard detained a professional fisherman in the port of Águilas (Murcia) with two freshly caught bluefin tuna. Each piece weighed a few pounds and the guy had no specific authorization, he had not communicated either his departure or his entry into the port and, of course, there was no trace of traceability documentation. With Law 3/2001, of March 26, on State Maritime Fisheries in the hand, the fisherman is exposed to a fine of up to 600,000 euros for what would be the most expensive kilo of tuna in the world. The story, however, is more interesting. That great success called ‘bluefin tuna’. Atlantic bluefin tuna is one of the great fishery management successes of the 21st century. It has gone from being on the brink of collapse in 2007 to be declared by the IUCN as a species of “least concern” in 2021. I don’t want to exaggerate, but it is something amazing. And the sanctioning regime has had a lot to do with it. Because we don’t even need to remember it, but tuna fishing (even today) is full of irregularities. Understandably, on the other hand. Because, whether we like it or not, the success of tuna recovery has made poaching easier and more profitable than before. Let us keep in mind that, at the beginning of the year, Japan Tuna was auctioned at 11,500 euros per kilo. Obviously, it is an exceptional case, but it gives an idea of ​​the perverse incentives generated by the black market. The striking thing is that what SEPRONA has “hunted” in Águilas cquadruples the legal annual fee that the ships of the Region of Murcia have assigned. Can we do better? We’re not doing it wrong, really:The figures speak for themselves. But the situation is very complex. It makes no sense that recreational bluefin tuna fishing in Spain has become a race to go fishing first. In the last five years, the longest effective fishing season was seven days in 2021. That is, it took fishermen a week to accidentally kill so many tuna that the fishing ended. In 2022 and 2023 there were five days and In the following years, three. Above all, because we know that with tougher regulations this doesn’t happen. We are working on it. Not everything we need, but it’s something. This January it came into force a regulation that tries to digitize the capture record and close the “statistical black hole”. The experts are worse They are not very optimistic either.. They fear that the pressure will grow year after year and that we will not go fast enough. Come on, either we step on the accelerator or things are going to get more and more complicated. And, in the end, the solution will only come when the current system bursts at the seams. It wouldn’t be something exceptional: we are specialists in it. As I said, the good news and the bad news are the same: that this will happen soon. Image | Peter Lam CH In Xataka | Spain is going to continue fishing for eels until we have no more eels to catch

The dogs of La Rioja are turning industrial estates into Need For Speed. The Civil Guard has not been amused

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The Civil Guard has been dismantled in La Rioja a modified vehicle hangout whose drivers had a very clear intention: to organize illegal races and perform different illegal maneuvers (skidding, acceleration, etc.) as an exhibition. Although they enjoyed the plan for a few hours, the party ended with 120 people identified, 25 sanctions and crimes such as possession of weapons and driving under the influence of drugs. The Spanish Fast and Furious. A meeting spread through social networks, with the presence of influencers and with more than one hundred participants from several autonomous communities. The Civil Guard had been monitoring the call for weeks, articulating both an intervention operation and a preventive surveillance and control device in various industrial estates in the region. Real images of the meeting, broadcast on the internet. burning wheel. According to the authorities, the agents observed exhibition maneuvers such as skidding, sudden accelerationsburning tires, near the public parking lot of one of the shopping centers in La Rioja. In nearby industrial estates, drivers were detected carrying out illegal races, who are now being investigated for crimes against road safety. It’s not something new. This same weekend the Civil Guard has investigated three people for participating in an illegal vehicle race in the Villaluenga-Yuncler industrial estate, in the province of Toledo. The operation was part of an operation that is underway since Februaryand that has already claimed several arrests for illegal races in the area. Last March Traffic officers detained 33 drivers for the same reason, in the industrial estates of Lleida. Andalusia is not spared either, where recently A gathering was dismantled in one of the main avenues of the city. what’s happening. Nothing that hasn’t been happening for decades. Since the early 2000sillegal racing remains alive in Spain. Modified car hangouts are not a random crime: they are a subculture that has been outside the law for years and that, with the arrival of social networks and messaging apps, has it even easier to attract followers. What for decades was an invisible counterculture, confined to polygons and internet forums, is now announced on social networks, filmed live and exposed more than ever. And if not, tell that to the guy who asked his partner to marry him in the middle of a car meetup… and ended up seriously run over. In Xataka | Saudi Arabia believes the world deserves an F1 circuit on par with Mario Kart. So it’s being built

The countries of the Persian Gulf have adopted an unexpected civil protection measure against Iran’s attacks: teleworking

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When an employee in Riyadh receives an email from his company telling him not to come to the office the next day, the most common reason was usually a sandstorm, construction work, or a holiday. In recent weeks, the reason has been something else: the possibility that its offices, probably located in a downtown financial district, could become Iranian missile target. In the Persian Gulf, teleworking has ceased to be a post-pandemic convenience and has become a civil protection tool in the midst of a geopolitical crisis that has been repeated in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain since the start of the armed conflict between the US, Israel and Iran. Riyadh: the most visible offices, the first to be emptied. According to published Reutersseveral Western and Saudi companies in Riyadh this week expanded their teleworking recommendations via email or text message sent to their employees. The notices focused on employees working in the King Abdullah financial district, Faisaliah Tower, Business Gate and Laysen Valley, areas where major US banks, technology companies such as Microsoft and Apple, and the Saudi sovereign wealth fund itself are based. The arguments for adopting this measure were not unfounded. Iran threatened to attack American interests in the region in retaliation and, in fact, attacked several Amazon data centers in United Arab Emirates. The order to telework does not mean that this simple measure will keep the civilian population safe, but it does distance them from the international offices occupied by American companies. The Arab Emirates were the first to adopt teleworking. The United Arab Emirates were, in fact, the first in ordering teleworking for its employees, immediately after Iran’s first attacks. According to published the local newspaper Khaleej Times, The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratization asked private companies to adopt teleworking as a precautionary measure, keeping only workers whose physical presence was essential in their jobs. In those first attacks, four people were injured by debris from intercepted drones that fell on residential buildings, and damage was reported to the dubai international airportthe Burj Al Arab and the Palm Jumeirah. Teleworking recommended, not mandatory. The authorities of other countries in the region, such as Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, also followed in the footsteps of the United Arab Emirates and recommended private companies adopt teleworking and restrictions on influx to offices due to the risk of Iranian missile attacks. Qatar, also punished for reprisals against US interests during the conflict, was another of the countries that activated teleworking protocols for its officials. However, something that all of them have in common is that none of them consider themselves as an obligation to teleworkbut rather companies are recommended to adopt teleworking, leaving the risk assessment to their discretion and that of local authorities. The Government of Dubai Media Office confirmed that the emirate’s private sector continued operating normally, with most business activities uninterrupted despite the risk of attacks. A region that learns to work under pressure. Although these countries are not officially at war with Iran, they are involved and targeted in Iranian attacks in retaliation against US and Israeli companies in the area. In this context, many fear that any escalation would lead Iran to attack critical infrastructure in the region more forcefully, which explains the caution of companies even after the announcement of the ceasefire reached in extremis during the early morning. trump qualified the pact of “total and complete victory.” But as negotiators work in Islamabad to turn that provisional ceasefire into a lasting agreement, Gulf companies continue to watch the calendar with one eye on the news and another on their security protocols to protect their employees. In Xataka | Working from anywhere was the dream of teleworking: not notifying those location changes can get you fired Image | Unsplash (Kate Trysh, Microsoft Copilot)

While in the US there is a civil war over military AI, a European one has sneaked into the French Armed Forces: Mistral

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One of the big topics of conversation in recent weeks is the civil war in the United States. between two of the AI ​​giants and the Government itself. To sum up, Anthropic gave in his artificial intelligence Claude to the Pentagon to integrate it into all its systems along with Palantir. It is estimated that it has been a key tool for capture Nicolás Madurobut also to attack Iranbut since the US wanted to go further and Anthropic refused, OpenAI took its place. It is a very strange situation because the result could be that The US blacklists Anthropic as if it were Huawei. It would be the first time they have done that to an American company and it is something that tells us two things. The first is that governments need big technology companies and their tools. The second is that technology companies also have a lot to gain. And, while all that noise is happening in the United States, in Europe another AI company has ‘sneaked’ into its country’s security systems. We refer to a Mistral that, without making noisehas been building its portfolio of contacts in European defense systems for some time. A local AI for the security of Europe With all the spotlights pointing to ChatGPT, Claude and Chinese equivalents such as DeepSeekothers have been carving out a niche for themselves. Almost without a sound, and overnight, a French company called Mistral was building multilingual models that rivaled the American alternatives that captured all eyes. Founded in June 2023, Mistral will soon converted in the French technological jewel, but also in the Europe’s AI gem. Its managers, engineers who came from Google (deepmind) and Meta, managed to attract the attention of NVIDIA, ASML, Samsung, IBM, Salesforce or a Microsoft that invested 15 million euros and incorporated Mistral models into Azure. Mistral’s policy is to release the code of its models so that anyone can analyze, use and adapt it. According to them, it is something that will accelerate innovation and, without the muscle of the American giants, their approach is to a large model with other smaller and specialized ones. At the beginning of this year, the bombshell arrived. The Ministry of the Armed Forces of France arrive to an agreement with Mistral AI to integrate the company’s models, software and services in public entities related to the ministry. For example, the Atomic Energy Commission, the National Office of Aerospace Studies and Research, the Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service of the Navy and, also, the Armed Forces. It is the Ministry of Defense Artificial Intelligence Agency that will supervise all operations, but the idea is to “deploy Mistral tools in France’s infrastructure, ensuring full control over data and critical technologies.” From the Government, it was noted that, with these new tools, they can prepare the Armed Forces for the challenges of the future. However, the fact that Mistral is the Defense model in France may matter little to us… unless we take two things into account. The first: shortly after this agreement became known, public information on how Mistral is seeking Defense contracts outside France. They are getting more and more into this path, signing agreements with Helsinga German defense startup, and Arthur Mensch, CEO of Mistral, argued that its AI models will be “instrumental in the development of a new generation of defense systems.” Here comes the second thing to take into account. Mensch himself commented that these tools “will ensure Europe’s strategic advantage on the global stage”. This is important because Europe is now at a point where it has realized that the partners and allies of the past may not be the same as those of the future. European sovereignty At the user level we see movements like those of independence from American technologiesbut at a political level, Mistral responds to that search for European sovereignty. Instead of leaving your Defense-related systems in the hands of a foreign company, these agreements mean that it is a European company that is on the inside. And, in the end, this is not just about AI. In recent months we are seeing how Europe is moving to have a more powerful voice in terms of semiconductors, computing for artificial intelligence and even in the new space race. For a long time it has been said that others innovate and Europe legislates, but the current situation It has caused Europe to continue legislating while doing everything else. Images | Mistral AI, Amio Cajander In Xataka | The United States wants to be “sovereign” on a technological level. The problem is that everything it builds depends on other countries

that civil servants work less

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The reduction of working hours It was one of the most visible commitments of the Government for this legislature. Its objective was to reduce the working day from 40 to 37.5 hours per week without loss of pay. The proposal was processed, but ended running aground in Congress due to lack of support. Faced with this blockage, the Executive has chosen to advance where it does not need to negotiate with third parties or with Parliament. That is, on the only work area in which they have direct decision-making capacity: the officials of the General State Administration who do not depend on autonomous communities or city councils. The parliamentary failure of the 37.5-hour day. The general reduction in working hours required modifying the Workers Statute and, therefore, overcome a key vote in Congress. That support did not arrive, which left the measure without a legislative path in the short term. In this scenario, the Ministry of Labor formally maintains its commitment to reducing working hours, but cannot apply it to the entire labor market. This limitation explains the shift towards state public employment, where the Executive acts as a direct employer and can agree on the working conditions of state Administration officials, without having the support of the rest of the forces in the chamber. The 35-hour day and the reinforcement of teleworking. In this context, the core of agreement reached between the Ministry of Public Function and the unions involves implementing a 35-hour work week per week for employees of the General State Administration. The Government’s forecast is to approve it at the beginning of 2026 and for it to begin to be applied from February, once the organizational adjustments are finalized in each department. Along with the reduction in hours, the pact reinforces the Administration’s commitment to teleworking. It is not about introducing it from scratch, but about consolidating and organizing a modality that already exists, providing it with more stable regulations. The objective is to clarify conditions, guarantee technical means and prevent remote work from depending solely on internal decisions of each administrative unit. Both measures exclusively affect personnel dependent on the State. Excluding those public officials dependent on the autonomous communities, city councils and bodies with specific regimes, who maintain their own negotiating capacity. An important nuance: civil servants already worked less. The starting point for implementing this model of reducing working hours is not the same as in the private sector. The officials of the General Administration of the State had already established for years a working day of 37.5 hours per week, less than the ordinary legal of 40 hours. In fact, in public administrations dependent on communities such as Andalusia, Extremadura, the Basque Country, the Canary Islands, Asturias and Castilla-La Mancha and Castilla y León, already applied this 35-hour day since 2019, although some administrations they suspended them temporarily. This makes the measure announced now a continuing step that is already applied in other Administrations, thus equating state officials with regional officials. The other leg of the agreement: the pending salary increase. He agreement reached between the Ministry of Public Service and the majority unions is not limited to the working day. It also unlocks the application of the 2.5% salary increase corresponding to 2025, which had been pending payment, and 1.5% for 2026. This point is key to understanding the balance of the agreement since the reduction in working hours will not only imply a salary reduction, but is accompanied by a reinforcement of the purchasing power of officialsafter successive salary freezes and a context of inflation. Limited movement. Given that these changes only affect officials dependent on the State Administration, the real scope of the measure is limited in quantitative terms, since it affects approximately 250,000 public officials. However, it is a powerful incentive to attract the best talent to the Public Administration to address its rejuvenation process of the templates, and offering job stability and conciliation options. Factors that private companies increasingly limiting. In Xataka | The hoteliers cried out to the sky with the reduced working day. A hotel in the Balearic Islands has proven them wrong Image | Unsplash (Lissette Laverde)

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