Coast

Great white sharks are appearing off the Alicante coast. The problem is that we don’t know if it’s good news or bad news.

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On April 20, 2023, by pure chance, some fishermen caught a juvenile-sized white shark. No one would have been surprised if it weren’t for the fact that the fishermen were in Spanish waters, right in front of the Alicante Cape of La Nao. Two meters 10 centimeters of white shark in the middle of the Mediterranean, what was happening here? Do we have to worry? That is the question that was asked at the Spanish Institute of Oceanography and, in collaboration with the University of Cádiz, has carried out a deep review of the presence of white sharks in the Mediterranean Sea. It is not something superficial: they have collected all the records (direct and indirect) from 1862 to 2023 and have reached a surprising conclusion. The presence of this type of specimen has been “persistent” (although “extremely rare”) in the Spanish Mediterranean. It is not something, a priori, worrying. As explained José Carlos Báezresearcher at the IEO-CSIC, “we have only found two attacks: one in 1862, in which a person died in Malaga who was swimming, and another in the eighties, when a shark bit a surfer’s board in Tarifa and caused serious injuries.” But the problem is not that. And, although “with the available data, it is not possible to affirm that the Mediterranean white shark population is recovering”, it is inevitable to think about what will happen in an increasingly warmer sea. In the end, “the presence of young individuals provides key information about the demographic structure of the species” and, one way or anotherthis leads us to seriously consider the risks of having breeding spaces in Spanish waters. However, everything seems to indicate that there is a relationship between the presence of the shark and the routes of the bluefin tuna. If so, it would be another symptom of the problems that sharks have to keep their populations healthy and robust. Should we worry? It doesn’t seem like it. Against the media angle about the “return of the monster”, international evidence tells us that attacks are extremely rare and the role of sharks in the conservation of aquatic ecosystems is very important. Be that as it may, monitoring and conservation programs must be developed. And it has to be done soon. Image | Oleksandr Sushko In Xataka | The white shark is an exceptional swimmer. Its secret is in its “teeth”

The sale of a 22 million euro mansion moves the axis of luxury on the Andalusian coast: to Sotogrande

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The price of housing in Spain it doesn’t stop going upbut this unstoppable increase has not been a brake on closing the most expensive real estate sale in Andalusia. That the mansion protagonist of the unusual record have your own name It is already an indicator of the economic level to which this home points: Niwa, a mansion in Sotograndehas closed for more than 22 million euros. To put it in perspective, that price implies that its new owner has paid about 5,116 euros for each of the 4,300 meters built of this property. Taking into account that the average price in the province of Cádiz is about 2,249 euros/m2, places the operation at levels of the price of homes in premium areas of the big cities.​ Niwa: 4,300 m2 of sustainable luxury Niwa is located in The Seven, the most exclusive sector of the already exclusive luxury development The Sotogrande Reserve. The property occupies a 10,000 m2 plot on a hill overlooking the Mediterranean and facing Gibraltar, surrounded by the Los Alcornocales Natural Park.​ The mansion consists of 4,300 m2 built, distributed in nine suites, with an outdoor infinity pool, an indoor covered pool, spa, gym, cinema room, wine cellar and garage for eight cars. The project came from the pencils of Manuel Ruiz of ARK Architects and was carried out with construction techniques more advanced and sustainable with the environment since 95% of its structure was prefabricated in a factory and then assembled in the chosen location. This allowed us to reduce the impact on the environment and reduce emissions.​ Sotogrande began its development in the early 60’s as a private residential area with 24 hour security. It currently has five golf courses and is considered one of the most luxurious urbanizations and exclusive to southern Europe, which attracts foreign buyers for its designer mansions, its privacy and its proximity to exclusive services. In 2024, the average sales prices of their houses reached 1.9 million euros, with transactions reaching up to 17 million euros. Some of the new construction phases that were started were sold at 85% in phases such as Village Verde. Plots in the most exclusive areas of Sotogrande, such as The 15, start at three million euros, while in The Seven, where Niwa is located, they can exceed eight million euros per plot. “Over the last ten years, Sotogrande has invested in its facilities, maintaining its essence as a low-density, high-quality destination. It is very exciting to see how this positioning is increasingly relevant for our clients,” assured in statements to The Confidential Rita Jordão, Marketing Director of Sotogrande SA. Luxury moves south “The sale of NIWA marks the beginning of a new era for Sotogrande, where architecture and lifestyle multiply their value on the Costa del Sol and, I would dare say, on the entire Mediterranean coast. NIWA is a modern palace reinterpreted with a contemporary language that is situated halfway between the classic and the current, with a very special materiality,” confirmed its creator, pointing to a substantial change in the preferences of ultra-rich clients who seek to settle in Andalusia. Given the growth in popularity of these new luxury enclaveshistoric luxury areas, such as Marbella, are losing relevance after decades of urban pressure, and foreign buyers They have begun to set their sights on Sotogrande. “The record sale of NIWA firmly consolidates Sotogrande as a destination among the best in the world. What is happening is not a change of course, but a natural consequence of what Sotogrande offers is increasingly valued in the luxury market,” confirmed Jordão. In Xataka | A businessman built a mega mansion without permission: the neighbors have gotten the city council to demolish it Image | ARK Architects

A Russian submarine has appeared off the coast of France. And Europe’s reaction has been surprising: have a laugh

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August 2025. After learning through satellite images that the Russian nuclear submarine base had been was damaged After an earthquake, Ukraine leaked all the secrets of Moscow’s most advanced submarine, including its failures. Now, two months later, one of them has appeared off the coast of France. And, instead of fear, Europe has been amused. The silence broken. For days, NATO radars followed the strange figure of a Russian submarine that, instead of slipping secretly under the sea, clumsily advanced on the surface. Was Novorossiyska Kilo-class diesel-electric of the Black Sea Fleet, one of the few assets that still maintained Moscow’s flag in the Mediterranean. His march was slow and visible, accompanied by French, British and Dutch ships that escorted him with the same mix of caution and curiosity with which an injured animal is observed. For the Atlantic Alliance, that voyage was more than just a naval anomaly: it was a exhaustion signa reflection of what remains of Russian maritime power after three and a half years of war, sanctions and irreparable losses. Adrift. The official Moscow version It was immediate. According to the Black Sea Fleet, the Novorossiysk was sailing on the surface simply to comply with international standards when crossing the English Channel. But allied intelligence reports and leaks on Russian security channels painted a different picture: a damaged submarine, with a possible fuel leak, forced to surface repeatedly and, according to some reportseven to empty flooded compartments. The presence of a tugboat, he Yakov Grebelskiyreinforced that suspicion. For NATO commanders, the image of an attack ship “limping” toward its base was not only a metaphor for a technical breakdown, but the demonstration how Russian naval machinery is rusting in the eyes of the world. From Tartus to the Mediterranean. Until a few years ago, Russia maintained a permanent force in the Mediterranean, anchored in the Syrian base of Tartusits strategic bastion in the region. From there it projected power towards the Middle East and North Africa, protecting energy routes and monitoring Western transit. But the fall of the regime of Bashar al Assad in 2024 erased that balance in one fell swoop. With the new Syrian government, Moscow lost its last platform safe outside the Black Sea. Today, how he ironized NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, “there is hardly any Russian presence left in the Mediterranean: just a lonely, broken submarine returning from patrol.” The decline is not measured in the number of sunken ships, but in the disappearance of an entire naval projection doctrine. The laughs. In his speech at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Slovenia, Rutte was so precise as biting. “What a change from Tom Clancy’s novel The Hunt for Red October, he said. Today, more like the hunt for the nearest mechanic.” The phrase, celebrated among the attendees, synthesized the new allied narrative: humor and joke as a language of power. Making fun of your opponent, taking away the mystique of their strength, is also a way of undermining their influence. Behind the irony, however, there was a geopolitical calculation. Rutte remembered the multiple Russian provocations in the last few months (drones over Europe, sabotage of underwater cables, failed plots, cyber attacks and instability in Finland and Poland), and warned that Moscow retains the capacity to inconvenience, although its military muscle has been reduced to symbolic gestures and worn-out threats. The invisible collapse. The Novorossiysk debacle It is not an isolated case. Since 2022, Ukraine has managed to destroy or disable more than thirty of Russian vessels with anti-ship missiles and marine drones. The losses have forced the Kremlin to withdraw a large part of its fleet from Sevastopol and move it to Novorossiysk, on the eastern coast of the sea, to avoid new attacks. That strategic refuge, paradoxically, bears the same name as the damaged submarine that is now trying to reach it. What was a symbol of supremacy in the Soviet era has become a floating cemetery of incomplete projects and demoralized crews. Mirror of war. If you like, the episode from Novorossiysk transcends the anecdotal. It represents the convergence of all fronts where Russia is wasting away: the military, the economic, the technological and the symbolic. Its fleet, once the second in the world, now depends on units that they age without spare partsas Ukraine innovates with drones that cost a fraction of its missiles. And NATO, aware of this, has learned to transform its silent victories in public stories that erode the perception of Russian invulnerability. The image of Novorossiysk advancing in the sight of everyone, towed and watched, it is the perfect image if you want to degrade an empire that can no longer hide its weaknesses. From shadow to emptiness. In the years of the Cold War, Soviet submarines were the silent terror of the Atlantic. Today, his most visible heir is a damaged ship that sails with the flag raised so as not to sink. This passage from shadow to void explains better than any report the real state of the Russian navy. What was previously feared, is now observed even with sarcasm, and what previously inspired respect, now provokes a mocking headline. In this transit we measure, according to Europe, the decline of a power and the rise of a Western communication strategy that no longer needs to confront directly to win. It is enough to unintentionally let the enemy show his shipwreck. And have a few laughs. Image | BORN In Xataka | Russia’s most advanced nuclear submarine was a secret. Until Ukraine has revealed everything, including its failures In Xataka | A ghost fleet has mapped the entire underwater structure of the EU. The question is what Moscow is going to do with that information.

The coast of Huelva has been touristed for decades. Now one of its last virgin areas will become a megaurbanization

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“With more than 130 hectares next to the Pinares de Cartaya, it aims to become one of the main urban developments in Andalusia, creating a residential and leisure center in one of the most unique enclaves of the Andalusian Atlantic.” The phrase is part of the presentation of ‘Saggita El Rompido Living Club’, a real estate mega project that a Basque developer is promoting on the coast of Andalusia, on the second line of the Huelva coast and where there is now extensive trees. The initiative has already aroused the suspicion of politicians and environmentalists who warn that it will pervert one of the few remaining virgin areas on the coast of Huelva. What has happened? That Huelva is preparing for a radical transformation of the environment The Brokenin the municipality of Cartaya. There the Loiola company plans to promote a macro urban project with hundreds of homesvillas, a golf course, hotel accommodation, swimming pools and a commercial area. An extensive development that will extend throughout 130 ha in an environment that, like presume the promoter itself, represents “a privileged enclave between marshes, ocean and pine forests.” What do you want to do? They have named the project Saggite“arrow”, in Latin, a nod to one of the most characteristic places in the area: the Broken Arrowa wide sandy formation that stretches for about ten kilometers parallel to the coast. The promoter has several ideas in mind: a golf course, several hotelsa commercial area and above all generate residential offer. Specifically, on his website he talks about two projects: Sagitta Silvawith 128 homes (106 multi-family apartments and another 22 single-family homes) and Sagitta Navisa complex of 18 semi-detached houses with four bedrooms spread over two floors. Is there more? Yes. The Rompido Living Club does not stop there. When promoting the project, those responsible they talk of a huge residential and leisure center of 130 hectares with 800 exclusive homes (in some media they talk about 1,000), to which places for tourists and swimming pools will be added, “one of the main developments urban developments of Andalusia”. To complete it, the company claims that Sagitta Living Club will cover some 522,600 square meters of green areas. Is it just a project? No. In August 2024 Environment awarded the Unified Environmental Authorization for “Nuevo Rompido Este” in order to develop the land and pave the way so that it can accommodate homes, hotels, the golf course and the shopping center. Months later, in November, Ecologists in Action warned that work had already begun on the ground, with “the dismantling of the rich and varied vegetation of the Mediterranean forest” in the area and excavators and trucks removing bushes. The latest news about the project reached early summerwhen Loiola began marketing the first 150 homes in your residential complex. In the promotional information published on those dates it was stated that the works would start before the end of this year to have them lists in 2027. Perfect, right? Not everyone thinks so. The macroproject has the planning permission of Cartaya and the Junta de Andalucía has also given the green light to the urbanization of 1.3 million of square meters. THE complex even snuck into the presentation carried out last year by the City Council at FITUR. That does not mean that Sagitta has unanimous support. There are those who have warned of its impact on the environment, both environmentally and socially. For example, Izquierda Unida crosses out the “monstrosity” and warns of its effects. Why’s that? “It will double the population of El Rompido at once, destroying a forest of pine, juniper and other protected vegetation and exposing this nucleus, which already suffers serious problems such as periodic water cuts of up to 24 hours, to unsustainable urban tension.” I insisted a few months ago David F. Calderón, spokesperson for Izquierda Unida in the Cartaya City Council. In his opinion, the megaproject suffers from “serious legal loopholes” and “puts at risk the ecological balance and carrying capacity of the territory in a high-value area.” “El Rompido, one of the coastal towns in Andalusia where housing has become more expensive in the last decade, does not need more luxury homes, nor more hotels, nor more golf courses, but rather social housing that allows youth to continue living in their town,” Calderón stressed. The project focuses on the northwest of El Rompido, in a space located 800 meters from the beach. Is it the only critical voice? The answer is again no. One of the most critical voices of the project has been that of Ecologistas en Acción. And not only because in November warned of the arrival of machinery to the area, initiating “the destruction of (a) space with important natural values.” Since then has insisted in that the 130 hectares of the complex represent land “of extremely high biodiversity and environmental wealth” and that the project itself is “the greatest example of unsustainable, illegal and predatory urban planning on the Andalusian coastline.” Hence, the environmental association has filed a contentious-administrative appeal and requested a precautionary suspension. His main argument: the alleged risk of causing “very serious and irreversible” damage to the territory. “The works involve destroying a substantial part of the environmental values ​​of this privileged enclave, with serious consequences for protected fauna and taxa.” What does the promoter say? In your advertisingthe company highlights that the promotion will seek “environmental, social and economic sustainability”, which includes, among other issues, measures to minimize the carbon and water impact or the preservation of biodiversity. It also highlights that the Sagitta Living Club complex will include more than 522,000 m2 of green areas, a large area that will play a key role in the complex. The environmental authorization actually recognizes that there are protected plants in the environment, but their future is clear because they will be located in the free spaces left by the megaurbanization. Images | Loiola and Ecologists in Action In Xataka | There is a virgin beach in … Read more

The man who crossed Africa from coast to coast for the first time in a 4×4

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In 1884, The diverse African continent It was distributed among the European powers as if it were a cake. The Berlin Conference regulated the colonization of Africa and established which country stayed with each portion. Germany stayed with a good piece of the continent and, although it lost everything after the World War Ithere is something that no one can snatch them: having been the first to demonstrate the reliability of the first cars “4×4”. The feat? Simple: Crossing Africa from coast to coast on a trip of about 10,000 kilometers through unknown territories for the car. The adventure begins. The protagonist of this story is called Paul Graetz. He was a German officer who, between 1902 and 1904, served as a lieutenant in German Eastern Africa. After a brief return to his homeland, 1907 returned to Africa with a goal: to find a route between what was German and Africa Africa of the Southwest German (which is currently Tanzania and Namibia) to establish a motorized connection. A direct route between the two territories (each in a different coast) would allow a better economic development and, therefore, a benefit for those German regions. Thus, he got to work to devise a route that was from Dar-Es-Salam (Tanzania) to Swakopmund (Namibia). It would not be easy, since it would be necessary to cross mountains, deserts, jungles, savannas and rivers in an unexplored territory for the car. All this, obviously, without having roads or roads. Basically, he would make his way. The problem was, evidently, the car itself. The car. It was the first challenge of the trip because, if it would be something complicated for the best 4×4 current, for a great -grandfather of 1907, imagine. That is why he did not use a conventional car, but one made “custom”. Graetz began to contact several companies and-heard air-it was the Süddeutsche Automobil-Fabrik Gaggenau who accepted the challenge. They only existed from 1905 to 1910 and subsequently became part of Benz & Cie (which, in turn, became Daimler-Benz Agbetter known as Mercedes-Benz), and what they did was to modify one of their numerous models for the conditions it would find in Africa. Chassis made to measure with an elevation of 35 centimeters on the standard of the time to circulate through complicated territories. The elevation was achieved with wooden blocks. A four -cylinder engine and a power of 35 hp. Two gas tanks for long marches: one 250 liters in the rear and another forward with another 125/145 liters. “Mortital” and reinforced body to transport heavy loads. Wooden wheels, eye, with a diameter of 1,120 mm and a width of 120 mm. The wood for certain components may seem a barrabasada, but it was the technology of the time. It had a large storage capacity due to size, the interior could be transformed into a bedroom (with mosquito net and everything) and had oil lamps to drive in the dark. Issues. We cannot say that Süddeutsche Automobil-Fabrik Gaggenau did not give Gracez a good ‘car’, but the problems would soon appear. The expedition (basically, Graetz) departed on August 10, 1907. The tests for the car had been done in Germany, so both the driver and the vehicle would enter ‘Terra Incognita’. The rain was a problem and forced to improvise a metal reinforcement (the first wheels with chain), remained stuck in dunes, gasoline evaporated and even had to wear the car by boat during a section of Lake Tanganika. The worst was mechanics. The one of Graetz the only one in colonial Germany and a rare Avis in thousands of kilometers around the engine so, when the engine had a breakdown, he was forced to wait three months for the spare parts to arrive. In addition, there were no mechanics, so they learned on the march to repair it. It is believed that it has a C15 “Gut Gemacht, Graetz”As it may be, about 630 days later and With about 10,000 kilometers on the counterthe German explorer and his car managed to reach Swakopmund. It was on May 1, 1909 and Kaisewr Guillermo II himself congratulated him with a telegram that was not too effusive. “Gut Gemacht, Graetz”, which becomes a “good job, Graetz.” In that congratulation I should have included the hundreds of collaborators that the explorer had during his journey, but we already know how these things are going. History. The feat was followed by the press and was seen as an example of the industrial and power advances of the new engines and vehicles against nature. Currently, that first 4×4, that deeply modified vehicle that allowed an adventurer to cross Africa from coast to coast more than a century ago, is a piece of a museum and a reminder that, perhaps, was the first Road Trip of history. The bug of exploration was still within Graetz and only one year later, in 1911, he launched A second expedition with the aim of traveling the Bangweulusee river from Mozambique to the Atlantic in a motor boat of more than eight meters. On this occasion, he took a filmmaker with him that he captured some images, but after an attack of a buffalo, the filmmaker died and Graetz was seriously injured. The images were considered ‘Lost Media’ for almost a century, but in 2007 they were found in the basement of the Gracez’s own house, and part are the ones you can see just about this paragraph. It is clear that explorer is born, it is not done, and since everything has to be capitalized, There are tours to emulate the route of the German explorer. Images | Mercedes-Benz, Paul Graetz In Xatala | The US needed to confuse the Nazis in World War II. So it deployed airplanes and lie tanks

An Atlantic trough looks out to the Mediterranean coast

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Autumn has arrived and does it hard. So much so that the Mediterranean coast begins to prepare for an intense episode of rainfall. The culprit (at least in part) is a Atlantic trough that travels the peninsula. Extreme risk.This situation has led to the State Meteorology Agency (AEMET) to Issue several noticesincluding numerous orange warnings due to important risk and two red notices due to extreme risk. The latter affect a good part of the province of Tarragona, specifically in the southern prelitral and in the southern coast of the Catalan province. Accumulated rainfall is expected to reach 90 mm in an hour. The red notices will take effect at 15:00 and end at 9:00 p.m., but it must be taken into account that orange notices will last in this area throughout today, as well as during part of tomorrow. Beyond Tarragona. Aemet yellow and orange notices extend by almost the entire Levante, also covering interior areas, such as the areas of Gúdar and the teacher; Hellín and Almansa; or the safe basin, among others. Yellow and orange notices not only alert the risk derived from rains but also storm risk. As of tomorrow, orange notices will also reach the Balearic Islands. What is happening? The agency itself Explain in an informative note that the origin of this event is in an Atlantic trough that Since yesterday we travel our territory. This trough, they explain will originate “a growing instability in the Mediterranean area” during the first days of this week. However, extreme rains will be the result of the interaction between this trough and “the formation of a bosom of low pressures between the southeast Peninsular and Balearic Islands.” This new formation, continues to explain Aemet, will cause a “wet flow of the east” that will spread through the Mediterranean area. “The presence of high humidity at low levels together with thermal and dynamic instability, will propitiate the formation of showers and intense storms, in areas of the Eastern Peninsular and Balearic Islands,” concludes the agency in its informative note. Uncertainty. There is a remarkable uncertainty about the future of this extreme phenomenon, although the models indicate that the situation will come between today and tomorrow, improving from Wednesday. It should be remembered that the notices derived from the situation will still affect the Balearic Islands, so it is convenient to be aware of the evolution of the trough. In Xataka | Google has demonstrated with its AI that the prediction of storms and hurricanes is outdated. This is how your new model works Image | ECMWF / Aemet

The coast of Cádiz is crowded in summer. Except an inexplicable beach that has managed to flee from mass tourism

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Spain has a vast coastal strip of almost 8,000 km and much of it is formed by sand that every summer becomes Tourist boilersboth from other regions of Spain and abroad. Cádiz knows it well, although the Andalusian province can boast of conserving A (almost) virgin sand that has managed to avoid the traveler boom that saturates the country. His name: Castilnovo. A virgin beach? That’s how it is. That in summer you speak of the beaches and Cadiz coves is no novelty. After all, the Costa de la Luz and the Costa del Sol are two of the most busy destinations by tourists looking for sun and beach in the summer months. What is much less common is to find that one of those sandy sand is an almost virgin natural jewel, free of buildings, bars, hotels and hordes of veraneantes fighting for nailing its umbrellas. It is fair is what the Castilnovo Beach. Castilnovo Beach? His name may not be as known as that of the sands of Bologna, Burriana either Barrosaalso distributed along the Andalusian coast, but during the last weeks the beach of Castilnovo has activated the radar of the National Press and specialized media on trips. And it is logical. Located between the mouth of the salty and conilete rivers, this beach 3,000 meters It is a rare Avis of the Spanish coast, a haven of peace and tranquility that has managed to dodge the tourist boom of other points of the Spanish coast. And how is it? In words From the Conil Tourism Office it is an “extensive virgin beach ideal to enjoy long walks through a unique environment where nature is the protagonist”, a sand tongue of 3,000 kilometers That starts with Conil and ends near El Palmar, in the municipality of Vejer. “Beach of great landscape importance in which one of its most striking characteristics is the absence of constructions,” says the City Council before underline that the area includes dunes and salinas, in addition to cultivation fields, cattle and an “outstanding” variety of insects and birds, such as the SHATP SHAFT. No buildings? A look With Google Maps it shows that the landscape is quite different from that of the neighboring Costa de Sancti Petri. In Castilnovo, between the Palmar and Conil, a strip of fields is extended with hardly any constructions. In fact, the most emblematic is the tower that takes the name of the beach, an Almenara building that dating from the 16th century and is classified as a good of cultural interest (BIC). His aim It was to serve as a surveillance position to anticipate Berber attacks and identify the passage of Atunes. In 1755the same day Lisbon suffered An earthquakea tsamot destroyed part of the structure. Cádiz Diputación itself Highlight that “one of the most striking characteristics” of the beach is precisely that it lacks constructions. “The lonely Almenara Torre de Castilnovo rises on the horizon guarding the beach. A wide plain is extended around it where the crops, livestock land and the wet areas of the riverbank of the river are mixed on the wide surface, beyond the Las Marinas and old saline road dominate the land,” stands out. And how is it possible? Travel guides They usually emphasize that those who want to enjoy Castilnovo must keep in mind before what they will find there: a virgin space in which It is not strange See people practicing sports such as surfing, Windsurf or Kitesurf (even a nudist, although beach It is not cataloged as a naturist), but without the comfort of other sand. Usually The guides They point That has no beach bargain, bars, or nearby services. In some points there is not even coverage. And of course those who want to enjoy the landscape must walk and resign themselves to leave their car At a certain distance. The Diputación remember In addition, at least part of the space is protected by the City of Conil for its environmental importance. Images | Conil tourism, Roberto Vázquez González (Flickr)Google Earth and Diputación de Cádiz In Xataka | The beach of the crystals: Galicia has one of the most fascinating sands in Spain by chance

The poisonous species that reach the coast are the canary in the mine

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A few days ago We asked ourselves If the stabilization of the Mediterranean temperature responded to a long -term trend or if it was rather a transitory event, a brief cooling capable of tempering the waters of a sea that is more than one degree above its average for these dates of the year. The latest data remind us that we are facing a long -term problem. Seas tropicalizing. The seas of our environment, such as the Mediterranean or the Cantabrian, are immersed In a process that some already call “Tropicalization”This process refers to a series of changes in marine ecosystems derived from the increase in water temperature in subtropical principles. Starting from the beginning. The planet’s seas are gaining temperature. They do it little by little and irregularlybut some estimates talk about a 0.27 ° Celsius increase By decade on average. According to data C3S (Copernicus Climate Change Service), the month of July was one of the warmest of those that are recorded in regards to the surface temperature of the seas, at 0.12º to beat the record. This increase in temperatures has effects of a very diverse nature. It can affect, for example, marine currents, Arctic ice, or even at the temperature of the atmosphere and air circulation. And in addition, it can also affect marine ecosystems. Visible change. Changes in currents, ice or atmosphere can be difficult to perceive for the human eye, but some of the changes in marine ecosystems, not so much. There is much that occurs under the surface of the sea, but some of these changes have their reflection on our coasts, and that is what we are seeing now, the arrival of new species to our coasts, both sea invertebrates and fish, some of these species, dangerous. It is the example of two of the species we have heard about this summer, the Portuguese caravel (Physalia Physalis) and The blue dragon (Glaucus atlanticus). The Portuguese caravel belongs to the same edge as the jellyfish and can, due to their appearance, be confused with one. However, the effect of its poison goes beyond the efficient effect that jellyfish often causes. Portuguese caravel is part of the blue dragon diet, a mollusk with the ability to “recycle” the poison of its victims and use it as a defense mechanism. Another example of poisonous species that threaten to approach our coasts is The lionfish (Pterois Volitans). It is considered that the path of entry of this fish could be as an ornamental species for aquariumbut there are also those who warn of their possible expansion through the Mediterranean, via the Suez Canal, from the Red Sea. Risk, not only for bathers. The fact that these are poisonous species that can involve serious risks for bathers affected by their toxins, the risk associated with marine tropicalization goes beyond the bites of these animals. Species such as blue crab (Callinectes sapidus), have begun to expand through areas of the Mediterranean, putting local ecosystems in check with its voracity and the absence of natural predators. Algae also does not miss the opportunity to expand their habitat in our waters. The best example of this is Asian algae (Rugulopterix Okamurae), an increasingly present species on our coasts, whose impact reaches disparate coastal strips, From Galicia to Tarifa. The Mediterranean, again burning. We pointed at the beginning that, after a brief impas in which the sea It was close to thermal stabilizationthe Mediterranean temperature has firing again. Although the thermal anomaly of 2.26º has not yet been reached that We saw almost two months agothis anomaly has passed in just four days (from August 7 to 11) from 0.54º to 1.16º, According to data of socib (Coastal observation and prediction system of the Balearic Islands). The “rebound” has been greater in the Western Mediterranean, where in mid -June the thermal anomaly was around 2.65, before stabilizing up to 0.29º. The new increase places the anomaly in 1.27º, almost a degree of increase in days. In Xataka | “The Mediterranean already has only three stations”: the European Observatory of the drought confirms that winter is dying Image | LPT2000 / Tao Taylor

An earthquake has shaken the coast of Almeria. And Middle Andalusia has learned thanks to Google

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An earthquake of magnitude 5.5 located in Almeria waters has shaken multiple locations Andalusians in Almería, Granada, Jaén and areas of the Spanish Levante such as Murcia. Along with it, thousands of Android mobile users have received an unknown notification to date: a directly related to the detection of farms. The earthquake. According to information from National Geographic Instituteat 7:13 a.m. on July 14, there has been an earthquake of magnitude 5.4 to two kilometers deep in the corporal of sticks, having special incidence in populations of the Andalusian coast. The consequent replicas have lasted until 8:49, with intensities of 3.4 and 2.7. Local media They report that at the moment there have been no consequences of gravity, ensuring the 112 that “no damage to the region has been notified by the earthquake.” The message. Virtually immediately, Android phones have issued an automatic notification to thousands of phones through Google Play services. This alert is framed within the Google seismic detection system, Shakealert. In it, the estimated magnitude of the earthquake is noticed as well as recommended practices to keep us safe in earthquake cases. Through a map, both the time and distance from the earthquake are shown, with the possibility of consulting the latest updates through the same section. How it works. Google’s Seísos alert System It is more than curious. In the United States (California, Washington and Oregon) uses a network of 1675 seismic sensors to detect tremors and earthquakes. Outside these territories, the seismographs are our own phones through the accelerometer. If a phone detects movement changes that can be interpreted as an earthquake, send a signal to the Google server. At that time, the server combines this signal with that of other phones to try to find out if an earthquake is taking place. In case of determining what is taking place, an alert is sent on two levels. The key to using this system is that it works predictively. In fact, Google warns that these notifications can reach even before the earthquake occurs. The alerts. The network of more than 2,000 million Android devices, according to Google, acts as a minisismographers front capable of giving precise data on the earthquake. In the event that the alert is of 4.5 or higher scale (in MMI scale, no Richter, here is measured in surface perceived, not energy released from the epicenter), a strong sound alarm is sent ignoring the modes not to disturb and lighting the screen. If the alert is of lower magnitude, such as the one lived today, only an informative notification is sent. What about Es-alert. The doubts that have assaulted upon receiving the alarm have to do with the alternative system we have in Spain: Es-alert. Here we have a system with three levels of alert and civil protection as in charge of sending the notification through Cell Broadcast (radio emission without having active mobile data). System Who detects Who sends the alert How the alert is sent You need Internet connection Android Earthquake Alerts System Android phones themselves, through their sensors Google Push notifications Yeah es-alert National Geographic Institute (IGN) Civil defense Radio emission (Cell Broadcast) No In this case, Es-Alert has not worked. The system is active, working, and detecting cases Like fire in Tarragonabut it is Civil Protection who determines the supposed severity of the phenomenon and whether or not notification is to be sent. The legal framework. A Law 17/2015, of July 9, of the National Civil Protection System determines that only the competent authorities can issue official alerts: Civil Protection, Aemet, IGN or the communities and municipalities themselves. Private companies cannot issue official alerts … but they can send private notifications that do not violate any law. That Android informs you about a possible earthquake It does not differ too much than the time app I inform you that it is raining in your area. Google notices do not supply these official notification systems, act as an informative complement to the official framework. Here the debate enters into the own responsibility of a private company to alert the population of a gravity event as an “unofficial” earthquake. One that clashes with the slowness (or direct inactivity according to circumstances) of national systems in specific cases like this. Image | Xataka In Xataka | The ghost of the earthquakes returns to Lisbon: how a savage earthquake in 1755 took the entire city ahead

200,000 abandoned radioactive barrels are sought off the coast of Galicia: we have only found 1,000

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The Atlantic Ocean is one of the world’s largest nuclear cemeteries. It is estimated that more than 200,000 barrels with nuclear waste sent to the seabed rest Between 1946 and 1990. The mission to recover them is already underway. First days of work. The French oceanographic ship L’Tarante has begun to work in the search for abandoned drums in Atlantic waters. It arrives with the work of locating some of these barrels and evaluating whether they have caused some kind of impact on marine ecosystems in the area. The team has enforced their work since the first day. According to The local press reportsthe researchers managed to identify the first 1,000 drums and map their location. They have not yet transcended the first images of these barrels. The mission, called Nodssum-I, has an expected duration of one month. The ship arrived a week ago in the area where it will perform its work, located in international waters about 650 kilometers northwest of the coast of Galicia. It is estimated that the more than 200,000 barrels distributed throughout the exploration area are found between 3,000 and 5,000 meters. 200,000 drums. According to Explain the responsible team From the project, barrels contain nuclear residues of low or medium radioactivity. These include sludge, contaminated metal parts, cation exchange resins and even office equipment. In order to resist the high pressures of the ocean fund, these materials would have been encapsulated in bitumen or cement, Add the American Society American. Throughout the years that these waste has passed underwater, their radioactivity would have fallen significantly, it is added from the project. However, some long -term elements could still maintain a good part of this radioactivity. In addition to identifying and locating these barrels, the mission will take photographs of these in order to evaluate their status and integrity. For now the plans do not include the possibility of recovering these barrels. Evaluating the impact. Locating and studying drums is just one of the objectives of the mission. The team will collect water samples, sediments and even marine life to study the presence of radioactive or radiosiopo isotopes in them. Thus they also intend to study the interactions between marine ecosystems and these radioisotypes; Also understand the transport of these atoms in the seabed through processes such as erosion and sedimentation, and also through marine currents. Uly X. For this work the team will feature the instruments aboard L’Anchantante, including a 4.5 meter autonomous submarine called Uly X. This vehicle will allow researchers to photograph and study closely the lost drums in Atlantic waters. Nodssum-i and nodssum-II. The mission of one month of L’Atalante will be only the first part in a project that will encompass two trips to the search area, Nodssum-I and Nodssum-II. For now, Nodssum-II is in the planning phase, but we know of it that it will be a monitoring mission that will take detailed samples thanks to a submarine remotely operated like the Victor ROV, or a minisubmarine like the Nautile. In Xataka | Japan’s energy gauge: after trying to become independent from its nuclear, it has had to back down Image | French oceanographic fleet / Navire Océanographique L’Tarante

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