Coast

Europe has a robot ready to clean the seabed. Spain has 8,000 kilometers of coast waiting

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Neither the proliferation of jellyfish neither lack of sand On the beaches, the great environmental problem of the oceans is marine litter. So within the European project SEACLEAR 2.0, a research team from the Technical University of Munich has developed an autonomous diving robot capable of detecting and recovering debris from the bottom. A kind of pool cleaning robot that plays in another league: the open sea. But is there really so much shit in the sea? An example: In Dubrovnik they counted more than a thousand pieces of garbage in an area of ​​only 100 square meters. In the Mediterranean, where there is tourism and ports, it is a real problem. The pool cleaning robot. The system is made up of the robot and a series of auxiliary elements necessary to fulfill the mission: an unmanned mother ship, an auxiliary boat, a drone, an explorer robot of about 50 centimeters and the robot in question. How does it work? The boat is what provides energy and data to the robots and is also responsible for mapping the bottom with camera and sonar, which allows objects to be identified even in murky waters. Afterwards, the small, agile scout robot quickly runs through it. With all this information, the pool cleaning robot descends with its eight miniturbines until it reaches that area where there is garbage. There, he picks up the objects and lifts them onto the auxiliary boat, which works as a container, using a winch. Why is it important. Because it reaches where divers cannot or does not allow them to reach: as explains dr. Stefan Sosnowskifrom the Information Technology Control Chair of the TUM, a cost-benefit analysis proves that this autonomous waste collection is profitable from 16 meters deep. That’s where human diving becomes more expensive, time-consuming and dangerous. That is to say, this robot does not replace diving, but rather complements it to offer a global cleaning solution. On the other hand, the system is not limited to extraction: it also constitutes a valuable tool for obtaining data since, thanks to the integrated sensors, it can generate maps of the bottom, identify types of waste and record its location, which can be useful in different fields, such as designing better environmental or port management policies. Context. He SEACLEAR project It is funded by the European Union through the Horizon 2020 program. The consortium is made up of eight European partners: the universities of Munich, Delft, Cluj-Napoca and Dubrovnik on the academic level, plus the Port Authority of Hamburg, the Dubrovnik-Neretva Regional Development Agency and the company Subsea Tech. That the port of Hamburg and a company are part of the group is important: it is not an academic laboratory project, but the idea is to put it into practice, to real use at sea. In detail. The intelligence of the system resides in four components: the identification of objects with camera and sonar, the manual labeling of more than 7,000 images of objects outside the seabed, the generation of 3D models through AI. From here, the system already knows where and how to grab those objects to extract them safely. The key to this extraction is a four-finger clamp capable of applying up to 4,000 N of force, enough to lift objects weighing up to 250 kilograms. However, how much with pressure sensors to regulate that force so as not to break fragile materials such as plastics or glass. If you broke a plastic object into smaller pieces, the cure would be worse than the disease. Yes, but. The first public demonstration of the system occurred in the port of Marseille, where the robot recovered, among other things, a wheel and a car seat. While it is true that it is a test in a real environment, it is a controlled demo under known conditions. The project has not yet made public data essential for its profitability and scalability, such as how many objects were recovered per hour, what is the error rate of the recognition system or the cost of operating the system in a real port for a year. On the other hand, extracting objects from the bottom has its drawback: if they are large and have been deposited there for years, they can suspend contaminated sediments and disturb fauna that has colonized them. That is, paradoxically, cleaning can also have environmental impact. In Xataka | It turns out that China’s new giant buoys are actually miniature data centers. Korea won’t like it In Xataka | Germany is installing giant concrete spheres under the sea. It has a good reason: to store renewable energy Cover | TUM

The most touristic enclave in Italy has two news programs left. It is quite a warning for the half of the Spanish coast

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The advance of climate change is leaving more or less obvious signs that range from the maturation of fruit trees earlier to intense heat waves even before summer arrives like the one we are livingbut the future is bleak: more torrential rains and floods, more droughts, places that will be uninhabitable due to climatic conditions… or directly because they have been swallowed by the sea. Without going any further, the image you see above these lines is a classic in tourist destinations: the famous and colorful Italian Cinque Terre towns. A research team has elaborated the first map of what awaits them in 2150 and the scenario borders on the apocalyptic. Cinque Terre in serious danger of disappearing. This study analyzes two of the most exposed Cinque Terre towns, Monterosso and Vernazza, projecting how their coast will evolve until the year 2150 under different levels of greenhouse gas emissions according to the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report (AR6). In the worst emissions scenario, the sea level in that area could rise up to 1.17 meters, which means permanently saying goodbye to more than 22,000 square meters of coastline. To make it clear during the World Cup: about three football fields. In the best case scenario, the figure would be “only” 9,931 square meters. The figure may seem low, but in coastal areas with a morphology as narrow and steep as that of the Cinque Terre, they imply the loss of entire beaches, docks and access to transport such as the train that connects them. Thinking more than 100 years ahead may seem far away, but the reality is that the global rate of sea rise has gone from 2.13 mm to almost 5 mm since the 90s, according to the World Meteorological Organization. In short: the process has already started and you have stepped on the accelerator. Why is it important. Because Cinque Terre is the canary in the mine of many other municipalities, touristy or not, that are going to sink in the coming decades in a tragic process that involves demographic, climatic and economic changes. In fact, the decline of beaches and the loss of functionality of ports and infrastructure are already being noticed, which will have a direct impact on the local economy, which depends almost entirely on tourism. But Cinque Terre are more than postcard towns: their cliffs converted into agricultural terraces and their territorial planning have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997. Losing them totally or partially is not like a resort collapsing: it is a tragedy. And it won’t be the only one: this study has calculated that of the 49 World Heritage sites on low-lying Mediterranean coasts, 37 are already at risk of serious flooding today and that this risk could increase by 50% before 2100. Context. In the analysis of climate change on the coasts, the Mediterranean has turned on the turbo: it is rising faster than the global average. Between 2000 and 2018, the Mediterranean Sea rose about seven centimeters, a rate much higher than that of the 20th century as a whole. according to research from the British National Oceanography Center. Liguria, the region where Cinque Terre is located, takes the cake: it combines the rise of the sea with a gradual sinking of the land itself. But the reality is global and even darker: in a generalized way we are losing rocky coast and probably faster than we think: science has records of cliff retreats of just 150 years and projections until 2100. In short: we are underestimating the rise in sea level. In detail. This study stands out for how exhaustive it is and the quality and quantity of sources with which it works: it uses topography obtained with high-resolution drones, high-precision seafloor maps, geodetic data of land subsidence with GPS networks and applied the three main IPCC climate scenarios to calculate the projected flooding in 2030, 2050, 2100 and 2150. The usual thing is to stay at 2100, but the team has expanded that horizon with half a century more to see processes that the shorter models overlook: especially the slow sinking of the own land due to geological causes. In fact, there are already studies that evidence that the IPCC forecasts fall short precisely because they ignore that factor. Yes, but. Although the study is rigorous and solid, as the research team itself clarifies, Cinque Terre will not disappear overnight and this apocalyptic scenario will only happen if adaptation and mitigation measures are not adopted. On the other hand, the most unfavorable scenarios take into account global emissions that current climate agreements seek to avoid. In Xataka | There is a corner of Spain where global warming is wreaking havoc: the Pyrenees are becoming “Mediterraneanized” In Xataka | It turns out that there are invasive land snakes that take to the sea from Ibiza. And they are annihilating a unique lizard Cover | Rahul Chakraborty and The First Relative Sea Level Rise and Storm Surges Scenarios up to 2150 CE for the Coasts of Monterosso and Vernazza, Cinque Terre National Park (Liguria, Italy)

Bringing wind energy 100 km from the coast seemed impossible. Until China has thrown away its new metallic “heart”

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A 25,000-tonne mass of steel, with the surface area of ​​a football field and the height of a 15-story building, is currently crossing the ocean aboard an immense semi-submersible ship. The latest great milestone in Asian engineering is already underway. This colossus has just set sail from the port of Nantong, in the eastern province of Jiangsu, on a 1,090 nautical mile journey to southern China. The protagonist of this monumental journey is called “Hai Feng Zhi Xin“, which translated into Spanish means “heart of the sea wind.” As highlighted in an official statement collected by the agency PR Newswireit is the largest offshore converter station in the world, built by the state-owned Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (ZPMC). Its destination is the waters off the city of Yangjiang, where it will connect to the mammoth Qingzhou V and Qingzhou VII offshore wind farms, operated by the corporation Three Gorges. The “bottleneck” of offshore wind. To understand the magnitude of this project, you have to understand the historical problem that the wind sector faced. As the news agency explains XinhuaUntil now, the development of offshore wind energy has hit a physical wall. Conventional wind turbines produce electricity in alternating current (AC). The problem is that transmitting this alternating current through submarine cables over long distances causes severe and unaffordable energy losses. This technical limitation forced engineers to build wind farms in relatively shallow waters and very close to the coast. However, the wind resource is much stronger, stable and constant the further you go into the open sea. That’s where the technological solution of this new project comes into play as it acts as the largest power adapter on the planet. It collects the energy generated by no less than 163 wind turbines, increases its voltage and converts that alternating current into direct current (DC). So why is this a game changer? Because direct current can travel hundreds of kilometers underwater with minimal energy loss. The platform boasts a record unit capacity of 2,000 megawatts (MW) and operates with a flexible ±500 kilovolts (kV) direct current transmission system. In addition, it is a pioneer in the use of ±525 kV submarine cables for these distances. This technical conversion unlocks access to high-quality wind resources located more than 100 kilometers offshore, making ultra-deepwater wind finally commercially viable. When at full capacity, this metal “heart” will pump out 6 billion kWh of clean electricity a year, a vital boost to the decarbonization efforts of the industrialized Guangdong region. A 25,000 ton giant. Building a power plant in the middle of the raging deep ocean is not a viable option. The project was approached as a gigantic set of modular parts. Assembly, integration of all equipment and installation progressed in parallel onshore (Nantong), demanding an unprecedented level of supply chain coordination. Yan Bing, Senior Specialist of ZPMC cited by PR Newswireexplains that they adopted an integrated construction model of “land assembly, transportation as a single unit, and float-over installation.” This offshore installation method is overwhelmingly complex, requiring millimeter-level adjustment precision amidst strong ocean currents to fit the superstructure. Once locked into place, the platform’s working environment will be unforgiving. As detailed Xinhuawill operate completely autonomously, without a permanent human crew, controlled through intelligent maintenance and remote monitoring systems. Inside, a dense network of electrical, ventilation and fire control systems has been specially armored to resist the very high salinity and corrosive humidity of the deep ocean. The urgency of this megaproject. This feat is within China’s 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030). The Asian country has set the goal of reaching 100 gigawatts (GW) of installed offshore wind energy capacity by 2030. China’s problem is that its nearshore wind resources are quickly becoming saturated. Just in February this year, the country connected the first 20-megawatt offshore wind turbine to the grid in Fujian province (made entirely from domestic components), followed by the installation of the world’s largest floating wind platform in Yangjiang. The 100 kilometers from the coast are no longer an unbreakable border. With the imminent ignition of its new energy node, China not only alleviates the energy hunger of its coastal areas, but also establishes a replicable technical model that demonstrates to the entire world that the future of clean energy inevitably requires losing sight of the shore. Image | Xu Congjun/Xinhua Xataka | Japan has realized that it cannot depend on gas, so it is going to set up a mega wind farm on the coast of Tokyo

There is a “nuclear” gift from Russia to North Korea off the coast of Spain

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In the 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, many Western experts began to fear that Russian scientists and military technology would end arriving in North Korea through opaque means, silently fueling Pyongyang’s weapons programs. Since then, every strange move between Moscow and the North Korean regime has been observed with a mixture of concern, secrecy and suspicions that are difficult to prove. A collapse full of unknowns. counted this morning CNN in an extensive report that the sinking of the Russian freighter Ursa Major off the Spanish coast has ended up becoming one of the strangest and most opaque stories to emerge around the Ukrainian war, as well as one of the most delicate. Officiallythe ship suffered several explosions in December 2024 before sinking in the Mediterranean. However, from the first moment they began to accumulate details difficult to fit into the version of a simple maritime accident: a cargo absurdly described as “manhole covers”, a Russian military escort for much of the journey, strange maneuvers before the sinking, subsequent explosions on the wreck and a very unusual silence from both Moscow and the Spanish authorities. Little by little, the case began to look less like a conventional shipwreck and more a strategic operation that went wrong in the middle of an extremely sensitive geopolitical context. The suspicion that changes everything. The great suspicion arose when Spanish researchers and sources cited by CNN They began to point out that the Ursa Major could transport nuclear reactor components similar to those used in Russian submarines. The captain himself would have ended up admitting to Spanish investigators that those supposed “manhole covers” were actually linked pieces to two naval reactors, although he claimed not to know if they contained nuclear fuel. The most disturbing hypothesis is that the final destination was not Vladivostok, despite officially appearing on the route, but the North Korean port of Rason. That is where the story takes on a completely different dimension, because the sinking would no longer be just a maritime incident, but the possible interruption of a technology transfer extremely sensitive between Moscow and Pyongyang, just after North Korea sent thousands of soldiers to support Russia in the Ukrainian war. The WC-135 off Spain. The arrival of the WC-135 aircraft Americans was the detail that definitively set off all the alarms. These planes, known as “nuke sniffers,” are not just any aircraft: they are extremely specialized platforms designed to detect radioactive traces and analyze nuclear contamination in the atmosphere. Washington normally uses them to monitor nuclear tests, atomic accidents or sensitive activity in places like the Russian Arctic or Iran, in any case, not to routinely fly over the Mediterranean off Spain. that the United States will send twice These devices over the area where the Ursa Major rests immediately fueled the suspicion that he feared something much more serious than a simple shipwreck. Although there is no public confirmation of radioactive contamination, the simple deployment of these planes left a sensation that is very difficult to ignore: Russia could have had a nuclear “gift” destined for North Korea sunk in front of Europe. Let us remember that a few months later, Kim Yong Un showed the world his alleged nuclear submarine. Explosions, spy ships and an uncomfortable wreck. The sequence after the sinking made the story even stranger. According to the research quoted by CNNthe ship did not seem doomed to sink immediately after the first explosions. However, hours after Spanish rescue resources arrived, the Russian ship Ivan Gren It launched red flares over the area and new explosions were recorded, detected even by Spanish seismic systems. Days later it also appeared the Yantarofficially a Russian research ship but designated for years by NATO as spy platform submarine. He remained on the wreck for several days before to register more explosions underwater. All of this continued to fuel the theory that Moscow may have attempted to destroy sensitive evidence at the bottom of the Mediterranean, especially if the ship was carrying advanced military nuclear technology or compromised documentation related to North Korea. The theory of silent sabotage. Another of the most surprising aspects of the investigation is the possibility that the Ursa Major was attacked with an extremely unusual weapon. The Spanish authorities are handling the hypothesis of a small hole just 50 centimeters caused by a supercavitating torpedo Barracuda typea weapon capable of moving at very high speed by reducing the friction of water using a gas bubble. The disturbing thing about this type of torpedoes is that they can pierce a hull without necessarily generating a large audible explosion, something that would fit with the account of the Russian captain, who stated not having heard no impact as the ship began to lose speed. Other experts believe the use of limpet mines or attached charges to the helmet. In any case, the mere fact that sophisticated sabotage is contemplated in waters near Spain reveals to what extent the case has stopped looking like a conventional accident. The reflection of a new alliance. Beyond the concrete mystery of the Ursa Majorthe case reflects something even more important: the rapid rapprochement between Russia and North Korea. For years, Moscow avoided crossing certain lines related to the transfer of strategic military technology to Pyongyang. However, the war in Ukraine has changed many priorities. As we have been countingNorth Korea contributes ammunition, missiles and soldiers, and Russia could be returning the favor with technical knowledge much more sensitive. The images released months later of the sinking with Kim Jong Un showing the helmet of a supposed North Korean nuclear submarine fit closely with this possibility. If there really was an attempt to move Russian naval reactors to North Korea, the sinking of the Ursa Major could represent one of the most important (and most secret) episodes of the new military relationship between both countries. Whatever it is is still in the Mediterranean. To this day, the wreck remains at about 2,500 meters deep … Read more

a 1 GW wind farm floating off the coast of Tokyo

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The waters off the Izu island chain in the Pacific Ocean could soon be home to a colossus of modern engineering. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has put an unprecedented plan on the table: to build the largest floating offshore wind farm in the world. The goal of this megaproject is to achieve a generation capacity of at least 1 gigawatt (GW), a colossal figure that is equivalent to the power of a conventional nuclear reactor. An ambition that goes beyond. According to data from the International Energy Agency cited by the magazine NatureJapan is heavily dependent on the import of expensive fossil fuels. Turning on a 1 GW wind farm would cut about $300 million annually from the country’s fuel import bill at a stroke. Furthermore, the international context does not give up. A rigorous analysis of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) explains that the Third Gulf War They have once again exposed energy vulnerability of Japan, strongly tied to liquefied natural gas (LNG). Although the central government has responded by restarting old coal plants and nuclear reactors, the IEEFA warns that this strategy is suffocating national renewable energies. The Izu project would represent a clean alternative capable of offering energy security without being at the mercy of geopolitics. Added to this is an existential factor for the capital: protection against natural disasters. As highlighted Japan Newsthis floating wind farm would function as a vital emergency electricity source if a major earthquake struck directly beneath Tokyo, paralyzing the main islands’ grid. The leap from scale: from Norway to the Pacific. To understand the magnitude of what Japan is attempting, it is necessary to look towards the North Sea. Currently, the world’s largest operational floating wind farm is located in Norway and produces less than 100 megawatts. It is the world reference in this technology, but Tokyo’s vision is literally ten times greater. While the Norwegian project demonstrated that the technology was viable, Japan wants to demonstrate that it can be massive, scaling a niche solution to a national-level infrastructure. The engineering behind the giant. Instead of drilling into the ocean floor—which requires heavy excavation that severely damages the local ecosystem—the design will opt for floating platforms. These turbines will rest on the water surface, secured by a complex system of moorings and anchors to the seabed. The captured energy will travel about 100 miles north to power outlets in Tokyo through a hidden artery: high-voltage underwater transmission cables. But Japan is not the docile European North Sea. Its waters face devastating typhoons, strong earthquakes and dizzying coastal depth. To tame these elements, Nature details that Japanese researchers They are using the Fugaku supercomputer—one of the fastest in the world—to simulate the behavior of the wind and optimize the layout of the park. Additionally, they are developing laser remote measurement LiDAR technology to read offshore weather with surgical precision. The State as an explorer. Curiously, the biggest driver of the project is not a private corporation, but the government itself. Given the fear of companies to assume the very high initial costs, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government has decided to act as an explorer. According to SCMPauthorities have tripled their budget for 2026 and will spend about 9 billion yen (about $56 million) on mapping the topography of the seafloor and studying wind patterns. The idea is to deliver this already processed information to contractors to seduce them and encourage them to participate in the tenders. Shadows and skepticism. Despite institutional enthusiasm, the path to 2035 is riddled with pitfalls and the private sector views the plan with undisguised caution. As the Japanese media recalls, corporate distrust has recent precedents: in 2025, the giant Mitsubishi Corp. abandoned important offshore wind projects in Akita and Chiba, citing the extreme complexity of the seabed, the escalation in material costs and the weakness of the yen. The calendar also raises doubts. Experts consulted by Interesting Engineering They call the 2035 goal “unrealistic”, recalling that these types of offshore megaprojects usually take more than a decade to come together and that, today, the Izu region is classified simply as a “preparation zone”, the earliest bureaucratic stage. The gigawatt trap. But are we talking about 1 real GW? Analysts cited by SCMP They warn that, although the installed capacity is 1 GW (similar to a nuclear reactor), the real performance of wind energy is around 40%, well below the 80-90% constant production offered by atomic energy. Finally, there is a systemic problem in the Japanese electricity grid itself. The IEEFA report denounces that the prioritization of nuclear energy baseload regulation by the central government has created a system so rigid that operators are often forced to disconnect and waste (curtailment) renewable energy produced in peak sun or wind. This waste undermines the profitability of any future park and scares away investors. Between utopia and the avant-garde. Izu’s “floating monster” encapsulates the great dilemma of contemporary Japan. On the one hand, it represents the zenith of the technological ambition of a nation willing to tame typhoons, preserve marine ecology and shield the energy survival of one of the largest megalopolises on the planet in the face of global crises and seismic cataclysms. On the other hand, it faces the cold reality of financial balance sheets, bureaucratic bottlenecks and a private sector scalded by inflation. If Tokyo can untangle this tangle, attract construction giants and fire up the turbines by 2035, the project will not only light up the Japanese capital; will become the definitive beacon for global deepwater wind energy. Otherwise, the Izu colossus runs the risk of remaining stuck forever as an expensive utopia on paper. Image | freepik Xataka | Spain does not wait for France: it is studying a huge submarine cable with distant Ireland to stop being an energy island

Iran’s Achilles heel is a tiny island located 25 km from its coast. The question is whether the US will dare to attack it

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Until practically the day before yesterday Kharg island It was unknown to the vast majority of Europeans. Normal. To begin with, because it is thousands of kilometers from the heart of the EU, in the Persian Gulf, about 25 kilometers from the Iranian coast. It’s not particularly big either. It measures about eight kilometers long and 4.5 km wide. Despite all that, Kharg is perhaps the point that attracts the most attention. is hoarding (from Europe, but also the United States, China and Russia) in the convulsive geopolitical board with which March has started. The reason: the island is the key link of the Iranian oil sector. In a place in the gulf… Kharg Island is not exactly big. It measures 22 km2. What it does not have in surface area, however, it makes up for with its location. Located just 25 km from the Iranian continental coast and a few hundred kilometers from Strait of Hormuzis a strategic point for the global oil industry. The reason: that tiny island channels almost all of the crude oil exported by Iran. And those are big words if we take into account that, according to OPEC calculations, it is estimated that the Islamic Republic has confirmed reserves of 208.6 billion barrelsalmost the 12% of the total world. Is it that important? Yes. Iran enjoys a strategic position that (among other things) allows it to control the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic point for the commercialization of Middle East oil. In fact, it is estimated that almost a fifth of the world’s crude oil and gas pass through that narrow strip of a few tens of kilometers. However, not all are advantages for Tehran. Most of the Iranian coastline is bathed by shallow waters that complicate the movement of oil tankers. To operate with them, companies need to rely on Khrag, an island equipped with deeper docks and which since the 60s has had a powerful infrastructure built with the help of the firm. Amoco. Today it is the largest terminal exporter of the country. A percentage: 90%. Kharg’s role is best understood by dealing with various data. The main one is the volume of merchandise that it channels. It is estimated that almost 90% of Iranian oil exports pass through there, a bottleneck through which black gold flows before being shipped to the Strait of Hormuz. It may seem like an exorbitant percentage, but the island has the necessary infrastructure to charge seven million of barrels daily. Added to this are underwater pipelines connected to the country’s oil fields, storage tanks and housing for the complex’s operators. In the spotlight. Khrag has become the key link in the Iranian oil trade, but it also represents a kind of ‘Achilles heel’. Hitting the island means hitting the Iranian oil industry squarely. It’s nothing new. In the 80s Kharg has already suffered Iraqi bombings. The big question on March 9, 2026, with the US and Israel attacking the Islamic Republic is… Does Washington have any plan that involves controlling the island in one way or another? It is not a whimsical question. The Israeli army already has attacked several crude oil deposits and an oil transfer center located in Tehran and Alborz. The Axios weekend wakefulness In addition, Israel and the US have discussed sending special forces to Iran for various purposes: the main one would be to secure uranium reserves, but Kharg would also be in their sights. Ground operation? However, it is one thing to attack oil deposits and another to invade the island. For a start, remembers CNBCbecause it would require going one step further in the offensive in Iran and undertaking a ground operation. A hypothetical attack could also add more volatility and uncertainty to the industry at a time when a barrel of oil has risen to around $100. In the last hours the Brent even it touched 120. Cutting off the tap. The maneuver would also have advantages for Washington and Tel Aviv, especially when it comes to putting pressure on Tehran. Petras Katinas, an expert in energy and defense, recalls that if the United States controlled the island it could cut off “the oil livelihood” of the Iranian regime. “Looking ahead, confiscation would give the US leverage during negotiations, regardless of which regime is in power once the military operation ends,” insist. “It would deal a severe blow to the regime, since it would deprive it of a crucial source of income,” adds Tamas Varga, an analyst at PVM, who draws a parallel between what happened in Iran and the US intervention in Venezuela. in january. Why doesn’t the US act? For several reasons. We mentioned two (fundamental) before. Experts point out that taking Kharg would require a ground operation. And that, among other issues, could lead to even more instability in the region and the oil market at a delicate time. “Kharg could focus a multi-week attack campaign with Iranian drones and the island has mines and soldiers,” remember Marc Gustafson, who warns that an intervention of this type would not be without risks for the United States. He even mentions the possibility that, if the situation escalates, Iran will destroy its oil pipelines. One island, many drifts. If the US and Israel decide to comply with Kharg, Tehran could also see legitimacy to hit the oil infrastructure of other Gulf countries. That’s not counting, insists Michael Doran (from the Hudson Institute) in that it could complicate the post-war Iranian economy and the stability of any new government that takes the reins of Iran once the war ends. Images | Google Earth and Wikipedia In Xataka | Satellite images have revealed that Iran knocked down four of the US’s eight unique defense systems. If they reach zero a new war begins

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

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