crisis

Japan thought he had touched back on his birth crisis. I didn’t know how wrong it was wrong

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He has tried pulling a checkbook And even acting as Celestinabut Japan has encountered a seemingly irresoluble problem: birth. The country has gone from demographic winter to the debacle without palliative. That is at least the reading left by the latest government data, which reveal that in just one year (from January 2024 to January 2025) the population of Japanese citizens has been reduced in More than 900,000 peoplethe biggest fall Since at least 1968. There is only one positive indicator: immigration. A fact: 908,574. Talking about birth in Japan for a long time is to talk about falls, pessimistic forecasts and a future full of unknowns. It is nothing new, but that does not prevent when your government publishes official data, as has happened This Wednesdaythe demographic debacle continues to surprise. And rightly. According to the data of the Ministry of Interior, in 2024 the country lost neither more nor less than 908,574 inhabitants, which leaves the census of Japanese citizens in 120.65 million. Far, far from 126.6 million which it reached in 2009. More than a blow. The data is bad in itself and does not improve when it is put in context. As Remember Kyodo News It is the 16th consecutive year in which the census of Japanese citizens fall, a trend that seems to have no softening visos. On the contrary. The 2024 was the greatest demographic collapse of the statistical series, which starts in 1968. You have to go back to that same decade to find a lower birth record than the one scored last year: 687,689. In the opposite pole, the number of deaths (almost 1.6 million) stood at maximum. A percentage: 59%. Demography is not simple statistical theory, it is directly connected to the country’s economy. And that is something that government data makes it very clear: after years of population debacle and with the Gripada Birth engine, Japan has found that barely 59% of its population It is at work age (between 15 and 64), significantly below the world average, which is around 65%, according to the latest estimates of the OECD. With less and less native population of working age and a society in full aging, the panorama facing the country is the least challenging. In fact there are those who warn that a ‘red line’ is crossing. Some authors point out that 2025 will mark the point at which the population born during The Baby Boom In the late 40s, an age in which the percentage of the working population collapses and increases that of those who require care is exceeded. That turning point even has a name: The “problem 2025”. And what does that suppose? That in practice it is quite likely that from now on Japan will meet “a sudden increase” of elders who need care, which will result in “a significantly greater burden for workforce,” warns An IPEI report. As for what he will mean for public coffers, years ago the government has accounts and already calculated that between 2025 and 2040 the general costs of social care will shoot 60%. How to solve it? The big question. Japan has been deploying a range of measures to encourage their birth and reverse their demographic crisis. And that happens so much to dedicate Millions of resources to programs Pronatality and raising aids as encourage the paternal casualties or ease May young people find a partner. It is nothing new or exclusive to Japan. In South Korea, China either Russia Governments have launched similar campaigns with Disrupt results. In the background, however, a key question underlies, such as I already pointed out in 2023 The BBC chain: Increasing the birth of a country is a matter of money? Do the ‘baby checks’ or the paternal casualties? To what extent do these factors influence and how much depends on more structural ones, such as the difficulties in accessing broad homes, labor philosophy, gender inequalities, the cost of life or simply a cultural change that no longer prioritizes motherhood? A word: immigration. Not all demographic indicators in Japan are in red numbers. Moreover, there is one that grew last year until reaching record values: that of the foreign residentsthose people from other countries with permission to remain in Japan for at least three months. According to government data, your number grew by 10.65% (354,089 people) until adding 3.68 million. The records had never reached such a high figure. In practice that means that foreigners already represent almost 3% of the total population, another figure that had never been achieved before. Japan Times Precise that in 2024 661,800 people were moved from abroad, which shows that the fall experienced by this registry during the pandemic, especially in 2021 and 20022. If there are both Japanese citizens and the foreign population, the total census of residents in the country is taken into account. 124.3 millionapproximately 554,000 less than the previous year. Why is it important? Because the influx of foreigners has served for more than softening the country’s demographic bleeding. It also involves a chute of energy for its economy. 85.77% of foreign residents are of working age, a significant percentage for a country with a birth problem and that has been aging years. The increase in immigration also has certain challenges. Its increase coincides with the rise of the ultra -right party Sanseitowho has campaigned by flying the motto of “The Japanese first.” Image | JJ Ying (UNSPLASH) In Xataka | More and more Japanese women decide to marry men from South Korea. And there is something that explains it: the K-Pop

Madrid needs to build a lot to relieve its serious housing crisis. You already have a (mini) plan to achieve it

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Madrid You need housing. A lot of housing. If the city wants to solve its mismatch between supply and demand and thus stop The climbing Price that he has long suffered needs to strengthen his market. It is not a simple task. Over the last years the capital has Moved file for example to avoid the escape of floors towards the holiday rental or clear land in which Raise new houses. With that backdrop, his City Council has just taken an important step with which he hopes to create hundreds of households in a new urban widening. Objective: to stop one of the Great challenges of the capital. What happened? That Madrid has taken an important step that will allow (partly) to relieve one of its most pressing problems: The lack of housing. A few days ago the City Council advanced in the procedures to clear the situation of an area of 218,000 m2 located east of the capital, together with San Fernando de Henares and Coslada, and in which 700 houses will be built, 50% official protection. What exactly? Advance in the long bureaucratic journey that the project has to complete before the first stone is placed. Last week the Government Board of Madrid approved Submit to the public information process the Sector Plan for the ‘Development of the East-Esanche of San Fernando’. The objective: ultimately, order the land located next to San Fernando de Henares and Coslada to “transform” with green areas, services … and houses. The Governing Board also approved to send the document to the Community of Madrid to activate two other essential bureaucratic gears: the strategic environmental assessment and the territorial impact report. For now, the project already has a favorable report from the General Planning Directorate. Click on the image to go to Tweet. Where will it be built? East of Madrid. To be more precise, near the roads M-45 and M-50 and the Regional M-206, between the towns of San Fernando de Henares and Coslada. Towards the East limits with the Parque Roma-Coronas neighborhood (S. Fernando de Henares), to the Oste with Jarama (Coslada) and to the south beautiful with the hills (Madrid). The Consistory recalls that under the ground the Metro line 7 runs, not far away are the Central Coslada and S. Fernando. The idea is not to build only 700 homes, green areas and other equipment, but “integrate” the new neighborhood into the surroundings, especially with Romoronas Park and Jarama, “giving continuity and harmony to the whole set, also with the metropolitan forest,” Clarify José Luis Martínez-Almeida’s team. The Consistory wants to integrate the improved road into the urban framework, preventing it from acting as a kind of “barrier”. Why is it important? Because among other things the Ensanche of San Fernando plans to create about 700 new homes, half with some degree of public protection and the rest available for the free market. And that is an important news in a city that suffers a deep mismatch between demand and the supply of residences, which translates into a deficit that some voices of the sector They relate precisely with the lack of soil available for construction. The Association of Real Estate Promoters of Madrid (Asprima) Calculate that every year they are necessary 40,000 New households in the community, well above the production of new construction. According to their estimates, over the last years housing deliveries have remained between 7,200 of 2014 and the “peak” of 23,500 last year. In 2023 and 2024 he estimates that 16,000 and 18,600 began respectively, which gives an idea of the stage for the next few years. And what does that suppose? “There is much more demand than supply and that translates into a price increase. In addition, there is an embolized demand for more than 175,000 homes,” warned Real Estate Consultores Forum in a 2024 analysis. In its last year’s report, Asprime already remembered that the INE forecasts pass through that in the coming years (between 2022 and 2037) the population of the Community of Madrid grows almost 13% to exceed the 7.8 million inhabitantswhich will fully affect its real estate market, tensioning it even more. “This growth will cause the community to build housing in the next 14 years for 573,738 new homes, passing the housing park of the 2,636,988 existing in December 2022 until 3,210,726 of December 2037. It means building more than 40,000 homes a year, compared to the 17,000 that are currently built,” collect The promoters report. The collective is part involved, but it is not the only one who has warned of the hole, a problem that extends to other regions of the country and also has pointed out The Bank of Spain. Does it affect something else? Yes. The mismatch between supply and demand, added to other factors such as The pressure that holiday rentals exercise, it is felt on several fronts. For example, in The speed with which the floors find tenant or buyer or The hard conditions who are forced to assume those interested so as not to be expelled from the market. If there is a clear indicator of the imbalance it is nevertheless the price. Idealista calculates that M2 costs € 5,718 In the capital, 23.7% more than a year ago. In the case of rentals the rise was from 11.3%. Images | Quique Olivar (UNSPLASH) and Borja Carabante (X) In Xataka | In Madrid the number of Latinos has shot. And with them a new phenomenon: 15 -year -old parties for Madrid

Samsung is mired in the deepest crisis in its history. You no longer have room to make more mistakes

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2025 is being a crucial year for Samsung. A year in which his future is being played. This reflection of Han Jong-Hee, co-director general of the company, Express clearly At what time is The largest company in South Korea: “First of all, I sincerely apologize for the fact that the performance of our actions You have not fulfilled your expectations. In the last year our company has not correctly responded to the semiconductor market for artificial intelligence (AI), which quickly evolves. “ A very important idea follows from Jong-Hee’s words: The competitiveness of its subsidiary Specialized in the manufacture of integrated circuits is essential for Samsung. Even so, the problems are being presented from several fronts. “Our technological advantage has been compromised in all our businesses. It is difficult status quo instead of generating disruptive changes “, Pray an internal statement Written by Jay Y. Lee, the president of the company. In this Samsung scenario you need your best chip manufacturing technology, 2 Nm lithographyBe a success. At the moment we know that at least two companies, the Japanese chip designer for the preferred networks (PFN) and a South Korean company specialized in the design of neuronal processing units (NPU), are very interested in their 2 Nm integration technology. And, as we tell you earlier this week, has reached an agreement with Tesla to make chips for a value of 16,500 million dollars in its Texas plant (USA). There is no doubt that the confidence of these companies is an oxygen ball for Samsung, but in all likelihood it will not be enough to relieve the stress to which it is currently subjected. The loss of leadership in the memories market has further injured Samsung Samsung has led for more than three decades the dram memory chips industry, but the AI boom has triggered something that just two or three years ago would have seemed unthinkable: now it is SK Hynix the manufacturer of integrated memory circuits that LEADS THE HBM Chips Market so much (High Bandwidth Memory) like that of the DRAM memories. The latter are those used by most of the devices with which we are familiar, such as computers or mobile phones. SK Hynix controls 70% of the Integrated HBM MEMORY Circuits market However, HBM memories are those that are integrated into those hardware solutions in which it is necessary to prioritize maximum performance, such as GPUs for Ia. In recent months Samsung has led the manufacturing market for integrated dram memory circuits with An approximate 40% quotawhile SK Hynix defended A very worthy 29%. Behind both was Micron Technology, with 26% approximately. During the first quarter of 2025 these figures have varied in a very important way. In fact, Now the leader is SK Hynix. This last company controls no less than 70% of the market of integrated HBM memory circuits, so its leadership in this sector is overwhelming. In fact, SK Hynix is the Nvidia supplier if we stick to its GPU for ia. On the other hand, this last company was erected during the first quarter of 2025 as the leading manufacturer of DRAM memories with A 36% quota. Samsung now occupies the second position With 34%. And Micron Technology follows them closely with 30%. Behind them, Chinese manufacturers of Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. (YMTC) and Changxin Memory Technologies (CXMT) During the next years SK Hynix will maintain its leadership in HBM memories, although it will lose a part of its quota due to the saturation of the hardware market for AI and the growth of competition. Samsung, meanwhile, about 25% will be stabilized market share. And finally, Micron will be the only one of these three companies that will grow up to 20% market share. These figures are just a forecast elaborated by analysts from SCMPbut they allow us to get a quite accurate idea about how this market of the semiconductor industry will evolve. Image | Xataka In Xataka | This is the chips war: a former SK Hynix employee is suspected to deliver stolen technology to Huawei In Xataka | Samsung tries

The 2020 chips crisis will be a joke compared to that with a high probability will come in 2035

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The crisis of the chips that started in 2020 and lasted until well into 2023 was The result of a perfect storm. The Covid-19 pandemia triggered the demand for electronic devices, and, at the same time, at the same time, degraded production capacity of many companies. In addition, the commercial war between the US and China, the severe climatic events and several fires in critical facilities The global distribution chain of integrated circuits overflowed almost combined. Now, in full 2025, we are in a very different situation. The scarcity of semiconductors has been left behind, but According to a report Prepared by the consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) is maturing a new crisis with the ability to achieve its peak in 2035. A crisis that can presumably end with a third of the global chips supply in a decade. There are ten years left, it is true, but probably its first effects will be presented much earlier. Serious droughts are already committing copper mining The PWC report holds something very important: if the weather continues to evolve as it has done during the last decade and the droughts are aggravated by the manufacture of integrated circuits will resent drastically. And it will do so because copper mining depends inevitably on available water resources. According to the CSIRO organization (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization), The National Science Agency of Australia, to obtain 19 kg of copper it is necessary to use about 1,600 liters of water. These figures clearly illustrate the deep dependence of water copper mining. According to the International Copper Association Currently almost 28 million tons of this chemical element are consumed annually, and presumably this figure will increase a lot over the next few years. As we can intuit, to process this amount of copper it is necessary to use a lot of water, and this resource is increasingly scarce due to The effects of climate change. In fact, PWC estimates that semiconductor production will reduce 58% in 2050 If the weather continues to evolve as it is doing now. The production of semiconductors will reduce 58% in 2050 if the weather continues to evolve as it is doing now This forecast does not invite us at all to be optimistic, especially in a context in which chips are increasingly important and their demand does not cease to increase. Copper is used for many other things, but its role in the integrated circuit industry is essential. And it is because its physicochemical and electrical properties make it ideal to participate in the manufacture of interconnections within the integrated circuits, as well as in the production of all types of wiring and printed circuit plates (PCB). Its most appreciated properties are its high electrical conductivity, its outstanding thermal conductivity, its ductility and its corrosion resistance. For several decades, aluminum occupied the place in the chips industry in which copper now resides, but this last metal finally managed to impose itself, although it was not easy. His problem was that he could leak in silicon. This process is known as Dissemination of copper in siliconand it is similar to the electromigration of which We talk to you in this other article To explain why this last phenomenon represents a threat to our electronic devices. In any case, during the diffusion the copper atoms move and infiltrate the crystalline structure of the silicon, degrading it and conditioning its physicochemical properties. Fortunately, IBM found the solution to this problem in 1998. His researchers realized that it was possible to put a lining for copper interconnections capable of acting as a barrier, and, therefore, of preventing copper atoms from infiltrating the silicon. This strategy was so effective that the semiconductor industry adopted it and has maintained it so far. Image | TSMC More information | SCMP In Xataka | The two most important chip companies in China have a problem: the 5 Nm have been choked

Tim Cook’s right hand retires after 27 years in Apple. It does so in full crisis of the company

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The departure of Jeff Williams as director of operations marks a turning point in the Cupertino company. With 27 years in Apple and considered the main candidate to replace Cook, Your withdrawal leave a vacuum in the succession line just when the company is going through One of its most delicate crises in artificial intelligence. An unexpected change at the least timely moment. Williams, 62, announces his retirement after almost three decades building the Apple logistics empire. His march coincides with A talent bleeding that Includes Ruoming Pangthe engineer who led the AI ​​models team Apple Intelligence. The company loses two key figures at a time when its artificial intelligence strategy wobbles. The new figure in charge of operations. Sabih Khan, a veteran who has been in Apple for 30 years, takes the reins as the new director of operations. Khan has been the architect of the Apple global supply chain during the last six years, managing from manufacturing to logistics. His appointment represents continuity in operational philosophy, but also evidences that Apple needs to reinforce its internal structures while still looking for its course in the AI ​​era. In detail. Williams’s departure completely redefines Apple’s succession map. For years he had been seen as The natural heir of cookespecially after its crucial role in the launch of the Apple Watch and the supervision of the design team from the march of Jony Ive In 2019. Now, analysts They point To three names: John Ternus (hardware engineering), Craig Federight (software) and Eddy Cue (services). Federight, in fact, has already assumed the control of Apple’s strategy after the exit of Pang, while the position assumed by the engineer now takes Zhifeng Chen. An iconic legacy. Williams’ march reminds us of some of his brightest moments of his career. It was the one who resolved one of the biggest challenges of the Original iPhone: When Steve Jobs decided to change the glass plastic screen just months before launch in 2007, Williams coordinated with Corning the development of the revolutionary Gorilla Glass. He also led the first major post-Jobs project, the Apple Watch, demonstrating its ability to materialize the company’s vision and philosophy in successful products. With Williams outside, Apple continues in another crisis: the AI. It is speculated that Meta has offered Pang an offer valued in several tens of millions of dollars annually, but it is not an isolated case. Zuckerberg is systematically signing The best talents of AIincluding researchers from Openai and Anthropic. According to points Mark Gurman in Bloomberg, in Apple, the founding models team crosses a moral crisis after the new direction explores use external openai or anthropic models for Siri’s new versionthus questioning the internal work developed for years. And now what. With Williams outside the succession game and the unresolved AI crisis, Cook must manage a complex transition. The company needs to stabilize its artificial intelligence strategy while preparing the generational relief in the dome. Khan’s appointment seeks to give operational continuity, but the questions about Apple’s future leadership and his ability to compete in AI is unanswered. Although Cook has not given a specific date on his withdrawal, in several statements He has assured that will retire, but “not in the conventional way”, preferring to stay active while feeling mentally stimulated. Cook too has expressed Your desire for your replacement to come from within the company. Cover image | Apple and Guillaume Bleyer In Xataka | Apple has just turned the iPhone into a universal TPV. Tap to pay can already be used in Spain

Spain has presumed for decades of consuming more fish than anyone in Europe. Now that has entered into crisis

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Spain is surrounded by almost 8,000 kilometers of coast, it has a profuse cuisine in dishes based on fish and maricos and its fishing sector generates every year tens of thousands of jobs and billions of euros. Not to count on how weird the town (at least in the coastal areas) that does not have a market in which to buy a hake, a golden, trout, mussels or a good fresh lubina. Despite all that, Spain is less and less a country of fish. Its weight on the refrigerators is descending. A lot. And for a long time. A percentage: -4.3%. He last report of the government about fish consumption does not leave good news. In March we Spaniards have bought 2.9% less than during the same month last year, a bad fact that really hides another worst: what has “punctured” really is the consumption of fresh fishing, which has fallen 4.9%. In fact, that percentage has been softened in part due to an increase in frozen fish, which has grown around 4%. The thing does not improve when we expand the focus. If we analyze The last mobile year (from April 2024 to March 2025) The consumption of marine products in general has fallen 2.7% and that of fish in particular 4.3%. The behavior of frozen products during that period was somewhat better than that of fresh merchandise, but still both have lost weight in purchase baskets. The protagonists: cod and gold. The report allows you to go further and take a look at how the different products have responded throughout the last year. And there are some that go particularly poorly stopped. Golden purchases have collapsed 23.5% and mackerel and cod around 21%. In general it has also been a bad year for seafood, molluscs and frozen and fresh crustaceans, although more cooked varieties have been bought. “They click” the preserves and win other products, such as salmon or smoked trout. One question: Is it a punctual fall? No. And that is the big problem. The sector It takes time Seeing how fish consumption falls, which has already taken him to claim to institutions measured to reverse that trend. Under the “fishing products” label enters a range of foods that range from fresh or frozen fish to the seafood or preserves and not all evolve the same, but statistics show that, together, consumption is going back. According to government data, in 2003 the per capita consumption of products related to fishing touched the 27.8 kilos per year And in 2009 he even reached stroke the 30 kg. In 2013 that same data was already in 27.2 kgbefore the pandemic had fallen to 22.5 kgin 2023 marked 18.9 And last year that same average had descended to 17.9. Now the last map report with the March values ​​lead to think that the trend will remain this exercise. A figure: 19 million. Those of the Ministry are not the only data that account for the fall in fish consumption in Spain. In October the statista portal published Another report which reflects the same trend from a somewhat different perspective: that of tons of fish consumed in the whole country. Its tables reflect that if in 2023 consumption amounted to 887.4 million kilos, last year that data had already descended until it was 868.3, which reflects a fall of 19 million In just one year. The consumption curve has been descending since 2009, with a slight rebound in 2020, coinciding with the pandemic. The great unknown: Why do you go down? The million dollar question. And it does not have a simple answer. One of the possible keys is the price. The statistics Officers also show that, on average and in general terms, fresh fish comes out more expensive than meat of the same type. The latest map report also reflects that throughout the last year, between April 2024 and March, the average price of fish -related products had increased 3.5%. The technicians of calculating that in March fresh fish increased 4.9% compared to 2024. Another key: education. Fish is not, however, the only thing that has become more expensive. In recent years he has also done it (and sometimes clearly) The meat. Hence, when explaining the trend It is indicated Often other factors, such as changes in consumption habits, a certain ignorance of the product, the search for more comfortable options or the loss of habit, especially among the youngest, to go to the markets to buy fish. A report On the subject elaborated a few years ago by the Ministry and AECOC in fact identifies four profiles of young people in front of the fish: that of those who reject it flat, who are inclined to other options such as meat, a more “pragmatic” profile that is not willing to invest the time it requires buying and cooking fish and the “distrustful”, with doubts about the origin or conservation. A notice: “It is essential”. With that backdrop a long time ago that the fishing employer demands to institutions that promote fish consumption. In 2023 the Secretary General of Cepesca insisted that it is “essential” to promote healthy eating and support sea food. “We still do not understand why the consumption of fishing products with VAT reduction,” I cried. In his favor the guild has the advice of the health experts, which They advise Eat between three and four rations every week. Images | Grupo Eroski S.Coop (Flickr) and Doğan Alpaslan Demi̇r (Unspash) In Xataka | There is so many demand for fish in China that has opted for drastic measures: two “aircraft carrier” as a hatchery

In full birth crisis, the ice cream industry has found a new reef in Spain: dogs

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No, it’s not yours. For a long time in the parks of Spain (and in the streets, squares, shopping centers and thus a long etcetera of places) it is easier to find pets than with babies. Some calculations They point out that in our country there are already six companion animals for each child under four years. Hence the sector dedicated to your care be growing and tante new business roads, such as Cruises canines or the elaboration of ice cream and “Cafes” Suitable for dogs. In Barcelona there are already a few examples. Pet ice cream? That’s how it is. And we don’t talk about ice cream for pets suitable for pets, but ice cream specifically elaborated For dogs and cats, thinking about the foods that tolerate and advertise as such. One of the most recent examples leaves it Zampa Gelatothat He just launched In Barcelona Tarrinas that are announced with A slogan that leaves a few doubts about his approach: “The ice cream one hundred percent natural that makes your pet happy and veterinarian.” In its catalog it includes watermelon options and red fruits, apple, pear and kiwi or coconut, pineapple and banana, elaborate ice cream, says, based on pasteurized yogurt without lactose without lactose, lyophilized and mineral fruits. “It is not another product within a range, it is our specialization. Zampa Gelato focuses exclusively on developing healthy pets for pets,” They claim From the firm. Is it an isolated case? Not at all. The pet ice cream market is perhaps still far from the centered in humans, but there are more examples. Bibì e Bibò ice cream shops, with a presence in Madrid, have created a Special line “100% suitable for dogs” that elaborates, among other ingredientswith several fruits, ill -free yogurt without lactose and dispensing with added sugars. The newspaper of Catalonia Precise also that one of the partners who has embarked on the launch of Zampa in Barcelona is in turn part of the team behind Il Gelato Dell´amorea “Mixed ice cream shop” which boasts of having ice cream for both humans and their four -legged companions. They are just a couple of examples, but there is more. Now A couple years Barcelona’s Badiani ice cream shop also elaborated a GELATO For dogs. They called him Dog Gelato and in 2023 the magazine Elle I presented it as a sweet refreshing with 96.65% less lactose than the rest of its ice cream and basically made with whipped cream, egg yolk, plant fibers, water, fructose and whole milk and low dust in lactose. In 2024, to give him More visibilityBadiani launched a campaign that offered customers a portrait with their pets. But … why? Basically because there are interested owners and especially willing to pay for those services. “Given the growth and demand of premises Pet-Friendly We did a small market study, “said Nebot recently to The newspaper. “The acceptance by the clients was fulminant. The idea is to go out for something with your pet and that is not under the table sucking an ice or waiting for the last piece of cookie of your ice cream.” As a reference last year Il Gelato Dell´amore sold More than a thousand tarrines Canines in August. Are there only ice cream? No. ice cream are just one more example (perhaps the most summery) of the growing range of pet products and services. The list is wide and includes articles that we so far believed exclusive for humans, such as “coffees”, “cocktails”, “snacks” or even “champagne benjamines”. All this with proper quotes because these are products designed for dogs that play with recognizable formats in the market for their owners. The Ciudad Ciudad has just left another good example. Not long ago opened its doors there Voilà Concept Storean exclusive cafeteria for dogs and that includes in its letter “dogguccinos”, “dogtails”, meat lollipops, donuts (“Woof-Waffle”) or empanadillas and special cakes. The canine capuchino is made, for example, with cream without lactose and puppy milk and TOPPINGS They are used are pork, chicken or fish. In the establishment there are also pet accessories. What shows us? Beyond the concrete articles or businesses, the previous examples tell us about two clear trends: the changes of a society in which it is increasingly common to meet pets than with children and the business that is promoting. In February The country did A poll Between veterinarians and it came out that at the end of 2024 in Spain there were 1.6 million cats and 9.3 million dogs. A sum that far exceeds eight million minors. The first two are data that must be handled with some caution, but still give an idea of ​​the growing weight that pets have in the country’s homes. And it’s not something that happens Only in Spain. With that backdrop in recent years they have launched Nursery, Spas, hairdressers, Hotels And even Cruises For dogs. That impulse explains that in 2017 the pet care sector invoices in the EU 36.5 billion of euros, with clear forecasts Growth. Images | Callum Blacoe (UNSPLASH) and Christian Bowen (UNSPLASH) In Xataka | The broken bones of a dog from 16,000 years ago tell an important story: it was already our pet

Garlic is mired in a deep crisis in Spain. And that is bad news for a particular place: Cuenca

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Spain occupies An important place In the world macker of garlic, but that does not mean that the farmers of Castilla-La Mancha or Andalusia who are dedicated to growing it are easy. The garlic It crosses turbulence. The sector warns of the difficulties that are to combat pests, the effects of drought, the “excessive bureaucracy” or the lack of generational relief, among other stalking challenges. A complicated panorama that is seen with special attention from the province of Cuenca, where the Purple Garlic from Las Pedroñeras. After all, garlic is much more than a vegetable that fluctuates in the market: The sector claims which is a crop that helps to “pour” the emptied Spain. “In crisis”. He newly named President of the National Garlic Bureau, José Carlos Patiño, is clear: they do not run good times for his business. In An interview With eldiario.es the agriculture Manchego, the new visible face of the Aheros, warned that the sector “is suffering a” aggravated crisis, among other factors, by the water scarcitythe reduction of hectares of crop, the lack of generational relief and a bureaucracy that they consider “excessive.” It is nothing new. His predecessor, Julio Bacete I already used The same word to describe the situation that farmers dedicated to garlic culture face: “crisis.” A year ago, during A talk with Xatakahe admitted that the sector was going through “complicated moments”, a trend that is visible mainly in the loss of hectares dedicated to plantations. Why’s that? For a sum of factors. Although not all weigh the same. When explaining the situation, farmers usually point out above all loss of resources To fight pests. They ensure that their arsenal has been trimmed by regulations, which subtracts tools to protect crops … and their investments. “It’s not about talking badly about the 2030 Agenda or the Green Pact, but the reduction we carry in phytosanitary is affecting us a lot. There are diseases, pests, fungi that we cannot control,” warns Patiño. “We have a very large decrease. There is a lack of performance, simply in the seed itself. In nascence there are plots that have a decrease of 30% damage. In the end, that is kilos of garlic,” Comment the representative of the sector. He is not the only one who thinks like that. The president of the National Association of Garlic Producers and Marketers (ANPCA), Fernando Rubio, He shared recently A similar message with The confidential: “Pests begin to be resistant because we have very little variety of active matter that we can use.” Pest question … And something else. Although the shortage of resources to treat pests and fungi is usually one of the most cited handicaps by farmers is not the only one that explains the “crisis” that faces garlic. The guild indicates other serious ones, both structural and short -term: water shortage, specialized professionals and generational relief, “Excess bureaucracy”loss of hectares, the cost of land lease, low visibility in the domestic market or even the effect of imports and The tariffs by Donald Trump. The sector has been dealing with China’s competition for some time, Great world exporter of garlic and that stands out especially for its prices. With that backdrop, In the guild worries now what The tariff war and the imposition of levies to Chinese trade in the US ends up leading Asian farmers to redirect their merchandise towards other destinations, complicating exports to Spain. It is not the only conjunctural challenge with which the sector has dealt with, which in recent years has had to see them with The increase of The energy either Fertilizers. Hectares. The transformation of the sector can also be measured in figures. For example, that of the cultivated area. The data does not always coincide, but show a clear loss of soil: The report presented a year ago by the National Garlic Table to the Mixed Fruit and Vegetable Committee notes that it has passed from 29,826 hectares in 2021 to a provision of 21,000. Other sources They point out that it has dropped from 24,900 h in 2023 to something less than 23,000 In the 2024 season. The descent would be even more accent in Some regions. “Much investment”. “Putting one hectare of garlic carries a lot warns Patiño at eldiario.es. Less land does not always have less crops. Some data They point to the high weight of garlic Springvariety that stands out for its rhythm of production and performance, and a loss of land of purple garlic. As for prices, the manager wait Good values, above last year. The ministry indicates that the 100 kg of dry garlic are in 125 euros. Garlic (and something else). Not everyone lives the same turbulence that the vegetable is going through. After all, as He noticed recently Rubio, garlic plays a key role as a job generator in part of emptied Spain. “The cultivation is going to be lost to many villages of rural Spain, the reason for about 60 wages per hectare,” duck The President of ANPCA. In that context, there is a variety of culture to which Pay attention The sector: purple garlic. In a basin place … “In purple garlic it is a very serious problem. It is in danger and production can be left,” Patiño points out to The confidential. The reason is simple: to the rest of the challenges that the Ajero collective is going through, the purple variety adds the lack of visibility in the stores. Although the purple garlic of Las Pedroñeras It has one Protected Geographic Indicationthe sector regrets its lack of dissemination in a market in which the client values ​​the cost. Looking at the Canary Islands banana. “It does not happen with the banana, which differs much from the banana. Here the qualities are not compared to, but there is no culture to seek the garlic of the Pedroñeras in the super” s, Rubio reflects. To this lack of recognition is added the performance of the variety, less than that … Read more

The Spanish festivals are in crisis for Israel. Meanwhile, Spring Sound has included bombings in Gaza in its poster

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We had not had such a moved season of festivals for years. With the vast majority of the great musical events of summer marked by controversy Related to the KKR Investment Fund, the Spring Soundwhich is celebrated this week in Barcelona, ​​has decided to position itself with an installation halfway between political exhibitionism and the commercial hook. That is pure spring Sound, too. The tunnel. Spring Sound has installed in the PARC of the Fòrum A 15 -meter tunnel that replicates the sounds of the bombings in Gaza. The name of the installation is ‘Unsilence Gaza’, it is the work of the Palestinian sound engineer Oussama Rima and has been done in collaboration with the NGOs Casa Nostra, Casa Vostra and Novact. These have stated that “in spring sounds the sound is emotion, connection, pleasure. But sound can also be the opposite: it can become a weapon.” To this have added a chilling fact: bombings can reach 170 decibels, “much more than the human body can bear.” But … how much of genuine commitment and how much for winking for the gallery in this installation? The problem with KKR. KKR is an American investment fund, one of the world’s largest private capital companies, and whose most criticized activities There are real estate investments in Palestinian territories occupied by Israel, such as Jerusalem Este, Gaza and the West Bank. In 2024, the Fund acquired Supersruct Entertainment, a company that organizes some eighty festivals worldwide and that in Spain is behind events such as Sónar, Arenal Sound, Viña Rock, FIB or Monegros. The reaction of the groups. The response was not long in coming from numerous groups, which They canceled their participation In many of the festivals, and in some cases they launched communications clarifying their exact relationship with KKR. Seventy bandsfor example, they demanded that Sónar a more compromised positioning. Voices have emerged that They ask for the boycott from the festivalsand some like Sónar himself have lost poster heads as ark. At the same time, others Artists like Kase.O either Angelus Apatrida They have decided to keep their commitments to the festivals, which has generated controversy and discomfort with some sectors of their fans. More than festivals. Spring Sound does not have those ties with the KKR, which allows him to adopt a more combative position with respect to Gaza. But he does it in the PS style: for a few years, the festival is giving up the Transformation of Spanish festivals into more than encounters to listen to music. In many of them, the poster becomes something completely secondarybelow socialization: it started years ago with the transformation of the Benicàssim festival at the unavoidable point of meeting of the indie girl Before British invasionand Spring Sound partly collects his witness. And with Noria. Perhaps the spring element that shows the most this option is the Noria that was installed in 2013. Since then they have worked in that direction by approaching the festival more to an leisure center than something else: Food Trucks and gastronomy positions, workshops and activities (many of them oriented to children), Conferencesmultidisciplinary exhibitions, handicraft, fashion and merchandising. An authentic brand and advertising exhibitor, which is the clear current orientation of spring, which in a sense questions its political meaning. It is not Kkr, but. Spring Sound has dodged the summer controversy that has affected practically all its competitors, but it cannot be said that she does not have her own economic commitments. In fact, after its financing There is the American Investment Fund The Yucaipa Companiesled by businessman Ronald Burkle. In that sense the spring Sound is matched with the rest of the festivals: It is a more turned event into a financial asset for foreign billionaires with the excuse of culture. And that it is a business they have never hidden it, as their progressive name changes demonstrate to Estrella Damm Spring Sound or San Miguel Primavera Sound as they were dancing their main sponsors. Ethics of income. Spring Sound financing has always generated innumerable ethical conflicts, as detailed This article by El Salto: Advertising of companies such as SEAT either Spotify while the claim of labor rights is raised; accusations of Purplewashing and Pinkwashing; Propaganda of brands of dubious ethics, for example linked to NFTS … and, in general, marketing of culture, which is always problematic. It spoke in depth by cross in A series of three controversial articles about the birth and evolution of the festival, and that made clear its abundant contradictions. It does not leave Barcelona. The reason that spring sounds so consciously the flag of Catalanity (and with it, of a certain political activism) is precisely that He has not managed to leave Catalonia. The international spring expansion Sound has been a failure: it closed All its Latin American editions In 2024 after the fiasco that supposed The 2024 edition in Madrid. Actually, the latter was the result of a tense Pulse with the Barcelona City Council where interests much more substantial than music were at stake. A series of sticks for the Financial of the Festival, which retains only the first of its first international expansions, Porto, Out of Barcelona. Intermediate point. Spring Sound is a first -order tourist attraction for Barcelona (left 272 million euros in the city in 2024according to a study by the MKTG Spain consultant). Thus, he plays (despite those nonsense with Madrid that They did not set For reasons that have nothing to do with their catalanity) not to lose their purely Catalan identity, with actions of the foundation linked to local training (many of their courses have joined the autonomy study programs). And within that identity is the claim in favor of Gaza, which maintain constant and explicit in aspects such as the programming of Radio Primavera Sound, where they do not have fear of positioning yourself. Business is Business. Spring Sound is a business, and that is why you have to take any type of positioning with tweezers: remember the … Read more

It is not a production crisis, it is a crisis of priorities: the European electric labyrinth

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While the great powers of the world They are disputing strategic places for the extraction of essential minerals in technology, Like lithiumEurope is freeing a silent but equally criticism battle: electricity. The conflict. He Iberian Peninsula Blag and from Heathbrow Airport He has exposed the weaknesses of energy systems in Europe: Interconnection problems, lack of energy backup and deficiencies in networks. Although if it seemed little, energy expert Richard Milne for Financial Times He added that it is not a lack of capacity, but of how existing electricity is assigned. Exemplifying. Because to understand what the analyst refers to a good comparison. In his article, Richard Milne He explained that the Nordic countries – recognized by its high interconnection and Your ability to generate Large amounts of clean energy – are the perfect scenario to analyze how poorly equipped are European countries in a context where the demand for electricity continues to increase. On the one hand, the case of Norway where a data center for Tiktok has been prioritized in front of a strategic ammunition plant by virtue of the principle “first to arrive, first to be treated.” On the other hand, Sweden has supported steel projects to emerging battery companies for a national electricity supply share. After Northvolt’s bankruptcycritical voices have been raised that question whether to continue allocating large amounts of energy to green steel projects is sustainable. For its part, Greenland has abundant hydroelectric resources, but its leaders face a dilemma: to attract industries that generate employment or prioritize lower social impact projects, such as data centers? There are more cases. The situation is not exclusive to the Nordic countries. In Spain after the blackout, the difficulty of the “Energy Island” was evidenced, where The lack of interconnection It complicates the export of energy to other countries. In addition, the system lacks Storage infrastructure and Gridorming technology to stabilize the network. Instead, the situation in France is paradoxical. The production of renewables has grown so much that it has forced nuclear power plants To operate to the idle to avoid an excess of supply. This decision has caused Energy distribution problems. First to arrive, first to be treated. Richard Milne He has argued That the root of this European energy crisis is the result of uncoordinated climatic policies and a long -term lack of strategic vision. Instead of establishing clear priorities on which sectors they should receive electricity, governments have opted for a simplistic and disorderly approach. The answer from the Executive. The energy analyst has made special emphasis in which on the political level the answers have been disordered and uncoordinated. In the column he has detailed that while Norway has allocated its energy resources to the electrification of gas and oil plants, Sweden has opted for emerging battery companies. For its part, Greenland has discussed whether to prioritize high employment industries or projects with less social impact. However, until now there has been a concerted effort to establish a common strategic framework at European level that defines clear priorities over the use of green electricity. Forecasts. To avoid falling into a structural energy crisis, Europe needs strategic rethinking. Is it possible to establish a common criterion to decide which sectors should be prioritized? How can it be guaranteed that green energy really contributes to climatic objectives without compromising industrial development? As He has warned The energy analyst, Europe must initiate a serious and coordinated debate on the strategic uses of electricity, defining priorities based not only on economic criteria, but also on its environmental and social impact. Image | Pexels Xataka | China’s energy paradox: an ‘electrostate’ that continues to feed on coal

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