Cut

Vueling and Wizz Air cut ground in El Prat

by

The pulse between Ryanair and Aena due to the increase in airport taxes has made the airline withdraw millions of places in a good part of the regional airports of Spain. This summer too movement is coming In this regard, a maneuver that Ryanair is using to put pressure on the airport operator. This conflict It is going really well for the competition of the Irish airline. The last one was at El Prat airport, Barcelona, ​​where the reduction of seats by Ryanair is leaving room for other airlines to take over. Why is this happening? Ryanair has been engaged in an open battle with Aena for months over the price of the taxes that airlines pay to operate at Spanish airports. As a measure of pressure, Michael O’Leary’s company has been cutting flights and routes at different airports in the country. El Prat is no exception, and just as they count Since Expansión, in the first quarter of 2026 Ryanair transported 5% fewer passengers than in the same period of the previous year, remaining below two million travelers. Its market share fell to 15.9%, almost one and a half points less than in 2025. Who wins with it. The big beneficiaries are Vueling and Wizz Air. The low-cost of the IAG group touched five million passengers between January and March, 3.9% more than a year before, consolidating a market share that already exceeds 40%. On the other hand, Wizz Air increased its traffic by 25.7% to close to 766,000 travelers, taking advantage of both the void left by Ryanair and its own expansion on routes to Central Europe and now also to London. Ambition. In January, Vueling presented a strategic plan that contemplates investments of 5,000 million euros to reach 60 million annual passengers, double its current volume. Half of this growth, according to the company, will be generated precisely in Barcelona. Wizz Air also intends to continue pushing, as it has already announced a 32% increase in its seat offer for this year’s high season in El Prat. The airport. El Prat has been operating at the limit of its capacity for years. Just like they count According to El Economista, in 2025 it exceeded its theoretical ceiling of 55 million by more than two million passengers. Lluís Sala, vice president of the College of Aeronautical Engineers in Catalonia, explained that “it is normal for the map to not be modified when the infrastructure is at maximum capacity.” With such a congested airport, any step back by one airline is an immediate opportunity for the rest. There are agreed expansion works (3,000 million euros agreed in June 2025 between the Generalitat, the Government and Aena), but for the moment growth is achieved by squeezing the time slots with less demand. And now what. The question is whether Ryanair’s withdrawal is temporary or if it will go further. For now, the dispute with Aena has no signs of being resolved soon. Meanwhile, El Prat as a whole continues to grow, with 4% more traffic in the first quarter, and is heading for a new annual record. In Xataka | The airlines had been warning for weeks and the consequences are already here: Volotea will charge 14 euros more for the Hormuz crisis

The Fascinating Mathematics Behind How to Cut It Perfectly in One Slice

by

Imagine having a sandwich in front of you with two slices of bread and in the middle a slice of ham, which you want to cut with a single straight cut with a knife, so that the top bread, the bottom bread and the ham are divided exactly in half. This is something that makes us wonder: would it always be possible no matter how the ingredients are arranged? And this, which for our intuition has a relatively simple answer, for mathematicians has been the basis for creating the ‘ham sandwich theorem‘. His story. Although the name sounds like a university hallway joke, we are dealing with a very serious classical mathematical theorem. For trace its originwe must travel to 1938, where there is the first known evidence of this problem and which appeared in a note by the Polish mathematician Hugo Steinhaus in the magazine Mathesis Polska. The difference is that at that time slices of bread were not used, but rather he simultaneously bisected meat, bone and fat from a ham with a single flat cut. Although it must be detailed that Steinhaus proposed his conjecture, but it was the mathematician Stefan Banach who managed to prove it, making it exist for a long time. many doubts about who had the attribution of this theorem. How it was demonstrated. To see that the perfect cut really exists, the mathematician had to resort to topology and reduce the problem to the so-called Borsuk-Ulam theorem. Without going into the formulas for this, Banach’s proof uses the unit sphere. To give us an idea, if we consider all the possible directions in which we can point our knife on the sandwich, we can define a continuous mathematical function that evaluates what volume fraction of each ingredient remains on the “positive side” of the knife. Here the Borsuk-Ulam theorem guarantees us that, in any three-dimensional sphere, there are always two opposite points that will have the same result. In summary. In practical terms, this means that mathematics assures us that there will always be an exact angle and position for the knife that will balance the volumes of bread, ham and cheese in an exact 50% ratio. What is it for? Beyond the anecdotal aspect of seeing how a sandwich stars in a mathematical theorem, it is important to highlight that it has applications in geometry and computer science to create complete algorithms to be able to process a large amount of data. Today, this problem is a classic in mathematics teaching. Dissemination platforms in Spanish, such as the well-known blog Gaussians or the channel Smyth Academyit they use usually to explain advanced topological concepts in an intuitive way, and all ultimately due to this concept that we have all done at some point in the kitchen. Images | Suea Sivilaisith In Xataka | This ranking shows which scientists have saved the most lives with their discoveries

How to create a paper cut illustration from your photos with artificial intelligence, using ChatGPT or Gemini

by

Let’s tell you how to create a paper cut illustration from your photos using artificial intelligence. We are going to tell you a prompt that you will be able to use in both ChatGPT and Gemini, although the result can vary greatly depending on which of them you use. Therefore, we will start by telling you the prompt that you should copy and paste, which is quite long and detailed. And then we will tell you the differences between using Gemini and ChatGPT to do this, because they are very notable differences. Illustration of paper cut from your photos To make this composition, you simply have to add a photo and paste the text to the prompt What are you going to introduce to artificial intelligence? Then, the AI ​​will analyze the content of the photo and generate the result. This is the textual prompt that you must add: “Turn this image (attached) into a soft illustration style by layering handmade cut-out paper, inspired by the aesthetics of papercraft dioramas. Use soft, rounded shapes, adorable, simplified character proportions, and minimal facial details (point eyes, rosy cheeks) to create a warm, charming look. Apply stacked layers of paper with visible depth, subtle shadows between layers, and clean cut edges reminiscent of laser-cut cardboard. Add a distinctive white outer layer surrounding each main character, similar to a thick sticker border or a cut-out white paper backing, clearly separating the characters from the background. This white layer should look like an intentional paper layer, not a glow or halo. Use a pastel color palette with muted blues, greens and warm neutrals, balanced and calming. Lighting should feel soft, diffuse and uniform, enhancing dimensional paper layers without harsh contrasts. Textures should appear matte and tactile, like thick art paper or EVA foam. Overall mood: Cozy, endearing, delicate and story-like, with a playful yet polished handcrafted look, suitable for modern illustration, children’s books or decorative art.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ Then, you only have to wait a few seconds and you will get the result. This will vary very noticeably depending on the AI ​​model you are going to use. As you can see, it is a very VERY long prompt, but since we have translated it into Spanish you will be able to read it, review it and even make changes. Differences between Gemini and ChatGPT results Gemini does the paper cut style best. Gemini does the cut paper style better when creating the resulting image from your photos. The result is very beautiful, smooth and with very schematic images. However, does not capture characteristic features very welland in the case of animals it can even change the color of their hair. ChatGPT captures details much better ChatGPT captures colors and details betterthe characters that appear in the images are much more recognizable. However, the cut-out paper is not made in layers like in Gemini, the style is much less artistic, and looks more like stickers overlaid on a background. Therefore, there are no perfect results, and it will be up to you to do tests and see what you prefer, whether realism or more of an effect of overlapping cut-out papers. Taking into account that each AI offers results with its own personality, you will have no problems choosing one or the other depending on the photo and the result you want. In Xataka Basics | How to create an image of yourself and a Pixar character with your face using artificial intelligence, with Gemini or ChatGPT

Trump threatens to “cut off all trade”

by

The decision of the Spanish Government not to authorize the Rota and Morón bases to be used in the United States military offensive against Iran has opened a diplomatic front that goes far beyond the military level. The reaction from Washington was immediate. US President Donald Trump He stated this Tuesday that he wants “cut off all trade with Spain.” The disagreement, therefore, no longer revolves solely around the use of military installations on Spanish soil. It has also moved to the economic and commercial field. threatening tone. In his statements to the media, released by the White Housethe American president charged directly against the Spanish Government. On the one hand, the refusal to allow Spanish bases to be used in the operation against Iran. On the other hand, Spain’s refusal to raise its military spending to 5% of GDP, a goal that Washington has been defending for some time within NATO. “Spain has been terrible,” said the president, before reproaching that Spain was the only ally that did not accept that spending objective. A question of international legality. Before Trump launched his trade threat, the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, assured the media that the US bases in Spanish territory have not provided support to the offensive against Iran and that this situation will not change. “Neither from Morón nor from Rota have they carried out nor will they carry out any maintenance or support action,” stated. Along the same lines, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, insisted that the Executive will not authorize the use of these facilities for operations that do not fit within the Charter of the United Nations. The Convention as a brake. The refusal of the Spanish Government is also supported by the legal framework that has regulated the US military presence in the country for decades. As we explained in a previously published articlethe bilateral agreement signed in 1988 establishes that the use of facilities such as Rota and Morón must be framed in objectives within the bilateral or multilateral scope provided for in the agreement itself. This same framework contemplates that any operation that goes beyond these assumptions requires prior authorization from the Executive. The Spanish Government relies on this point to maintain that a unilateral military offensive against Iran does not fit into the framework provided for by the agreement. Planes that move. While the political debate intensified, some movements had already occurred on the ground. According to Reutersthe United States transferred at least fifteen resupply aircraft that were deployed at the Morón and Rota bases. a dozen of KC-135 They departed from the Sevillian base to the Ramstein air base, in Germany, while another five took off from the Rota naval base with an unconfirmed destination in some cases. These devices are relevant in air campaigns because they allow the operational range of combat aircraft to be extended. The threat and its limits. The warning to cut off trade raises an obvious question: to what extent can Washington apply such a measure against a single European country. In practice, the margin is limited. As a member of the European Union, Spain does not negotiate its trade agreements with the United States bilaterally, since these conversations are channeled through the European Commission. This complicates any attempt to penalize only Spain. The Country pointshowever, to the possibility of resorting to selective taxes on certain categories of products as an instrument of economic pressure. The Spanish Government has also responded. In a statement collected by RTVEMoncloa pointed out that any review of the commercial relationship between both countries must be done “respecting the autonomy of private companies, international legality, and bilateral agreements between the European Union and the United States.” The Executive also defended that Spain is “a key member of NATO” and a reliable trade partner for dozens of countries. What there is. For now, what exists is a political threat that has not yet been translated into concrete measures. The fight between Spain and the States has gone in a very short time from a discussion about the use of military bases to a much broader field that includes trade, diplomacy and international security. However, there are still many unknowns left open. We have to wait to see how this whole situation will evolve. Images | Defense Visual Information Distribution Service | The White House In Xataka | A Gulf country is launching an unprecedented missile against Iran. Nobody knows who he is and wants to remain anonymous

The US has cut programs for research and science. Europe and Spain are recruiting their scientists

by

The Trump Administration has cut substantially the funds allocated to finance universities and, with them, the research projects that were being carried out, as as they point out from Nature. So American scientists have had no choice but to look for solutions to the draconian cuts in their country. Europe in general, and Spain in particular, they have become a magnet unexpected for all that talent, with programs that promise stability and million-dollar resources. Talent drain. According to information from the Ministry of Science, the call for the ATRAE program, aimed at incorporating researchers of international prestige with experience abroad in Spanish R&D centers, received 254 applications for the 2025 call. This implies an increase of 32% in applications, marking a historical record, because in 2023 no applications arrived from that country and in 2024 they only accounted for 16% of the total. 33.5% of them came from scientists from the US, which represents more than double that of previous editions. Finally, the scholarship program has selected 37 researchers in a program that allocates 38.9 million euros. Of the selected researchers, 56.7% come from American institutions and universities. Scientists who choose Spain. The Country collected the reasons why some of these researchers had decided to leave the US to continue their work in Spain. Vincenzo Calvanese, a 43-year-old Italian researcher who works at the Josep Carreras Institute in Barcelona after a decade in the United States, says that “many of my colleagues are having a very difficult time because of the political and economic events that affect science.” He encourages other colleagues to follow in his footsteps in Spain or other countries in Europesince the program represents “one of the few opportunities to ensure the future of research and some professional security.” ​Audrey Sawyer, a 43-year-old American hydrogeologist who has joined the research team at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, expresses a similar concern: “I have never seen a situation like this in the US. I feel very bad for the researchers and students, they are very talented and are facing serious challenges.” Although she applied before the most recent cuts, she clearly sees how federal funding affects areas like biomedicine and climate change. Europe: a troubled river gains fishermen. According to a survey made by Nature Among the US scientific community, 75% of researchers have seriously contemplated emigrating due to the cuts and layoffs promoted by Trump. In this scenario of uncertainty, Europe fights back taking out the nets to try to attract a good part of that talent dissatisfied with cuts in US research. The EU has doubled the funding of the European Research Council (ERC) with 500 million euros to provide it with more resources for these new researchers under the umbrella of the program Europe horizon. Spain distributes the incorporation of these new researchers in a balanced way: Catalonia receives 35.1% of the funding provided by these new scholarships, Madrid receives 29.7%, and entities such as the CSIC host 29.7% of the researchers. In this way, local research is reinforced with international talent, new students are trained and more funds are attracted from international competitions. The exodus is not only about science. The desire to leave the US does not only occur in the scientific field, some EU countries have doubled the number of residency applications and citizenship of US citizens. It is the case of Irelandwhich went from receiving 31,825 in all of 2024, to 3,692 applications during the month of February 2025 alone. Europe’s response to those requests has been different, tightening requirements to obtain residency or, as in the case of Spain, eliminating the “Golden Visa“which granted a residence permit in exchange of an economic investment. In Xataka | Of course digital nomads love Oviedo. It’s not because of the way of life: it’s because they charge 90,000 euros Image | Wikipedia, Unsplash (National Cancer Institute)

cut funding to universities

by

The United States is obsessed with winning the AI ​​race against China. Crazy investments, blockages to critical technology, nuclear reactors to power the data centers… In the midst of these titanic efforts, the Trump administration decided that it was a good idea to do massive cuts to academic research. Shot in the foot. In an interview with Financial TimesEric Horvitz has harshly criticized the cuts promoted by Trump. Microsoft’s chief scientist argues that this decision will cause talent to emigrate to other countries, such as China, and make them take the lead in science and, above all, in AI. “Personally, I find it difficult to understand the logic of trying to compete with other countries while applying these cuts,” says Horvitz. Cuts. 2025 has been a complicated year for research and science in the United States. Thousands of researchers have been laid off, eliminated science subsidies worth 1 billion, American universities They have eliminated more than 9,000 jobs, They have dismantled the Department of EducationHE They have cut billions in health programsspace research and of course everything related to climate change or diversity policies. Meanwhile in China… China is clear that, to compete in the technological war, it needs engineers and He has been investing in them for more than forty years. Currently it is the country that produces the most STEM graduatesis driving initiatives to train high-ranking engineers and has the university that is publishing the most papers on AI. There is more. In your 15th five-year plan covering 2026 to 2030China makes strengthening the educational system a priority and has another plan underway to become leader in education by 2035. Leadership at stake. Horvitz It defends the model that the United States began after World War II, with the creation of the National Science Foundation, without which the United States would be “decades behind” in the current technological war. He also highlights that there are key advances to reach modern AI, such as reinforcement learningwhich were achieved thanks to public funds. Exodus of talent. In the 80s there was an exodus of Chinese talent to the United States, but currently the situation has turned around. There are more and more Chinese academics returning to their country and there is also American engineers going to China motivated by a talent recruitment campaign. Europe is also being a destination for many researchers who, pushed by cuts, seek opportunities through large EU financing programs. Image | Wikipedia / harvard In Xataka | The United States may win the AI ​​race, but its problem is different: China is winning all the others

Movistar Plus+ was making a comeback after four years of losing customers. Telefónica has decided to cut its workforce

by

Telefónica has set 119 final departures in Movistar Plus+part of the ERE that will eliminate 4,554 positions in Spain. It is a reduction compared to the more than 200 losses initially planned, but it comes at the worst moment: when the platform was finally adding clients again. Why is it important. Movistar Plus+ has 3.75 million (the most recent data is from September 30) , the best data since 2018 after years of collapse. It lost almost 650,000 clients between 2019 and 2023, hit rock bottom, and was already beginning to recover. Now Telefónica is cutting muscle just when it needed to step on the accelerator. The paradox. The company bet a lot of money buying Canal+ and launching its own productions to compete with Netflix and Prime Video. When the numbers improve, he reduces the workforce. The inevitable question: how are you going to keep up with global giants with fewer people and a tighter budget? Yes, but. Subscriber growth does not guarantee profitability. Telefónica has reoriented Movistar Plus+ towards a more flexible and cheaper offer, unrelated to convergent packages. That adds customers but compresses margins. And competing in streaming without a global scale is very expensive. The unequal context. Netflix already has more than 300 million subscribers in the world. Prime Video exceeds 200 million. Disney+ around 120 million. Movistar Plus+ has 3.75 million in Spain, at the end of the third quarter of 2025. The difference in scale is brutal and translates directly into budget for content, technology and distribution. What works. Football continues to be the lifeline. LaLiga and the Champions League keep many subscribers hooked who, without that content, perhaps would not have stayed for so long. But a platform cannot be built only on sports rights that also increase in price every cycle, as we saw a few days ago. What deserves more luck. Movistar Plus+’s own series and documentaries have objective quality. ‘Poison‘, ‘The Messiah‘, ‘The Plague‘, ‘riot police‘, ‘The Pioneer‘ either ‘Rapa‘ demonstrate the ability to find powerful stories with local cultural sensitivity. Netflix and Prime also produce Spanish content, but Movistar Plus+ has built its own catalog that transcends obvious trends and connects with the public in another way. The problem is not the quality of the content. Quality is sometimes not enough when you compete against infinite budgets and recommendation algorithms fine-tuned with data from hundreds of millions of users. The big question. What will become of Movistar Plus+ if it continues to contract? It was beginning to regain ground, but doing so with 119 fewer people makes it difficult to maintain the pace. Without the investment capacity to match the Netflix-Amazon-Disney triumvirate, the room for maneuver narrows every quarter. The background. This ERE is not an isolated case. Telefónica has been thinning its workforce for years while it pivots towards infrastructure and gets rid of unprofitable Latin American subsidiaries. Marc Murtra, president for one year, has renovated its entire dome. The 2024 one cost 1,300 million and took 3,421 positions. This new adjustment will be more expensive and deeper. Between the lines. The unions have ended up accepting forced dismissals in minority companies such as Movistar Plus+, despite having set it as an initial red line. The pressure from the workforce to guarantee early retirements in other subsidiaries has weighed more than maintaining positions. UGT and CCOO have appealed to “common sense” and “responsibility”common euphemisms to justify a capitulation. In Xataka | Telefónica is preparing a tough ERE, but for many veterans it will be like a prize Featured image | Xataka with Mockuuups Studio

a maneuver that aims to cut ground on Google’s Gemini 3

by

In the race to lead the development of artificial intelligence, the pace has become a succession of linked movements. GPT-5.1 arrived on November 12an update aimed at polishing the experience and keeping users satisfied. Just a few days later, on November 18, Google responded with Gemini 3an evolution of its star model that left very good feelings among those who began to try it. As a result of that launch, rumors began to circulate: the startup led by Sam Altman had activated a supposed “code red” when seeing how its direct rival was taking advantage. And this seems to be the first result of that internal movement. Not even a month has passed since the previous update of its flagship model and GPT-5.2 is here. The promise here is to solve some known problems, decrease latency and gain reasoning. An evolution within the 5 series. GPT-5.2 appears as a version designed to boost knowledge work, with advances in coding, vision, document analysis and multi-step projects. OpenAI incorporates it as the direct evolution of GPT-5.1, not as a generational leap. According to the company, the update improves the management of long contexts, reduces errors and increases the ability to coordinate tools. More differentiated layers of use. In GPT-5.2, the three usual variants are somewhat more differentiated in their use, not because of new functions, but because of the way in which they integrate the improvements announced by OpenAI. Thinking absorbs much of the progress in reasoning, handling large documents, and coordinating tools. Pro raises the bar in specialized tasks, especially in code and technical calculations. Instant, for its part, benefits from more stable explanations and a reduction in errors. The result is a clearer separation between everyday tasks, complex jobs and expert needs. A visible improvement in multiple evaluations. OpenAI presents figures that show GPT-5.2 ahead of GPT-5.1 in very different areas, from scientific reasoning to programming and knowledge tasks. In GDPvalthe assessment that measures well-specified jobs in 44 occupations, the model achieves 70.9% wins or draws against human professionals. In GPQA Diamond It rises to 92.4% and in AIME 2025 it achieves 100%. The trend is repeated in technical tests such as FrontierMath either ARC-AGIwhere performance is also increased compared to the previous version. The improvements are seen when moving from figures to day-to-day tasks. In internal evaluations of financial analysts’ own work, such as three-state modeling or leveraged buyout simulations, Thinking raises its average score from 59.1% to 68.4%. The company also promises advances in generating spreadsheets and presentations with a clearer structure. In addition, companies such as Notion, Box, Shopify or Harvey, according to OpenAI, have observed improvements in long-range reasoning and in the use of tools in their own workflows. If these results are consolidated in real environments, they could reduce manual work in processes that require precision and consistency. A more stable environment for developers. GPT-5.2 Thinking, they say, achieves higher performance in demanding software tests, especially those that evaluate the ability to apply complete and consistent changes in real projects. The company indicates that the model better coordinates sequences of steps, something that is reflected in internal evaluations and feedback from platforms such as Windsurf or Charlie Labs. Fewer errors in sight. OpenAI claims that GPT-5.2 Thinking reduces the frequency of responses with errors by around 30% relative to GPT-5.1. This is an improvement that they associate with more stable reasoning and a greater ability to detect errors before generating the final response. The company also points out advances in the management of sensitive situations, such as conversations linked to emotional distress or mental health. Although he remembers that the model is still imperfect, he maintains that these adjustments contribute to a more reliable experience in everyday use. Where you can use GPT-5.2 today. OpenAI indicates that GPT-5.2 will begin rolling out to ChatGPT for paid plans, including PlusPro, Go, Business and Enterprise. In the API, GPT-5.2 Thinking is available as gpt-5.2 and the Instant version appears as gpt-5.2-chat-latest. The company has also promised to keep GPT-5.1 for three months on ChatGPT before removing it from paid plans. In terms of pricing, GPT-5.2 stands at $1.75 per million input tokens and $14 per million output tokens, more expensive than GPT-5.1, although OpenAI maintains that its greater efficiency reduces the final cost in demanding tasks. Images | OpenAI In Xataka | OpenAI knows that it needs to continue generating memes and virals. That’s why she’s willing to pay Disney a lot of money for her content.

invest like never before, cut back like always

by

Telephone will communicate an ERE to the unions throughout today, Monday which will initially affect between 6,000 and 7,000 workers, 24%-28% of the workforce in Spain. The final figure, after negotiations, could be around 4,000 departures. Thus, the company that was a public monopoly with 67,000 employees in 1997 will remain at around 18,000 workers. A reduction of more than 70% in three decades. Why is it important. This adjustment is the logical consequence of a broken model. Telecom companies have invested more than anyone in 5G infrastructure, fiber optics and next-generation networks, but they have less capacity than ever to raise prices. Telefónica spends billions on deploying and updating its networks while WhatsApp, Netflix or YouTube capture the value without paying hardly for transportation, the old complaint of telecoms that dates back to the times of Alierta. The result is a sector condemned to shrink staff to balance numbers. Between the lines. The ERE has an uncomfortable political dimension: The State owns 10% of Telefónica after investing 2,285 million in 2024 and appointed Marc Murtra as president in January 2025. Now Murtra is executing a plan that includes massive layoffs financed indirectly by the taxpayer via the ‘Telephone Clause’which forces the company to reimburse unemployment benefits. That is to say: the Government is the main shareholder, promotes the ERE and then recovers part of the cost. Meanwhile, the Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz criticizes staff adjustments in profitable companies like Amazon. The contradiction is clear. In figures. Each departure from the previous ERE cost 380,000 euros on average. If the pattern is repeated with 4,000-6,000 layoffs, the cost will range between 1,500 and 2,000 million euros that Telefónica will charge in 2025, adding to the losses of 1,080 million per the sale of Latin American subsidiaries. All to leave the 2026 balance sheet clean and concentrate the pain in a single exercise. Expected annual savings: between 300 and 500 million euros depending on the final scope of the agreement. Objective of the Strategic Plan: cut operating costs by 3 billion by 2030. Current staff in Spain: 25,000 employees (18,305 in the three main subsidiaries plus 7,000 in other companies). Yes, buteither. The unions warn that Telefónica’s problem is not the wage bill but the debt (close to 30,000 million) and the undervaluation of the stock market. An ERE does not reduce short-term debt or reactivate the price, which fell 16% after presenting the strategic plan. What’s more: pre-retiring a worker costs between 450,000 and 500,000 euros in the telecom sector, so the savings take years to materialize. Telefónica’s trend is not new but it is relentless: Between 1997 and 2025 it has executed EREs every two or three years. The last one, in 2024, affected 3,421 workers with a peculiarity: it was covered entirely by people born in 1968 because the company prioritized those who had not taken advantage of previous adjustments. Now there are only 200 workers in that situation, so the new ERE will be “multi-year” and will reach employees born in 1969, 1970, 1971 and possibly 1972. This ERE is framed in the strategic plan Transform & Grow from Murtrawhich includes cut the dividend in half (0.15 euros per share in 2026), reduce debt, generate cash and keep the door open to acquisitions in Europe through a possible capital increase. The logic is clear: impoverish the present to prepare a future of sectoral consolidation. The market, for the moment, has not celebrated it. The company has called seven different EREs, one for each affected legal entity: Telefónica Spain. Telefónica Móviles. Telefónica Solutions. Movistar+. Telefónica Global Solutions. Telefónica Digital Innovation. And the corporate center. The calendar is tight: 15 days to establish negotiating tables after this Monday’s notice, then 30 days to reach an agreement. The objective is to sign before December 31 or, at most, in the first days of January 2026. What is new is that for the first time the adjustment reaches the corporate center, traditionally shielded. This reinforces Murtra’s message to the market: total discipline, no exceptions. It also points out the structural severity of the problem. The big question. Is a business model that invests in critical infrastructure but does not capture sufficient value sustainable? Telefónica has deployed 5G, high-speed symmetric fiber and intercontinental submarine networks. But Google, Meta, Netflix and Amazon enjoy that investment by paying marginal interconnection fees while hoarding advertising and subscription revenue. European telecoms have been demanding for years that big technology companies contribute to financing the network they operate. Nothing has changed. And now what. The union consensus is total, something notable in an adjustment of this magnitude. UGT, CCOO and Sumados-Fetico signed Telefónica’s social framework in Octoberunifying rights of the entire Spanish workforce. This prior agreement now facilitates the negotiation of the ERE, but it also shows that the unions have accepted the inevitability of the adjustment. Conditions and amounts will be negotiated, not the principle of the cut. Murtra and CEO Emilio Gayo They have each invested more than 500,000 euros in Telefónica shares after presenting the strategic plan, purchasing securities at 3.67-3.69 euros. A symbolic gesture of confidence that has not prevented the stock from continuing to trade 15% below the level prior to the announcement of the plan. Managers are betting on a future recovery. Investors, at the moment, are not. In Xataka | 100 years after its birth, Telefónica faces the greatest existential dilemma in its history: what does it want to be when it grows up Featured image | Telephone

There is an extensive system to avoid being cut off in the 48 km underground of the M-30. It’s time to renew it

by

Madrid City Council will completely renew the radio communications network of the M-30 tunnels, a system that has been in operation for almost two decades and is vital for coordinating emergency services and keeping drivers informed underground. The tender for the project starts today, Wednesday, with a budget of 4.8 million euros. Why you need a renovation. The 48 kilometers of M-30 tunnels register 488 million users a year, according to advance from The World. The current radio communication system is practically the same with which these underground galleries were inaugurated almost 20 years ago. Like any technology, requires updates to continue providing service and guarantee quick responses to any incident. What systems maintain communication. Just like inform In the middle, the infrastructure has two differentiated networks that allow coordination between security forces. The TETRAPOL system covers the National Police and Civil Guard, while the TETRA connects the Municipal Police, Firefighters and SAMUR. Furthermore, according to collect El Mundo, these systems guarantee the operation of analog emergency channels, Madrid Calle 30 communications and commercial FM stations. All this works thanks to two radiating cables installed on the roof of the tunnels: one exclusively for emergency services and another for the rest of the transmissions. “What makes it possible for this system to respond are radio communications. When there is an incident, the emergency services and the Police have an effective possibility of coordinating between themselves,” explains Antonio Jesús Tocino, managing director of Madrid Calle 30, to El Mundo. When will the works start and what improvements will they bring?. As well as inform In the middle, the work will begin in spring 2026 and will continue for 13 months, until April 2027. The intervention will be carried out in control centers, technical rooms and the more than 200 emergency exits, without affecting traffic except for specific outages to renew amplifiers. Among the notable developments is the increase in FM stations, which now number 48 of the current 12. This will expand the ability of the M-30 Radio system to inform drivers of safety recommendations in the event of an emergency. “We have gone looking for the most modern thing on the market,” assures Bacon. A broader technology plan. This renovation is part of a comprehensive modernization of the facilities that has already mobilized 34 million euros. Recent improvements include bluetooth beacons that allow maintaining the GPS signal inside the tunnels, in addition to a project for centralized management of the control center financed with Next Generation European funds. Cover image | Google Maps In Xataka | 171 million euros later, Metro de Madrid wants to reopen line 7B. The big question is whether the tenth time will be the charm.

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password.

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

Here you'll find all collections you've created before.