Cut

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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

The BOE confirms that in 2026 workers’ payrolls will be cut by up to 95 euros for a good reason: pensions

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As of January 1, 2026, millions of workers in Spain you will see how your payroll It drops a little compared to December 2025. The reason, an increase in one of the withholdings that are applied to the payrolls of all workers aimed at guaranteeing the viability of the benefits of future pensioners. This adjustment, provided for in the Royal Decree-Law 2/2023 It can reach up to 95 euros per year for those with high salaries, although for the majority of workers it will barely exceed 43 euros per year. What is the MEI? Just like explain from BBVA, the MEI, or Intergenerational Equity Mechanism, is a withholding that is applied to working people on their payrolls and that serves to reinforce the Social Security Reserve Fund (popularly known as the “pension piggy bank”). As with other withholdings and contributions, part of the MEI falls on the company and another part on the worker. The objective of this retention is to compensate for the effects of demographic aging of the workforce and ensure that today’s younger generations, with a smaller population than Baby Boomers and Generation the full weight of pensions of the next 25 years. How is it calculated? This withholding is calculated as a percentage of the total salary base for which each person contributes and it is expected that this percentage will increase annually until 2029 and then stabilize. In 2026, this percentage will go from 0.80% of the salary base to 0.9%. Of this amount, the worker will assume 0.15% in 2026, and the company will pay 0.75% (to complete the total 0.90% planned for this year). Year Company Worker Total 2023 0.50% 0.10% 0.60% 2024 0.58% 0.12% 0.70% 2025 0.67% 0.13% 0.80% 2026 0.75% 0.15% 0.90% 2027 0.83% 0.17% 1.00% 2028 0.92% 0.18% 1.10% 2029 to 2050 1.00% 0.20% 1.20% And how much money does that mean? As the final amount depends on the contribution base of each worker, the MEI does not retain a fixed amount for everyone. By 2026, the maximum contribution base will be 63,180 euros per year. Therefore, for those who have a gross salary of 5,265 euros per month (in 12 payments), about 94.77 euros per year will be deducted from that maximum base. That is, about 7.89 euros per month. According to consolidated data from the ‘Salary Structure Survey’ of 2023, the most common gross salary in Spain is around 15,574 euros per year. This means that for workers with a gross monthly salary of 1,297 euros (in 12 payments), the 0.15% that is withheld from each employee as MEI would mean 1.94 euros on each payroll, adding up to a total of 23.34 euros per year. How much will it increase each year? The change in the MEI withholding will be applied automatically and has been increasing since its implementation in 2023, the year in which a withholding of 0.10% for workers and 0.50% for companies began to be applied, with a total of 0.60% on the contribution base. The objective is to reach 1.20% in 2029, divided into 1% retention for the company and 0.20% for workers. Once this objective is reached, withholdings will be frozen at that percentage until 2050. Pay more without receiving more. Unlike other withholdings that are applied to payrolls, the MEI percentage does not generate additional rights on the amount of the retirement pension, as would happen if the contribution base is increasedFor example. That is to say, this withholding does not have a direct effect on the pension, but rather is intended to make the pension system more solvent and viable for a longer time even if there is more retirees than active contributors. According to data of the Ministry of Inclusion and Social Security, in 2023 the Intergenerational Equity Mechanism contributed 3,437 million euros to the Social Security Reserve Fund, while in 2024 it was 3,799 million. The record increase in the number of Social Security contributors registered in 2025 means that the forecasts for contributions to the pension fund for this concept will increase to 4,623 million euros, leaving a total balance in this fund close to 14,000 million euros. In Xataka | Working beyond 67 years: Germany has broken its pension system and it is an advance for Europe Image | Unsplash (wjpzlvr), Pexels (Dany Kurniawan)

Telework promised freedom to work from anywhere. Finance and cybersecurity have cut off his wings

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Although teleworking has lost some bellows In recent months, It has consolidated as a common option for many companies that offer flexibility and balance Between personal and professional life. However, as pointed out in A publication From LinkedIn Sandra Díaz González, Cazatalantos and Human Resources consultant, it is common for companies to condition that flexibility demanding that remote work is always done from the same place. It is not a whimthese limitations respond to various legal, organizational and security reasons that companies are obliged to comply with. Continuous or sporadic remote work. First of all, it is possible to make a distinction between the teleworking that is carried out constantly and full -time, of the one that takes place sporadicallyhow can it be During the summer or at specific times. Both require a previous agreement Between the company and the worker, but these conditions can become more restrictive as the case may be. In the first case, when the teleworking develops full -time, companies are much more restrictive in terms of the place from which it works since, as we will designate later, security factors, taxation or availability must be taken into account. OK To what is published by Self -employed and entrepreneursNot communicating the change of address from which teleworking can lead to a dismissal appointed by the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid. In the second case, in which teleworking is done occasionally, it will be enough for which company and employee establish a series of basic communications security measures given the sporadic character of remote work. Telework without risks. Law 10/2021, also known as Teleworking Lawit establishes that companies must take responsibility for the Occupational Risk Prevention even when that work is done at a distance. This implies evaluating and guaranteeing that the space from which telework meets the necessary conditions for Protect health and safetyof the employee in the same way that is done in the office. The company is obliged to verify that the job at home or in another fixed place is properly equipped and that the environment does not generate health risks No work accidents. These demands explain the need for the teleworking place to always be predictable and known by the company, avoiding changing spaces that hinder these measures. Communications and data security. Another fundamental reason why some companies condition the teleworking to be made from a fixed place is the Sensitive information protection and security in digital communications. Connect from the wifi network of a cafeteria, a hotel or a library does not always guarantee Data safety that are transmitted or of the servers to which it is connected, as the Cybersecurity Guide on Teleworking Published by INCIBE. Data protection regulations require that companies can implement controls that guarantee the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the data that are handled, more when working outside the central offices. To mitigate that risk, companies must facilitate Security software and establish limits for those incoming connections that are made from unregistered locations. Taxation for digital nomads. Teleworking allows employee to live anywhere in the world. However, the company must submit certain tax criteria when that employee has its Residence in another countrygenerating Additional tax obligations and possible legal conflicts. This consideration does not apply when an employee works remotely during a punctual trip, but when it takes place for a good part of the year. In that scenario, the Treasury could consider that the employee does not reside in the country and apply a different fiscal policy. Such and as they explain From the union to use, this situation would also lead to the company incurring a breach of the cross -border teleworking laws for social security contribution. For these reasons, many companies limit the possibility of teleworking under the condition of doing so within the national territory, thus avoiding economic sanctions and administrative problems. Teleworking near the office. The model of hybrid work It is the most used by companies that offer job flexibility to their employees, allowing them to work between one and four days remote, but maintaining a certain level of face -to -face in the office. By establishing that teleworking is always from a place near the office (the same city or community), the company ensures the Logistics and Organizational Management of its template at the time of Schedule meetings or corporate events. In Xataka | Digital nomadic visas: the countries hook to attract the best digital talent without paying the cost to keep them Image | Unspash (Johnny Africa)

With the bird between Galicia and Madrid cut by the fires, someone has taken advantage of it to earn money: the airlines

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Spain burns. And Zamora, León and Ourense are taking the worst part. The number of spotlights and their virulence is such that it has forced to cut the circulation of high speed between Zamora and Galicia. Some roads are cut. Renfe does not offer a solution. And, in the background, the airlines win. Cut. Rail traffic between Zamora and Galicia is cut. Renfe has confirmed today that trains will not circulate again in what remains during the day and there is not a single glimpse of hope that The situation can be reversed in the short term. In the Last DGT updatethere are six lonely cut roads and two in Zamora. None of them correspond to the great highways such as A-6, A-66 or A-52 that structure the northwest of the country. Despite this, Renfe does not offer a bus alternative to those who cover Madrid-Zamora or Zamora-Madrid by train, only open section in the high-speed Galician corridor. What can the traveler do? Those who had a high speed ticket in the Galician corridor have three options. The first is evident, do only the section between Madrid and Zamora and then take a bus or a car to Galicia. The second is to perform the entire road tour. The fastest road is obviously the plane. Prohibitive prices. But those who are obliged to travel will find exorbitant prices to cover the distance that Madrid separates from Galicia. Especially if the traveler travels from Galician lands to Madrid. In that case, if you are in a hurry, you will have to assume the expense of more than 300 euros per ticket. Using the Skyscanner search engine, which offers all available flights and allows you to filter for price, schedule and time spent, we have sought what options are available in the short term, simulating the situation in which those who have to travel irremediably and have already hired a train will be found, trying to endure until the last moment. The results are as follows. Options with direct flight between Vigo and Madrid for Tuesday, August 19 Vigo-Madrid. Travel the August 19 between Vigo and Madrid It already costs at least 350 euros. At the moment, there are 14 alternatives available but only two of them offer a direct flight. In the week, the options relax their prices but it is still necessary to spend 237 euros if we want to travel on August 20 and between 130 and 114 euros if we want to fly between Wednesday and Friday. The cheapest ticket between Santiago de Compostela and Madrid is to make a 18 -hour scale in Seville Santiago de Compostela-Madrid. Perspectives are not much better Between Santiago de Compostela and Madrid. Making the trip tomorrow costs 331 euros. On Wednesday the price of the cheapest ticket is 299 euros and Wednesday is 231 euros. On Friday they fall below the border of 200 euros but only momentarily. The weekend is firing again above 200 euros. There is another cheaper option but, obviously, totally advisable. The cheapest flight between Santiago de Compostela and Madrid costs 249 euros and a scale of more than 15 hours in Seville. Same situation for Wednesday (with almost 22 -hour scale in Malaga) or for Thursday (this time with a stop in Barcelona). Cheaper options to fly between A Coruña and Madrid tomorrow, August 19 A Coruña-Madrid. On direct flights, The cheapest flying alternative Between Galicia and Madrid he is in A Coruña. Leaving from this airport, the ticket for tomorrow, August 19 costs 272 euros late at night. If we wanted to leave early in the morning, the border of the 300 euros is exceeded. Of course, unlike the previous cases, the rest of the week can be traveling for less than 150 euros. Almost an oasis watching the rest of Galician alternatives. Among the Madrid-Galicia flights, Vigo is the most expensive journey And from Madrid? The options from the capital are not so bleeding for the traveler’s pocket. Facing tomorrow, August 19, the tickets between Madrid and A Coruña They are below 100 euros and the rest of the week in half of this price. Similar situation will be those who travel To Santiago de Compostela. Vigo, again, is the most expensive option. In this case, the cheapest price from one day to another is 142 euros. If you want to travel in the morning, you have to pay more than 200 euros. Of course, prices the rest of the week move between 50 and 40 euros. Although there are no clear data that confirms it, everything indicates that prices from Madrid are not so high because the march of travelers from the capital is motivated by a holiday getaway that can be postponed and, nevertheless, the flow between Galicia and Madrid may be motivated by a return to the office, which entails less flexible plans. Not only Renfe. The pressure on short -term flights and the fall in later days shows that travelers are waiting until the last moment to confirm an alternative to the reserves of their trains but is also motivated by an offer that has been reduced. The voice of Galicia He pointed out a few weeks ago that Iberia had reduced her daily offer in the Galician corridor in 80 seats. To this movement we must add the Partial output of Ryanair This same year of Galician airports, offering 61% less trips in Vigo and 28% less in Santiago de Compostela. This reduction in the offer and the most expensive prices have led to a reduction in the number of passengers. In A Coruña, the number of passengers flewing at the Galician airport until last July was 0.3% higher than 2024, According to AENA data. However, the figure fell 6.5% in Vigo and 12.4% in Santiago de Compostela. Photo | Ume In Xataka | The megaindios of Ourense, Zamora and León have paralyzed the Galician bird. It is the nth setback in a horrible year for Renfe

Someone cut five submarine cables in the Baltic. Finland already points as responsible for a ship of the “shade fleet”

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In the middle of Christmas, five submarine cables that connect Finland and Estonia were damaged. According to the Finnish Prosecutor’s Officeit was a deliberate act: an oil tanker dragged its anchor for about 90 kilometers and cut the electric interconnection Estlink 2 and four telecommunications cables. More than seven months later, on August 11, 2025, The Prosecutor’s Office presented positions For aggravated damage and aggravated interference in communications against the captain and two officers of the Eagle S ship, a ship linked to the call “shadow”That the European authorities associate with the elusion of restrictions on Russian crude. On the night of December 25, 2024, the Estlink 2 link stopped operating suddenly and, shortly after, failures were detected in four data cables that cross the same section of the Gulf of Finland. The service did not collapse thanks to alternative routes, but the technical impact was immediate and the authorities opened an investigation focused on the trajectory of a ship that sailed near the affected area. 90 kilometers groove at the bottom of the Baltic. The damage pattern was unequivocal: a prolonged groove in the seabed that coincided with the passage of the Eagle S. The researchers point out that The trajectory of the ship registered in the navigation data flashes with the damaged areas. Police recovered an anchor whose location coincided with the Eagle S route and with the detected groove, information between the evidence that motivated the accusation against the three officers. A cable that transports 650 megawatts under the sea. Estlink 2 is a high voltage electrical interconnection in direct current that joins Finland and Estonia for the seabed. He entered into market operation in December 2013 and was inaugurated in 2014; Its capacity reaches 650 megawatts and its function is to balance the electrical demand between the two countries. After the cut, Fingrid and Elering activated contingencies to maintain stability, and the link returned to the market at 01:00 of June 20, 2025 after repairs. In addition to the power grid, Four telecommunications cables were damagedaffecting part of data traffic between Finland and Estonia. Among the impacted operators are Elisa, Cinia – of public majority ownership – and a cable managed by CITIC. The repair work began days later and extended several weeks; According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the owners have assumed at least 60 million euros in direct repair costs, without relevant impacts on end users thanks to the alternative routed. An old acquaintance under magnifying glass. He Eagle s It is an oil company registered in the Cook Islands that sailed from the Russian port of UST-Luga with oil products and was detected in the vicinity of the affected area. Several media place their property in Caravella Llc Fzbased in United Arab Emirates. The ship appears in the so -called “Shadow Flot”, formed by boats with opaque structures that have continued to operate despite the restrictions. The European Union included Eagle S on its list of ships sanctioned on May 20, 2025. Can Finland judge it? The debate on jurisdiction. The defense claims that the cuts occurred outside the Finnish territorial waters. Because of this, Reuters pointsthe country would not have competence to prosecute the crew. The Prosecutor’s Office appeals to the territorial effect: the consequences occurred in Finland, in the electricity and communications, and that would justify the criminal action. Helsinki’s court now has the task to decide on competition and, where appropriate, set procedural deadlines. The result of the judicial decision will mark the next chapter of the case. If the Court accepts Finnish competition, the process against Eagle S officers will be a milestone in the European response to attacks against critical infrastructure. Images | HTM (Wikimedia Commons) In Xataka | The USA opened the way and China took note: it is updating its fleet with ships that have electromagnetic catapults

cut mountains

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The tunnels have saved us from surroundings to mountains and rock surfaces for decades. However, it is not the only technique to shorten time and develop new roads that connect cities with each other. In this aspect, it is worth telling how China once again demonstrates its ability to transform the landscape with a technique that seems taken from a science fiction film: literally cut mountains To build roads. Explosives, giant excavators and a millimeter planning is necessary to divide rock formations of hundreds of meters high. How the technique works. After A geological study Exhaustive to determine the composition of the mountain and plan the cuts so that they do not compromise the stability of the land, engineers use controlled explosives to create the first fractures, followed by specialized heavy machinery that can excavate tens of meters deep per day. The remaining walls are stabilized with metal meshes, projected concrete and drainage systems to avoid landslides. The final result is A clean step through the mountainwith vertical walls up to 200 meters high that seems that someone with a giant knife has crossed them. A technique in multiple regions of China. These ‘cut walls’ can be seen mainly in The mountainous provinces of GuizhouYunnan and Sichuan, where the karst terrain and the complicated rock formations made the construction of traditional tunnels impracticable. Projects as prominent as the Guiyang-Qianxi highway or the Taihang mountain pass have turned hours of hours into minutes. It has also been used in the construction of the High Speed Railroad that connects Beijing with Guangzhou, where several sections go through literally games in half. Click the image to watch the video Why not tunnels are used. The decision to cut instead of drilling usually comes Due to technical criteria and specific economics. In land with high concentration of groundwater or unstable rock formations, building tunnels can be more expensive and risky than direct cut. In addition, the maintenance of an open step is considerably simpler than that of a tunnel, which requires constant ventilation, lighting and drainage systems. In low -rise mountains, the cut also allows the greater proliferation of heavy vehicles, especially in an economy that depends so much on the transport of road goods. Beyond China. Although China has perfected and popularized this technique, it is not the only country that uses it. Norway uses similar methods in its fjords, where the characteristics of the land make the cut more viable than drilling (although in this country we also have spectacular projects of tunnels under construction such as Rogfast). In the United States, Cumberland Gap’s pass in the Apalaches was created by cutting techniques, although on a smaller scale. However, no country matches the ambition and scale of Chinese projects, which have become an art the mountain cut. Environmental impact. Although the benefits of using this technique are evident, especially in the aspect of econic development and its effectiveness to connect remote regions, this technique also generates a certain debate around environmental impact. And it is that this type of constructions can end up destroying local ecosystems, altering natural drainage patterns or fragmenting wildlife habitats, not to mention the amount of dust and noise during its construction that can generate millions of tons in waste. It can also be said that it is not the most used technique, since the tunnels remain the preference except exceptional cases. Cover image | Zhang Meifang and R/Damnthatsintending In Xataka | China has a prey capable of changing the rotation of the earth. Now they are building an even bigger

Cut the Internet in half a country

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The war between Russia and Ukraine is far from being symmetrical: while Russia attacks Shaheds of thermobárica load, Ukraine does so with pellets. However, kyiv is reaping great successes with drones, as in the Spiderweb Operation. They are among the main reasons why the higher commanders of the Zelenski army believe that the country You can resist this year and beyond. And they are causing havoc in infrastructure and Internet cuts to the population. Reality. Associated Press collects the complaints of many Russian citizens who complain about the normal MOBILE NETWORK In his country: “We have the Internet until 12 at night, and recently there has been no connection,” the blogger Pavel Osipyan on Instagram was rapped from the city. In that city the cuts are frequent, but also in others such as Voronezh, near Ukraine or Samara. A difficult day by day for citizens. Internet cuts are leaving many people without being able to pay by card, without being able to use transport applications or even unable to get money from ATMs. The Na Svyazi activist group, whose name translates into Russian for “being connected”, He has reported mobile internet cuts in 73 of 80 regions. And in 41 of them, there are also cuts from the domestic Internet. The official reason. Russian authorities are making internet cuts in many regions because Russian and Ukrainian drones depend on mobile networks to operate and operate key aspects such as navigation, according to, Kateryna StepanenkoRussian analyst at Institute for the Study of War. The mobile connection is also key to sending video in real time and receiving orders. The trend began in May, celebrating the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Germany in World War II. Dmitry Peskov, spokesperson for the Kremim confirmed deliberate restrictions. How long? “It will be done as necessary.” In the Duma, these blockages were talked about as a form of “Preventive protection aimed at suppressing possible threats“ The suspicion: Russia kills two birds with a shot. In Russia they have been common internet cuts and Social Network Blockingand experts like Anastasiya Zhyrmont, of the group Access Nowframe these new Internet blockages as another form of population control. In this sense, constantly chase VPN services. YouTube, for example, is not blocked, but Very slowedalready end of the year was in a 20% of its normal level of activity. From Human Rights Watch They have indicated in the past their restrictive measures as censorship. Disconnection and alternative. Russia has been preparing for a total internet disconnection for years. In 2019 he tested disconnect your network infrastructure of the rest of the Internet, and the experiment was listed as ‘success’. At the end of 2024, the country successfully simulated a Internet disconnection in several regions. Before a possible forced disconnection, such as asked Ukraine in 2022 To the Icann, there are A whole plan ready. Image | Maxim SubotinXataka, Trong Khiem Nguyen (Flickr) In Xataka | The production of Russian drones was so huge that Ukraine has opened them looking for clues. The surprise is China

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