days

It’s been going up for days and we already have queues at the low cost

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The conflict between the US, Israel and Iranand its consequent tension in the rest of the Middle East countries has been generating uncertainty in the energy markets for weeks. The barrel of Brent has risen nearly 30% so far this year, 8% this Monday alone. Goldman Sachs has revised its forecasts upwards and prices at Spanish gas stations have already chained five consecutive increases. In Spain, we are preparing for a gradual rise in price of gasoline. So much so that already long queues have been detected at service stations in some parts of the country. One of the most striking examples has been this Costco in Sevillewhere his gas station is flooded by a flood of cars. A scenario that recalls, with important nuances, what happened in 2022 with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. what’s happening. At the end of 2025, the price of fuel was giving some relief to drivers throughout Spain. Just like they count From El Motor, 95 gasoline had fallen by about 3.5% and diesel by more than 5% since November. However, this trend has ended in the most devastating and undesirable way possible: with another war. Image: Dieselogasolina.com (data extracted from the Ministry of Ecological Transition) According to the data from the Dieselogasolina web portal extracted from the Ministry of Ecological Transitionthe average price of 95 gasoline in the Peninsula and the Balearic Islands stands at €1,557/l this March 4, compared to €1,531/l the previous day. Diesel has gone from €1,492/l to €1,539/l in the same day. Five consecutive increases that coincide with the escalation of war in the Middle East. A bottleneck. As you’ve probably heard or read, most of the problem has to do with the Strait of Hormuz, which has stopped its traffic due to this escalation of war and which is where approximately 20% of the world’s production of crude oil and liquefied natural gas transits. The barrel of Brent reached close to $80 in the first days of March, after accumulating nearly a 30% increase so far this year, as share The Vanguard. Europe does not import Iranian crude oil directly (90% of Iran’s exports go to China), but the blockade of the Strait affects the global reference price, and that price does reach European suppliers. What the experts say. Goldman Sachs this week revised upwards its forecast for the second quarter of 2026, in which it expects Brent stands on average at 76 dollars per barrelten dollars more than his previous estimate. The bank warns that risks are “significantly skewed to the upside,” as share the WSJ. And the bank points out that if exports through the Strait of Hormuz remained restricted for five more weeks, Brent could reach $100. Àngel Hermosilla, general secretary of the Col·legi d’Economistes de Catalunya, points out told La Vanguardia that the energy market is “very volatile and very sensitive to any political action,” and that the impact could be felt at the pumps in a matter of days. And so it is, for now. On the other hand, the engine shared the words of Nacho Rabadán, spokesperson for the Spanish Confederation of Service Stations (CEEES), who explained to Trece that the suppliers have already communicated to the stations “an extra cost of between 10 and 12 cents per liter for the delivery tanks this Wednesday.” That is the purchase price for the gas stations, not the final price to the driver, but it anticipates that the increases will end up being passed on. Rabadán remembers what happened in 2022 with the start of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, at which time some stations held prices when the liter was around 1.80 euros, assuming losses, but then replacing the product “cost them up to 3,000 euros more per tanker.” On the other hand, the Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU) esteem that, if Brent stabilizes around $80, a rise of between 8 and 10 cents per liter could be expected in the coming weeks. Beyond the deposit. Eduard Conti, specialist in personal finances, counted La Vanguardia that when fuel prices rise, this affects all economic sectors, including food transportation, airline tickets, industrial manufacturing, etc. Conti points out that in Spain, inflation is currently around 2.3%, but the CPI has accumulated a 23% rise in the last five years. For his part, Philip Lane, member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank, recognized in an interview with the Financial Times that “the magnitude of the impact and the implications for inflation in the medium term depend on the extent and duration of the conflict.” It hasn’t really gone up yet. Prices, although on the rise, are still far from the historical highs recorded by the Ministry of Ecological Transition: 95 gasoline reached €2,152/L and diesel reached €2,106/L. “I hope that we do not reach two euros, although the truth is that the oil market has been very strange for years. The only thing I can say is that for us, the fact that it is only the fifty-third highest increase in history is already good news,” counted Rabadan. Cover image | engin akyurt and Juan Carlos Toro In Xataka | The US has launched its most ambitious weapon against Iran in the last decade: a missile that does not need fighters or warships

If the war with Iran lasts more than five days he will not win it

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In major conflicts, strategists used to say that wars are not won only on the front, but in the factories. During World War II, for example, Washington produced more planes in a month than some countries in an entire year, and that industrial difference ended up tipping the balance. Today, that same logic re-emerges in a different and much more accelerated form, one where the speed of production can be as decisive as precision on the battlefield. A war that is measured in warehouses. The war between Iran, Israel and the United States It has stopped revolving around the conquest of positions or classic air superiority and has transformed into something much colder and more arithmetic: a race to see who runs out of ammunition first. An analysis that, in fact, was already circulating before Washington’s initial attacks and that after the first day it became clear. Tehran would not try to compete in air dominance or sustained strategic bombing, but in something simpler and potentially devastating: launching enough missiles and drones to force its enemies to spend more than they can replenish. The question, therefore, is no longer who hits the hardest, but who can sustain the rhythm the longest. The prior notice. As we said, even before this new escalation, senior US officials they had warned that previous conflicts in the region had dangerously eroded interceptor reserves. Systems like THAAD, Patriot either Standard Missile had already been used intensively in previous episodesand the data pointed to significant percentages of the annual stock consumed in a few days of combat. Behind this idea there is a reality: manufacturing these interceptors is neither fast nor cheap, and the industry has been working for years. showing difficulties to increase the rate of production. The problem was not hypothetical: the depth of magazines (the so-called magazine Depth) was already a cause for concern before this open phase of the conflict began. The economic equation: millions against missiles. In other words, Iran has turned cost into your main weapon strategic. In the first few moments alone, it launched hundreds of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and more than half a thousand drones against targets in Israel and the Gulf. Although the interception rate in places like the United Arab Emirates has been extraordinary, around 92%the bill is brutal. While Tehran invests hundreds of millions in its salvos, defenders they spend billions in interceptors that cost between four and five million dollars per unit, often firing two or more for each incoming threat. In the case of drones, the contrast is even sharper: platforms that cost tens of thousands force the use of expensive interceptors. in hundreds of thousands or more. For every dollar Iran spends, its adversaries may be shelling out between five and ten, and in some segments the ratio skyrockets. up to twenty to one. Submunitions and saturation. Far from reducing the pace, Iran has begun to use some of its most advanced missiles, capable of releasing submunitions during reentry and expanding the impact area, further complicating interception. Videos broadcast In networks they show launchers firing nine or eleven interceptors against a single missile, sometimes without success. The daily figures are eloquent: between 200 and 220 Iranian missiles launched per day against at 700 or even 1,000 interceptors fired by the coalition. Despite massive bombing raids on Iranian bases, mobile launchers and air defenses, launch capacity remains high, with hundreds of missiles and drones still available. The war is becoming a duel of logistical resistance rather than a contest of surgical precision. Four or five days: the critical window. At this point, various analysts agree that, at the current rate, interceptor reserves could be depleted in a matter of minutes. four or five days. This estimate does not arise from speculation, but from a simple intersection between Iranian launch cadence and coalition defensive consumption. Each interceptor fired is one that cannot be replaced immediately; Its manufacture can take months or years. If the conflict extends beyond From that window, the balance could quickly tip, not because Iran manages to destroy all strategic objectives, but because the shield that protects them begins to empty. The American problem. Hence, the disturbing idea for the United States is that if the war with Iran lasts more than those five days, its chances of winning would begin to descend. Not necessarily in immediate territorial or political terms, but rather in the more tangible realm of available ammunition. Every Patriot, THAAD, or naval interceptor fired in the Gulf is a resource that would also be crucial in a hypothetical conflict with China or North Korea. If the campaign becomes a protracted exchange, technological superiority may be neutralized by simple cost arithmetic and production time. Iran appears to have chosen a economic war in the form of missilesand contrary to what it may seem, that choice gives it a structural advantage: it can afford to waste cheaper projectiles for longer than its adversaries can afford to fire theirs. Numbers war. The question that summarizes this phase of the conflict is brutally simple: What will run out first, the Iranian launchers or the coalition interceptors? So far, neither intensive bombing nor the elimination of key targets have reduced decisively Tehran’s launch capacity. Meanwhile, defensive warehouses are being emptied at an accelerated rate. From that prism, the war is no longer decided only in the sky over Tehran or Tel Aviv, but on assembly lines and in the industrial capacity to replace what was fired. Image | Glenn Fawcett, Gieling, Rob In Xataka | The US used one of the oldest practices of war to bomb Iran: reverse engineering with an unprecedented weapon In Xataka | To sink a US aircraft carrier required a weapon that Iran did not have. The arrival of China has just changed everything

Germany wanted to see if working four days a week was efficient. 70% of companies think so

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The four-day work week started in Germany as an experiment to search for the maximum productivity of companies without having an impact on an exhausted workforce and without the ability to reconcile family life. Two years after the start of this test, the data confirms that for the companies that participated it was not a simple test, but rather it has materialized in a change in the way of working that many companies have decided to consolidate. Now the monitoring report prepared by researchers from the University of Münster together with the consulting firm 4 Day Week Global. It analyzes what happened after the pilot test that began in 2024 and what subsequent effects it has had. The main conclusion is that around 70% of the companies that participated in that test continue to apply some model of reduction of working hours a year later. A known formula and a varied sample. The original four-day week project in Germany was built around to the 100-80-100 model: 100% of salary, 80% of time and 100% of productivity. This model of reduction of working hours is the same one that was carried out in Valencia in 2023, Portugal either United Kingdom. In the initial phase, 45 companies from different sectors participated, dedicated to manufacturing, insurance, technology, media, commerce or education. Furthermore, to be as representative as possible of the German industrial fabric, companies of different sizes were chosen: from micro-businesses with 1 to 9 employees, to large companies with more than 250 employees. The first data already gave clues. Researchers have been collecting data from participating companies and their employees since day one. A few months after starting the test, the companies were delighted with the results, to the point that in preliminary results73% said they would not return to the traditional five-day week. The new report provides the perspective that time gives and whether that initial impetus has been consolidated. Two years after the start of the test, seven out of ten companies that participated in the test not only maintain the four-day workdaybut they have integrated it into their normal operation. More than four days: flexible reduction of working time. One of the most interesting findings from the monitoring is that the four-day workweek model has evolved and every organization has implemented it adapting it to your needs. Not all companies have opted for a Monday to Thursday work week. Around 22% of the participating companies have adapted the initial scheme towards more flexible formulas: reduction of annual hours, alternate weeks or internal adjustments according to workload. The report itself speaks less of a “four-day week” and more of “reduction of work time“. The label matters less than the redesign of the work day and the elimination of superfluous tasks, fewer unnecessary meetings and greater autonomy of the teams. No impact on profits or productivity. In business terms, the German test has been a success since, despite having maintained 80% of the initial day, there have been no drops in either the level of profits or in productivity or slightly improved with respect to the starting point. That is, they have managed to do the same thing in less time. What it did have a strong impact on was the well-being of employees, where 90% reported improvements in the balance between personal and professional life. As a result of this improvement, employees reported feeling less stress and greater commitment to the company. 38% of companies indicated that sick leave and absenteeism of their employees had been reduced, while 56% claimed to have detected no changes. Lights and shadows in the reduction of working hours. Progress was also observed in job satisfaction and in the perception of the company as an attractive place to work. The study indicates that 87% of companies detected improvements in talent retention. For their part, 75% claimed that their companies now had a greater capacity to attract talent in selection processes. This, in a scenario of labor shortagerepresents a competitive advantage. However, as happened in other tests of the four-day work week, not all companies have followed the same evolution. About 30% stopped applying the initial scheme or returned to the traditional five-day week. The main reasons were operational, difficulties in coordinate with your clientswork peaks that are difficult to absorb or inflexible internal structures. In Xataka | Employees in Spain clear up doubts: working fewer days is better than working fewer hours, according to a survey In Xataka | Spain already has its first municipality with a four-day work week. It is not in Madrid or Barcelona, ​​but in a corner of Cádiz Image | Unsplash (Gonzalo Leon Jasin, Josue Isai Ramos Figueroa)

We have been hearing talk for days about the “storm of the century”, this is what AEMET says about it (and about the trend of fattening meteorological headlines)

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It’s curious. A “storm of the century” concept has been around for days and, in the last hoursa date has even been set: February 25 would be the moment in which the storm would reach the country’s coasts. And I say that all this is curious because, in short, it is inaccurate, a ‘journalistic hook’: a lie after all. This 25th changes time, yes. But what the models describe is more like an Atlantic front (with rain in Galicia and some instability in the Canary Islands), than a truly exceptional episode. But let’s take a look because there are more things to take into account. What do the models say? That is the big question: AEMET and the rest of the specialized media draw a very different scenario. Galicia stands out with relevant accumulations (we are talking about 20–40 l/m² in the area from A Coruña to Pontevedra), but little else: in the rest of the areas where it rains, the quantities are much more discreet. In most places, almost testimonials. On the other hand, it is also possible that it will rain in the Canary Islands, but (unlike the peninsula) it will be a DANA in Morocco. And then? So, nothing. We won’t have big announcements; neither by winds, nor by rain, nor by coastal problems. AEMET is worriedYeah; but due to the persistent rainfall that may accumulate in the northwest. For the rest, if there is any news on the table, it is that a phenomenon that has been somewhat missing is going to return: the haze. There will be no “storm of the century” and that, of course, is excellent news. After all, we come from a winter that has been nothing more than a huge chain of storms. This has led to a whole process of social desensitization that is forcing popular meteorological information to raise the threshold until it borders on (or settles into) sensationalism. And it’s not the best time to do it: as AEMET itself points outit is possible that we are approaching a new era of precipitation in Spain. Climate change is increasing precipitation extremes globally. It doesn’t seem like a good idea to play ‘Peter and the Wolf’ just when things are starting to change. Image | Torsten Dederichs In Xataka | We already know exactly how much climate change was to blame for DANA in Valencia (and the figures are devastating)

9.5 billion trips in 40 days

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China is preparing for the largest migration of people in the world. And behind it there is no famine, war or racial persecution. In fact, there is not even a crossing of borders. China, the world’s second most populous country with more than 1.4 billion people, faces a new test. And today, February 17, the Lunar New Year. This time we are facing the Year of the Fire Horse, a good year for those who embrace this element because they are cold (born in autumn/winter) and for the industries that depend on it. On the contrary, complications are expected for relations that are already tense and with prospects of greater probability of suffering natural disasters related to heat and fire, points out Thierry Chow, Feng Shui consultant to cnn. Those first tense relationships have already been seen in the movements of these days, says Lucas de la Cal in an interesting chronicle in The World. He explains that the most coveted thing these days are train tickets that are packed. No wonder, there are those who have trips of more than 30 hours ahead of them, with the aim of covering the more than 2,000 kilometers that separate them from their hometown. And the Lunar New Year is a celebration in which there is a massive migration from the city to the countryside, to the origins. Traditionally, the Chinese employee has returned home for this Spring Festival, a period that lasts for 15 days. However, the massive movement of people means that trips accumulate in a total of 40 days in which, this year, around 9.5 billion trips are expected to occur. A tradition that, explained in CNAis undergoing some changes since, although anecdotal at the moment, it is beginning to be common to see parents traveling to the city where their child works. The train as the axis on which everything rotates They point out the Cal in The Worldthat your trip starts from Shanghai and is destined for Longkou. Normally, he says, they would have taken a plane but this means of transportation has tripled in price. The solution, like that of millions of Chinese travelers, is on the train tracks. Shanghai represents well the investment effort what the State has done in this means of transportation. The city’s southern station It is the first in the world with an entirely circular design and 15 million people are expected to pass through it every year. Nothing compared to the city’s main station, where it is estimated that 60 million people pass through each year, with access to the busiest metro service in the world. Nor to Guangzhou South Station. This space was, until 2024, the busiest in the country. By the station, Chinese media reports170 million people passed through it every year and an average of 600 trains passed through it every day. On average, it is estimated that almost half a million people pass through the station. It was until this year, the most renowned station in China. However, a few months ago it opened in Chongqing the largest train station in the world. Is five times larger than Grand Central Station from New York and has been moving 16,000 passengers an hour. Its potential is yet to be discovered because, as happens with metro stops in the countrywas born in an open field where buildings have begun to grow around it. These are just some data that speak of the consolidation of the train as the means of transportation capable of transporting the greatest number of people in the shortest possible time in a gigantic country. In the early 2000s, high-speed rail was completely unknown in China. Today they have, by far, the most extensive network in the world. And not only that. On their trains Robots travel that act as hostessesthe wagons have become space preferred over the plane because in them you can work with an enviable data connection and they have, in length, the fastest trains in the world while They keep breaking speed records in new tests to continue putting bites on the stopwatch. The country is experiencing an effervescence in the sector that has turned it into the true reference. Óscar Puente, Minister of Transport in Spain, I used Chinese trains as an example. as the technological vanguard and the key to being able to operate a Madrid-Barcelona at 350 km/h. For now, they have reached a position unattainable by any other country in the world. Not even Japanwho was the absolute king of the bullet train, can now at least come close. Photo | Kuruman and Tim Wu In Xataka | China urgently needed a train station, so it was built in nine hours with 1,500 workers and 23 excavators.

The Ministry of Labor wants death leave to be extended to 10 days. Obstacle: Congress

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The Ministry of Labor plans to approve by royal decree law the extension of leave for the death of family members up to 10 days. Although the formula would allow its entry into force immediately after the Council of Ministers, there is a risk that the measure will end up being overturned later in Congress. Just like share El País, the Secretary of State for Labor, Joaquín Pérez Rey, confirmed this Tuesday that “the intention would be for the rule approving leave for bereavement and death to be an urgent rule” and that his “predisposition is to do so through a royal decree law shortly.” The Government’s strategy. By processing the norm as a decree law instead of as an ordinary draft law, the ministry led by Yolanda Díaz seeks to ensure that the extension of permits is applied immediately, without waiting to complete the entire parliamentary procedure. That would make the measure come into force the day after its publication in the BOE, although it then requires validation by Congress within a maximum period of one month. According to account In the middle, during that period, workers who suffer a family death could now access extended leave. Agreement. Job agreed with CCOO and UGT On December 15, the paid leave for the death of a spouse, common-law partner or relatives up to the second degree (parents, children, siblings, grandparents and grandchildren) was extended from the current two days (extendable to four in the event of displacement) up to 10 days. These could be used continuously or discontinuously within four weeks after death. Furthermore, just as share El País, the agreement includes a new 15-day permit for palliative care, divisible into two fractions over a period of three months, and one day of leave to accompany someone who is going to receive euthanasia, regardless of family ties. Rejection. The employers’ association CEOE and Cepyme have opposed the proposal because they consider that “it represents a new attempt to transfer to companies the cost and responsibility of public policies on care that corresponds to the Administration,” as they indicated in a statement. The lack of consensus in social dialogue marks the position of the PP, which has already announced its vote against following its criterion of rejecting labor measures that do not have the joint support of unions and employers. Key vote in the air. Parliamentary arithmetic turns Junts and PNV into decisive pieces in approving or not the measure. Just like they point From El País, the Catalan nationalists have already joined together with PP and Vox to overturn the reduction in working hours and have maintained very critical positions with other proposals rejected by unions and employers, such as the increase in the self-employed quota. For the measure to be approved, the Executive would need the support of the entire left plus the support of Junts and PNV, or at least the yes of one and the abstention of the other. Comparisons with Europe. Labor has been highlighting Spain’s delay compared to neighboring countries in regards to death leave. From the middle they point out that Portugal extended the paid leave for the death of a spouse in 2023 to 20 days, equal to that of children, while in France 12 working days are granted for the death of children and 14 if the deceased is under 25 years of age. According to the ministry, the current two days in Spain are insufficient to face a duel. A controversial vote. The decision to take the measure through a decree law responds to a clear intention to make it difficult for the opposition to reject it, since it is a measure of high social sensitivity. “suffering from the death of a son or daughter” is “not a question of the right or the left,” counted Pérez Rey in the middle. Cover image | Wikimedia Commons In Xataka | Deepfakes are much more than a bad joke. Now the Government wants them to be a violation of the right to honor

Some extremely complicated days are coming

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If two years ago someone would have told us that today we would be wishing If it stopped raining, we wouldn’t have believed it. But reality always exceeds our expectations and, this week, it is about to also exceed the hydrological limits of the south and west of the country. And with the terrain already saturated after weeks of storms and more storms, AEMET rain warning “intense and extraordinarily persistent” that can trigger floods, floods and landslides, as well as strong winds and maritime storms. We don’t know what’s coming to us. What is going to happen? At a technical level, on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday the arrival of the high-impact storm Leonardo (fed by a current of humid subtropical air) will initiate an episode of precipitation that can turn the entire third of the peninsula and many points in the west of the country upside down. He black point is in Grazalemathe Ronda mountain range and the Strait of Gibraltar with up to 250 mm of rain in 24 hours. To this we must add Sierra Nevada, which, although it will receive about 100 mm, the rise in the snow level can cause a massive thaw that puts the entire Genil basin and the rivers of the Mediterranean coast in check. In general, any point in the south facing windward and areas with orographic enhancement are candidates to receive a huge hydrometeorological impact. It is not a specific event. Above all, because adding Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, more than 400 mm are expected in parts of the Béticas. To this we must add the more than 200mm in the upper Guadalquivir and the more than 100mm in the basin. That is, a lot of water. Something that added to that “The soil is clay and its use is agricultural.“, will make the filtration very poor. The entire Guadalquivir valley from Córdoba onwards is activating eviction plans because the overflowing of the river is a risk that cannot be ignored. Beyond the floods. Because yes, floods and overflows are possibly the main problem and the Hydrographic Confederations are working at full speed to regulate the levels of channels and reservoirs in anticipation. However, the problems are many and landslides that can cut roads, damage buildings and destroy basic infrastructure are not minor. Why is this happening? Or, rather, why is it going to happen? And the key to all this is the combination between “it has already rained a lot” with “more is coming.” When the soil is near saturation (and, right now, it is), the extra rain is almost automatically transformed into runoff: streams and ravines grow quickly and the risk of flooding increases even without a specific “waterspout” being necessary. Here, therefore, the problem is not so much in the sky (that too) but in the orography. We will see persistent rains that will accumulate enormous amounts in a few hours and the insufficiency of drainage infrastructure will do the rest. In other words, if we have to summarize everything we are going to experience in the next few hours and days, the precise word is “be careful.” Great care. Image | ECMWF In Xataka | What seemed like a “festival of storms” has turned into a nightmare: AEMET prepares for “the highest hydrometeorological impacts in the world”

You are more likely to die on your birthday than the other 364 days of the year.

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Every year we blow out the candles to celebrate that we have circled the sun again; that we are still alive. For most, it is an early and joyful date, but the statistic hides a disturbing reality: the probability of dying is significantly higher on our birthday. The birthday effect. This is the name of this curious statistical phenomenon. It has been observed that mortality increases on the date of the birthday and also in the days close to it, both before and after. Although there are no figures at a global level, numerous studies have been carried out in different populations and in all of them an increase in deaths has been seen on these dates. Because? Studies. The birthday effect has been studied in different populations such as the United Kingdom, Switzerland, the United States, Ukraine, Russia and Japan. With more than 40 years of data, Switzerland has one of the largest studios about this phenomenon and the conclusion is devastating: there is an excess of deaths of 13.8% on birthdays. In the United States, data on more than 25 million deaths were verified and an excess mortality of 6.8% was detected on birthdays and nearby days. The most striking case is that of kyivwith an excess of deaths of 44.4%, although the sample was smaller (just over 100,000 deaths in a ten-year period). Differences by gender. One of the first studies that was done on this phenomenon was in California in 1992 and detected a curious difference between genders: men died more in the week before their birthday and women in the week after. Other studies, such as the one we mentioned from kyiv, have also seen a difference between genders, but focused on quantity: 44.4% of male deaths and 36.2% of female deaths. Age and seasonality. Other relevant patterns have been identified. In the United Statesexcess mortality exceeded 25% in the 20 to 29 year old group. Another revealing fact is the peak deaths on 21st birthdaywhich is just the legal drinking age. There are also times of the year where this effect is clearermainly the month of January. The causes. The main cause is related to typical risk activities in celebrations, mainly the consumption of alcohol and drugs that leads to overdoses or traffic accidents. It is also common for this date to generate an effect known as “birthday depression”a state associated with loneliness, trauma or fear of finitude, which increases suicide rates. In Japan, The risk of suicide increases by 50% on the birthday. Also has been studied in Hungarywhere the risk is 40% higher. Physiological and psychological theories. There are studies that have attempted to relate this excess mortality to physiological causessuggesting the existence of annual biological rhythms that could modulate the risk of death throughout the year. Others point to psychological or psychosomatic reasons: from seriously ill people who “hold on” until their birthday or deaths generated by their own awareness of mortality and the stress that this causes. Image | Imants Kaziļuns in Unsplash In Xataka | The great statistical hoax of life expectancy: it does not mean that in the past we lived less

$7,500 a month, but also marathon days

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Jeff Bezos paid about 500 million dollars for his yacht koru 125 meters long, and Mark Zuckerberg almost 300 million of dollars for your launchpad of 118 meters. It is estimated that, on average, the annual maintenance cost of these superyachts is from 10% annual of its price initial, so the bill to keep these luxury vessels afloat ranges between 20 and 50 million dollars a year. Within that budget Something essential for its operation must also be taken into account: a crew. In a recent video that yacht stewardess Florencia Mainet, better known as @florstewardesstold what her salary was as a head hostess and the high salaries charged in the sector. $7,500 a month. According to Mainet in one of his videosfor her work as chief steward on board a luxury yacht, she received a remuneration of about $7,500 a month, with a schedule from eight in the morning to four in the afternoon. As indicated in an interview for Infobaehis role as head of the hostesses was to organize the meals, drinks, activities and cleaning tasks that his team had to carry out. “It requires attention to detail, discretion, organization and a great service orientation,” commented Mainet. Life on board. However, Mainet acknowledges that “as a crew member, a day on board can vary greatly. It depends on whether there are guests or not,” and that is the key: whether the yacht owner makes intensive use of it or not. Mallorcan Esmée Yntema is also a yacht stewardess and, through your TikTok account his life on board luxury superyachts and the day-to-day work on board. As shown in his videos, the work on board the yacht is constant, but when the owner announces his arrival all the alarms go off because everything must be prepared to receive him. While the owner is on board, breaks are sporadic and the days extend beyond the 12 or 13 hours a day in which the crew’s rhythms of life are, basically, those marked by the owner. “The days are long. We practically start shortly before the clients arrive until they go to sleep,” said Yntema. The harshness of the high season. Something that Mainet, Yntema and someone else agree on. another testimony on networksis that during the high sailing season, the days are exhausting and the feeling of isolation and lack of communication on board puts the mental health of the workers to the test. In fact, Yntema put her career on hold for a few months “for the good of my mental health,” according to an interview published by last minute. “People think that on board a luxury yacht everything is glamorous but in reality, for the staff, it is very different,” said the stewardess. Mainet assures that salaries in the sector start at $4,500 for inexperienced yacht hostesses, but he also recognizes that life on board requires many sacrifices and one gives up being present at many family events due to having to be sailing. All-inclusive salary. As Mainet indicates, the monthly salary is full because it includes accommodation on the yacht itself. As shown in one of his videos Yntema, the accommodation consists of sharing a small cabin with a companion and a bathroom of just two square meters that also serves as a shower. However, one of the positive things that both hostesses highlight is that, in the food section, the meals are provided by professional chefs who prepare luxury dishes for both the owners and the crew. Sporadic luxury. Another advantage of working aboard a luxury yacht that both professionals highlight is that, in the few moments of rest they have during their day during the high season, but especially during the low season or when the owner is not on board, they can enjoy living aboard a luxury yacht and visit the best tourist destinations around the world during your day off. Feeling millionaires, even if it is in experiences. In Xataka | Under the infinity pools of luxury cruise ships there is no rest: 80-hour days seven days a week Image | Unsplash (Michael Worden)

up to four days of leave

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The derailment of an Iryo high-speed train and the alleged collision with an Alvia train that was traveling on the adjacent track has caused one of the most tragic railway accidents reminiscent of the Spanish railway system. The accident caused train circulation between Madrid and Andalusia to be instantly interrupted, leaving thousands of passengers. no options to return to their places of residence and without being able to return to work today. In this context, the UGT delegation in Andalusia has remembered from their social networks to companies and employees that this circumstance is among the assumptions contemplated by paid leave of up to four days due to “force majeure causes”, as previously happened before the DANA of Valencia. No rail traffic between Madrid and Andalusia. The accident occurred in the municipality of Adamuz (Córdoba), causing the suspension of railway traffic between Madrid and Andalusia, and without a clear date for the reopening of the service, given that rescue tasks and investigation of the event are still being carried out. The closure of train circulation has caused many employees to see how their trains suffered cancellations and they were trapped in their destinies without option to return to their homes and without a clear transportation alternative. Four-day paid leave. As a result of this total interruption of service, UGT has reminded through their social networks that he article 37.3 g of the Workers’ Statuterecognizes up to “four days for inability to access the workplace or travel through the necessary traffic routes to get there, as a consequence of the recommendations, limitations or prohibitions on movement established by the competent authorities.” This situation includes both those who regularly travel from Madrid to Andalusia by train and those who depend on transfers or connections affected by the closure of the line, provided that the mobility problem is a direct consequence of the incident and the decisions of the competent authorities. According to the union, this situation, which has left thousands of workers trapped in a community other than their own and without the immediate possibility of return, could benefit from this paid leave, provided that the company has been previously notified of the situation. Teleworking options. The measure contemplates in these cases the possibility of opting for alternatives such as teleworking until the causative event is normalized, as long as the affected employee has the possibility or option to carry it out. That is, your position allows it and you have the necessary technical means to telework until you find an alternative to return since you still no alternatives have been enabled and services such as rental cars They are saturated. The background of DANA. The measure was initially approved in response to natural disasters such as the one that devastated different towns in Valencia, Albacete and Málaga on October 29, 2024, but its application can be expanded beyond natural phenomena and also applied to accidents such as the one that occurred in Adamuz, which has disabled rail traffic between not only the line that connects Madrid with Seville with High Speed, but also with other branches to Málaga and Huelva. In Xataka | Thousands of employees cannot go to work after DANA. We already know how the Government is going to help them. Image | Flickr (Luis Fernando Franco Jimenez)

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