days

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)

Spain will go from -14ºC to warmer temperatures in days

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It’s not just a feeling when you go out this morning: Winter has decided to enter through the front door at the beginning of this year 2026. After a few years of warmer patterns, the current atmospheric configuration has opened a direct corridor from the Arctic to the peninsula that has undoubtedly left many of us frozen. The temperatures. Throughout all of Spain we have been able to see really low temperaturessuch as Madrid, which woke up today at -2 °C, but the capital is almost a thermal oasis compared to the rest of the country. In Burgos, the wind has plummeted the thermal sensations down to -13 °C, and in the “proverbial” cold area of ​​Molina de Aragón (Guadalajara), the thermometer has reached -14 °C. We are facing an episode of extreme cold that has put half of Spain on yellow, orange or even red alert. What is happening. What we are experiencing is not an isolated event, but the result of a meteorological coincidence. The key is in an anticyclonic block located in northern Europe, which is a wall of high pressure that has forced air masses to circulate along its southern flank, channeling polar and continental air directly towards our latitudes. to this The storm Francis has joined itwhich has left significant rainfall and snowfall throughout Spain. Its position has acted as a suction pump, facilitating the entry of this mass of arctic air and causing not only the collapse of thermometers, but also snowfall at unusually low levels. A thermal ‘scooper’. The AEMET had to activate the red notice in the Parameras de Molina, a landmark that is not seen every winter. Some of the most notable temperatures that we have detected, for example, are the following: Molina de Aragón (Guadalajara): -14 °C. Burgos: wind chill of -13 °C due to the combination of frost and wind. Madrid (Retiro/Barajas): -2 °C, with minimums in the periphery, such as in Alcalá de Henares, dropping to -6.7 °C. Sierra Nevada: extreme minimums of up to -17 °C. How long is it going to last? The truth is that the intense cold will continue throughout the day, as it did during the early hours of January 7th. This makes the red notices in Guadalajara and orange in the northern interior They will remain active until mid-morning. But starting January 8, the Arctic air mass will begin to withdraw from the peninsula, making the weekend much milder than the previous one. In fact, forecasts indicate that by the weekend we could go from one extreme to the other, with temperatures 1 to 3 °C above average for this time of year. This will take us from ice to ‘almost hot’ in a matter of days with maximums of around 16 °C on Tuesday, January 13. A new storm. Beyond the temperatures, we must keep in mind that between January 8 and 9, Storm Goretti will form, and that it will also experience explosive cyclogenesis, as the AEMET points out. Its impact will be mainly in the central European countries and in Spain its impact will be less, although it will temporarily generate maritime wind or rain in the north. Images | AEMET In Xataka | The “tropicalization” of the atmosphere is going to change Spain and not exactly for the better

NASA has had its ships exposed to hackers for three years. An AI discovered it in just four days

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If there is a place where they should be open to any type of communication, it should be in a space agency. And it is no longer just a cinematic issue (although it has gone to great lengths to delve into that topic in the cinema), it is that communications are critical: from things as mundane as explaining that all processes are going well, to anomalies, to the specific future of a mission. Getting your hands on the communications of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has to be a real treat and not only to boycott the American entity, but also to access confidential information or even to develop conspiracy theories that dismantle that man will reach the moon. Well, as incredible as it may seem, hacking NASA has been easier than you might think. Three years exposed and billions of dollars at stake And it hasn’t just been a little while: communications between Earth and NASA spacecraft have suffered a critical vulnerability for three years against possible computer attacks. Nor was it trivial: that breach in security could have allowed attackers to take over space missions like the agency’s rovers on Mars. The consequence would not have been cheap either: it poses a threat to billions of dollars in space infrastructure and the performance of these missions. Vulnerabilities are usually detected when it is too late or thanks to the action of researchers, although in this case it was the work of artificial intelligence, more specifically a cybersecurity algorithm integrated into AISLE security software, whose objective is to protect communications between spacecraft and terrestrial systems. This vulnerability had gone unnoticed by human eyes in multiple code reviews throughout that time. However, this autonomous AI-based analyzer detected it and helped correct it in four days, account the team of the Californian startup. As detailed, the fault was in the authentication system and to take advantage of it you only needed to have operator credentials. A little social engineering such as phishing or infecting computers to obtain usernames and passwords of NASA workers would be enough to make this possible. From here, something as common as authentication would become a weapon to, for example, inject commands that are executed with full privileges to access the system. The consequences could be fatal: from intercepting data to hijacking a ship. The only “good” thing about this vulnerability is that it was an essential requirement to execute it on the system locally, which obviously reduces the risk compared to remote. The integration of systems with AI in collaboration with humans is the order of the day and although in this case it has been the machine that has brought out the colors for the team of people, it is worth remembering that with the fall of half the internet because of Amazon servers, the responsibility fell on automation: It was the operators who had to intervene to fix it manually. In Xataka | NASA finds ‘space gum’ and glucose on Bennu: we now have the missing ingredient to explain the origin of life In Xataka | NASA invites you to send your name to the Moon for free. Behind it there is something more than a simple symbolic gesture Cover | Photo of NASA Hubble Space Telescope in Unsplash

Toledo has stretched its Christmas season to last 49 days and attract more tourists. Some neighbors think it’s a bad idea.

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Day of celebration for some. Outrageous to others. The one of Friday, November 21 It was a night of conflicting feelings in Toledo. While the City Council celebrated the official switching on of its Christmas lights (the early risers of its history) a group of neighbors gathered in the historic center to protest the ‘bill’ of mass Christmas tourism. For them, long celebrations of 49 days (until January 8) marked by crowds and difficulties in continuing with their lives. The (mega)Christmas. They do not reach the height of Vigo, which turned on its lights November 15 and probably won’t turn them off until well into Januarybut Christmas in Toledo will be much longer than usual this year. The City Council decided advance one week the implementation of its lighting and redoubling its commitment to attract tourists: if in 2024 the red button is pressed on November 29in 2025 it was activated the 21stwhen they started to shine 1.1 million LEDs100,000 more than a year ago. The result: Christmas brighter and more extensive that are remembered in the Castilian-La Mancha town. A percentage: 94.25%. The bet seems to have gone well for the City Council, which a few days ago he stuck out his chest due to the flood of tourists it received during the Constitution and Immaculate Bridge. According to the data provided by its Tourism Councilor, the city achieved a hotel occupancy of 94.25%, which, he emphasizes, consolidates it as “one of the preferred destinations” for visitors. As a reference, the year-on-year increase in visits has exceeded 47%. Visitors came to Toledo from Madrid, Valencia, Barcelona, ​​Seville, other towns in the province of Toledo and even travelers from France, Italy, Argentina and the USA. The tourist boom was not limited to just the long weekend. Although Christmas has not yet started as such, The Spanish posted last week a series of photos that show that the historic center of the city was crowded again on the weekend of December 13 and 14. One coin, two sides. Greater influx of visitors usually translates (not always) in more business for restaurants, more guests in hotels and a greater number of potential clients for commerce. In Toledo, however, there are those who has raised his voice to warn that all this does not come for free to the city. And not just because of the cost of Christmas decorations. The same Friday that the mayor presided over the ceremony a group of residents of the historic center turning on the lights they concentrated to denounce the impact that crowds and mass tourism have on their lives. Is it something new? No. The debate on tourism (and its impact) it’s not new in Toledo. In fact, a few months ago the City Council gave the green light to an ordinance that seeks precisely to “promote a balanced coexistence between visitors and neighbors” and sets limits to the use of megaphones or tourist groups. This Christmas, however, the patience of the neighbors seems to have been exhausted. First for the phenomenon of Christmas tourismwhich transcends to other areas of Spain. Second, because this year Toledo has decided stretch your holidays. “Dangerous streets”. The most critical residents warn of the saturation of the historic center and how this affects their daily lives. After all, those who live in tourist areas are forced to continue with their routines (working, shopping, walking the dog…) with the streets crowded with visitors. “There are a lot of people circulating. I understand that they come to do tourism, to enjoy themselves, but they should be aware that there are people living there who are carrying out their normal daily lives,” explains to elDiario Natacha, a neighbor of the Historic Center who complains about the “overcrowding” on weekends. One of her neighbors, Carmen, goes even further and warns: “The streets are becoming dangerous.” And what is the solution? There is who poses distribute the tourist offer throughout the town to decongest the historic center and seek a “more livable” city model. One thing is clear: Toledo is forced to deal with two realities that seem to collide with each other. A, the discomfort on the part of its inhabitants with the agglomerations, something that is clear with their protests. The other reality is that tourism is a fundamental (and inalienable) source of wealth for the region. In 2023, for example, it assumed 7.3% of GDP of Castilla-La Mancha. Beyond Toledo. Toledo is not the only city that has encountered such a dilemma. In Vigo too have registered protests of neighbors and groups critical of the Christmas lights phenomenon, which according to the City Council attracts several million of visitors to the city in a matter of two months. Perhaps the most critical voice is that of the Vigo Central Zone Neighborhood Association, which complaint that the holidays become “a period of circulatory chaos, mobility problems, security problems, dirt and noise and light pollution in the heart of the city.” Your complaints already They have arrived at the court. Images | Toledo City Council In Xataka | There is a reason why Vigo is announcing its Christmas in Japan. And it has little to do with Japanese tourists

dealers doubt 20 days after its application

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It was presented on December 4 and promises to be active on January 2, 2026. That day, if everything goes ahead, we will be able to go to the dealership, commit our electric car and see a discount on the final bill. That, at least, is what was promised the day the Auto+ Plan was presented. The last to doubt this: the dealers. The presentation. It’s been eight days since The Auto+ Plan was presenteda purchase assistance program framed within the Auto Plan 2030a transversal strategy to promote the electric car and general improvements in the mobility of our country. The star measure: direct discounts on the purchase of electric cars. It is a decision that meets the demands of buyers and manufacturers who have been asking for this measure for years to encourage the expansion of this type of vehicles. And it is that, with the MOVES III Plan and in all previous editions, the delivery of aid was delayed in some cases by up to 18 months. many doubts. Despite the announcement, many doubts remained floating in the air: It is not known how much aid for electric cars will amount to. It is not known if the aid will also cover the purchase of plug-in hybrids. It is not known if the aid will have to be declared in the income tax return, although if it is applied as a discount to the purchase it is likely that this will not be the case. It has been announced that Aid from the MOVES III Plan will be covered that have not been entered but it has not been clarified how long we are talking about. To be restless. When this Auto+ Plan was announced we could expect that all agents were aware and had agreed. Much more so if we take into account that there are 20 days left until the new purchase aid is available. But the truth is that dealers are revealing their doubts. According to The Economistthe concessionaires are negotiating with the Ministry of Industry the delivery of the aid but they have a red line: they will not advance the aid. From Xataka We have contacted Faconauto, the dealer association in Spain, but they have refused to comment on the matter. The problem, they point out from the media, is that the concessionaires do not have sufficient financial health to advance the money if the State extends its subsequent income. According to data from Facoauto itself, the profitability of the sector is only 1.38% and three out of every ten dealerships are in losses. The Valencian case. One of the proposals that had been put on the table was to act the same as with the Restart Auto+ Plan when Up to 10,000 euros in aid were offered for buyers of an electric car after the DANA in Valencia. The objective was to take advantage of the forced renewal of the automobile fleet with the delivery of electric cars. Then we worked with the idea that the aid money would be deducted from the total payment for the vehicle. However, the bureaucracy made an appearance again to the point that some dealers advanced aid to customers with a discount on the purchase at the expense of their request being later approved but without prior acceptance through. In The Economist They point out that the dealers remember that this way of acting was only carried out by some brands, delivering the car before having approval for help. Furthermore, they remember that the Valencian case was exceptional and that it is difficult for something similar to be applied on a state level if they do not have the State’s commitment to deliver aid in a short period of time. 20 days left. Now, with this position of the concessionaires in front of us, the Government has less than three weeks to negotiate aid that was announced for January 2, 2026. A complex situation that is reminiscent of the last extensions of the MOVES III Plan. It must be remembered that in February 2024the Government has already promised to provide aid for the purchase of electric cars with a discount on the contract. Throughout that year, this possibility was delayed until the renewal of the MOVES III Plan arrived with the same conditions as always. That same aid program fell when meeting within the Omnibus Decree lying by the Congress of Deputies despite being announced and active. Months later, in April 2025, the MOVES III Plan came back… with the same problems as always. That is, with a management that left the client at the expense of collecting the aid until 18 months had passed in some cases. Photo | Robin Le Mee and Mohamed B. In Xataka | The best time to buy a “cheap electric car” will be never: at least that’s what Skoda thinks

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