empty

After the civil war, Franco wanted to colonize empty Spain. So 300 new villages were invented

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Throughout Spain there are more than 8,100 municipalitieslarge and small villages, coast, mountain, bathed by the waters of the Cantabrian, the Atlantic or of Mediterranean climate. There are also very old, such as Brañoserafounded in the ninth century, and others so recent that their first inhabitants can still tell us about their origins. This is the case of the 300 populations promoted by the Franco dictatorship as part of its colonization policy. The peoples “Invented” By Franco. A figure: 55,000. The idea is so crazy, so huge, that often It is said which motivated one of the population displacements most important of the Spain of the twentieth century. Between 1940 and 1970 The Franco regime founded around 300 locations in 27 provinces (half in Andalusia and Extremadura) that ended up causing the displacement of 55,000 familiespeople who a good day made their bags and left their native municipalities attracted by the promises of these new -wedge settlements. “Peoples of Colonization”. The colossal project was developed under the auspices of the National Institute of Colonization (the Incan entity created After the civil war To carry out the Franco agricultural policy) and their promises were of course suggestive: families willing to move to the new settlements were offered homes and wide irrigation lands in which a future is carved. All this in property. At least in theory. Input, the settlers had to meet certain requirements. The lots were supposedly distributed by raffle, although there are who holds That not all candidates started with the same possibilities: Ideally was that they were part of large families (with children willing to work) and adjusted to the archetype dreamed by Francoism: devout, laborious Catholics and to be possible Without links With reprisals. Nor did everyone start with the same conditions. As remember ABCin 1945 the government approved an order that regulated how the colonists could access the houses, something that depended on their savings. Under the tutelage of the INC. Who could advance part of the value of the land (20%) entered a phase that the INC called “access to property”. Then they had to pay the rest of the amount to become owners of their homes and farms. The thing changed for the humblest settlers. They had to spend five years in “Tutela period”, a stage during which the Institute supervised what they cultivated and remained a portion of the crops as payment. Villalba de Calatrava, a town of colonization of the Calatrava Campo (Ciudad Real) Campo. How long did they spend like this? Depends. ABC appointment A town where that tutelage lasted until almost the end of the 60s, a time to which the families had to add the “access to property” stage. The newspaper also speaks of 25 -year deadlines to finish paying the lands (30 in the case of homes) with more than considerable interests, 3% or even 7%. To complete the picture, the INC had a structure that was in charge of “guardianship” the families of settlers through intermediate charges. In the first place were the agronomists, authors of the plans. Its guidelines passed to the expert and below this was the Mayoral, who supervised the farmers. And what was the goal? With the new settlement the Franco regime pursued several objectives. The program served to boost the Agrarian transformation (With irrigation extensions), expand the cultivable area, repopulate and transform the Spanish field, but also had an ideological background. With the new settlements, many baptized with names that They mentioned to the new regime and its referents (Caudillo Alberche, Villafranco del Guadiana either Águeda del Caudillo), The dictatorship also sought to project a new image and feed its advertising. The expansion of the new villages coincided with The bet of the dictatorship by hydraulic infrastructure. “The political strategy of the new State replaces the redistribution of the land (objective of the Second Republic) with a colonization policy based on the transformation of the rural that allowed to settle in villages of colonization a self -sufficient peasant”, Remember from the Ministry of Agriculture, on which the National Institute depended after its creation, in October 1939. A program with lights … The colonization policy of Francoism had social, economic, agricultural and even “undeniable” repercussions, such as They recognize From the ministry. And not only because the creation of hundreds of villages for Repopulation of the ’emptied Spain’ and postwar. Among the displaced there were those who, upon their arrival at the settlements, found infrastructures and unimaginable services in the villas from which they came. “When we got here it was like dreaming awake,” He recounts The country A retired farmer who arrived in Villalba in Calatrava (Ciudad Real) with his parents in 1964, when he was 12 years old. “There was a bathroom, with its cup and sink. In those years that had no one! He was very small, but having something like that was out of series.” The idea was that in the new settlements the settlers could opt for a house in fertile property and lands, contributing in passing to the economy of postwar Spain and the conversion of fields into irrigation. … And also with shadows. Not everything was positive. Despite the promises of housing and lands, many settlers to reach the property cost them years of sweat delivering part of their crops. “We were slaves,” confesses a The country Another old settler of The Bazanawhere he arrived with just 17 or 18 years. In 2018, already after 85, he remembered: “They paid you what they wanted for the crops, and then there came a point where they stopped buying them because the beans from Badajoz were very expensive.” The cultivation of the new lands was not always simple, just as it was not to follow the guidelines marked by the engineers and major people of the town. Others left their lifelong locations to move to new wedge settlements in which they had no roots, they were surrounded by strangers and (sometimes) they met half -finished works. “When … Read more

The Artikutza reservoir in Navarra has remained empty despite the rains. His destiny is another: the demolition

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The rains of recent months have caused many of the reservoirs of the Peninsula to go from practically dry due to drought to recover flows more typical of normality. That is not the case of the Artikutza reservoir, a Navarrese reservoir located near the border between the Foral Community and Gipuzkoa. The reason is that the Artikutza reservoir is a dead reservoir, and its prey, as we know it, has the days counted. Green light to demolition (partial). The San Sebastián City Council It is prepared For the partial demolition of the Artikutza dam as reported by local authorities. The infrastructure, in disuse for more than 20 years will be measured so that the so -called Enobieta regatta, whose flow retained the prey leads to the Añarbe River without having to cross the infrastructure pipes. The works are expected to begin in 2026. Wasn’t we in Navarra? According to He tells Iñigo GarcíaCouncilor for the Environment of the Donostiarra Consistory, to Efeverdethe history of the Artikutza reservoir begins in 1919, when the City Council bought some land next to the population of Artikutza, in the north of Navarra in order to build a reservoir that supplied water to the coastal municipality. The dam never was fully filled: in 1948, geological problems were detected that limited the filling capacity of the reservoir to approximately half of the planned volume. In spite of this, the reservoir was the main source of water supply of the Guipuzcoan capital between 1960 and 1976, when downstream entered into the service of the Añarbe reservoir, of a much higher volume to face the population growth of the city. A spoiled dam. In 1992 the reservoir stopped supplying water to the municipality of Donostia, but its final decline would begin ten years later, in 2002. This year, a failure in the electrical maneuver Reservoir coffin. Reservoir that would end emptying more than a decade laterbetween 2017 and 2019. A duct in the lower part of the dam allows the small regato to flow with hardly any restrictions, but the new project seeks to further facilitate the transit of the river and avoid risks derived from the accumulation of sediments. A partial demolition. We indicated at the beginning that the demolition of the dam would be partial and not total. The Donostiarra Consistory considered three demolition options: the total demolition, the partial and the possibility of maintaining the current channeling to maintain an open passage. Finally, the decision was favorable to the partial demolition, which implies the opening of the dam through a vertical cleft of seven meters wide below one of the old reliefs of the dam. This would allow recovering the natural flow of the river avoiding at the same time A cumbersome work in a protected natural environment and complex access. Protect fauna. Now the question fits, and all this for what? The possibility of leaving things as they were was on the table. However, it was considered that the opening of the dam was an ideal way of guaranteeing biological connectivity without the risk that the accumulation of sediments will hinder the passage of water and animals. There are several species whose conservation has been influenced when explaining the ecological impact of the project. The first is The Iberian Desman (Pyrenaicus Galemys)an animal that also receives the nickname of the “Spanish ornitorrinco”. This animal is one of the most threatened mammal species of our environment and has a small population in this hydrographic basin. The authorities also highlight the existence of “Bat populations of much biological interest” that inhabit the interior of the dam. In Xataka | “Thank you so much, reservoirs.net”: Spanish men are developing a peculiar obsession with swamps Image | Ksarasola / Eider Palmou

Tariffs are ballasting imports from China to EUU and stir a ghost: empty shelves

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Things do not go as planned in the port of Los Angeles, one of The great terminals of US containers trafficking. Its responsible expected the arrival of 80 ships throughout May, but 20%have been canceled, according to He explained this week to the CNN Gene Seroka chain, its executive director. And it is not the only drop in activity that has suffered. “This week we have dropped about 35% compared to the same period last year,” he adds. The collapse really has little mysterious. It comes after him Tariff pulse Between Washington and Beijing and the application of tariffs to many other countries. Of what Start to speak Now in the US it is What will come After that drop in imports and, most importantly, if it will translate into price increases and empty shelves. More tariffs, less reservations. The sector looked to come. The commercial war initiated by Trump and its tariff climbing with Beijing It soon perceived In port operators and shipping companies, especially in those that operate the Transatlantic routesbetween the US and Asia. In April the CEO of Flexport He warned that maritime container reserves from China to the US had collapsed 60% during the three weeks following the entry into force of new fees. And in the ports of southern California (keys in commerce with China) the traffic of cargueros of the Asian giant deflated 29% between the end of April and early May. That was the prelude. The big question was … What would come later? A percentage: 50%. After several weeks and without an agreement between Washington and Beijing that allows the 145% tariff To Chinese exports, a “puncture” in the flow of goods are already found at the US docks. A good part of the ships that arrive on the other side of the Pacific (the first after the climb of the tariffs) do so half empty. It recognizes it for example the executive director of the port of Los Angeles, who Talk about a fall In China imports aboard ships of more than 50%. “And these ships are the first to be affected by the tariffs that were imposed on China and other places last month,” Remember Seroka. “That is why the load volume is so low.” There are importers who have directly canceled orders because US companies are not willing to take care of tariffs and retailers who have chosen to maintain merchandise in Chinese warehouses. The most predictive. The fear of the trade war in fact led not a few companies to advance their imports to avoid tariffs, which explains that the US trade deficit increased 14% in March until it is located in 140.5 billion dollars. In April, container imports also grew (9.1%) for the same reason, but ports of the ports They already warn That this trend, driven by haste to buy before the entry into force of the rates, will disappear in May. In the port of Los Angeles, the great entrance door of Chinese products to the USA, They waited this week That the import load was 35% lower than last year and it is already noted that May maritime traffic can fall by 20%. The reason: ship operators cancel their trips because there is no demand. The National Federation of Retailers in fact provides that imports to the US At least 20% Interannual in the second half of the year, a percentage that for JP Morgan could rise to 75 or 80% if we talk specifically about the merchandise of China. And what will that mean? That is the big question. That tariffs affect load traffic is not relevant only for shipping companies and port directors. After all, they are only intermediaries. “A 60% decrease in containers means 60% less products arrival,” Remember Ryan PetersenExecutive Director of Flexport in the CNN chain. “It’s just a matter of time that the existing stock is exhausted, and then we will see shortage. And it will be when price increases are noticed.” In his opinion, if the trend continues and inventories are exhausted in summer, “empty shelves” in stores could be seen. Supply chain earrings. Petersen is not the only one who shares that concern. At the end of April, just before Trump went down the tone with the Federal Reserve and soften its position with respect to China, Axios revealed That the executive directors of Walmart, Target and Home Depot, three chains with large glue in the US, launched a warning to Trump: over time prices will rise and can reach a scenario of empty shelves. In fact the CNBC It already prevents that the fall of orders to China and the collapse of the reserves on load ships is approaching the supply chain to its critical point. It is not a minor issue. In 2024 US imported merchandise from China for a value of 438.9 billion of dollars and there are sectors in which their weight is fundamental: last year about 37% of clothing and footwear that reached the US market from other countries was “Made in China.” Images | Barrett Ward (UNSPLASH) In Xataka | While the US is obsessed with tariffs, China has a weapon that is going unnoticed: the bureaucracy

The plan to empty in six days its islands closest to Taiwan

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Two news in recent months have ended up becoming a revealing announcement. The first occurred at the end of January, when many of the Sakishima Islands (the closest to Taiwan) began a series of a series of any weekend Evacuation drills. Shortly after, Japan made a historical decision: deploy long -range missiles In some of these islands. How much? Enough to get to China. Now, in the face of doubts to a war conflict, it has officialized a plan. Evacuate mission. Japan has presented for the first time A formal plan To evacuate more than 100,000 civilians, including residents and tourists, of the remote islands near Taiwan, specifically Sakishima archipelagolocated at the southwest end of the country. The plan occurs in a context of growing military tension In the Taiwan Strait, where the threat of a possible Chinese invasion has generated concern in Tokyo and the international community. To be exact, the measure includes the evacuation of Approximately 110,000 residents and 10,000 tourists through the mobilization of ships and airplanes to eight prefectures of Western and Southwestern Japan, with the goal of completing the operation in a Maximum period of six days. The evacuees would be initially transferred to the island of Kyushu and from there distributed to different destinations that are already being prepared with temporary accommodations. Military and drill preparations. As we said at the beginning, the drills have been carried out In the last datesbut without great explanations about the main reason. Now, and as part of the reinforcement of security and logistics preparation, the Japanese government has announced that as of April next year it will carry out Evacuation exercises In the Sakishima Islands, which are part of the Okinawa Prefecture, a key region that houses almost 50,000 American soldiers and that has historically been considered strategic for the defense of Japan. In addition, and as we count a few days ago, the installation of units of Surface-Aire missiles on the island of Yonagunilocated only 100 km from Taiwan, and the construction of provisional underground shelters, equipped with food and supplies for at least two weeks. These measures seek to improve defense capacity in the event of an eventual attack and ensure the protection of local populations. Increasing tensions. Although the evacuation plan does not explicitly mention Taiwan, it is evident that the growing possibility that the self -governor island (claimed by China as part of its territory) becomes the epicenter of a military conflict has been the trigger for the initiative. China ha Increased military pressure About Taiwan in recent years and has not ruled out the use of force to Force “reunification”. The precedent of the Russian invasion to Ukraine and the hardening positions Geopolitics, especially after Donald Trump’s return to the presidency of the United States, has increased the fear that the Taiwan Strait becomes the next great focus of conflict in Asia. United States and the weakness of the alliance. Possibly, the key reason that has led to Japan to missile implantation long range and to formalize an evacuation plan is uncertainty with the United States. In fact, the evacuation plan has been widely Extended in Taiwanwhere it has generated worrying interpretations about the reliability of regional alliances. Many Taiwanese and local analysts see the Japanese initiative as a sign that Tokyo does not trust In which Washington, under the policy of “America First” of Trump, maintains your commitment to defense against a conflict in the Strait. To this we must add the Recent statements from Trumpquestioning the reciprocity of the United States-Japan Security Treaty and highlighting that Tokyo It is not obliged To defend the United States in case of aggression, which has accentuated these concerns. A culture broth that has led to the perception that Japan is preparing “discreetly” to ensure its withdrawal of vulnerable areas without depending on US intervention. Reinforce regional defense. As we also said, Japan, in addition to the evacuation and militarization of the Sakishima Islands, has intensified its defensive strategy through the planned deployment of long -range missiles In Kyushu, expanding its ability to respond to threats from the Asian continent. Simultaneously, the Senkaku Islandsdisputed with China and administered by Japan, continue to be a friction point that could further complicate security in the region. The Japanese government has made it clear that all these measures are part of a comprehensive strategy Based on the forecast of “imminent armed attacks”, as Yoshimasa Hayashi, chief secretary of the Cabinet said. Vulnerability in the islands. The population of the most exposed islands shares government concern. In this regard, The Guardian told That Gen Nakatani, Minister of Defense, recently recognized the “strong sense of crisis” that is perceived among the inhabitants of these islands, who have historically witnessed the territorial disputes and military maneuvers in the region. The proximity of Yonaguni and other islands of the archipelago to the Strait of Taiwan, as well as the growing presence of China in the surrounding waters, make the feeling of threat constant. Therefore, the combination of planned evacuationstrengthening shelters, Armament deployment And cooperation with Washington, despite tensions, has a fairly clear objective: reinforce Japan’s resilience to a possible military escalation. Image | US Pacific Fleet In Xataka | Japan has made a historical decision in the face of the uncertainty of the US: to display missiles that reach North Korea and China In Xataka | The Japan islands closest to Taiwan have begun to evacuate the area. They have been preparing for the worst for two years

Spain is importing a US tactic to empty deceased houses: turn them into temporary markets

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Surely you will have seen dozens of times in American movies. Suddenly someone wants to empty a house for whatever reason, because it was the apartment of a freshly deceased relative, because he has to move or simply because he has realized that he has the attic upso organize a market in the house itself. It even has a name: Estate goes out. A kind of Wallapop face -to -face and dedicated to a single home in which everything is sold, from cutlery to shoes, passing through coats, furniture, pictures or crockery. More and more that image of the markets in houses is ceasing to be a Hollywood resource to become common (and helpful) in Spain. A house (and a market). Among vintage stores, normal rakes and households there is an intermediate point: “Housing markets”. His name says it all. They are houses that open to the public so that people can happen, browse what is inside and then decide if they want to take any of their objects, previously inventoried, priced in detail and labeled. From some golf sticks to a coat, a closet, a table, a lamp, a game of cups or skis. In the houses there is everything. In the Estate goes outalso. In fact, it is common to see in the US movies a variant that usually celebrated outdoors and organize the owners of the house with all kinds of articles rescued from the attic, the so -called Garage Saleseither Yard salts. Click on the image to go to Tweet. Objective: Empty houses. The goal is double: empty a house and find new owner to old objects. All of that of course prior payment of the amounts in which each article has been applied. There is no A single reason by which the emptying of a house is reached, although a usual reason is that its owner has died or will no longer live in it because it moves. When that happens, you have to think what to do with everything you leave behind, from furniture to clothes. After all, if any houses are deposits in which, over the years, memories and objects accumulate. With the former you can load, bad that. For the latter, something that does not always abound is needed: space. Question of moving … or deceased. “There is everything here. People who want to empty the floor because he inherited it from their grandparents and do not want to see their belongings in a garbage can and cases like this, which is a rental floor and its tenants must leave it,” I lightened recently to Commerce Marola Argüelles, from Vintage ordera firm of Home Market. While talking with the newspaper he organized a market in a house in Oviedo. “There are many reasons to empty a house”, Another company in the sector coincides. “From a trip for work to the other side of the world, to more sad reasons such as the houses of our elders or after a change in our family structure such as moving, a retirement or a divorce.” But are they celebrated in Spain? And so much. It comes with giving A lap By Google and Bavers the local press to find a good handful of examples. Throughout the last months, markets have been organized in homes in Oviedo, Lion, Seville either Madrid. And that to quote only a handful of cases. In the center of the capital, on Bravo Murillo Street, one was held in autumn that helps to better understand how and why this kind of Wallapops face -to -face and thematic. On that occasion the empty apartment, He recounts The SpanishHe had served a marriage. He already died. She, a woman over 90, lives in a residence. The goal of the market was to give a second life to the objects they had left on the floor: furniture, figures, garments, a sofa … the appointment attracted dozens of people, from curious to antiquers or an art seller to which to observe the objects in their environment. “It is not the same as in a market.” Who organizes it? Professionals who have found in the Estate goes out A business to explode in Spain. An example is Clear spacewhich describes his work of Simple form: “We empty your house, but before we take care of whatever you do not want, giving a second life and receiving money in return.” A few months ago the firm’s driver, Blanca de Carlos explained to The confidential that became familiar with this kind of markets in houses during the time he lived in the US. Already back to Spain and after the death of his father he realized the advantages that the service would have. Your signature is not the only one dedicated to emptying houses and organizing markets. Order architecture, The circular Market, Vintage order, Myhome, Antiquae, Antico Sevilla Interiors… They are businesses with a similar approach and that facilitate the emptying of houses and the organization of markets in the house itself to prevent those furniture, clothing and objects in general that they no longer want (or can have) their owners end up in a container, the clean point or a storage point. The art of emptying. The details of each case may vary, but it is common for emptying work and markets Visit system Concerted to avoid agglomerations, the pieces are recorded and tasan and the company that manages the appointments is carried A percentage of all sales. The objective, companies recognize, is that there is “nothing without selling” in homes, so the prices that can usually be affordable. Images | LEUMAS_1974 (Flickr) and Wikipedia In Xataka | In the United States there is a new type of party that already moves crowds and has a waiting list: those who read

The copita before sleep to reconcile the dream has a very high price. And goes beyond empty calories

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Alcohol is something cultural. We provide as a way to celebrate any event and, although it seems that new generations have given a Volantazo to consumption habitsin America, Asia and Europe we drink a lot, a lot of alcohol. So much that The seven countries that lead the list They are European and there are even those who traditionally have a drink – or two – as a tool to reconcile sleep. Ignoring Other implications in our body And overlooking the alleged benefit because it acts as a sedative, making us reconcile the dream before, the studies confirm that drinking alcohol to sleep is a terrible idea. Well. It is curious, but for a while, “there was the idea that drinking in moderation was good for health.” Are the words to National Geographic by Ian Colrain, president and director of a research institute that he has published various studies about insomnia and alcohol consumption before sleeping. Now, it may seem exaggerated, but popular culture is full of references to how a suck of alcohol before sleep is beneficial. Also, the advertising He took care of this, just as there were studies that claimed that tobacco was Well. It is always interesting to look where the financing of these studies comes from. But well, Colrain completed his speech commenting that the approach had changed thanks to the studies, pointing out that “there are no real health benefits in drinking.” And that includes fighting insomnia. Cup before sleeping. Insomnia is a problem for millions of people. Although the idea we have to ‘sleep well’ is related to ‘sleep of the pull’, It seems that it is a myth and that we are entering and leaving the different stages of sleep. Even waking us several times during the night without realizing. But reconciling the dream, as we say, is a problem and a nuisance, something that there are adults who seek to remedy with a drink before sleeping. AND No milkprecisely. Although it is demonstrated that Coffee, alcohol and tobacco are our enemies When we want to fall asleep, among many othersColrain argued that, although many seems to have a good idea before bedtime, the price to pay is a worse quality in sleep. Sleep worse. Logic seems overwhelming: a -o some- drinks before sleeping can have a sedative effect, which helps us reconcile the dream before when we get into bed. The problem is that, although there are sleep -related myths, which is a repairing activity is not one of them. In fact, in sleep deprivation experiments that have been carried out with animals, Most die After a month. “The dream is designed to provide us with a kind of heart holiday, reducing heart rate or blood pressure,” said Colrain. The problem is that “with alcohol, the heart rate rises and, if you take several glasses before bedtime, you will go to bed with a high heart rate.” How many glasses are necessary. In a study Published in 2021, Colrain and his team compared the effects of high, low and zero consumption in alcohol from half an hour to two hours before bedtime. High supposed four drinks for men and three for women; Bajo were two drinks for men and one for women. The group that took placebo ingested without alcohol. What they discovered was that both high and low consumption increased heart rate. Others studies They have focused on ReM sleep, which is the phase in which most dreams occur and it is a fundamental part of those “vacation for the organism” that we have during the night. If that ReM dream does not fulfill its purpose, We will wake up worse. Not a single test. Researchers and sleep doctors have argued in recent years that there is no evidence that any amount of alcohol improves sleep quality. As we say, what they have discovered is that, although drinks may help us sleep more deeply due to the aforementioned sedative effect, Rem sleep cycles are going to be constantly interrupted during the night, so you will really have slept worse. Irony. In the long run -although it depends on the person, since each one metabolizes alcohol in a different way -alcohol can produce precisely the opposite. Sleep disorders have been related to alcohol consumption, which forms a vicious circle in people who have left alcohol. According to Colrain, “sleep disorders are a clear route of relapse” by making people who have depends again on the promise of that better dream thanks to the cup before sleeping. Solutions. Obviously, they are not in alcohol. For years, science has tried to answer the question of How to fall asleep fasterwith multitude of tricks and strategies. The problem is that there is no clear answer. Colrain told National Geographic that something we can do is drink a glass of milk or an infusion without tein or caffeine. It also helps to have routines with the same schedule every day before sleep and we can Listen to a podcastbut nothing too lively like one of crimes. And, of course, forget a copazo before going to bed. Images | Jeff Siepman, Solving Healthcare In Xataka | There is an optimal way to control our alcohol consumption (at least according to this group of scientists)

Fry taxes to empty houses and second residences

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Madrid or Barcelona are not the only major European metropolis that They look with trouble his Residential Market. In London they deal with some triggered rentals (some study place the average price in almost 40 pounds by m2), the pressure exerted by the foreign investors and tens of thousands of empty properties. Already in 2023 his mayor, Sadiq Khan, talked about “scandal” which supposes that in the British capital there were 30,000 houses and floors without use while its inhabitants faced “a housing crisis”. To solve it, in London they have Moved file Using one of its great tools: the tax burden. Retouching taxes. The news The newspaper progresses The Telegraph: The authorities of Wandswortha district of London, have decided to update their taxes penalizing those owners who have empty houses and apartments in their territory. To be more precise, to the municipal rates of homes that remain more than a year empty and without furnished will be applied A 100% surcharge. The measure will be adopted from April and confirms the effort of the British authorities for taking the properties that are now unoccupied to the rent or sale market. Until now, in Wandsworth, disuse housing already faced a similar surcharge, but as long as they remained empty for more than two years, a ‘grace period’ that will now be cut in half. More empty time, more paid. A 100% increase is considerable, but those who maintain disused properties for longer will risk much larger penalties. According to The Telepraghthe owners of houses that have been empty for five years will see how that percentage rises to 200% and in the case of the properties that are not used for a decade, it will further shoot, to 300%. The rates will also be more burdensome for those who have second homes, furnished properties but are not used as the main home. In those cases, twice the corresponding municipal tax will be charged, although the standard contemplates Some exceptions. For example, if the owners are conditioned by their work, as is the case with the personnel of the Armed Forces or the caregivers. What is the goal? To tackle the problems of the residential market, which in the case of Wandsworth is also found with particularly low taxes. The British press Precise That with the measure the authorities seek to penalize the abandonment of properties, encourage their owners to sell or rent empty houses and dissuade foreign investors who are made with homes they do not use. “The objective is to ensure that the homes are inhabited or rented. Many people want to live and Wandsworth and we want to use all the powers we can to increase the number of homes in which people can reside,” Aydin Dkerdem explainsLabor councilor. In his opinion, it could even be discussed whether to double the municipal tax does not imply a fiscal burden “high enough. Are there so unoccupied houses? In May 2023 the office of the mayor of London He spoke of around “30,000 empty homes for a long time” and required that the districts of Kensignton and Chelsea presented a particularly high concentration. Only there would be about 1,600 properties with a total value that exceeded 2.2 billion pounds. In Westminster there were around 1,100 homes with a value that, in the market two years ago, was around 1.7 billion pounds. Is there more data? Yes. Action on empty homes assures That the total number of unoccupied housing is much higher and among them includes even social properties, “emptied real estate to allow their demolition and replacement for new houses in ‘neighborhood regeneration’ programs. The Telegraph Precise That with the data of the 33 local authorities of the city on the table, we can speak of around 36,200 empty properties for a long time. And slide another figure to older interests: only in Wandsworth the number of second residences has increased exponentially since 2023, going from just under 600 throughout the district to touch the 1,400 today. “It’s a scandal”. In addition to breaking up data, in mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has openly complained about the number of properties unused in a city that has seen how their rentals sneaked into the top of The rankings European prices, with clearly forecasts up. “It is a scandal that so many houses so necessary in London are empty in the midst of a housing crisis,” regretted The councilor in 2023 before claiming specific measures and “the return of powers” so that the municipalities can act via taxes. “Not only would it deter absent international investors, but would release homes throughout the capital for Londoners,” I cried. It’s not The first time that the local United Kingdom authorities ask for greater margin to act before empty floors. In fact, the new leveling and regeneration law allows Since 2024 Collect more taxes on unemployed house owners for more than a year. Beyond Wandsworth … and the United Kingdom. Empty homes are not an exclusive problem of London. Action on Empy Homes estimates that in the whole of England they are counted by hundreds of thousands And not a few of them, according to the agency’s estimates, have been in that state for a long time. Hence Wandsworth has not been the only one to move. In Cornwall They have also raised apply severe surcharges to second residences, a measure that has also been put on the table In Wales u Oxford. The newspaper Standard He quotes policies on the same line in Westminster and Hackney, which announced Just a year ago: “Any house that has remained empty for at least 12 months will be charged twice the usual tax rate.” Until then the surcharge was limited to disused houses for more than 24 months. The United Kingdom is not the only one that has moved to loosen the tension of the residential market with the help of unemployed homes. In Brussels, with thousands of empty apartments, they have considered going beyond and … Read more

Trump’s deportation campaign begins: day laborers arrested at work arrive in Mexico

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TIJUANA, Mexico . — Mexican day laborers detained while working began to be deported to Mexico while at various points on the border with the United States the construction of new spaces to house migrants and face the mass deportations announced by Donald Trump was accelerated. About 70 deportees in what could be some of the first raids of the new U.S. administration arrived in Tijuana in small groups over about three hours Tuesday night, some dressed in work clothes carrying orange bags with their belongings. Migrants who were deported from the United States to Mexico wave as they are transported to a shelter as they cross the El Chaparral pedestrian border bridge in Tijuana, Mexico, on the evening of Tuesday, January 21, 2025. (Felix Marquez/AP) As a man shouted from a distance to a small group of journalists, they were detained on Tuesday while they were working as day laborers in Denver, Colorado. Another migrant said he had been arrested in Oregon without giving further details. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed on Wednesday that there were returns the day before and, without specifying, indicated that the numbers were lower than usual. In 2024, according to official data, more than 500 Mexicans were deported daily on average along the entire border. This month, through one point alone, Nogales, on the border with Arizona, about 150 were deported daily, according to data from the Kino Initiative shelters. On an empty lot next to the border in Ciudad Juárez, next to El Paso, workers used cranes to erect large metal structures that would later become shelters. In Nogales, sports centers were set up to serve migrants. In Matamoros, spaces were expanded in shelters already operating and to the south of Piedras Negras the authorities announced that they wanted to enable empty industrial warehouses for the same purpose. Sheinbaum said Wednesday that the nine federal centers located in municipalities adjacent to the 11 official people repatriation points would be ready in three or four days. The president emphasized that formal conversations with the new US administration have also begun with a call between Mexican Foreign Minister Juan Ramón de la Fuente and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday. “It was a very good conversation, very cordial, they talked about migration issues, security issues,” Sheinbaum said without giving more details. In addition to the nine new centers, the federal government plans to use some existing ones in Tijuana, Ciudad Juárez and Matamoros where, as explained by Ariadna Montiel, Secretary of Welfare, foreigners who had an appointment to request asylum in the United States but who were canceled when Trump paralyzed the CBPOne virtual application. However, Sheinbaum has insisted that Mexico’s objective with foreigners, both those who were waiting for an appointment and those who are returned due to the reinstatement of the “Remain in Mexico” program – which returns asylum seekers while they wait for their hearing in court Americans—is to first give them humanitarian care and then return them to their countries voluntarily.

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