Europes

Spain has started its most ambitious defense program. It is not a tank or a drone, it is the brain to control Europe’s troops

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Spain built its land defense looking outward, integrating into foreign programs and adapting doctrines from when the tank symbolized power, deterrence and industrial sovereignty. From joining NATO in 1982 to the missions in the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army was accumulating operational experience, but always with one constant: the key technology came from outside. Today, the debate no longer revolves around how many vehicles you have, but rather What role do you want to play? now that the war changes again. From cannon to code. The Ukrainian experience has finished burying the idea of ​​the battle tank as an isolated and self-sufficient platform, pushing Spain to rethink its land doctrine from the roots. Instead of investing in more armor and weight, the Ministry of Defense has opted for a conceptual leap: prioritizing information, connectivity and speed of decision as key factors of survival in a “transparent” battlefield, saturated with sensors, drones and smart munitions. In that context PAMOV is bornnot as a new tank or a combat drone, but as the nervous system that must govern all those that come after. PAMOV, the brain. The Superior Ground Combat System program, awarded to Indraseeks to define the digital architecture of the future Spanish armored combat beyond 2040. We are talking about an initial investment around the 45 million euros and a strong R&D component, one whose objective is not yet to manufacture platforms, but design and mature subsystems that will allow the integration of manned and unmanned vehicles, sensors, weapons and command and control into a single cooperative tactical network. The tank, therefore, stops being the physical center of combat and becomes just another node within a distributed “system of systems.” INDRA The tactical cloud. One of the pillars of PAMOV is the creation of a combat tactical cloud capable of fusing in real time information from on-board sensors, aerial and ground drones and external sources. As? Through artificial intelligencethe system detects, classifies and prioritizes threats, reducing crew cognitive overload and accelerating decision-making in high-pressure environments. The 360 degree visionsupported by AI and augmented reality, allows you to “see through” the armor and regain freedom of maneuver against the proliferation of drones and loitering munitions. Less tons, more platforms. Plus: the lessons of Ukraine have highlighted the limits of the continued growth in weight of battle tanks, some already close to 80 tons, with enormous logistics costs and restrictions of mobility. In this sense, Indra’s approach is committed to distribute capabilities between multiple lighter platforms, many of them unmanned, that operate in tandem with the main tank. Here are names that are common today in the Ukrainian war, such as UGVs and UASwho would advance ahead “taking on the most exposed missions and acting as extenders of ISTAR capability“, in addition to (obviously) reducing human risks. Modularity and weapons of tomorrow. The PAMOV is conceived as an open architecturemodular and scalable, one capable of being integrated into different present and future vehicles. This allows on paper to progressively incorporate new technologies, from advanced active protection systems to directed energy weapons and, in more distant phases, even future hypersonic systems without having to redesign the entire platform. Hence, it is emphasized that the key is not in the specific weapon, but in the system being able to govern, coordinate and exploit it within the tactical network at the right time. Technological sovereignty. The concept is going to be repeated more and more in the old continent. In the case of Spain, with a 95% of national developments and the participation of SMEs, startups, universities and technology centers spread across several autonomous communities, PAMOV is presented as a strategic commitment for the country. As we remembered yesterday, the nation seeks to stop being just a simple buyer or late integrator to become technology provider criticism in European programs like MARS and, in the long term, the MGCSseeking to be on par with France and Germany. The final objective is that the Spanish contribution to the European car of the future is not only steel, but intelligence that governs it. Another way to fight. Finally, and if you will, beyond technology, the impact of PAMOV points above all to doctrinal. For the Army it means moving from individual platforms to cooperative networkschange the way we command, train and operate, and prepare for high-intensity scenarios with fewer personnel and greater dependence on software. From that perspective, the future Spanish battle tank will not be defined by its caliber or its weight, but by its capacity. to connect systemsdominate the information and decide faster than the opponent. Image | Rheinmetall Defense, Oscar in the middleIndra In Xataka | Spain has been a weapons exporting power for decades. Now he has made a decision: keep them In Xataka | Ukraine has found what it needed in an unexpected ally. Spain had the missing piece against the shahed drones

23 years later, Western Europe’s largest swamp is completely full

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When in the mid-1950s, someone thought about building a dam in one of the driest areas of Portugal, the criticism was very simple: make a reservoir in Alquevassimply absurd: “it will never be filled.” And that prejudice meant that (for more than fifty years) the project was put in a drawer. But, at the end of the century, the Portuguese country decided to take it back and its floodgates closed in 2002. What happened next showed that those critics had no idea. A huge work of engineering. Of course, the skepticism was well founded. ‘Alqueva’ means precisely ‘fallow land’, ‘desert’. But that did not mean that it was meaningless, quite the opposite: that a much greater ambition was needed. And that’s what they did: with a total capacity of 4,150 hm³ and a surface area of ​​250 km², it not only regulates the Guadiana. It provides water to supply the consumption network (200,000 inhabitants), to produce energy (520 MW) and to irrigate hundreds of thousands of hectares (130,000, it seems). It is the largest reservoir in Western Europe. A monster that now has to be unpacked. That is what is striking, that had to unpack. Not because it’s the first time: between 2010 and 2013 he did it on several occasionsbut the deep drought of recent years meant that there was no fear that it would not happen again. Although it is happening: these days, Alquevas has been draining at the rate of an Olympic swimming pool every two seconds. Is there much left to do? Although seeing the monstrous Alquevas reservoir full it is inevitable to think about what more projects are still to be done, the truth is that we do not have much room for maneuver. The majority of “easy” reservoirs are already built and most of those that could be built would have great technical, social and economic problems to carry out. So we will have to go a little further: think about how we approach this possible “new normal” if it ever occurs. Image | Ceinturion In Xataka | Andalusia anticipates the storm and has already canceled in-person classes and activated the UME. The doubt is placed on the workers

Europe’s passenger car industry, in a revealing map that makes it clear who is the real “engine” of the EU

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Even though it is submerged in a deep crisis of competitivenessIt’s no secret that The automobile industry is one of the driving forces of the European Union. Thus, it is responsible for 8% of its GDP (figures collected by CCOO) and employs 13,000 million people, including direct and indirect jobs. Of course, the EU is large and the distribution of its factories presents enormous divergence. Although there are things that don’t change. The European Automobile Manufacturers Association has an interactive map which is quite good to see what the distribution is like quantitatively, insofar as it shows even the few electric battery plants on the old continent, but if you are more interested in the qualitative and only passenger cars, there is a clearer map: that of World Wide Mobility. And beyond a barrage of concentrated icons that are difficult to distinguishshows in general terms the main brands that are produced or assembled there, production volumes and the percentage they represent of the total. Which countries are the engine of Europe in the automobile industry The data on the map dates back to 2024 and shows a figure of 11.4 million passenger cars manufactured in the European Union, which are essentially concentrated in three states in a non-uniform manner: Germany, Spain and the Czech Republic. World Wide Mobility Germany, 12 points. The leading country in the old continent when it comes to motors is, of course, Germany: it is not only the largest producer by volume with more than four million passenger cars and a 35.7% share, but also the one with the densest network of high-tech factories. Own brands stand out such as Volkswagen and its five factories that include the headquarters in Wolfsburg, BMW with four factories, the three of Mercedes – Benz or the two of Audi, Porsche or Opel (Stellantis). But it also has plants from foreign companies, such as Tesla in Grünheide (Berlin) or the North American Ford in Cologne. Much lower but still outstanding silver is Spainwith a share of 16.4% and almost two million cars assembled in the state. With the high efficiency per flag (in the words of the Spanish Minister of IndustryJordi Hereu), has fewer of its own brands but in exchange it is the nerve center for foreign groups. Thus, in addition to Martorell’s own SEAT/Cupra, legendary highlights include the Volkswagen factory in Landaben in Navarra, Stellantis distributed in three plants, both of which are Renault, Ford in Almussafes, and the Mercedes-Benz manufacturing plant in Alava. And be careful because it does not take into account the reactivation of the old Nissan factory for Chery/Ebro EV, already operational. Third place belongs to the Czech Republic with 12.7% and almost 1.5 million passenger cars, which together with Slovakia (fourth with 8.7% and almost a million cars) form “the Detroit of Central Europe“. A bronze achieved thanks to the importance of Škoda and the growing impact of Hyundai and Toyota. In fact, Slovakia It has the highest car production per capita on the planet: over there Large SUVs in the most premium segment are manufactured of the Volkswagen group in its factory in Bratislava, but it also houses manufactures of Kia, Stellantis or Jaguar and Land Rover. Romania and Hungary below demonstrate a reality: the strength of the Central European axis in this industry. France deserves special mentiona country with historically mythical brands that have been relocating production, but which still houses five plants of the Stellantis group and four of Renault, as well as foreign brands such as Fiat. And if we go to luxury, Italy and Sweden appear on the map, with high-end brands such as Ferrari, Lamborghini, Koenigsegg or Volvo, although their figures are lower. In Xataka | There is a Europe that is suffocating to pay for housing and another that lives in peace. And this map shows the differences In Xataka | All the car plants in Europe (including the few battery-electric ones), on a map Cover | World Wide Mobility

the “miracle” of Namibia to fill Europe’s supermarkets with grapes

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The country of ‘Namibia’ may a priori be truly unknown to many people, but the reality is that many of the grapes we buy in the EU come from here. a country practically desert that has been achieved and that a priori is not ready to host cultivation, but that has achieved something unusual: converting one of the most arid landscapes on the planet into a large grape plantation that compete in the most demanding markets. An evolution. In this way, what three decades ago was a silent, sun-battered valley on the banks of the Orange River, Today it is the epicenter of the billion-dollar grape industry.. The Aussenkehr region has not only “greened” the desert, it has redefined the global table grape calendar. The origin. The industry was born from the vision of Dusan Vasiljevican entrepreneur who in 1988 identified Aussenkehr’s hidden potential. The challenge was monumental: an environment with less than 50 liters of annual rainfall, a total lack of infrastructure and no previous experience in growing grapes in the area. A priori, only a madman could build a grape plantation here, since it seemed like a guaranteed waste of money. But in the end it was quite the opposite. Overcoming critical financial obstacles, Vasiljevic planted the first 150 hectares, achieving an initial harvest of 1,000 tons in 1991. Since then, expansion has been constant. Collaboration between the private sector and entities such as the Namibia Grape Company (NGC) and the national government has allowed cultivation to be extended to more than 700 additional hectares, turning the valley into an engine of development that currently exports to a good part of the planet. great growth. Namibia’s quantitative leap in recent decades is an economic case study without a doubt. The country’s ability to take advantage of its ideal climate for early harvests allows it to enter the European market before its competitors, obtaining very good prices. This way, exports have passed from 1,917 tons in 1997 to having 7.5 billion cartons ready to ship this season. All this with a value that in 2023 reached 84.2 billion dollars. Your logistics. Namibian success does not depend only on production, but on robust logistics. Right now the main market for this production company is in the European Union, which absorbs 75% of the production, followed by the United Kingdom and emerging markets in Asia. That is why the company’s focus has been on high-value varieties such as Arra Honey Pop and Arra Fire Crunch that offer greater flavor and, above all, more resistance in transportation. Regarding its exit routes to other countries, the strategic ports of Walvis Bay and Cape Town stand out above all, which guarantee the necessary freshness for European shelves. satellite images. But words can sometimes create confusion or even give rise to the idea that we are completely exaggerating. But the reality is that the satellite images do not deceive, and reveal a great contrast between the bright green of the plantations in contrast with the ocher sand of the Namib. View from Google Earth of the grape plantation in Namibia It is also fantastic for lovers of geometric shapes, since in the images you can clearly see different almost perfect green squares in the middle of an arid background. And the truth is that it seems a miracle that it has been possible to revitalize this land that now supplies the European market with a large quantity of grapes. This is something that in 2010 was the focus of NASA that used he Advanced Land Imager and gave recent scientific studies, like those from WaterWatchwhich highlight that Namibia has achieved these yields with exceptional water efficiency, using precision irrigation systems that minimize waste of water from the Orange River. Socioeconomic impact. Beyond foreign currency, grapes have become the livelihood of thousands of families in this area. Right now, the industry supports 3,500 permanent workers and 7,000 temporary employees during harvest peaks. Furthermore, this model has been praised in international forums such as Davos, where it was presented as an example of how irrigated agriculture can be sustainable and profitable in arid regions of sub-Saharan Africa. In Xataka | In the midst of desertification, Australia has had an idea as strange as it is effective to retain water: covering the land with wool

why 14 municipalities of Guadalajara have rebelled against Europe’s “mineral sovereignty” plan

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The silence that guards the 15,000 hectares of the Sierra Norte of Guadalajara is not empty, it is an inheritance. However, that calm has been disturbed by the flash of a promise as old as it is dangerous: gold. The emergence of Oroberia SLU—subsidiary of the Australian multinational Global Mining Enterprises—has fractured the peace of the region with a request to drill into its bowels that has awakened the ghosts of exploitation. The origin of the conflict. The alarm went off in the spring of last year. Oroberia SLU is a company established only in March 2025 with a capital of only 3,000 euros, what woke up immediate suspicions about its solvency and transparency. Through three projects called “Gua”, “Dala” and “Jara”, the company aims to explore a territory that covers from La Toba to Atienza. This new “mining wave” finds its legal protection in the EU Fundamental Raw Materials Regulation (in force since April 2024), which seeks to cover 10% of the extraction of strategic supplies on European soil. What Brussels sells as “patriotic resilience” in Guadalajara translates into accelerated permits and a disturbing ease in classifying private projects as “strategic.” As Javier Cantero, mayor of La Toba, warns in The World“the companies are not state-owned… They will sell the raw materials to whoever pays the most.” The drilling plan. Thanks to “JARA” Permit Environmental Restoration Planwe know with technical precision the scope of the intervention. The company planned: Deep drilling: Rotational drilling with core recovery between 300 and 400 meters deep. Phases: An initial phase of six surveys per permit, expandable to another six if the results were favorable. Surface impact: Occupation of about 200 square meters for each drilling platform. The real danger, as experts explainis that if the mineral is less than 200 meters away, exploitation would inevitably be open pit. This would involve removing massive amounts of soil, raising dust loaded with microcrystals that can cause silicosis and other lung diseases, in addition to requiring enormous water resources and containment ponds for chemical treatments that could leak into the subsoil. The setback of the Board. Oroberia’s strategy of presenting three different projects has been described as “fragmentation” to avoid controls. However, in November, the Provincial Delegation of Sustainable Development of Guadalajara issued a historic resolution: Mandatory unification: The company must encompass “Gua”, “Dala” and “Jara” in a single project of 14,600 hectares. Ordinary Evaluation: The simplified evaluation (more agile) is denied and an ordinary Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is required, much more rigorous and slow. This decision is a victory for the neighbors. As Alberto Mayor points outfrom Ecologistas en Acción, this allows the “synergistic impacts” to be evaluated and forces the company to face the reality that 63% of the affected land contains habitats of community interest and protected species such as the Iberian wolf, the golden eagle and the ricotí lark (the latter in danger of extinction). A total and transversal opposition. The social response has been overwhelming. According to Ecologists in Actionnearly 800 allegations have been filed. The alliance is unprecedented because it includes mayors of all political colors (PP, PSOE, IU), hunters’ associations, environmental groups and even local parishes. The fear is not only environmental, but also economic and patrimonial. The “Jara” project would directly affect to towns such as Sigüenza and Atienza, committing their candidacy to UNESCO World Heritage status for the “Sweet and Salty Landscape”. Furthermore, mining would “a death blow” to already consolidated sustainable tourism projects, such as the Camino del Cid or the seal Starlight Destination. What will happen now? The company has two options according to local media: give up in the face of administrative obstacles and social pressure, or present a new unified environmental study that will be subjected to a new period of public exhibition. However, the scenario is complex. Currently, Spain is experiencing a mining rediscovery. While in Guadalajara the fight against gold is underway, in Galicia work has already begun to extract tungsten in the San Juan mine (Ourense), and in Jaén, the company Osmond Resources (linked to the same directors of Oroberia) has received permissions to investigate rare earths in the “Menipe” project. The ghost of 1973. One of the most critical points is that mining in Spain is governed by a Mines Act of 1973written in the last years of Franco’s regime. This law converts the mineral resource into public domain: if the administration grants permission, the owner of the land is obliged to let the company enter or face expropriation. This legal defenselessness is the fuel that fuels the rage of the fourteen Guadalajara municipalities. The value of what is not seen. The conflict in the Sierra Norte of Guadalajara is the representation of a clash of worlds. On the one hand, an extractivist vision that sees mining grids in the mountains and profits in the Australian stock market (where gold is trading upwards as a safe haven). On the other hand, some towns that, in the words of the mayor of Ríofrío del LlanoMaite Pérez, they only ask that the depopulation laws serve so that people live in their land and not to make it easier for them to be kicked out. For now, the Sierra Norte still stands, guarding a geological and biological heritage that, as your neighbors say“it has no price because it is not a commodity.” Image | freepik Xataka | The problem with Greenland is not that it does not have minerals: it is that getting them out of there is an engineering nightmare

An “invisible” Russian submarine has set off alarms in the Arctic. Europe’s response: Atlantic Bastion

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The launching of the Khabarovskthe new and ultra-quiet Russian submarine capable of deploying nuclear torpedoes Poseidonhas reactivated a fear that had been latent for decades in cities like London: the possibility that the naval balance of the Atlantic is once again tilting in favor of Moscow. The response from the United Kingdom has been forceful, and it is called Atlantic Bastion. Submarine warfare. Although the public image of the Russian threat usually revolves around research vessels like Yantarsuspected of mapping and potentially manipulating underwater cables and pipes, European specialists know that what is truly disturbing lies much further down. Russia has spent decades reducing the acoustic signature of its submarines to levels that they border on invisibilitycombining new propulsion systems, composite coatings and virtually undetectable cooling pumps. In this environment, where silence is power, a ghost submarine with nuclear capacity alters not only the sea routes, but the very heart of the strategic infrastructures that connect Europe with the world. UK reinvents itself. Faced with the resurgent threat from Khabarovskthe Royal Navy has launched what they have called as Atlantic Bastiona plan designed to restore British strategic advantage in its own and allied waters. Its origin is not new and it we have counted before: the United Kingdom has been monitoring the Greenland-Iceland-United Kingdom gap (GIUK gap) since before the creation of NATO, and the Second World War already demonstrated that controlling that maritime corridor was essential to prevent enemy forces from slipping into the North Atlantic. But what used to be destroyers and acoustic sweeps is becoming a hybrid framework that combines Type 26 frigates equipped with new generation sonar, aircraft P-8 Poseidon capable of patrolling thousands of kilometers and, above all, swarms of underwater drones equipped with artificial intelligence. According to the Ministry of Defensethis architecture aims to detect, classify and follow any enemy submarine that tries to penetrate British or Irish waters, and to do so constantly, autonomously and with an unprecedented range. The algorithms arrive. The core of the project will be Atlantic Neta distributed network of autonomous underwater gliders equipped with acoustic sensors and guided by artificial intelligence systems capable of recognize sound signatures with a level of precision that until a few years ago was little less than the preserve of science fiction. Unlike the SOSUS of the Cold War, based on gigantic fixed hydrophones placed on the seabed, the new generation will be mobile, expandable and adaptable to the routes and behaviors of increasingly soundproof submarines. The ultimate ambition is to deploy hundreds of cheap, persistent units that together create aa surveillance mesh much harder to evade. The metaphor is revealing: if finding a silent submarine is like searching for a needle in an oceanic haystack, modern technology makes it possible to exponentially multiply the number of searching hands. Khabarovk The technological challenge of hunting shadows. However, even with this technological revolution, experts warn that detecting new Russian submarines will continue to be an extremely complex undertaking. Since the 1980s, Moscow has drastically reduced lacoustic emissions of its fleet, which requires combining passive and active sensors and complex configurations such as bistatic sonar, where one vessel emits a pulse and another collects the echo. These techniques require coordination, multiple platforms, and significant sensor density, something that Atlantic Bastionaims to provide but it is still far from being deployed on a full scale. The arrival of the Type 26 frigates, designed to be the flagship of British anti-submarine warfare, is fundamental to this purpose, as is the cooperation with Norway and other allies that are also strengthening their capabilities in the North Atlantic. The Russian Bastion Puzzle. Even if Atlantic Bastion managed to limit the presence of Russian attack submarines in the Atlantic, there is one dimension that no Western system can solve: Russian strategic submarines already they don’t need to abandon its own bastion in the Arctic to threaten Europe or the United States. Its intercontinental ballistic missiles can hit targets thousands of kilometers without moving from the Barents Sea or the White Sea, protected by layers of defenses and favorable geographical conditions. There they play a hiding place lethal where the West cannot penetrate without significantly escalating the conflict. The paradox is clear: the United Kingdom can reinforce its waters and monitor every meter of the GIUK gapbut it cannot deny the Russian nuclear capacity deployed in its natural refuge, a reality that frames the entire British effort within a logic of containment rather than domination. An underwater chess. If you want, Atlantic Bastion ultimately represents the recognition that underwater competition has returned with a vengeance, now fueled for digital capabilitiesdistributed sensors and autonomous platforms that transform the nature of ocean surveillance. The North Atlantic once again becomes a stage silent maneuvers where Russia and the United Kingdom measure their technological resistance in an environment reminiscent of the Cold War, but with algorithms and autonomy as new weapons. A career that is not decided by great battles, but by the ability to listen better, process faster and anticipate invisible movements. In this theater of shadows, the advantage is not whoever shoots the most, but rather whoever is able to detect first (already happens in Ukraine). Thus, Atlantic Bastion aspires to return that capacity to the British, although the contest that is opening now does not look like it will be brief nor simple: In the depths of the Atlantic, the prelude to the next era of strategic rivalry between Russia and the West is underway. Image | SEVMASH/VKONTAKTE In Xataka | A Russian submarine has appeared off the coast of France. And Europe’s reaction has been surprising: have a laugh In Xataka | Russia’s most advanced nuclear submarine was a secret. Until Ukraine has revealed everything, including its failures

The only thing that Europe’s AI Law has achieved is to leave us lame. The question is whether turning back will do any good.

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December 8 was a fateful day for the European Union, but not many realized it. And it was because that day the AI ​​Act was passedthe European regulation on artificial intelligence. Thierry Breton, European commissioner, he was pleased with a tweet that automatically became a meme. I was bragging about how Europe had tripped itself up. The responses to that tweet They made it clear that the reception of the regulations was very different from what the EU would have expected. The criticism was forceful and very clear: with these regulations the only thing the EU was achieving was to slow down innovation and make it even more difficult to compete in a segment that was defining the world. While the US and China joined the party without asking permission and without asking for forgiveness, Europe stayed at home happily crocheting. That regulation, which came into force in August 2024instantly caused the AI ​​segment out at two speeds: that of Europe, almost at a standstill, and that of the rest of the world, which stepped on the accelerator (without looking too closely at the consequences). We have seen the consequences of that in the last two years. Europe has been relegated to the second (or third) plane, and with honorable exceptions like the Spanish Freepik or the French Mistral, we have very little to talk about in this area. Meanwhile, the US dominates the commercial plane and China is a steamroller both at a training level as in your open model development. Europe wants to turn back: the question is whether it is too late Yesterday the European Commission presented a project for simplify various digital regulationsand the most important modifications actually affect the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPRor GRPD for its acronym in English). The changes proposed by the Commission will make it easier for companies to share sets of anonymised and pseudo-anonymised personal data. That will have a direct impact on the capacity of AI companies, which They will be able to legally use personal data to train their data models as long as that process meets the rest of the GDPR requirements. The proposal also softens one of the key elements of the AI ​​Act, which, as we say, came into force in August 2024 but included several elements that would come into force some time later. Thus, now the “grace period” for the regulations that regulate the high risk AI systems —those that pose a “serious risk” to health, safety or fundamental rights—is widespread. It was supposed to be activated in summer 2016, but now that regulation will only apply when it is confirmed that “the necessary standards and supporting tools are available” for AI companies… whatever those standards and tools are, yet to be defined. Other amendments in that new Digital Omnibus include simplified requirements for the documentation required of SMEsin addition to a unified interface so that companies can report cybersecurity incidents. Henna Virkkunen, vice president of technological sovereignty at the European Commission, explained that: “In the EU we have all the ingredients to be successful. However, our businesses, especially startups and small businesses, are often held back by a set of rigid rules. By reducing bureaucracy, simplifying EU legislation, opening access to data and introducing a common European business portfolio, we are creating space for innovation to be produced and commercialized in Europe. This is being done the European way: by ensuring that users’ fundamental rights remain fully protected.” These amendments to current digital regulations will now have to be approved by the European Parliament and the 27 member states of the European Union — which will need a qualified majority— to approve it. That process could last months, and during it the proposals themselves could see notable changes before being applied. As indicated in The Guardianthis “massive setback” of this regulation has caused concern among groups fighting to continue protecting privacy of European citizens. The European Digital Rights (EDRi), a pan-European network of NGOs, Indian that if the changes to the regulation are accepted, it will become easier for technology companies to collect and use personal data to train AI models without asking for consent. The European agenda seemed to change when former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi warned last fall of how Europe had fallen worryingly behind in the technology race. That speech was a breath of fresh air for Europeand European business groups have welcomed the proposal with optimism, but believe that they still fall short. A representative of the Computer and Communications Industry Association of which Amazon, Apple, Google and Meta are members indicated that “efforts to simplify digital and technology regulations should not stop there.” One click for cookies This simplification of regulation that affects all types of digital scenarios can have a positive effect. Accepting or rejecting cookies has become a daily torture for millions of Europeansbut the user experience may improve significantly in the coming months. And it may get better because the EU has proposed a modernization of policies related to cookies. To try to improve the browsing experience, it will limit the number of times cookie warning banners appear, but also will make it possible for us to accept or reject cookies with a single click. In fact, the future may be even more promising, because what is intended is that said consent (or denial) of cookies is integrated into our browser so that once we configure it, the websites are not constantly asking us if we accept cookies or not: the browser will know what we want and will answer for us at all times. In that “digital package” it is specified that once we accept or reject cookies with that “single-click“, websites must respect that choice of citizens for six months. Image | Christian Lue In Xataka | For the EU, our privacy has always been more important than AI. Until he understood that he was left behind

The main problem of Europe’s rearmament is a number. If Russia attacks its borders, it has 45 days to roam freely

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The scene took place a decade ago at a Polish station, when several American Bradleys lost their turrets when passing under a platform that was too low, symbolizing a problem that Europe never solved: the structural vulnerability of your military logistics network. on a continent that is rearmed at a vunknown speed since the Cold War, the shortcomings are not only found in the absence of more tanks, ammunition or entire brigades, but in the physical inability to move them in time. The hidden fragility. In the month of July already we count the first indication. Then Europe realized that rearmament I had to start on the roads under a very simple premise: a Russian invasion would unleash fatal congestion. In fact, the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 is already exposed that reality. France could not transfer his Leclercs to Romania via the shortest land route through Germany and was forced to send them by sea, a deviation that evidenced what military planners have been pointing out with frustration for years: Europe is not prepared to move a modern army from its western ports to the eastern border in a credible time frame for deterrence. Now, in addition, he is certain of a number: deterrence takes about 45 daysand in a real scenario it would be equivalent to losing a war before appearing on the front, so it is imperative to reduce. How much? The plan is to reduce it five or even three daysaccording to the objectives that Brussels is finalizing. That is the heart of problem that obsesses to German General Alexander Sollfrank: that everything, from documentation to the resistance of a tunnel and the availability of a train driver, will work “like a Swiss clock” when Moscow tests NATO’s reaction capacity. The political challenge. They remembered in the Financial Times that even before the first armored train crosses Europe, the critical obstacle is political. The experience of 2022 showed that, although US intelligence accurately warned of the imminent Russian attack, some European leaders did not believe that Putin would give the order. Military mobilization can only begin once governments accept that the threat is real, and that delay (hours or days) is gold for the aggressor. General Ben Hodges, former commander of US forces in Europe, formulated it to put it bluntly: the key is not just how to move troops, but how to speed up decision-making, open ammunition depots, activate convoys and do it before Russia launch your offensive. And more. Added to this is the strategic unknown of Donald Trump, whose record of oscillations against Russia keeps Europe in constant tension: even if Washington claims to remain committed with Article 5clarity, synchronicity and speed could be conditioned by your posture. Only when that political decision is made will the massive movement to the east begin, a flow whose magnitude (200,000 soldiers and thousands of armored vehicles from the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom) demands a continental precision no priors. Geography as an enemy. That said, almost all analysts agree: the real bottleneck of European defense is on your physical map. Europe, despite being a densely developed continent, is not designed to move heavy divisions from one end to the other. The tunnels are too low, the clearances too narrow, the Baltic roads incompatible with those of the rest of the continent, the bridges (such as the collapsed Carola in Dresden in 2024) too old to support the weight of a modern tank. Even the inclination of the railway track can become at a risk When a train transports armored vehicles: the cargo could overturn. The realization of this reality led Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to launch the Rail Baltica projecta €24 billion investment explicitly designed to support oversized military trains and eliminate the dangerous process of transferring vehicles between networks with different gauges. And on the Peninsula. In Spain and Portugal, the situation is similarmaking any urgent transfer from the peninsula difficult. Germany, which should act as Europe’s great military highway, is perhaps the most worrying example: exhausted roads, bridges in critical condition and a railway network that years ago was no longer suitable for high-intensity operations. The logistical dimension. Moving an army in Europe is not just a matter of infrastructure: it is also a administrative nightmare. Since most of the countries crossed would not be formally at war, their labor and customs laws would remain in force even in full military mobilization. A convoy crossing three borders could clash to three different regulations on mandatory breaks for truck drivers, incompatible customs procedures or transit permits that must be issued on paper, since NATO avoids digital documents for fear of cyberattacks. Germany, Poland and the Netherlands have tried to break this labyrinth by creating a “military Schengen” embryonic, but regulation remains fragmented, slow and vulnerable. Brussels has identified 2,800 critical points of infrastructure that need urgent modernization, although only 500 have been prioritized, and the fulfillment of the plans depends on governments whose political priorities change every year. Added to this complexity is the vehicle multiplication and calibers in service, which makes it almost impossible to standardize the logistics chain. As Sollfrank warnsyou cannot plan every “screw”, but you can plan the scenarios, and today Europe is just beginning to understand the real scale of the problem. The industry as a decisive link. Plus: the modernization of military mobility requires not only adapting bridges and roads, but also rebuilding industrial capacity to transport a contemporary army. A light division may require up to 200 trains, each with more than 40 cars, which represents more than 8,000 logistics platforms for a single operational movement. European railway companies, from Deutsche Bahn to Baltic operators, are signing agreements to reserve military capabilities, while Rheinmetall begins to offer complete services for convoys crossing Germany, from mobile dormitories to emergency workshops. But Europe does not produce enough high-capacity railcars or specialized vehicles, and the industry requires joint tenders and unified specifications to be able to produce … Read more

Europe is eager for cheap electric cars. Europe’s solution: copy Japan

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The European Union needs electric cars to be purchased. At least if you want your emissions plans to be met. So ambitious that they have forced ban combustion engines from 2035 in a decision that countries like Germany and Italy want to reverse because, in their opinion, their industries are at stake. The truth is that more electric cars are bought every day and the number of followers goes growing. Especially in countries with greater purchasing power, with a better charging network or that are simply doing things better like Portugal where aid is given at the time of purchase and frictions have been eliminated when loading the car. There are a multitude of factors but the truth is that manufacturers feel that, despite growing, the embrace of the customer is not enough to get the industry off the ground. There are fewer and fewer brands that maintain their marketing plans. jump to “all electric” before 2035 because they feel that the sales of this technology is not driving amortizations that they have to do when designing new vehicles, readapting their assembly lines or creating a new network of suppliers around them. The big promise is that “cheap” electric cars will drive these sales. But as we have talked about on other occasions, these vehicles have a fundamental problem: their autonomy. The average European citizen, according to ACEAtravels 34 kilometers by car every day and only once or twice a year he faces long trips (he makes just over 12,000 kilometers annually) where a car with a battery less than 60 kWh of capacity would have to stop on more than one occasion, extending the trip beyond what was desired. However, at the same price, it is logical that you opt for the combustion version because you will have a car that does not cause headaches on those trips (for just a few days a year) and you will also be able to face an unforeseen event with solvency if necessary. The maintenance cost takes a backseat. Right now, the European industry is at a difficult inflection point. It is difficult to make electric cars cheaper because the battery remains the main obstacle when it comes to saving costs. The new Renault Twingo promises to sell for less than 20,000 euros but its 27.8 kWh battery barely anticipates just over 150 kilometers off-road, which makes it practically useless outside the city. Nor does what is to come offer much better guarantees and 25,000 euro cars face combustion options that, as we said, do not cause headaches on weekend excursions or long trips despite the fact that they later lose out in the general maintenance of the vehicle. And small cars have become much more expensive in recent years. As a solution, the European Union is trying to carry out a new regulation for small carswith a contained size and price in line with that of a purely urban vehicle. For this they want to base themselves on the kei car Japanese, a type of car located below the passenger car that offers certain tax advantages… but whose success can only be explained by Japanese particularities. A new category with everything to prove In search of solutions to lower the prices of electric cars and make these urban mobility options more attractive, we know that the European Union is working to create a new category of cars. The idea is to frame it between current passenger cars and light quadricycles. A new category with a contained size and whose main incentives were lower maintenance costs with tax advantages and facilities for manufacturers to reduce car prices. Taking into account these premises, François Provost, CEO of Renault, has confirmed that if the European regulations go ahead they could convert their Renault 5, 4 and Twingo into this type of new vehicles. In statements collected by Coachhas dropped that they could be cars that were below 4.1 meters, with entirely European production and whose emissions in the production process were less than 15 tons of CO2. The words are relevant because the Renault Group has been pushing in this regard for some time. Luca de Meo, its previous CEO and former president of the ACEA employers’ association, He was also in favor of this new category. The French have recently presented the Dacia Hipster, which aims directly at this market. Stellantis has also been betting for some time and has launched up to three heavy electric quadricycles, which is the closest thing to the category at the moment. and in Xataka We learned two years ago that the European Union is working on specifying such a category. Inspiration is kei car japanese. These miniaturized cars develop a maximum of 660 cc and have some very strict length and width measurements. Curiously, they do not have them high up so most of them, to maximize space, have very square shapes in the minivan style. All in all, it is a category with a very particular development that even has sports versions such as the legendary Daihatsu Copen. In Europe, legislators seem willing to copy the philosophy of these cars. As? It is what remains to be defined. In The Coches.net podcast They gave some alternatives to lower prices and one of them is very clear: eliminate obligations regarding safety and driving aids. The mandatory systems that the European Union has introduced such as the lane departure or fatigue warning seat have special relevance outside the city but very little inside it, just where these cars should stay. These are systems that have made urban vehicles more expensive and would be a push to lower their costs again. Furthermore, having a contained size is an incentive for some cities where there is less and less space available. The biggest problem for Europe is that the formula of kei car Japanese triumphs because it is an extraordinarily particular market. In fact, except BYD that has shown its first car For Japan with these premises in … Read more

A Russian submarine has appeared off the coast of France. And Europe’s reaction has been surprising: have a laugh

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August 2025. After learning through satellite images that the Russian nuclear submarine base had been was damaged After an earthquake, Ukraine leaked all the secrets of Moscow’s most advanced submarine, including its failures. Now, two months later, one of them has appeared off the coast of France. And, instead of fear, Europe has been amused. The silence broken. For days, NATO radars followed the strange figure of a Russian submarine that, instead of slipping secretly under the sea, clumsily advanced on the surface. Was Novorossiyska Kilo-class diesel-electric of the Black Sea Fleet, one of the few assets that still maintained Moscow’s flag in the Mediterranean. His march was slow and visible, accompanied by French, British and Dutch ships that escorted him with the same mix of caution and curiosity with which an injured animal is observed. For the Atlantic Alliance, that voyage was more than just a naval anomaly: it was a exhaustion signa reflection of what remains of Russian maritime power after three and a half years of war, sanctions and irreparable losses. Adrift. The official Moscow version It was immediate. According to the Black Sea Fleet, the Novorossiysk was sailing on the surface simply to comply with international standards when crossing the English Channel. But allied intelligence reports and leaks on Russian security channels painted a different picture: a damaged submarine, with a possible fuel leak, forced to surface repeatedly and, according to some reportseven to empty flooded compartments. The presence of a tugboat, he Yakov Grebelskiyreinforced that suspicion. For NATO commanders, the image of an attack ship “limping” toward its base was not only a metaphor for a technical breakdown, but the demonstration how Russian naval machinery is rusting in the eyes of the world. From Tartus to the Mediterranean. Until a few years ago, Russia maintained a permanent force in the Mediterranean, anchored in the Syrian base of Tartusits strategic bastion in the region. From there it projected power towards the Middle East and North Africa, protecting energy routes and monitoring Western transit. But the fall of the regime of Bashar al Assad in 2024 erased that balance in one fell swoop. With the new Syrian government, Moscow lost its last platform safe outside the Black Sea. Today, how he ironized NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, “there is hardly any Russian presence left in the Mediterranean: just a lonely, broken submarine returning from patrol.” The decline is not measured in the number of sunken ships, but in the disappearance of an entire naval projection doctrine. The laughs. In his speech at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Slovenia, Rutte was so precise as biting. “What a change from Tom Clancy’s novel The Hunt for Red October, he said. Today, more like the hunt for the nearest mechanic.” The phrase, celebrated among the attendees, synthesized the new allied narrative: humor and joke as a language of power. Making fun of your opponent, taking away the mystique of their strength, is also a way of undermining their influence. Behind the irony, however, there was a geopolitical calculation. Rutte remembered the multiple Russian provocations in the last few months (drones over Europe, sabotage of underwater cables, failed plots, cyber attacks and instability in Finland and Poland), and warned that Moscow retains the capacity to inconvenience, although its military muscle has been reduced to symbolic gestures and worn-out threats. The invisible collapse. The Novorossiysk debacle It is not an isolated case. Since 2022, Ukraine has managed to destroy or disable more than thirty of Russian vessels with anti-ship missiles and marine drones. The losses have forced the Kremlin to withdraw a large part of its fleet from Sevastopol and move it to Novorossiysk, on the eastern coast of the sea, to avoid new attacks. That strategic refuge, paradoxically, bears the same name as the damaged submarine that is now trying to reach it. What was a symbol of supremacy in the Soviet era has become a floating cemetery of incomplete projects and demoralized crews. Mirror of war. If you like, the episode from Novorossiysk transcends the anecdotal. It represents the convergence of all fronts where Russia is wasting away: the military, the economic, the technological and the symbolic. Its fleet, once the second in the world, now depends on units that they age without spare partsas Ukraine innovates with drones that cost a fraction of its missiles. And NATO, aware of this, has learned to transform its silent victories in public stories that erode the perception of Russian invulnerability. The image of Novorossiysk advancing in the sight of everyone, towed and watched, it is the perfect image if you want to degrade an empire that can no longer hide its weaknesses. From shadow to emptiness. In the years of the Cold War, Soviet submarines were the silent terror of the Atlantic. Today, his most visible heir is a damaged ship that sails with the flag raised so as not to sink. This passage from shadow to void explains better than any report the real state of the Russian navy. What was previously feared, is now observed even with sarcasm, and what previously inspired respect, now provokes a mocking headline. In this transit we measure, according to Europe, the decline of a power and the rise of a Western communication strategy that no longer needs to confront directly to win. It is enough to unintentionally let the enemy show his shipwreck. And have a few laughs. Image | BORN In Xataka | Russia’s most advanced nuclear submarine was a secret. Until Ukraine has revealed everything, including its failures In Xataka | A ghost fleet has mapped the entire underwater structure of the EU. The question is what Moscow is going to do with that information.

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