Extremadura

The AVE to Extremadura has taken a key step in its connection with Madrid. It’s a small step that takes us back a decade.

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They say that things in the palace go slowly. We could say the same about high speed. Not only because “high-speed” trains are taking longer than ever, but also because the construction of each new line resembles a birth that lasts decades. For example, the AVE to Extremadura. A quarter of a century has now passed since the project was approved. 25 years. And what we continue to have are connections typical of the 70s until we enter Extremadura where, coincidentally, the pace is already accelerating past Cáceres. We don’t lie. In 1970whoever took a train to Extremadura would arrive at the current Monfragüe station in 181 minutes. Today if everything goes well it will only take 20 minutes less. More than half a century after passing times collected in this guideit still takes more than three hours to get from Madrid to Plasencia. And right now it is necessary to stop at the aforementioned station and take a bus because the train no longer goes there. At least, in Extremadura they can boast since last December of having Cáceres and Badajoz connected, now, by high speed. Since the last days of the year, it is possible to cover the journey in 50 minutes. It is the result of works that, although they have taken time, have ended up being completed. A milestone that they cannot boast of in Castilla-La Mancha. And, 25 years after beginning to study where the AVE will pass on its way to Lisbon, a new step forward has been taken. One that also takes us almost ten years back. One step forward, Toledo. One step back When it was planned that an AVE would connect Madrid with Extremadura, it was decided that the work would have two large, clearly differentiated sections. One of them would be Madrid-Oropesa, the second Talayuela-Cáceres. With its obvious delaysthat second section is close to completion and its completion past Cáceres is what has allowed the arrival of high speed in that interprovincial Extremaduran section. And, as they point out in this great review of the diary Today Despite all the dates that have occurred in this quarter of a century, the end of the project could have been very advanced if the La Mancha section had been built at the same speed. However, since 2008 the various parties involved have been discussing what to do with the passage through Toledo. Or, rather, whether or not the train should pass through Toledo. That year, with the environmental impact report of the Madrid-Oropesa section already approved, the final approval was given to the informative study that contemplated a connection with the Andalusian corridor next to the Toledo town of Pantoja. The idea was to take a branch of this line towards Extremadura and thus save costs. The works, however, were not carried out. The 2008 crisis wiped out the project and it was never launched. Without machines working, the environmental report expired and that was when the Ministry of Public Works indicated that the AVE would pass through Toledo. We are already in 2017. The Government’s proposal was that, by passing through Toledo, the line would attract a greater number of travelers since the line would connect with a city that is a World Heritage Site. Of course, this meant traveling more kilometers and increasing travel time because Toledo is located further south than the first proposal. The idea was rejected by local authorities from the first moment. And the passage through Toledo It’s delicate. The Executive’s proposal has always been to take the AVE to the current station, which is just two kilometers in a straight line from the city center. But that means building a viaduct to overcome the passage of the Tagus, which has received continued rejection from local governments and the neighborhood platforms that consider that the image of the city would be damaged. Their proposal was to build a new station in a nearby industrial estate. This is how the year 2020 was reached, with an informative study in which it was proposed to subdivide the section into four parts: Toledo, Torrijos, Talavera de la Reina and Oropesa. They also showed their rejection of this project in Torrijos, which led to more bureaucracy and carrying out a complementary study in 2022. This document was presented in 2024 and had the approval of this town the following year… but in Toledo, as we have said, they still do not view the project favorably. In order to streamline the project, finally The Ministry of Transport has finally approved a new informative study that would contemplate building two branches from the Andalusian corridor. They explain in Today that if the branch goes ahead it would have its origin in Pantoja (as planned from 2008 to 2017) and that it would allow passage in both directions with trains of Iberian width and international width. However, it would be necessary to use trains capable of making this jumpsince the rest of the route to Extremadura is built on Iberian gauge. That is, right now what is being studied is the same to the conclusion that It was arrived in 2008 and that remained on the agenda until 2017. At least, as an alternative until it is decided whether or not the AVE to Extremadura passes through Toledo. And, if it happens, where is it going to do it. Photo | Gunnar Ridderström, Jaime Lillo and Falk2 In Xataka | The theory said that the entry of the AVE into Galicia would plummet aircraft prices. Practice is something else

We have hundreds of abandoned silos in Spain. Extremadura has found the perfect technology to convert them into batteries

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There are industrial infrastructures that, when they stop being useful, end up blending into the landscape without making much noise, turned into concrete ghosts. The old grain silos, which for decades were the vibrant heart of the agricultural economy of many towns, are today the best example of this reality in rural Spain. However, the energy transition has brought them a destiny that is as unexpected as it is promising. The region of Extremadura has decided to give a second life to these abandoned giants next to roads and plains, transforming them into enormous facilities to store renewable energy. Silos in batteries. All of this materializes under the THESILO projecta cross-border initiative that has just been officially presented in the small town of Torremocha in Cáceres. There, the City Council has donated a disused silo to house the first experimental pilot that will test this technology in real conditions. The urgency of this essay is better understood when looking at the sector’s figures: over the last year, according to data from Red Eléctrica de España (REE)nearly 10,000 MW of new renewable power were installed in the country. The conflict arises when this enormous production is concentrated at specific times of the day, especially with photovoltaic technology. In very sunny regions like Extremadura, the electrical grid collapses as it cannot absorb all the available energy, causing the dreaded “dumps”: plants that must stop their production because there is nowhere to store the electricity and the energy is wasted. So the solution proposed by THESILO is brilliant in its simplicity: take advantage of these enormous concrete structures to store electrical surpluses in the form of heat. Nordic inspiration. Although visually it may seem like science fiction, this concept already has a solid precedent in northern Europe. In Finland already operates successfully the system Power to Heat (energy to heat) through gigantic “sand batteries”. In the town of Pornainen, a silo filled with 2,000 tonnes of crushed soapstone is capable of storing heat at temperatures of up to 500°C for months, achieving an efficiency of between 85% and 90%. The Extremaduran project It is based on the same principle: When renewable production skyrockets and electricity loses value in the market, that excess energy will be used to power high-efficiency resistors that will generate heat. This heat will be trapped inside the silo using very low-cost granular materials as a storage medium. There is no need to use construction sand; The use of recycled waste from quarries, industrial by-products and demolition materials that resist high temperatures in a stable and economical manner will be investigated. Once stored, the objective is that this heat can be distributed through thermal exchange systems to supply the local agri-food industry, public buildings or homes in the surrounding municipalities. The project, whose execution It is scheduled between January 1, 2026 and December 31, 2028, and is structured around four main axes, ranging from the adaptation of the silos to the analysis of their legal and environmental viability. X-ray of the project. To understand the magnitude of THESILO you have to look at its figures: framed in the European Interreg POCTEP programthe project manages a budget of more than 1.5 million euros, largely supported by FEDER funds. The cross-border consortium is led by the Iberian Center for Research in Energy Storage (CIIAE), which has built a strategic network with Spanish and Portuguese allies such as AGENEX, INTROMAC, ADAI, AreanaTejo, the Polytechnic of Portalegre and ITECONS. An essential union of forces to cover the EUROACE euroregion (Extremadura, Alentejo and Central Portugal), an extensive territory where today 1,050 disused silos await with the potential of becoming the thermal battery network of the future. An impact that crosses borders. Beyond the technological component, the socioeconomic impact is the true driving force of the initiative. The Secretary General of Science, Technology and Innovation, Javier de Francisco Morcillo, stressed during the presentation that the ultimate objective is the “boost of business growth and the revitalization of rural communities.” According to the secretary, Europe demands that the knowledge generated “leads to a transfer of results that results in immediate socioeconomic improvement.” Furthermore, he highlighted the capacity of Extremadura to lead these cross-border funds, recalling that the region has captured between 2021 and 2025 more than double the funds from the Horizon Europe program compared to the 2014-2020 period, according to data from the CDTI. The future involves recycling the past. There are still unknowns to clear up and regulatory procedures to overcome to demonstrate that this model works on a large scale. The Torremocha pilot will be the true test of fire to evaluate how the original structure of the silo responds to high temperatures and certify whether the investment makes sense compared to other solutions that are gaining ground, such as hydraulic pumping or chemical batteries. However, THESILO perfectly summarizes where the energy transition in Europe is headed. Decarbonization cannot depend solely on newly built pharaonic infrastructures; It also requires projects that embrace the circular economy. Reusing already built infrastructure not only reduces costs and avoids new construction, but also brings forgotten giants back to life, attracting investment and employment to areas that have been losing population for years. A demonstration that the solution to tomorrow’s energy challenges may be hidden in plain sight in the towns of rural Spain. Image | Xataka Xataka | Finland has found a cheap way to store energy all winter: a tower of 2,000 tons of sand

It is manufactured in Extremadura combining hydrogen and CO2

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Green hydrogen is no longer a distant promise for the future in Spain. The European Commission has selected the Extremadura T2X project within the third auction of the European Hydrogen Bank, awarding community support to this strategic initiative. In short. This proposal is the first in Europe that manages to pour green gas directly into the distribution network. This historic achievement places Extremadura as an undisputed benchmark in the European energy transition race. The project is promoted by the German promoter Turn2X, which had already inaugurated its first global plant in the Cáceres municipality of Miajadas in 2024. In depth. To achieve this milestone, the Miajadas plant uses a disruptive technology known as Power to Gas (P2G). As detailed pv magazinethe process consists of combining 100% renewable hydrogen with biogenic carbon dioxide, which in this specific case comes from a nearby bioethanol plant. Through the well-known Sabatier reaction, high purity synthetic methane gas is obtained. This renewable natural gas (RNG) is transported to industrial customers via existing pipeline infrastructure. The gas has already been tested successfully injecting fluidly into the Gas Extremadura distribution network. The industrial objective of this advance is clear: decarbonize sectors where electrification is very complex, such as steel plants, the ceramics industry or the maritime sector. Technical level. The T2X project —managed by TURN2X Asset Co II EXTREMADURA SL— will deploy an electrolysis capacity of 9 megawatts. According to local mediathe forecast is to produce around 6,390 tons of renewable hydrogen throughout its first ten years of activity. Once the subsidy agreements are signed, something that is expected to occur in the last quarter of 2026, the initiative will receive a fixed European premium of 0.62 euros for each kilogram of certified hydrogen produced for a decade. From that moment on, companies have a maximum period of five years to put the facility into commercial operation. Additionally, to ensure source power is truly clean, Turn2X has sealed an innovative agreement power purchase agreement (PPA) with Axpo Iberia, the entity that will supply renewable electricity generated by Aquila Clean Energy. The weight of Extremadura. The choice of the Extremaduran community is not the result of chance, but rather responds directly to the numerous hours of sunshine that the territory offers. Added to this, according to the statements of the regional Executive collected by theEconomistthe strategic location of the region right on the route of the future European hydroduct, which will cross it from north to south. Due to this initial success, the Turn2X project, which is already in the production phase, has proposed an industrial expansion that is currently in the public information phase. The German company has even initiated environmental procedures before the Board to build a second facility in the town of Miajadas. This ecosystem is rapidly being strengthened with the talent of pioneering local companies; Recently, the Minister of Economy visited Eficae, a firm in the region with ten years of experience and 22 professionals, which has already managed to mobilize more than 2,000 million euros in energy investment. Finally, there is good news at the national level: those projects that have passed the technical requirements but remain in the reserve of the European fund will be eligible for aid, since Spain will contribute an additional 440 million euros under the ‘Auctions as a service’ mechanism. A real starting point for Europe. The agreement signed by Turn2X demonstrates with tangible facts that green hydrogen It is no longer a simple promise to become an industrial reality with proven economic viability. This emerging industrial fabric is a fundamental magnet to attract investments that generate wealth and high-quality employment in the region. Today, Spain and, in a very particular way, Extremadura, are no longer just a promising testing laboratory; have been consolidated as the real starting point for Europe to move firmly towards true and sustainable energy independence. Image | Turn2X Xataka | In Extremadura they have managed to produce 100% renewable natural gas: they only needed sun and plant waste

France wants to replace Windows with Linux. Extremadura and Munich tried it before, and both failed

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On April 8, 20226, the French Digital Interministerial Directorate (DINUM) advertisement that will migrate your jobs from Windows to Linux. He ordered all ministries to present a plan by the fall with the aim of eliminating dependencies on non-European software. The announcement in fact goes beyond changing Windows for Linux: it also affects collaborative tools, antivirus, AI, databases, virtualization or telecommunications. It is, on paper, the largest operation to replace proprietary software with free software that a Western State has ever attempted. And if the history of this type of projects teaches us anything, it is that many have ended in failure. French sovereignty. It is not that France is a lover of free software; What has happened is that the relationship with the United States has changed. Trump’s tariffs accelerated a debate that had been postponed for years: To what extent is it sustainable to depend on the US digital infrastructure? French companies like OVHCloud and Scaleway did not stop growing in 2025, but France has already taken some previous steps recently. In January 2026, announced the plan to replace Microsoft Teams and Zoom with its own video conferencing platform, called Visiowith the aim that its 2.5 million employees would use it. At the moment 40,000 of them are using it, and it remains to be seen if the deployment ends up being total. This was LinEx, the Linux distribution derived from Debian that was used in public organizations in Extremadura. Spain tried it in 2002. The Junta de Extremadura is one of the most famous cases of attempted replace Windows with Linux in public administration. In 2001 it launched LinEx, a Linux distribution based on Debian, and tried to implement it massively in the educational environment and in the health system of the autonomous community. That was imitated in other Spanish regions: Andalusia had Guadalinex, Valencia had LliureX, Madrid had MAX, Galicia had Galinux, Catalonia had Linkat and Castilla La Mancha had Molinux. All of these projects proposed an alternative to the absolute dominance of Windows on the desktops of public officials, and they all failed, but the biggest failure was the one that promised the most: that of LinEx. LinEx myths and realities. Although this distribution worked reasonably in the aforementioned education and health environments, it never fully penetrated the general public administration of the Autonomous Community. In 2011 the project was transferred to a state foundation due to budget cuts and by then only 1% of positions of the Extremaduran autonomous administration used free software. The final blow came when SAP, which managed the community’s medical records system, decided to stop supporting Linux. That made this body return to Windows, and in fact in 2024 the Board formally eliminated the obligation to use gnuLinEx. Rise and fall of Linux in Munich. another case even more famous At the European level it was Munich. In 2003, the city council of this German city announced that it would migrate 14,000 Windows computers to LiMux, its Debian-based Linux distribution. In 2013 the project seemed a success: there were 12,000 migrated computers and theoretically more than 11 million euros had been saved in licenses and other costs. However, in 2014, complaints about loss of productivity and debate began. ended sharply: At the end of 2017, the leaders of Munich decided to migrate 29,000 PCs of their employees to Windows 10 from LiMux. The initial migration was never complete, and in many cases there was a mix of Windows and Linux systems to complete the processes, something that seemed inefficient and never managed to eliminate the dependency on Windows and especially on legacy applications. But there are silent successes. LinEx and LiMux failed in Spain and Germany, but there is precedent to show that abandoning Windows in favor of Linux can work. It proves it GendBuntua version of Ubuntu that was implemented in the French National Gendarmerie. This organization was already a pioneer in the adoption of the OpenOffice.org office suite in 2005, and since 2008 the plan was to abandon Windows in favor of its own Linux distribution. In June 2024, GendBuntu runs on 103,164 jobswhich represents 97% of the IT park of this organization. This has also saved around two million euros per year on licenses, and has reduced the total cost of ownership (TCO) by 40%. Another promising example: Schleswig-Holstein. This German state began its migration from Windows and Office to Linux and LibreOffice in 2021. In early 2026 had already completed almost 80% of the transition in its 30,000 jobs and according to its data that allowed savings about 15 million euros in licenses only in 2026. A one-time investment of 9 million euros is planned to complete 20% of the process, which is still tied to certain specialized applications and will therefore take a little more time. This is the model that is closest to the French initiative: gradual migration and above all a political will that is maintained among the legislatures that are in power. What distinguishes success from failure. Cases that work share three characteristics. The first, gradual and phased migration, not sudden and massive. The second, real internal technical support that goes beyond political declarations. And the third (and probably the most important), a sustained will beyond an electroral cycle. Those who fail share three others: trying to migrate everything at once, underestimating the cost of legacy applications and depending on the project not changing government, which certainly contributed, for example, to the failure of LinEx. A colossal challenge. Installing Linux on a computer is trivial today and it is true that today the learning curve has been significantly reduced and its use is very similar to that of Windows or macOS. The real problem is in the applications that run on top of it. In public administration there is often critical software tailored for Windows, forms that only work in certain browsers (including the old Internet Explorer), management systems that do not have equivalents in Linux or vendors that simply do … Read more

The rarest chicken in Spain is blue and lives in Extremadura. What we don’t know is for how long

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Human beings are ungrateful animals. For decades, while we miserably worked the land, those blue chickens (rustic, tough and independent) were very good for us. The battered farmhouses of Extremadura, toasted by the sun, extractivism and simple life, were full of them. But then modernity, cities and supermarkets came… and they became a hindrance. Today, despite the fact that in recent years the institutions have stepped up, there will be about 2,000 chicken specimens Extremaduran blue. The Extremadura Blue Hen Breeders Association has 23 farms, but most people raise them for personal consumption or as a simple hobby. It is the rarest chicken in Spain and that, believe me, is saying a lot. A country without half measures. In Spain there are 21 poultry breeds in danger of extinction. This means that 95.4% of all registered native poultry breeds are threatened. In fact, 84% of all native breeds (whether they are birds or not) are in danger. And it is curious because, in short, we live in an unparalleled agricultural power. Spain is the second largest chicken producer of the European continent (only behind the United Kingdom), the third in beef and the first in pork (although swine fever can change this). Although, to tell the truth, it is not that curious. In fact, that is the problem. The emergence of industrial poultry farming since the 50s it was cornering local breeds for the benefit of commercial hybrids specialized in pure and simple production. Therefore, deep down, we are not talking about a problem of great economic magnitude. We are talking about two central issues in the present and the future of the ‘Spain emptied‘: the territorial management model and the question of what we do with genetic heritage. Since its recovery began in 1991 (when only specimens were found in five towns in the region), the situation has improved greatly. But not enough: all those questions are still on the table. And they are not easy questions to answer. Because, and in this case the blue Extremaduran hen, is a good example of the problems that arise as soon as we start working on the matter. because the underlying question is whether a livestock breed can be preserved if no one can make a living from it. And not only because the regulations They are designed for industrial poultry farming (and represents a very considerable obstacle), but for the paradox that hides in a simple Extremadura hen: the realization that not even at the time with greater institutional support (MAPA logo, breeding programs, germplasm banks, etc…) this breed can take its commercial leap. Is it a warning to sailors? Is it the future we have to live? Image | Mentxuwiki In Xataka | China is so clear that the future of pork lies in ‘skyscraper farms’ that it is doing something: taking them to other countries

After historic rains and floods in Andalusia and Extremadura, it is the turn of another region: the Mediterranean

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Right now, as I write these lines, Catalonia is closed hard due to strong gusts of wind. From 12 midnight to 8:00 p.m., all educational and sports activities and non-urgent health care are suspended. But it is not the only bad news that comes from the Mediterranean: the flow of the Júcar has been shot as it passes through Cuenca (that is, before any important tributary flows into it) and has already entered the red level. We are talking about an account that, discounting Tous (which is at 34% and is for security reasons), has all its reservoirs above 70% capacity. What is happening in the Mediterranean? Beyond the last storms. Yes, it is true: the reservoirs are in an unbeatable moment after the accumulated rains since January 1 exceed three times the normal value (for the average of the years 1991-2020). In fact, the water reserve has experienced the best week of growth since records began: in just seven days, the levels have grown by 10.1%. The problem is that reservoirs and aquifers are not the only places where water accumulates. Therefore, changing patterns is a poisoned gift. Let’s not fool ourselves, it’s still raining in many areas of the country. Less than the previous weeks, but it’s still raining. However, as explains Andrea Danta“the first day without widespread rain in Spain will come as a consequence of a progressive reorganization of atmospheric circulation that will begin at the end of this week and will be consolidated as of Sunday, February 15.” And that, paradoxically, will also have its problems. It’s time to think about the snow. And, when we talk about Júcar, for example, it is inevitable to remember that as of February 2026 the Iberian system () has exceptional thicknesses well above normal at this time. And that snow is going to melt (As will also happen with that of the Pyrenees). And, inevitably, it will end up in the Mediterranean. As is evident, there are many things to take into account: we do not know what will happen in the coming months and how long the thaw will last. But, a priori, problems with the current water situation are almost guaranteed. And that not only translates floods or flash floods. The problems go much further because they break the predictability and constancy of water flows and that affects ecosystems, agriculture and in hydroelectric production. But what is urgent is what is urgent. And the urgent thing is to control the river beds. Something that, in the short term, is increasingly difficult. That is why we are in the middle of a situation of active hydrological surveillance that goes far beyond the Guadalquivir and the Guadiana. In the Ebrothe Arga, Aragón, Gállego (left bank) and the Tirón and Najerilla (right bank) are especially monitored. Inside Cataloniathe upper reaches of the Segre, Llobregat and Ter are monitored. Neither in Júcar nor in Turia active notices that transcend Cuencabut the entry of new fronts and the melting of ice can generate many problems downstream. Image | Water Alternatives In Xataka | After a succession of historic storms, the question is obvious: is Spain becoming a rainy country?

The electric car needs cheap batteries. And a Spanish region is closer to giving it to them: Extremadura

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It’s just the go-ahead but it’s a key go-ahead. It is what will allow Yuneng International Spain New Energy Battery Material SLU to launch a project in Mérida to produce lithium iron phosphate (LFP/LiFePO₄). In other words, Mérida will be key to producing essential materials for the manufacture of LFP batteries. Batteries that aspire to be essential in the popularization of the electric car. Merida. It was the place chosen by Yuneng International Spain New Energy Battery Material SLU to build a factory that can produce lithium iron phosphate. The project will be located in the Expacio Mérida business park and will extend across 467,000 square meters after the Government of Extremadura has confirmed the approval of the environmental declaration for this factory. The project aims to have financing of 800 million euros and generate 500 jobs to produce the planned capacity of 50,000 tons per year of these materials. In the first phase they will mobilize between 116 and 125 million euros of investment creating about 160 direct jobs, they point out in Motorpassion. Why is it key? The production of lithium iron phosphate is essential for LFP batteries. Batteries are made up of modules and these, in turn, are made up of cells. In each cell there is an anode and a cathode. It is in the cathodes of LFP batteries where lithium iron phosphate sheets are located. Without them, the batteries would not work. In batteries of this type there are small lithium particles on the anode (negative pole). These particles move to the cathode (positive pole) through a liquid electrolyte found inside. This is when the electric current is generated which is then used by the motors to move the wheels. LFP Batteries. LFP batteries are one of the big promises of the electric car to make models cheaper and popularize this technology. It is a technology that offers less autonomy than NMC (cathode formed by nickel, cobalt and manganese) or NCA (nickel, cobalt and aluminum) because they have lower energy density. However, these batteries are cheaper because lithium and iron are cheaper than nickel or cobalt. And, in addition, they are safer and better resist load cycles so they will be more durable. This is essential for smaller cars, which will have less autonomy and must undergo a greater number of charging cycles but with the backpack of not being able to raise its price. Estremadura. In recent years, Extremadura has become relevant in the electric car supply chain. In addition to this lithium and iron phosphate production plant, in Navalmoral de la Mata (Cáceres) it is already rising a plant to produce complete batteries. This factory was designed to produce NMC batteries but has pivoted to produce LFP accumulatorsso both industries can be connected when the time comes. Additionally, the region is rich in lithium. Next to Cáceres it is believed that there are one of the largest deposits in Europe. The mine that should exploit this deposit has encountered the opposition from some neighbors and environmental platforms which has paralyzed the project. However, up to three of the seven projects that the European Commission wants to carry out in Spain for the exploitation of minerals and rare earths They are in Extremadura. The cheap electric car. To popularize the electric car, China has been betting on LFP batteries for years. In Europe, most electric cars have opted for batteries that include nickel or cobalt because they allow greater charging and discharging power and autonomy but are more expensive. Over the years, this has changed. Renault works with LFP batteries for the entry-level range of electric cars such as the Twingo or the Renault 5 (in the future). Tesla also uses them in the more modest versions of Model 3 and Model Y. In Spain, CATL is going to manufacture this type of batteries in Zaragoza for the smaller Stellantis cars. And Volkswagen too has this type of accumulator in mind for its most affordable electric cars that will come out of the Martorell line. Photo | Mercedes and Google Maps In Xataka | Europe has its hope in the 25,000 euro electric car and Volkswagen already knows who will manufacture it: Spain

Extremadura has silently taken over 99% of an unexpected crop: Spanish tobacco

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These are not good times for tobacco cultivation. At least in the European Union, which has seen how in recent decades its weight has been decreasing in the fields. If at the beginning of the 90s I harvested 400,000 tonsat the end of the last decade that figure was already at 140,000. In Spain the situation is not much better: in 2024 The production volume (and hectares) was much lower than just ten years ago. That does not mean that tobacco does not continue to play a relevant role in part of the Spanish agrarian map. In fact there is a region that stands out for its contribution at national and European level: Extremadura. Only there it is concentrated 99% of the crop and the transformation of tobacco in Spain, which leads the sector to boast an economic impact of 126 million. Tobacco “made in” Extremadura. In Spain it is impossible to talk about tobacco without also talking about Extremadura. This was recently claimed by the sector in a report of AFI that leaves an eloquent figure: the cultivation and the first processing of the tobacco leaf generates in the region 69 million euros of added value, more or less 99% of the national total. The percentage is so overwhelming that the industry itself emphasizes that Extremadura is “the main producing center in the country and the first producing region at the European level.” If the focus is expanded, the Tobacco Roundtable estimates that the sector has a total impact of 126 million in the community and generates hundreds of jobs. To be more precise, it speaks of more than a thousand of direct positions, a figure that rises to 2,000 contracts full-time if indirect and induced workers are included. X-raying the sector. The Tobacco Table is not the only one that highlights the overwhelming weight of Extremadura. The Ministry of Agriculture itself recognizes that, according to data from the 2020 Agrarian Census (the latest available), the region brings together 94% of the 1,052 farms that exist in Spain. The activity focuses mainly on the north of the province of Cáceresin the regions of Campo Arañuelo, La Vera, Alagón, Talayuela and Navalmoral de la Mata. Beyond Extremadura. The agricultural map is basically completed with Castilla y León, Castilla-La Mancha and Navarra, although they dedicate many fewer hectares to tobacco. In 2024 Extremadura allocated 6,121compared to the 19 in Castilla y León, the 18 in Castilla-La Mancha and the three in Navarra. global photography of the sector is, however, much more complex. In the Canary Islands there is an outstanding manufacturing hub, in Cantabria there is the Entrambasaguas factoryfrom Altadis, “the main industrial production center on the peninsula”, and the Community of Madrid also benefits from hosting the headquarters of the Spanish subsidiaries of the large multinationals in the sector. In general, the Tobacco Table estimates that the sector contributes to the national GDP with 1,825 million eurosa figure that would exceed 3,700 if the total impact is included. Tobacco taxes are another source of substantial income for the State. The group speaks of around 6,700 million collected through the Tax on Tobacco Products, although the total fiscal contribution of the sector would be very high and would exceed 10,100 million euros annually. Getting perspective. Extremadura plays a prominent role on the Spanish (even European) tobacco map, but in reality our country accounts for a tiny part of the sector worldwide. Although the Spanish contribution represents about 19% of the total of the European Union, which usually places our country among the main producersrepresents 0.5% of global production. Your footprint It is very far from the big ones manufacturing powers like China, India or Brazil. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Spain would occupy 36th place among tobacco producers by area. Its 8,450 hectares (2021) are in fact nothing when compared to China (1,014,553), India (431,146) or other producers in America and Africa. better times. After years of regulation and awareness campaigns, the European industry is not going through its best moment either. In 2018 the EC calculated that around 140,000 tonnes of tobacco were grown in the Union as a whole, a far cry from the 400,000 at the beginning of the 1990s. The cultivated area has also been reduced. Nothing surprising if we take into account the increasingly complex scenario facing the sector and the collapse of consumption. In fact Extremadura exports about 74% of the tobacco leaf he collects. The MAP data They also note the drop in production (and cultivated area) in recent years in Spain, although performance improves. Images | Rusty Watson (Unsplash), Uitbundig (Unsplash), MAP and Tobacco Table In Xataka | Extremadura promised them very happy with its powerful Spanish tomato industry. Until China arrived

In 1970, the train to my town in Extremadura took 20 minutes longer than it does today. It’s a painful reminder about “high speed”

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For eight days, Cáceres and Badajoz have been linked by train. To be exact, they are united by a train typical of the 21st century and, more specifically, of 2025. Since last December 1the two largest cities in Extremadura are linked by a journey of just 50 minutes. A trip with four frequencies daily that makes the lives of thousands of Extremadurans easier. By the middle of next year, in 2026, the Government says that trains will finally be able to reach 300 km/h. If fulfilled, it will be a milestone for the region and a first step to make that Madrid-Lisbon a reality, of which been talking for more than 20 years. Europe seems to have gotten serious in that sense. The intention is to have a connection between capitals in 2030 and that four years later, the journey will only take a little more than 180 minutes. Three hours that now seem little more than a chimera. Especially if we take into account that the first promise to connect both cities dates back to 2003. So he was aiming for 2010 as a final date to have the high-speed connection ready. Today, from Madrid to Badajoz, the only section that operates at “high speed” is the one that separates Badajoz from Cáceres… and a little further, up to the Monfragüe station and its connection with Plasencia. The problem is that the Plasencia-Badajoz section is only one of the three sections that make up the connection between Madrid and the Portuguese border. Yes, it began to act as an electrified connection of iberian width in December 2023. Now, almost two years later, passengers can move between Cáceres and Badajoz in less than an hour. But traveling between Madrid and Badajoz still requires you to use almost five hours of travel. And it is not something that is going to change in the short term. Because it took us almost the same time to get to Extremadura as it did 50 years ago. 20 minutes Browsing the net and trying to understand how we have evolved, I came across the seventh number of the Renfe guide in which the schedules of all the trains available in Spain between December 1970 and March 1971 are collected. In addition to having a good time diving and finding some curiosities such as that the traveler had a Madrid-Paris available that only required worrying about the change in gauge at the border, I found something that caught my attention. Since I was a child, I move frequently between Madrid and Extremadura. Specifically, a town near the Monfragüe Natural Park, an enclave that is located a few kilometers from Plasencia. As long as I’ve had a car, I’ve always traveled in it, but when I didn’t have a driving license I used to opt for the bus. First because there were more frequencies available. Then because delays and breakdowns became part of normality. A shame because the train trip is much more comfortable than the bus and should be faster. Ought. Because while diving I found a detail that caught my attention. Trains leaving from Madrid and arriving in Extremadura in 1970. Click on the image to see more schedules There it was. Train leaving Madrid at 10:40. Arrival at Palazuelo-Empalme (current Monfragüe station) at 13:41 minutes. 181 minutes to cover the 253 kilometers of the journey. Today, luckily, Renfe offers a faster connection. Specifically, 20 minutes faster. As you can see in the following image, the trains between this Extremaduran station (the first electrified) and Madrid are still more than two and a half hours away to travel just over 250 kilometers. Let us remember that Madrid and Barcelona aspire to be united in less time. Or that in less than 10 years we should see a Madrid-Lisbon in less than three hours. The problem, as we said, is that the connection between Madrid and Extremadura is progressing at an extremely slow pace. The first step has been to electrify the Iberian gauge track between Badajoz and this Extremaduran stop. Now, in addition, it is double, which prevents a failure in one direction from immediately affecting the other and, at least, one of the two from continuing to function. The second and biggest problem is that the connection in its La Mancha section is especially slow. The line is divided as follows: Plasencia-Cáceres-Mérida-Badajoz section Talayuela-Plasencia section Madrid-Oropesa section At the moment, the section between Talayuela and Plasencia (on the Extremadura side) is in the construction phase but as indicated in Levantthe works are still in an initial phase. In fact, of the seven subsections into which it is divided, only two of them have been completed, as collected by Adif. Despite everything, the deadlines should not be extended much longer and the section should be active in 2028. But the most problematic thing is in Castilla-La Mancha. The Madrid-Oropesa section is still in the information project phase. In it, the biggest obstacle is the passage through Toledo. The intention of the Ministry of Transport and the city council is to bring the AVE as close as possible to the municipality, using the current station that is located just two kilometers away in a straight line from the urban area. This forces us to design a new viaduct to solve the passage through the Tagus… and there is the conflict. The Autonomous Community and platforms in defense of the city’s heritage believe that it damages its image and propose an alternative station in an industrial estate further away from the urban area, reducing the visual impact and discarding the need for the viaduct. They show in an exhaustive analysis in Geotrain how one day, if all goes well, in 2030 we will have a connection between Madrid and Badajoz in 151 minutes. That is, in two and a half hours. Until then, it will still be 10 minutes less than it currently takes to the station closest to my town, located long before reaching … Read more

An investment of 2,350 million will make Extremadura a global supplier of diamonds for chips

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Trujillo will be a world center for the production of synthetic diamonds. A factory will be created there with a budget of 2.77 billion dollars (almost 2.4 billion euros) in which the Spanish Society for Technological Transformation will participate (SETT), with 753 million, and the American company Diamond Foundry (DF). And those diamonds will not be used for jewelry, but for especially powerful chips. The silicon problem. Current silicon chips have hit a “thermal wall.” By making them faster and more powerful, they get so hot that they lose efficiency or burn out. This slows down the progress of these chips and their application in fields such as artificial intelligence or automotive. Alternatives have been sought for a long timeand the diamond is precisely one of the most striking. The evolution of Trujillo. The Diamond Foundry factory will not make jewelry, but the synthetic diamond wafers it first produced two years ago. The diamond has a thermal conductivity much higher than that of silicon, with values ​​ranging between 1,000 to 2,200 W/mK compared to 153 W/mK for silicon. Or what is the same: it allows us to guarantee that, as they highlighted on IEE Spectrumthe chips of the future will remain “fresh.” The impact. By using diamond as the base or substrate for these chips, it is possible to run them at extreme speeds without overheating. This will position Spain as the world center of this critical technology. The North American company It already had two plants in Trujillo in which monocrystalline diamond (SCD) ingots were produced. The factories are also powered by solar energy, which is abundant in the Extremadura region. Zaragoza as a great ally. Those responsible for Diamond Foundry they explain in the official statement that the new factory is already underway with two construction shifts to accelerate the works. The ingots (the “raw” form of the material) will then go through a singling or cutting process that “slices” them into very thin sheets. These sheets, which are initially rough, are polished at a microscopic level and packaged in a sterile environment. Precisely this “post-processing” phase of production will be carried out in Zaragoza. The investment. The total budget they talk about in DF is 2,770 million dollars, about 2,392 million euros at the exchange rate. Of that amount, the SETT—which groups together previous investments such as PERTE Chip—, will contribute 753 million euros according to DF. It is expected that in the first ten years of the project the contribution to the Spanish GDP will be around 2,150 million euros, and it is expected to generate around 500 direct jobs and more than 1,600 indirect jobs. How to produce synthetic diamonds. While natural diamonds they take time to produce between 1,000 and 3,300 million years old, in Trujillo they are manufactured in approximately one month. To achieve this, DF uses 20 plasma reactors that exceed 1,000 degrees in temperature and generate conditions similar to those found in nature. The process starts with a 20.0 x 20.0 x 0.2 mm diamond “seed” that, when subjected to a combination of gases and a microwave process, grows until it reaches the optimal dimensions for use. Di Caprio, among investors. A curiosity: the San Francisco-based company was founded in 2012 by Martin Roscheisen and Jeremy Scholz, but what is surprising is its list of investors. Among them are iPod co-creator Tony Fadeel, Twitter founder Evan Williams and actor Leonardo di Caprio. The water problem. Diamond Foundry’s plants in Trujillo have faced significant problems related to their water supply. It is estimated that the plants need at least 730,000 cubic meters of water per year, which exceeds the annual drinking water consumption of the entire population of Trujillo. Various platforms such as Save El Berrocal and Ecologistas en Acción have warned of that danger, although Diamond Foundry has defended that its plan is based on the reuse of water from the Trujillo Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). The Extremadura Government gave the green light to some modifications to the original DF project and considered that the factories would not produce significant adverse effects on the environment. In Xataka | China defies geology: it manufactures in a week what the Earth takes a billion years to do

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