food

You’ve probably never heard of urea. The missiles in Iran are destroying their production, and that will affect your food

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At the beginning of the 20th century, the world feared it would run out of food because crops were not growing enough to feed a growing population. The solution came from chemistry: an industrial process capable of manufacturing artificial nutrients for plants and multiplying crops across the planet. Today, this invisible system supports much of what reaches our plates, but it also depends on a global chain. surprisingly fragile. The invisible substance that feeds us. We already said it in the headline, you may not know urea. However, this chemical compound is one of the silent pillars of modern agriculture. It is nitrogen fertilizer most used in the world and indirectly responsible for approximately half of global food production. Its function is simple but crucial: providing nitrogen to crops so they can grow quickly and produce larger harvests. To give us an idea, approximately half of global food production depends on synthetic fertilizers. nitrogen basedand urea is the most widespread of all. Without it, agricultural yields would fall abruptly, which would directly affect products as basic as wheat, corn or rice. The Gulf and fertilizers. It happens that a large part of this global agricultural system depends on a very specific region of the planet: the Persian Gulf. The Middle East is home to some of the largest plants of fertilizer production in the world and is also a key source of raw materials necessary to manufacture them, such as ammonia or sulfur. Furthermore, the Strait of Hormuz has become an essential artery for this trade. between one quarter and a third of the world’s traffic of raw materials for fertilizers passes through this maritime passage, along with approximately 35% of global urea exports and 45% of sulfur trade. A war that hits the food chain. The military escalation in Iran and the attacks around the Strait of Hormuz are starting to interrupt that delicate system. Maritime traffic through the area has been drastically reduced and several ships have been attacked, while industrial facilities in the Gulf have suffered direct damage. In Qatar, one of the largest fertilizer facilities in the world had to stop your production after a drone attack, while Iran has paralyzed its own ammonia production. Every missile in the Iran war is not only destroying its production, it brings us a little closer to a dystopian future scenario. Urea sample in the form of granules The domino effect of urea. When the supply of fertilizers such as urea is interrupted, the impact soon spreads to the food system. If farmers cannot apply enough fertilizer, the ccrops produce less. Some experts estimate that the lack of fertilizers could reduce harvests by up to 50% in the first affected agricultural cycle. This decline would quickly translate in price increases in basic foods. Bread could become more expensive in a matter of weeks, while derived products such as eggs, chicken or pork would do so months later, as the increase in the cost of animal feed is passed on to the entire food chain. Gas, the hidden ingredient. The manufacture of nitrogen fertilizers also depends on another key factor: natural gas. Between 60% and 80% of the cost of producing fertilizers comes from the gas used in the chemical process that transforms atmospheric nitrogen into compounds usable by plants. With the war driving up energy prices and damaging industrial infrastructure, the cost of production skyrockets even before fertilizers reach the market. In a few days, the international price of urea has risen more than 25%reaching levels close to 625 dollars per ton. Risk of global food crisis. I remembered the financial times that the situation also comes at a particularly delicate moment in the agricultural calendar. In much of the northern hemisphere, farmers are starting the season spring planting, when they buy and apply the fertilizers that will determine the year’s crops. If the Strait of Hormuz disruption lasts more than a few weeks, the impact could extend far beyond energy or maritime trade. Thus, what today seems like a localized geopolitical crisis could transform into something much deeper: a global food shock reminiscent of (or even surpassing) the one that occurred after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. In that scenario, the war in Iran would not only be fought with missiles and drones, but also in the fields of crops half the planet. Image | liz west, nara, LHcheM, eutrophication&hypoxia In Xataka | Iran is directing its attacks where it knows it hurts the West: energy and data centers In Xataka | In 2022, the gas crisis skyrocketed the price of electricity in Spain. In 2026 we have a “green shield” but also a serious problem

In Ireland they fear that artists will go without food because of AI. So he’s going to give them a basic income.

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The AI ​​is putting into serious doubt the continuity of different sectors as varied as the programmersthe music producerscinema and even illustrators. Creating a painting, a song, a video clip or an app used to involve having talent and the necessary knowledge. Now it is enough to choose the right AI model. A few days ago, the United Kingdom government was considering the possibility of implement a universal basic income to alleviate the effects of AI. The Irish government has gone ahead of them and has already launched an initiative in which it provides a basic monthly income to 2,000 artists. According to an official report of the impact of the measure, each public euro contributed to this basic income generates 1.39 euros of return. A test that is consolidated. In 2022, Ireland launched a pilot project of universal basic income for artists with which it sought to reduce the impact of COVID-19 on the cultural industry. The test turned out to be an unexpected success, so the Irish Administration has chosen to consolidate it by turning the Basic Income for the Arts into a tool against the precariousness of artists, and prevent them from abandoning their creative work. for economic reasons. According what was published by EFEthe Irish executive has provided the project with a budget item of 18.27 million euros so that 2,000 artists benefit from a payment of 325 euros per week. “This is an important milestone for the arts in Ireland and how we support them,” said Patrick O’Donovan, Ireland’s Minister for Arts and Culture. “Ireland is a world leader in supporting artists thanks to the BIA (Basic Income for the Arts),” he added in the official statement of the measure. A test that was a success. The pilot program started in November 2022 after the pandemic, selecting 2,000 artists from 9,025 applications through a lottery to avoid bias. Each one received 325 euros net per week for 36 months, equivalent to 16,900 euros per year, tax-free and without working conditions. The composition reflected the diversity of the sector: 707 in visual arts such as painters and sculptors, 584 musicians and composers, 204 filmmakers and audiovisuals, 170 writers and poets, 160 in theater and dance, plus 175 in mixed areas such as design or performance. This randomized design allowed us to measure real effects without bias for successful profiles. The pilot test was subjected to a study constant from independent entities, which were able to measure the benefits of the measure. The pilot demonstrated with data that 325 euros per week was enough to cover part of the basic expenses, freeing up to 25 extra hours per week so that the artists could dedicate time to creating. That is, it was low enough to allow artists to dedicate time to their artistic production, but not so low as to make them dependent on it. It is a basic income, but with conditions. The measure allows maintaining the same economic conditions as the 2022 program, but incorporates a series of conditions that avoid dependency by assigning it to alternative three-year periods. That is, the beneficiaries of the income in the 2026-2029 cycle cannot opt ​​for the 2029-2032 cycle, but they are eligible again for the 2032-2035 cycle. In addition, at the end of each cycle, there is a gradual three-month decrease in income, where the payment drops by 25% per month to facilitate the transition until they stop receiving it. More art, less precariousness. The more consolidated results of the pilot test published in September 2025, indicated that the initial investment in the project was 105 million euros, of which only 72 million were executed. However, that was enough to obtain a return of around 80 million euros. The artists who participated in the test increased their monthly income by an average of 500 euros, while their income from non-artistic activities was reduced by an average of 280 euros. That is, the basic income allowed artists to concentrate on their creations and make them profitable, allowing them live from his art and not from precarious or part-time jobs. “The economic return on this investment in Ireland’s artists and creative arts workers is having an immediate positive impact for the sector and the economy in general,” said the Irish culture minister. In Xataka | Barcelona tested a basic income of 1,297 euros per month and the job search was reduced by 22%: the test was a success Image | Unsplash (Dillon Wanner)

A town in Burgos has resorted to a desperate idea to get people to stay there: paying them for food

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Cardeñajimeno is a small town from the Alfoz de Burgos region, in Castilla y León, where just under 1,200 residents live. Its city council is not willing to let that figure drop and has decided to tackle the challenge of depopulation by making it as easy as possible for its inhabitants, especially the elderly. As? Cooking for them and bringing food to their doorstep. Whatever it takes to escape from an “emptied Spain” that has been going on for decades. expanding your footprint through the peninsula, with the challenge what that entails. Objective: establish population. Spain may move in record population numbers, with 49.4 million of censuses as of October 1, 2025, but that does not mean that the entire territory is going through its best demographic moment. On the contrary. The ‘record Spain’ also hides a ‘Spain emptied’ that has spent decades spreading its footprint across the peninsula, feeding on municipalities that have been gradually depopulated. I warned him Before the pandemic, the Spanish Rural Development Network (REDR) recalled that in a matter of two decades the number of towns with less than one hundred neighbors had increased by 60%. A similar message The Galician Accounts Council was launched in 2024, remembering that a hundred towns in the region face the risk of becoming ghost towns. How to avoid it? That’s the million dollar question. In an attempt to fix the population and not swell the map of emptied Spain, over the last few years the administrations have racked their brains looking for solutions. Some offer financial aid to attract new residents. There are town councils that they are taking charge of local businesses (gas stations or grocery stores) to prevent their neighbors from being left without basic services. And not long ago we even told you about a remote town in the province of Soria that reached offer house and business in an attempt to attract new blood. Making it easy. In Cardeñajimeno (province of Burgos), they have gone one step further to make it as easy as possible for its inhabitants and prevent the elderly from packing their bags to move to larger towns. As? Taking care of your diet. The news has advanced it Burgos Connectwhich on Saturday revealed that two populations in the region “will pay for food” to their elders to stop the depopulation that is shaking part of the community. “Encourage permanence”. The towns in question are those that make up the municipality of Burgos: Cardeñajimeno and San Medel. A few days ago its Consistory launched a tender to look for professionals interested in providing a “catering service to elderly people” residing in the town. The goal? “Promote the elderly person’s permanence in their usual environment and avoid depopulation.” In other words, provide the necessary means so that no elderly person from Cardeñajimeno or San Medel is forced to move to Burgos or another larger town in search of comforts. But… Is it necessary? The case of Cardeñajimeno is interesting because it shows that rural Spain not only faces the challenge of depopulation, it also deals with aging. Although the situation of the town is far from being critical (the INE counts there 1,185 registeredbelow the 1,205 in 2022, but significantly above those recorded two decades ago), it does not escape the trend of the rest of Spain. 20% of its population is over 60 years old and dozens of octogenarians and nonagenarians reside in the town. “Nutritional well-being”. With the new service, the City Council wants to “provide nutritional and physical well-being to all those elderly who, given their special situation, require it.” To achieve this, it even contemplates that the company prepares “different diets” adapted to users with special needs. For example, diabetics or people who need crushed food. The base tender budget is 16,500 euros for one year, with a maximum price per menu of 9.6 euros, but the specifications also clarify that the final price will depend on the acceptance of the service, its users and how much food they request. On the State contracting platform the budget Estimated is 30,000. In other locations are already offered similar benefits. Image | Wikipedia In Xataka | Empty Spain is now officially one of the quietest places on the planet. There is no risk that it will cease to be

now they are 60% of the food that Spain buys

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Spain has changed in many aspects in the last decade, but in few places has a transformation been experienced as rapid and radical as on supermarket shelves. And all on account of the white label. If the ugly duckling of the retail national, a concept associated with a cheap product of questionable quality has come to conquer the baskets (and wallets) of families. We Spaniards are increasingly betting on items from Hacendado, Auchan or Seleqtia compared to other similar ones that are sold with labels other than supermarkets. So much so that if we talk about the food sector, white label dominated last year. 60.5% value sharewith a growth rate much higher than that of brands associated with external manufacturers. Eating the market. The data starts from a study on large consumption carried out by the consulting firm Circana and advanced by EFE. And although it is in tune with other previous ones that reflect the white label boom in the retail Spanish, but that doesn’t stop it from being striking. In 2025, foods sold under “distributor brands” (those directly associated with supermarkets, such as Hacendado in the case of Mercadona or Auchan with Alcampo) accounted for 60.5% in value share. That is, they took six out of every ten euros spent in that niche. Growing faster. The data is conclusive, but is completed with another also recorded by Circa. It’s not just that private labels take up a lot of the money we spend on food when we go to the supermarket. It’s just that they are hoarding more and more. In 2025, spending on these types of items registered a year-on-year growth of 6.3%a striking percentage for three reasons. First because the value of its rivals marketed with a “manufacturer’s brand” grew much less, 1.4%. Second, because that 6.3% doubles the increase in the price of the shopping basket as a whole, which closed 2025 with an increase of 3%. The third reason is that with this increase, private label foods stand out as those that evolve best among all the product categories that are integrated into the “mass consumption”the label with which experts refer to items that are consumed on a massive and daily basis. Are there more indicators? Yes. And they all point in a more or less similar direction. For example, the study indicates that if we talk about general sales of “mass consumption”, excluding fresh products, the market share of the private label is around 51.7% compared to 48.3% for its manufacturer rivals. That does not mean that Hacendado, Seleqtia and other similar brands rule all branches of the sector. In fact, there is one in particular in which we Spaniards continue to opt mostly for brands that have nothing to do with supermarkets: beverages. In it 66.2% of family spending of 2025 has gone to manufacturer brands compared to 33.8% of private label. What does that mean? In practice, when we want to buy a soft drink or a bottle of water, we mainly choose recognized brands, such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi or Bezoya or Font Vella, rather than those from Dia, Lidl or Eroski. The war of the brands. Circa’s data is just a brushstroke in a much larger picture: the one that has been showing for years the growth of the white label in Spain. The data may vary from study to study, but the trend is always the same. If years ago we customers had reservations about resorting to the supermarkets’ own assortment, those doubts seem to have evaporated. A few years ago Kantar Worldpanel published a report which showed that in 2021 17.2% of customers filled their basket only with white brands, in 2022 it was already 19.5% and in 2021 21.3%. If we talk about spending, during that period Hacendado and other similar brands went from accounting for 42% to 48%. Other analysis published by The National suggest that in a matter of a decade (between 2013 and 2023) the market share of the brands controlled by the supermarkets themselves increased by 11.2 percentage points. Standing out in Europe. The white label has been the protagonist of such a boom in Spain (in 2024 it was already dominating more than 50% of the shopping basket in volume) that has made our country stand out in Europe. Last year Simon-Kucher he wondered how many Spaniards buy this type of items “exclusively” and discovered that the answer is 26%. It is the highest percentage, along with France. In the Netherlands they are 25%, in the United Kingdom 20% and in Germany 19%. If we also include those who “predominantly” bet on these products in their basket (not just exclusively), the figure shoots up to 64%, six points above France and far from the rest of the countries. “The high sensitivity to price and changes in purchasing habits have led to private label becoming the first choice for most households,” explained to Expansion Javier Rubio, from the Simon-Kucher firm. But… Why? This boom responds to several factors. One, key one, is what the consultant comments on: the price and the influence it has had on our shopping basket in recent years, marked by inflation. However, other relevant aspects come into play and have more to do with the commercial strategy of supermarkets, the places where we fill the refrigerator. In 2024 Promarca calculation that in the previous five years the presence of white brands on the shelves of the main supermarkets had increased by 13%. On the contrary, third-party brands decreased by around 23%. The association not only detected the disappearance of thousands of items with non-supermarket labels, it also verified that those that remained were charged more expensive on average. “The public price of manufacturer brand products set by the distribution is between 5% and 160% more expensive than that of private label brands,” warned. Whether your estimates are correct or not, the truth is that we buy more private label because we have it more at hand. Three chains, … Read more

In the 17th century there was a food that was considered deadly for the rich, but did not kill the poorest: the tomato.

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Today it is almost impossible to imagine Mediterranean cuisine without tomatoes, a food highly valued by its nutritional benefits and their antioxidant propertiesanti-cancer and how preventative for aging cellular. However, its integration into the European diet was a slow process full of obstacles, marked by a phenomenon that stigmatized it for centuries, calling it a poisonous food that could lead to cause death, especially if you were rich. Curiously, the poor were immune to its poison. The tomato was deadly for the rich The history of the tomato hides a phenomenon that defied the logic of the time, as it seemed to act as a selective executioner capable of distinguishing the social status of those who ate it. While the peasants and the popular classes They consumed it without suffering harm In some cases, rich aristocrats and wealthy merchants became seriously ill and even died after ingesting it, which consolidated the belief that it was a poisonous and cursed fruit. However, the key to this medical mystery lies not in the biological composition of the tomato, but in the chemistry of the utensils used by rich Europeans when serving and preparing this food. The upper classes of the 18th century had the custom of serving their banquets in pewter tablewarea metallic alloy highly appreciated for its shine and similarity to silver, composed mainly of tin and copper, but with a high lead content. Unlike the rich, the humble classes could not afford these luxuries and ate on simple plates made of wood, clay or coarse ceramics, materials that were chemically inert to food. The problem was that, when the natural acidity of the tomato came into contact with the surface of the pewter plates, their interaction caused a chemical reaction that leached lead from the alloyreleasing this heavy metal directly into the food. As a result, the aristocrats suffered lead poisoning (lead poisoning), whose symptoms were erroneously attributed to the toxicity of the tomatoes and not to the dish in which it was served, granting him tomato the nickname “poison apple” for more than 200 years. Bad botanical companies The rejection of the tomato in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries was not only due to the wealthy victims that this evil fruit claimed, but was supported by the botanical science of the time, which classified it under a family of some plants with a bad reputation: nightshades. Naturalists identify the tomato as a member of the Solanaceae, the same group to which plants belong. famous for their toxicity such as nightshade, henbane or mandrake. This botanical association was enough for doctors and scholars to assume that the new fruit native to the Americas shared the deadly properties of its distant relatives. This botanical classification reinforced the irrational fear of the plant, linking it not only with the poison that was clearly killing the richest, but with spiritual and moral dangers typical of the time. The mandrake, in particular, was strongly associated with witchcraft and rituals dark due to its narcotic effects and the anthropomorphic form of its roots. By placing the tomato in this same biological bag, all the negative connotations and superstitions that surrounded the plants used in the dark arts were transferred to it. As and as they pointed out in National Geographicthe herbalist John Gerard was one of those responsible for fixing this negative image in the collective mind, leaving in writing in his work Herball of 1597 a devastating sentence. Gerard described the plant as producing “corrupt and poisonous fruits”, a statement that, coming from an authority on the subject, cemented the terror of the tomato in Britain and its colonies for centuries. Although in Spain and Italy the tomato began to be accepted earlier due to the influence of customs brought from Americain northern Europe the shadow of suspicion lasted much longer. It was necessary for modern chemistry to explain the pewter reaction and for botany to refine its classifications so that the tomato could finally clear its name and occupy the place it today has on our tables, no matter if you are rich or poor. In Xataka | They are millionaires, but they eat like children. Warren Buffett and Mark Zuckerberg share a passion for junk food Image | Nano Banana, Unsplash (Wanasanan Phonnaun)

Ozempic came to simplify the relationship with food. Christmas is proving how wrong we were

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Christmas has always been a delicate territory for the relationship with food. Family reunions, full tables and seemingly harmless comments turn these dates into a kind of silent examination of the body. For years the answer was the express diet before the holidays. Today, in many cases, the conversation revolves around a weekly injection. In the United States, there were cases of people skipping their Ozempic shot to enjoy Thanksgiving, according to The Wall Street Journal. The phenomenon in Spain is less visible, but the question is inevitable: what will happen this Christmas and what consequences could this jump have? Ozempic in Spain: a discreet use on the rise. Ozempic or other drugs based on semaglutide or tirzepatide have restricted access, require a prescription and, in theory, priority for patients with diabetes. Even so, its use for weight loss exists and is increasing, especially in the private sector. “In consultation, doubts begin to appear about what to do with these drugs on special dates such as Christmas,” explains Dr. Víctor Bravoendocrinologist interviewed in Xataka. “It is not always verbalized as ‘I’m going to skip the dose’, but the idea of ​​’stopping a little’, ‘adjusting’ or ‘I’ll see after the holidays’ does appear.” The difference with the United States is one of degree, not nature. There the debate It is public and massive. Here it begins more quietly, but with the same roots: fear of losing control, social pressure and a complex relationship with food that the holidays intensify. Understand well what it is. Ozempic is neither a one-time appetite suppressant nor a cosmetic aid. Its active ingredient is semaglutide, a drug that replicates the action of the hormone GLP-1 that the body releases after meals. This hormone intervenes in the regulation of insulin and satiety signals, so the treatment reduces appetite and prolongs the feeling of being full. “This is important to understand well,” emphasizes Laura Albó, psychologist specialized in eating disorders and EMDR traumawith whom we have chatted in Xataka. “It is not a pill that takes away the desire to eat only that day. It is a treatment that modifies the signaling of hunger and satiety on a continuous basis. Interrupting it is not neutral.” Besides, as recalled by the scientific reviews recently analyzed by the WHOthese drugs work to lose weight, but they are not free of side effects nor is their long-term impact still known with certainty. Nausea, digestive discomfort and, in some cases, abandonment of treatment are part of the real picture. The Christmas dilemma: enjoy without losing control. One of the most repeated promises of GLP-1 is peace of mind: eating without fear of overflowing. Precisely for this reason, Christmas is experienced as a paradox. “What we observed is that many people consider these dates as an exception,” explains Albó. “It’s the same mental scheme of diets as always: now I can relax, now it’s time to enjoy, and then I’ll control myself again. The tool changes, but not the logic.” According to the psychologist, the conflict is not so much in the amount of food as in the meaning attributed to it. “When someone feels like they need to skip treatment to enjoy themselves, they are reinforcing the idea that eating with pleasure and eating with control are incompatible. And that dichotomy is a clear basis for eating discomfort.” From a medical point of view, Dr. Bravo agrees that expectations are often unrealistic. “Some people hope that by stopping the medication for a few days the body will function as before the treatment. But what usually returns is not a ‘normal’ relationship with food, but a sharp increase in hunger and constant worry about eating.” As we have previously mentioned, in the United States, some patients delayed the weekly dose to arrive with a greater appetite for holiday meals. But Laura Albó warns that this approach displaces the problem: “It’s not just physical hunger. It’s mental noise, paying attention to the menu, the dessert, how much is left. Just what many people had managed to silence.” What happens if you skip Ozempic? From a physiological point of view, interrupting or delaying a dose can cause a return of hunger that is more intense than expected. “The body once again receives signals that had been dampened for weeks or months,” says the endocrinologist. “This does not mean that the person eats ‘normal’, but rather that they may experience a sharp increase in appetite and greater difficulty in self-regulation.” But the impact is not just physical. “On an emotional level, the effect is usually a swing,” adds Laura Albó. “First the idea of ​​permission appears—now I can eat—and then, if the person feels that it has gone too far, guilt and shame come. This cycle is well known in consultations.” Scientific evidence supports this risk. Studies on hormonal regulation of appetite show that the body’s adaptations after weight loss do not disappear immediately. Skipping treatment does not eliminate that vulnerability; in some cases it intensifies it. So what do the experts recommend? There is no single answer, but there is clear consensus among the professionals consulted: Do not make impulsive or guilt-based decisions. Do not use medication as punishment or as permission to eat. Maintain basic schedules and routines to avoid arriving extremely hungry. Understand that two or three meals do not determine the success or failure of a treatment. “The important thing is not to turn Christmas into a test,” summarizes psychologist Laura Albó. “Two meals do not change a body, but they can greatly alter the emotional state.” For its part, Dr. Victor Bravo He insists that any adjustment should be discussed with the professional who prescribes the treatment: “Not so much because of the specific meal of a day, but because of what that decision can trigger later.” The role of the family: the noise that cannot be seen. Although the focus is usually on who takes the drug, the environment has a decisive weight. Comments such as “how little you … Read more

The real deal about festivals isn’t the music, it’s that you can’t bring your own food in. But that’s over

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The sentence of Valencia Court against Madrid Salvaje It’s not just about snacks. It is an assault won by consumers in a larger war: that of maintaining cultural experiences without every moment being designed for the purchase and sale of services. A ray of hope in the battle between “leisure as a business” as opposed to “leisure as a social right” that defines our era in an increasingly clear way. The battle for free entertainment. The judgmentwhich comes after the lawsuit from FACUA-Consumers in Action, is the first judicial resolution in Spain which establishes the abusive nature of these prohibitions at music festivals. But its importance transcends the anecdotal, since what is at stake is not only the right to bring a sandwich to a concert, but something more structural: the battle to maintain cultural spaces that are not completely immersed in transactional dynamics. A chronology of victories. A series of rulings can be traced that serve as a preamble to this latest judicial decision and that have paved the way to reach this point. For example, in 2001the María Cristina multiplexes in Toledo lost a lawsuit that certified that prohibiting entry with external products was an “irrational restriction on the consumer’s ability to choose.” There was already talk of “tied sales”: indirectly imposing services that the client had not requested. In 2022 another milestone arrived: the law was enacted that requires all hospitality establishments to offer free tap water. Although the official justification was environmental (reducing single-use packaging), it also served as a basis for this issue of forced consumption. Since then, the fines have increased: Yelmo Cines, for example, was fined 30,001 euros by the Basque Consumer Institute for prohibiting food from abroad. Spanish legal doctrine already makes it clear: if the main activity is showing films or scheduling concerts, hospitality is accessory. Beyond the sandwich. What happens at festivals is a symptom of a deeper mutation: leisure is being colonized by logic that transforms the cultural experience into a financial asset. It is understood if we look at the case of Live Nation, owners of Ticketmaster. In 2024, US Attorney General Merrick Garland defined like this the business model: “Live Nation uses illegal anti-competitive conduct to exert monopolistic control over the live events industry at the expense of fans, artists, small promoters and venue operators.” That is: you control the 70% of the ticketing market in the United States60% of concert promotion, and exclusive contracts with 75% of the large venues (the numbers are comparable in other countries of the world). In this way, each business segment feeds and reinforces the others. Ticket revenue is used to tie artists into exclusive promotional contracts, allowing for long-term ticketing exclusives, with more commission income… and perpetuating itself ad infinitum. By controlling the entire distribution and business chain you earn more money. Parallel trends. This transformation of leisure does not come from nowhere. It is intertwined with a couple of trends that redefine current leisure. On the one hand, the shrinkflation cultural (untranslatable, but here it goes: shrinking inflation), reduce the size of the product while maintaining or even increasing the price. General admission prices to American festivals they rose 55% between 2014 and 2024. And it’s not just that it costs more: it’s that you receive less. What was once included (being able to bring your own food, access to free drinking water, reasonable personal space) is now sold as a “privilege” or outright prohibited. Furthermore, in 2006, Spirit Airlines introduced the “unbundling” model: a cheap ticket that only includes one seat. Luggage, seat selection and priority boarding became extras that, as in 2024 had generated billions of dollars in baggage and seat selection fees. In other words: the unbundling did not reduce the cost of flying, but rather fragmented the final price into multiple hidden charges. Because ultra-low-cost airlines operate with very tight margins in base notes, recovering profitability through peaks that represent up to 47% of income. Festivals follow the same recipe: tickets that barely cover fixed expenses, while the real margins come from drinks and food. And since now live performances are essential for the survival of the music industryit makes sense that all efforts are focused on making it profitable. A crucial moment. After decades of unstoppable advance in the commodification of every aspect of entertainment (from cinema to sports stadiums, passing through theme parks), this judicial ruling indicates that perhaps the pendulum is beginning to swing in the opposite direction, at least in certain details. Consumers may not have completely lost the battle for “leisure as leisure” to the relentless “leisure as business” model that has been theorized for decades (Joseph Pine and James Gilmore spoke in 1998 of“the experience economy” and, even further back, the German sociologists Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer once defined visionary “colonization of free time) Extirpating leisure from capitalism. In 1944, the political economist Karl Polanyi published ‘The Great Transformation’where he argued that land, work and money are essential elements of life that They should never have become commodities. When the market attempts to subordinate “the very substance of society to the laws of the market,” society reacts spontaneously to protect itself from its own disintegration. So this judicial resolution is about being able to enter the next MadCool with a sandwich, but also about something more. Header | James Jeremy Beckers in Unsplash

It is now legal to bring your own food and drink into festivals

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It is a battle for consumer rights that is receiving very notable attention, and there is nothing strange about it: it affects some of the most widespread forms of leisure, cinema and concerts, and at stake is the right of customers to bring drinks and food into the venues. FACUA has been filing complaints against cinemas and event organizers for years and today we have a resolution that could set a precedent that changes everything. What has happened? The Court of First Instance number 4 of Valencia has issued the first ruling in Spain declaring null and void the clauses of a festival that prohibited access to the venue with food and drinks purchased abroad. The judicial resolution affects the Madrid Salvaje festival, and considers these restrictions as abusive practices that violate consumer rights as reported by FACUAthe association that filed the lawsuit. The ruling also annuls the charge of three euros as “management expenses” that the organization applied to attendees who wanted to recover the unconsumed balance on the bracelets. cashless. The court expressly prohibits the promoter to reiterate these practices in future events and thus establishes a precedent that could affect future editions of festivals in Spain. Because. The sentence justify your decision in the impossibility of attendees doing without food during the long days that the festivals last. The magistrate emphasizes that requiring users to leave the premises to eat would mean missing part of the scheduled concerts, in addition to generating unnecessary inconvenience. The resolution concludes that this prohibition constitutes in practice a forced imposition of hospitality services that consumers have not requested. That is, preventing entry with food from outside is equivalent to forcing the audience to purchase products exclusively in the festival’s internal establishments, which represents an “unjustified contractual imbalance.” The ruling emphasizes that the fundamental purpose of these events is to offer musical entertainment, with the restoration being a merely accessory element that should not condition the enjoyment of the main show. Repeat offenders. This is not the first time that Madrid Salvaje AIE has faced sanctions for its trade policies. The Community of Madrid has already imposed a fine of 96,000 euros for irregularities committed during the 2023 edition of the Brava Madrid festival. That sanction responded to the imposition of the system cashless as the only form of payment within the premises, without the possibility of paying in cash. In addition, the organization established a period of only seven days to claim outstanding balances. FACUA maintains active complaints against the 2024 and 2025 editions of Brava Madrid. Legal precedents: cinemas. The judicial argument of the case does not arise from nowhere, but is based on precedents established around the film sector. The Superior Court of Justice of Castilla-La Mancha established in a previous resolution that prohibiting the consumption of products according to their origin constitutes an irrational restriction of the consumer’s ability to choose. That ruling introduced the concept of “tied sales”, identifying how establishments use their dominant position to indirectly force the purchase of complementary services. The report prepared in 2016 by the then Spanish Agency for Consumer Affairs, Food Safety and Nutrition (Aecosan, today Aesan) was especially forceful when analyzing these prohibitions in movie theaters, concluding that the viewer was unjustifiably deprived of the main service they had paid for (watching the movie) when they were unilaterally imposed on them to use accessory services that they never requested, with the sale of food and drink being a secondary activity, not the essence of the movie business. The fines. These rulings regarding cinemas led to specific financial sanctions. The Basque Consumer Institute fined Yelmo Cines with 30,001 euros after a complaint from FACUA Euskadi for preventing access with external food. FACUA Galicia filed similar complaints against Cinesa in the Marineda City shopping center in A Coruña, while the Andalusian federation denounced five Yelmo establishments for repeating this policy after having been previously warned by the Junta de Andalucía in 2019. Implications. This court ruling sets a precedent of enormous relevance for the music festival industry in Spain, being the first resolution that specifically addresses these practices in events of this type. The ruling opens the door to possible retrospective claims by attendees who were affected by similar policies in past editions of Madrid Salvaje or other festivals that have maintained similar restrictions. It is an unequivocal warning about the illegality of such measures. The court decision significantly strengthens the position of consumer organizations, which have been fighting these trade policies for years. The court’s express order prohibiting Madrid Salvaje AIE from reiterating any of these clauses in future events also establishes a control mechanism that could be applied to other promoters. The cases pending resolution in courts regarding analogous situations—both in festivals and in other leisure spaces—now have a solid jurisprudential reference that will predictably influence the rulings. From now on, consumers have the right to freely choose where to purchase their food, which takes precedence over the commercial interests of the organizing companies, which redefines the relationship that existed to date between promoters and the public. Header | Colin Lloyd in Unsplash

Mercadona has found a vein to grow beyond its white label and prepared food: tourism

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Hotels, restaurants, agencies, guides… When you think about those who are making a fortune with the tourist boom In Spain, the mind goes directly to the hospitality industry and related businesses, such as holiday apartments. There are, however, other sectors in which the flow of visitors is felt with similar force, such as commerce or food. They show it with astonishing clarity the data from one of the firms most relevant of the retail national, Mercadona. In their stores, tourists represent such an important business niche that this year they will leave 1.8 billion of euros and will account for 4.5% of gross sales. One figure: 126.3 billion. That tourism is a huge business is nothing new. The INE estimates that last year the accumulated spending of foreign visitors in Spain was close to 126.3 billion euros16.1% more than in 2023. And everything indicates that this progression will be maintained in 2025. First, because the flow of travelers keeps growing at a good pace. Second, because this greater influx comes accompanied by an increase of spending: between January and October of this year alone, tourists spent around 118.6 billion eurosa figure that takes into account international tourism. A percentage: 4.5%. The increase in tourists is felt in vacation rentals, restaurants, hotels… and the accounts of one of the large Spanish retail chains, Mercadona. Yesterday Expansion public an article which shows how the footprint of foreign visitors in the Valencian chain has not stopped growing in recent years, both in net terms (millions invoiced) and in the weight that these incomes have in the company’s accounts. If in 2021 Juan Roig’s chain earned 750 million euros thanks to sales to tourists, which represented 2.7% of gross income that year, in 2025 the picture is very different. If Mercadona’s forecasts are met, 2025 will close with a sales volume to tourists of 1.8 billion euros, which will increase its contribution to the company’s total gross turnover to 4.5%. The data They are calculated thanks to purchases paid with foreign cards and are interesting because they show a sustained progression during the five-year period. One year: 2021. The last five years have been anything but boring in the tourism sector, which has gone from suffering the hangover of the pandemic to achieving record results. The INE tables show that in 2021 Spain received 31.2 million foreign tourists, 71.6 in 2022, 85.2 in 2023 and 93.7 in 2024. This year in October it already exceeded the 85 million. This rise has been even an increase in tourist spending: 34.9 billion in 2021 to 126,100 in 2024. All this data seems to have been clearly reflected in Mercadona’s accounts. According to the information to which you have had access ExpansionIn 2021, tourists left 750 million in the chain’s stores, which represented 2.7% of its total gross income. In 2022 these values ​​were already at 1,060 and 3.4%, respectively; In 2023 they amounted to 1,340 and 3.8% and in 2024 they reached 1,550 and 4%. If the forecasts are right, this year will close with sales to tourists worth 1.8 billion euros, 4.5% of gross sales. One question: Was it expected? Yes. And not only because of the increase in tourism, which translates into a greater number of potential foreign buyers. The supermarket employers’ association, AEDAS, calculate that in the most touristy areas these represent around 18% of the total consumers. And if Mercadona stands out for something, it is for its extensive presence in Spanish territory, with more than 1,600 stores spread throughout Spain and a wide presence in the Valencian Community. In fact, at a general level it is estimated that its market share in the sector it’s already around 30% (a high percentage that even exceeds some regions), far above the rest of its competitors. Images | Pedro López (Flickr) and Mercadona Via | Expansion In Xataka | Action supermarkets have gone from being unknown to conquering half of Europe. In Spain they will not have it easy

1,000 workers just to make the food

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He Icon of the Seasthe ship that holds the official record “largest cruise ship in the world”, it is a fascinating mass for many reasons. All capital letters. Not only is it extremely long (364.7 meters), extremely wide (48 m) and extremely heavy (250,800 tons), it is also a floating city capable of accommodating more than 2,000 crew members and 5,600 passengers. To get an idea of ​​what such figures mean, in Spain there are some 6,800 municipalities that do not even exceed 5,000 inhabitants. When reviewing these figures we usually automatically think of the engineers and shipyards that allow such large structures to sail the seas, but there are another challenge which is just as (or even more) complicated: feeding such a troop, mostly tourists who expect to eat and drink like true kings. floating cities. It may sound cliché, but there is no better way to define a cruise ship than as a ‘floating city’. The numbers leave no doubt. If we talk only about passengers (the crew is older), the Icon of the Seas, Star of the Seas, Utopia of the Seas, Wonder of the Seas either Symphony of the Seas (to name just a few examples) they can accommodate more than 5,000 people. Or what is the same, 5,000 mouths and stomachs to feed in the middle of the ocean. Not a simple task and one that we can understand better thanks to the last ship on that list, the Symphony, which for a time was the biggest cruise of the world. How do you cook on a megacruise? A few years ago Sophie-Claire Hoeller, a travel reporter from Business Insiderdecided to answer that question in a way quite practical: checking it herself, in situ, on board the Symphony of the Seas, of the Royal Caribbean company. He chose that ship because at that time (2019) there were still years before the delivery of the Icon and it boasted the title largest cruise ship in the world. Hoeller’s experience was fascinating. Not only because of his story, but because of the figures that he collected during his stay in the megacruisein which during the most chaotic weeks of the year they could eat up to almost 9,000 peoplebetween travelers and employees. And let’s remember: people eat several times a day. In fact, Allan Gentile, chef in the culinary innovation area, explains that there are passengers who come to eat between breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. eight times a day. Not for disorganized chefs. As a figure always says more than a long explanation, here are a few of the ones collected by Hoeller during his visit to the Symphony: at that time the ship had 23 restaurants on board in which they served 30,000 dishes daily and 1,850 people were working in charge of feeding the passengers, which includes everything from chefs to dishwashers. It may seem like a lot of staff, but the kitchen works non-stop, which is why it requires a culinary team of more than a thousand of people capable of delighting travelers while the megaship moves among the waves. Lots of people, lots of food. There is not only a lot lots of staff. To feed such a clientele, the cruise ship needs to carry a huge amount of food. To be more precise, Hoeller explains that every Saturday, before embarking on a seven-day voyage, the Symphony is loaded with dozens of tons of food, which in turn requires millimeter organization. “On average, we load 500 pallets every Saturday and we have to finish at four in the afternoon to leave Miami,” explained Jaret de Silvaresponsible for inventory. “It’s a big challenge.” To move such a quantity of merchandise they need 30 trucks and a weekly budget of one million dollars. A team of 18 people is then responsible for carefully storing the food, which is carefully organized to supply the twenty or so restaurants on the ship. As a reference, each of these food points must order their supplies from the warehouse at least one day in advance. Logistics, the key on board. The task is even more complex than it seems because not all of the ship’s restaurants (23) have their own kitchen. Hoeller explains that there are 12 specialized restaurants that do have their own kitchens on board the Symphony of the Seas, but the rest of the dishes are basically prepared in six kitchens: three focused on supplying the main dining room and another three in which food is prepared for the rest of the establishments. “The food is prepared 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” clarifies the reporter from Business Insiderwhich specifies that in total the cruise has 285 chefs dedicated to menus that may vary from one trip to another. After all, a boat full of families with children does not demand the same food as a more senior audience, a mostly Asian clientele than one from Europe. Another key: advance. Since no one wants to be left without supplies in the ocean (even less if they have paid a considerable sum to enjoy a relaxing vacation), those responsible for filling the Symphony’s holds are in charge of stockpiling more food than their guests and crew will theoretically need. The emergency ‘cushion’ they work with is designed for two days, although that figure increases to three days during hurricane season. Of course, it doesn’t come with stowing the load correctly. As in any other restaurant, the food must be in proper condition and at a controlled temperature. Do you eat so much on board? Yes. The figures are once again capital letters, hyperbolic. During a week-long cruise they devour on average 15,000 pounds of meat of beef, which is equivalent to around 6,800 kilos. And that’s not even the most impressive number. If we talk about chicken, consumption skyrockets to 20,000 pounds (9,100 kg) and if we focus on eggs, demand rises to 10,000 dozen. Each day the passengers and crew also account … Read more

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