Galician

The orchards allowed Galician households to save hundreds of euros on purchases. Now they are disappearing

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The proverb says that ‘he who has a friend, has a treasure’. In the Spain of 2026, that of house price skyrocketedthe accumulated inflation two digits and loss of power purchasing power, the reality is much more mundane: those who really have a ‘treasure’ are families with access to a garden, a corral, fruit trees or a small stable with sheep and cows, self-consumption tools that help save and lighten spending in the shopping basket. Curiously, at least in Galicia, fewer and fewer people take care of their own vegetables or livestock. And that allows you to save more than 100 euros per month. What has happened? That the garden is losing weight in Galicia. And in an accelerated and indisputable way. So revealed it on Monday Vigo Lighthousethat after styling the published data by the Galician Institute of Statistics (IGE) has concluded that in the region fewer and fewer families resort to self-cultivation, fruit trees or small farms to alleviate their economy. It’s not just that their number has decreased in the last decade, it’s that it is already at historic lows. If in 2007 45.1% of the community’s households saved thanks to the potatoes, tomatoes, lettuce, carrots… harvested in their gardens, in 2024 that percentage was already a meager 25.1%, the lowest level in the historical series. What do the figures say? If you walk through Galicia it will be increasingly difficult for you to see people working in small gardens or taking care of animals. The IGE statistics They do not talk about large agricultural holdings or farms with a business focus, but rather about family savings, which is why they focus on a very specific part of the Galician agrarian map. All in all, its reading is resounding. If in 2007 there were 452,200 families that saw their economy lightened thanks to the cultivation of their own vegetables, at the end of 2024 there were already 278,500. In between, years of almost uninterrupted decline. There are small swings, but they are largely explained by the context. For example, between 2019 and 2020, coinciding with the pandemic, the number of households with gardens grew slightly. The IGE also reflects that the trend is not equally clear throughout the region. Although the garden is losing weight in the community, it is holding up better in the interior provinces. Its decline is much more pronounced in A Coruña and Pontevedra. Does it only happen with orchards? No. The IGE also investigated how savings have evolved thanks to other forms of self-consumption, such as the use of fruit trees, the production of homemade wine or cheese, the care of livestock to obtain meat, milk or eggs, fishing… And the ‘photo’ is practically the same always. For example, in 2007 there were 372,000 homes saving thanks to their own hens, chickens and eggs. In 2020 there were already 298,300 and at the beginning of 2025 they barely exceeded 202,600. The collapse is not only due to a loss of population. Its incidence rate also fell: from 37.1% in 2007 to only 18.3% in 2024. Exercise Households that save on food thanks to the garden (no.) Households that save on food thanks to the garden (%) 2007 452,188 45.09% 2011 444,843 42.00% 2016 406,384 38.34% 2021 384,283 35.81% 2024 278,519 25.12% And other forms of self-consumption? The same. The same thing happens with the food (and savings) obtained thanks to fruit tree cultivationhe cow milkingthe elaboration of wine or spirits homemade, the cattle breeding or the ‘pig slaughter’, which despite its roots in rural Galicia has also deflated. If in 2007 it was practiced in 20.7% of homes, in 2020 it was already reduced to 7.6% and in 2024 to less than 5%. In practice, this means that the slaughter has gone from being a saving for 207,300 homes to being a saving for 55,100. And why is it important? Beyond the greater or lesser interest that weight loss in gardens may have, the phenomenon is curious because it coincides with another, also noted by Lighthouse: Taking care of orchards or farms pays off. And a lot. After years of inflation and increases that have been fueled by products like eggsself-consumption has become a way to cut spending by more than 100 euros per month. In certain cases the savings can reach 120. On average, the garden allows you to reduce the shopping basket by 30 euros, chicken farms by another 22, beef (or rabbit) farms lighten the basket by almost 40 euros and domestic fruit trees by 18. The greatest source of savings continues to be the slaughter of pigs. Those who practice it save 51 euros every month, since they avoid buying pork. So why does it decline? The million dollar question. Having a garden, a corral or even a small farm with cows and sheep may save money on purchases, but it requires other precious resources: time and space. Added to this is the expense involved in caring for vegetables and livestock. In a Galicia that is no stranger to demographic crisis and she is getting older, that is a challenge. The region is not spared from the rural exoduswhich makes it difficult for families to have space for gardens. Image | MRC Témiscamingue (Unsplash) Via | Vigo Lighthouse In Xataka | In emptied Galicia there are town councils taking charge of gas stations and stores. The objective: not to be left without services

The crazy story of the Galician woman who registered El Sol before a notary, sold plots online and then took eBay to court

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To the French monarch Louis XIV he was known as the sun kingthus, with a capital letter and all its absolutist pomp. Strictly speaking, that title, however, belongs to another person, and it is not even the priest king. Cuahtemocgreat governor of the Aztecs, nor the Egyptian emperor Amenhotep III. If there is a lady and sovereign of the Star King—or at least that is what she maintains—that is Angeles Durana Galician who one fine day in 2010 decided to do something that no one else had done in thousands of years of human history: she left her house in Salvaterra do Miño, in the Vigo region, and stood in the office of a notary to draw up an official record that she, and no one else but her, declared herself the legitimate and authentic owner of the sun. When the good notary heard her, he couldn’t help but laugh, but he had no choice but to consult with his professional association and, in fact, sign a record of what that lady said. Since then, the story of Ángeles Durán has taken on delirious overtones, worthy of a good astro-legal thriller.I solicited. I, owner of the Sun This is how Ángeles Durán has proclaimed herself, a Galician who in 2010 surprised the world by proclaiming herself the owner of the Sun. And no, we are not speaking figuratively. The news advanced it in its day The Voice of Galiciawhich recounted how Durán went to a notary in a neighboring town, in the Vigo region, to draw up a record that she was the legitimate owner of the axis of the Solar System. If that became news—and it did, so much so in fact that it jumped to foreign media— it was not so much because of the occurrence itself as because of the result. Durán left the office with a document that he later did not hesitate to use. pose for the cameras. “I am the owner of the Sun, a star of spectral type G2, which is located in the center of the solar system, located at an average distance from the Earth of approximately 149,600,000 kilometers…”, proclaims the minutes of statements with the notary’s seal. The Galician newspaper explains that the official made him laugh upon hearing Durán’s claims, but he still consulted with his school and ended up attesting that the woman in front of him declared herself the legitimate possessor of the Sun. Since then many things have been said about Durán: that he is lawyer and psychologistwho at that time served as judicial expert and even, as published The Voice in 2022, who lives in Italy and is focused on preparing a book about the British royal family. One of the latest news that is known about her is that she is dedicated to composing “spicy and erotic songs” and who has released an album. What there is no doubt is that Durán dedicated time and effort to planning her strategy to proclaim herself the owner of the Sun. Whether more or less correct, the undeniable thing is that her request was based on a legal argument that she raised at the time and still maintained in 2019. before the cameras of Cuatro. Going back to Roman law The Galician law basically rested on two legs: a legal vacuum and a legal figure that dates back to Roman law. The first is related to the international agreement that establishes that no country can appropriate the planets. The key for Durán is in that nuance: that it affects the states would not imply, he maintains, that it extends to individuals. The second key is the usucapionwhich allows you to gain real rights to those elements that have been enjoyed for a certain time. And Durán had decades benefiting daily from the Sun’s rays. Like the other almost 8,000 million people who reside on this wide planet, true, but no one else had thought to raise it like this in a notary office. The law is made, the trap is made. At least that’s what Durán thought. “I have not bought the Sun because no one has sold it to me. What I have done is a deed for what is called usucapion,” I insisted in 2019 during an interview in which he assured that this figure can be used “by electromagnetic apprehension.” The truth is that Durán has not been the first to do something similar. Decades ago an American businessman, Dennis Hopeclaimed that he had found a legal loophole that allowed him to claim sovereignty of the Moon. His argument was very similar to that of the Galician: Hope was based on an old law from the 19th century, of the American pioneers, and that the Outer Space Treaty It does not affect individuals. The most curious thing is that the Sun is not the only property that Durán has claimed, although it is certainly the one that takes the cake in size, implications and impact. The Galician has made other equally curious visits to the General Registry of Intellectual Property. The World and The Country They have echoed how he came to record Tarzan’s cry or “the longest score in the world”, 24,000 million measures and related to telephony. “Every time you dial a number, notes are ringing and no one has recorded them,” explained in 2010: “If you mark 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, you are making a few measures and all the possible combinations, all of them, I have registered in my name.” A little plot in the sun… Durán was not satisfied with proclaiming herself the owner of the Astro Rey. He decided to go one step further, cutting up the vast expanse of the star and selling plots on eBay. On the first day he managed to market nearly a hundred stellar plots. According to explained in his day10,000 solar portions were offered, each accompanied by its respective certificate. For one euro, anyone could get a piece of star. … Read more

The megaindios of Ourense, Zamora and León have paralyzed the Galician bird. It is the nth setback in a horrible year for Renfe

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The Madrid-Galicia bird had become an oasis for Renfe. The Spanish company, objective of all kinds of criticism during 2025 had seen how the Galician corridor was even bending the arm to the airlines. The fires are, now, the last unexpected twist that leaves a trail of cancellations, delays and travelers desperate to find an alternative route to the train. Fires. They are, without any doubt, the news that marks the rate of today in Spain. When we write these linesthere are more than 40 active fires in our country. Of these, two out of three foci They are located in Castilla y León. In addition, only in Ourense (Galicia) have burned more than 60,000 hectares. Lack of resources, forests that are lacking maintenance and one heat wave that seems to have no end They have been the perfect fuel to find ourselves in a situation that has been out of control. Click on the image to go to the original tweet Cut. With the provinces of Zamora, León and Ourense surrounded by the fire, the bird has stopped completely. This morning, Renfe confirmed in his X account that the circulation was interrupted “until the competent authorities allow resumption.” It is the fifth day that Renfe keeps the high -speed line between Madrid and Galicia suspended since Last Thursday, August 14, it would be suspended For the first time the rail service. The previous day, Wednesday, August 13the company already had to suspend some of the paths during the afternoon. Click on the image to go to the original publication From Madrid to Zamora. At the moment, the only solution that Renfe has given is to open a train that makes the journey between Madrid and Zamora. With an eye on the evolution of the fires, for the moment the only alternative they keep open is the one mentioned in the image superior. In the responses to the publication, Renfe confirms that There is no alternative plan For travelers who had tickets bought for any of the Galician cities. Bus alternatives have not been established, For example, and they don’t guarantee When can you return to normal. The nth problem. The interruption of traffic in the Galician corridor is the nth bad news for the company that is living a 2025 to forget. If we make a list of everything that has happened in the previous seven months that we have throughout the year we find the following: A flying line. The situation is even more complicated, taking into account that the Galician corridor was being the line that was best working at Renfe. As high speed has been settling, the data says There is a traveler transfer from the plane to the trainwhich is offered as a more flexible and interesting alternative if you want to spend less than 24-36 hours in Madrid. Besides, The particularities of the line and orders saturation to manufacturers have caused Renfe to have a dominant position on competitors. Although the line is liberalized and any company can operate, the truth is that companies such as Ouigo lack adequate rolling material and They do not expect to have it in the short term. What can the traveler do? At the moment, little if I planned to use the high speed line between Madrid and Galicia. As we have seen, Renfe is only partially offering, between Madrid and Zamora. Once there, there is no other than taking a car or a bus to continue the trip. Options for traveling tomorrow, August 19, between Santiago de Compostela and Madrid Shot prices. The other option, of course, is to fly from Madrid to one of the Galician airports. Of course, from one day to another, flying from Madrid to Vigo, to Coruña or Santiago de Compostela forces to invest more than 100 euros per ticket (there are only three options for less than that money and Vigo does not have them) and in some cases the prices per trip exceed 300 euros. But the trip is very complicated in the reverse sense. From one day to another, the cheapest option to travel between Vigo and Madrid forces to disburse 369 euros, from A Coruña you can travel from 272 euros and from Santiago de Compostela you have to disburse 379 euros. All data have been taken from the flight search engine Skyscanner. Photo | Hugh Llewelyn and Ume In Xataka | Each new data we know about the AVE in Spain points in the same direction: it is winning the game to Barajas

We have just discovered that rainfall has wreaked havoc on the Galician octopus

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The octopus is an animal of interest in the Galician coast, after all, this animal is used as the main ingredient of one of the most popular dishes of its gastronomy. However the fishing of this cephalopod So singular drag difficulties when satisfying market demand. After the octopus track. Now a new study in which researchers from the Marine Research Institute of the CSIC and Pescanova Biomarine Center have participated, gives us an important clue about stress in the common octopus (Octopus vulgaris). It is a track that It can help us to protect the fisheries of these animals and even improve the treatment they receive in the incipient aquaculture sector. Supply and demand. The Galician octopus of our tables does not usually have its origin in Galicia. We are not talking about The Galician-Leonese dispute For the origin of the octopus To Feirabut of the fact that the fishing of this cephalopod on the Galician coasts does not represent more than a fraction of the total consumption of the country. According to data from Vigo lighthousethe octopus campaign 2023/24 resulted in catches of 1.5 million kg (a notable decrease compared to the previous year); while according to data from the Food consumption report in Spain Of 2023, the octopus consumption (next to that of squid) of Spanish households was some more than 41 million kg. Only in preserves, almost 385,000 kg of octopus were consumed according to the report. Piscifactory octopus? So where does the octopus come from? One of the origins is on the African coastspecifically in the north of the continent. Despite this, world octopus demand implies a huge pressure not only on Galician heshes, but also globally. In this context, cephalopod fishing progresses towards a new border, that of the aquaculture or fish farming octopus. A border wrapped, yes in the controversy. While it is true that this practice could relieve pressure on the heshadows and protect coveted species such as overfishing octopus, there are many The voices That they have Raised against The latest projects that point in this direction. The reason: the ethical dilemma to raise for consumption animals whose intelligence It is usually equated with that of some of the most intelligent vertebrate animals such as cats or crows. Octopus stress. It is not to be surprised therefore the scientific interest in understanding aspects such as stress in these animals. Interest reflected in studies such as The recently published In the magazine Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism. This analysis focused on stress response mechanisms and potential osmoregulation in the common octopus. The responsible team resorted to liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry techniques, which allowed it to contrast that these animals do not produce cortisol, corticosterone or cortisone, three hormones that we usually associate precisely with response to stress and osmoregulation in vertebrate animals. An unexpected effect. He Team details that their findings can explain the mass death of octopus on the Galician coast seen in times of heavy rains. A phenomenon that It also extends To other geographical contexts. As they point out, rapid falls in salinity caused by rains could jeopardize the “physiological stability” of animals, a direct consequence of not having mechanisms for response to external stress factors such as cortisol. Pondering pros and cons. Learning about this fascinating animal not only allows us to satisfy the curiosity that these creatures generate, it can also help us protect them. It can also help those who seek ways to raise these animals in captivity since we can now intuit that the difficulties in responding to stress may be behind the difficulties that this form of aquaculture poses. It can also help us explain the growing difficulty in fishing these animals, a difficulty reflected in the fall in the volume of catches. In Xataka | Do not call it “octopus”, call it “giant tongue that licks everything that touches.” Science is clear Image | Pexels

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