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Almost 2,000 years ago the Romans were already returning home from their trips with souvenirs. The best proof was hidden in Soria

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You’ve probably done it more than once. You go on vacation to Cancun, Florence, Barcelona or that beach that you like so much and once there you decide to buy a souvenir to take home. Maybe a magnet for the fridge or a figurine for the living room. It seems like a very modern gesture, but almost 2,000 years ago the Romans who moved around the world were already doing something very similar, although not exactly as tourists. We know it thanks to an old cup bronze found in Berlanga del Dueroa small town in Soria. At first glance it looks like just another ‘glass’, but in reality it is connected to one of the most fascinating Roman mega-constructions of all time. In a place in Soria… Archeology advances thanks to hours of study and field work. Also (sometimes) by pure strokes of luck. It happened some time ago in Berlanga del Duero, a town of 800 inhabitants located in Soria. Over there, “by chance”historians have found a Roman cup, a small hemispherical bronze bowl with enamels. Studies have dated it to the 2nd century AD. Said like this, it may not seem like a big deal (fortunately we have many Roman bowls and there are larger, more lavish and older ones), but Berlanga’s piece has something special: it is a roman souvenir which in its day traveled more than a thousand kilometers. A souvenir for travelers? More or less. Archaeologists believe that the Berlanga cup is “a souvenir brought to the peninsula by a Celtiberian soldier”, as they explain from the CSIC. Its purpose was not (just) to serve as another bowl. It also had a symbolic value, similar to what we can give in 2026 to the figures that we bring with us after a trip to Japan, Italy or those memories that help us evoke the months we spent on Erasmus in Berlin. If we take into account that the piece was manufactured around the 2nd century AD The above would be enough to highlight it above the rest of the cups that we preserve from ancient Rome, but the piece recovered in Soria has another extra value: its origin. The key: Hadrian’s Wall. The piece is linked to Hadrian’s Wallthe Roman fortification begun in the time of Emperor Hadrian to protect the province of Britain from the raids of the Picts. We have been able to establish the link thanks to two pieces of information. First, its origin. The cup was made with metals that surely came from the mines of Wales or Durham. Second, the details that decorate the glass, which include nods to the Roman military fortification. “Memory of…” It doesn’t matter if they are from Barcelona, ​​Milan, New York or any other city in the world, tourist souvenirs always tend to share one characteristic: they include the name of the destination and some of its most visited icons. The famous “Memory of XXX” accompanied by a silhouette of the Sagrada Familia, the Duomo or the empire state. Something similar happens in the Berlanga cup. In addition to the enamels, its decoration represents Hadrian’s Wall “through a frieze punctuated with turrets”, CSIC clarifies. Not only that. The piece also includes inscriptions directly related to the military camps in the eastern zone: Cilurnum, Onno, Vindobala and Condercum. The researchers have also noticed a curious detail: the names seem arranged to be read from west to east, as if the cup represented the appearance of the wall for people who saw it from inside. Click on the image to go to the tweet. Is it a unique piece? No. And although it may seem contradictory, that is another of the characteristics that makes the Berlanga glass so special: it is and is not unique, just like many of the souvenirs that we bring back from our trips or that are sometimes given to us by companies for which we have worked. The piece rescued in Soria is one of the five “Hadrian’s Wall Cups” that are known, enameled vessels linked to the fortification of ancient Britain. The first was found in 1725 in an English villa. Since then, two other similar pieces have been found in England and one more in France. Also a couple of fragments, one of them discovered in the 19th century between Zamora and León. That piece in question is known as the ‘Hildeburgh Fragment’ (name of its buyer) and is kept in the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. The Berlanga cup is closer to us: it is kept in the Numantine Museumin Soria. Its state of conservation is also much better. Although the Berlanga crown has fragmented and deformed over time, we conserve about 90% of its structure, which has allowed it to be virtually reconstructed. Looking for its owner. The cup is fascinating, but it leaves one question even more so: Who was its owner? Who the hell decided almost 2,000 years ago to take a commemorative cup from a fortification located more than a thousand kilometers away to Soria? The researchers have a theory: The piece belonged to a Celtiberian soldier who served on the most remote frontier of the empire. “The quality of craftsmanship and the materials used in these glasses tell us that they were prestigious objects, most likely made to order to give or decorate the military elite who had served at the Wall, the farthest border of the empire,” comment Jesús García Sánchez, expert from the Institute of Archeology of Mérida. “Most researchers, and we too, agree that they are interpreted as a souvenir or memento of the Wall.” From Britain to the peninsula. If the theory of García and his companions is correct, the Berlanga cup would have made a fascinating journey: it would have been part of the luggage with which a soldier from Celtiberia (a region that included part of what is now the province of Soria, as well as areas of Rioja, Zaragoza, Guadalajara, Teruel and Cuenca) who had … Read more

How to deduct home insurance on your 2025 income, and in what cases you can do it on your 2026 tax return

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We are going to tell you in which cases you can deduct home insurance from the 2025 Income Tax return, which is what we do in 2026 to account for the last fiscal year. You can now request and submit your draft online and from the mobilebut before doing so pay attention to this. We have already explained to you the most important boxes to which you have to pay attention in your declaration, but there are also others that should be looked at in case you can scratch any deductions. One of them is related to home insurance when the home is linked to a mortgage. We will tell you in which cases you can deduct this insurance and how to do it. Conditions to deduct home insurance In the Income Tax return that we are doing this year, you can only deduct insurance linked to homes that you have acquired before January 1, 2013. Therefore, the date you purchased your home is very important. The maximum annual deductible base for investment in housing amounts to 9,040 euros. You will be able to deduct 15% on this amount, so The maximum deduction is 1,356 euros in your statement. Home insurance is included in the deductions related to the mortgage, but it is not possible to deduct it entirely. In addition to this, another condition is that The insurance must be linked to a mortgage on a mandatory basis. Come on, at the time the bank should have forced you to take out this insurance as a requirement to grant you this mortgage, a practice that we can sometimes encounter. Specifically, the Tax Agency says the following: The premiums for life and fire insurance contracts, provided that they are included in the conditions of the mortgage loans obtained for the acquisition (or, where applicable, for the construction), rehabilitation or extension of the habitual residence. This means that you will also be able to deduct the insurance that you were forced to take out when the mortgage was to acquire the home, to rehabilitate it or to expand it. Besides, It must be your habitual residencenot a secondary or vacation one. How to deduct your home insurance If your home insurance meets the conditions to be able to deduct it, all you have to do is write the insurance amount in boxes 547 and 548 of the Income Tax return, which are those destined for investments in your habitual residence. The deduction amounts to 7.5% in the state section and another 7.5% in the regional. Self-employed workers will also be able to deduct workspace insurance, whether in-person or teleworking. In this case you will have to do it in box 200, the one Insurance premiums for this type of professional expenses. Here, as usual, You must have documentation proving payment of this insurance, and that the document details the risks covered. This should be kept in case the Treasury decides to do a check to verify that everything is true. In Xataka Basics | Income Guide 2025: calendar, previous steps and how to prepare for the 2026 declaration

Inheritances have become the key for young people to buy a home. In Galicia they are giving them up

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The data is shocking. In a country where inheritances and donations have become the ‘key’ that allows thousands of young people to acquire their own homes, something difficult to consider without that family support, in Galicia a curious phenomenon is being recorded: a record of inheritance renunciations. Just last year almost 4,000 people They said ‘no’ to the possibility of receiving the legacy that their parents, grandparents, uncles or any other relative had left them when they died. Nor is it a new phenomenon Nor is Galicia the only region in which resignations growbut his case is paradigmatic: those 4,000 cases mark a historical maximum. The question is… Why the hell are inheritances rejected? What has happened? That at a time when inheritances have become the “ticket” that allows many young people take the leap from tenants to owners of their own home, a curious record has just been recorded in Galicia: a historical maximum of heirs renouncing their family legacies. The data has advanced it Vigo Lighthouse. In 2025, almost 4,000 people in the region said ‘no’ to the assets left to them by their deceased relatives. The media cites statistics from the Notarial College of Galicia, which also shows that the current volume of resignations far exceeds that of a few years ago. Why do they do it? The big question. As it reflects a recent report of ARAG, Galicia is one of the autonomous communities that offer a more attractive tax framework for inheritances between descendants and spousesat least those that do not exceed one million euros. There are other taxes that come into play, such as municipal capital gains that can be applied to urban properties, but it does not seem that this is the reason that explains the trickle of inheritance renunciations. What is it then? The reality is that there is no single answer. One of the reasons that most influence resignations is (as ironic as it may sound) the inheritances themselves. Its nature. When we think about them, money accumulated in savings accounts, farms, houses and vehicles comes to mind. The reality is that in many cases legacies are ‘poisoned gifts’. What does that mean? That legacy properties don’t just add up. They also ‘subtract’, either because they arrive accompanied by unpaid mortgages, loans or guarantees or simply because the value of the inheritance does not compensate for the cost of assuming it. The latter may sound strange, but it can occur in inheritances from uncles to nephews or between brothers. Bonuses aside, if the value of the legacy is not high, it may not be worth paying capital gains, notary and registrar. Year pure renunciation Resignation in favor of another person (translative) 2011 18,933 800 2012 23,235 777 2013 28,783 689 2014 34,340 741 2015 37,623 756 2016 38,826 687 2017 43,001 776 2018 46,684 826 2019 47,421 818 2020 44,582 745 2021 55,576 1,124 2022 55,509 1,099 2023 56,179 1,117 2024 54,866 1,273 2025 (until October) 46,265 1,041 Are there more reasons? Yes. Like a good part of Spain, Galicia is a territory in full change: its population tends to concentrate and uninhabited areas increase. In practice, this means that part of the inheritances left in the community are simply rural or forest properties with difficult (or no) access, buildings in ruins and plots reduced to their minimum expression in a land characterized precisely by his smallholding. In short, properties of low value, off the market and that may even entail liabilities, such as keep them clean to avoid fires. It is also not unusual for inheritances to include plots whose ownership is fragmented among different family members, sometimes unrelated to each other. Lighthouse explains People also come to the offices of notaries who want to renounce legacies simply because they had no relationship with the deceased or want to avoid family problems that could lead to lawsuits. ccaa RESIGNATIONS IN 2024 RESIGNATIONS IN 2011 Andalusia 10,889 2,443 Aragon 1,229 505 Asturias 2,033 713 Balearics 1,526 728 Canary Islands 2,123 645 Cantabria 712 210 CASTILLA AND LEÓN 3,347 1,358 CASTILLA-LA MANCHA 2,123 592 Catalonia 9,672 4,815 VALENCIAN COMMUNITY 5,502 1,615 Estremadura 1,209 311 Galicia 3,859 1,051 COMMUNITY OF MADRID 5,687 2,050 REGION OF MURCIA 1,752 390 Navarre 744 207 the Basque Country 1959 1,103 Rioja 500 197 Is it just a matter of inheritances? No. Other factors are added to the above, such as the lack of liquidity of the heirs at the time in which they must receive their legacy or simply the increase in inheritances processed in life. In the end, resignations are increasing, but so are agreements between living relatives who anticipate the process to avoid conflicts or benefit from tax advantages. In the background there is also a purely demographic component: as societies like the Galician one age deaths increasewhich in turn leads to more inheritances and the possibility of increased resignations. Is it something new? No. Nor does it only happen in Galicia. A quick search in the newspaper archive shows that rejections of inheritances have been increasing for some time and they are not rare in other autonomous communities either. just a year ago The Country revealed that the proportion of rejected inheritances had risen considerably to reach historic highs in the historical series. Their percentages must be handled with some caution because they are based on statistics in which resignations are equated with renunciants when in reality a legacy can fall on several people who do not accept it. In any case the data of the General Council of Notaries are eloquent: if in 2011 the organization recorded 18,933 resignations (“pure and simple renunciation of inheritance or legitimate”), in 2016 there were already 38,826 and in 2024 (last annual data closed) 54,866. The 2025 results are still partial, but show about 46,300 rejections through October. Why is it so shocking? Partly because of the context. The General Council of Notaries itself published a report at the end of 2025 which shows that “donations … Read more

the game (and more) without leaving home, for 9.99 euros per month

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It is true that the World is just around the corner, but there is still a lot of football before that. In fact, today begins the final phase of one of the most beautiful and sporting competitions in this sport: the Champions League. If you don’t feel like going to the bar and you prefer to watch tonight’s Real Madrid game at home, you have it in Movistar Plus+ by 9.99 euros per month (or 99.90 euros per year). Although that is not the only thing this platform has. Monthly subscription to Movistar Plus+ The price could vary. We earn commission from these links LaLiga, the Copa del Rey final and more on Movistar Plus+ If at any time we have considered trying this platform, today is the best day to do so. Since it has no permanencewe can subscribe, watch the Real Madrid game and have a month ahead to take a look at the platform’s catalogue. It is true that Movistar Plus+ already has a Free Planbut in it we do not have the possibility of watching football. Of course, the biggest incentive on the platform today, April 7, is the great game Real Madrid – Bayern Munich, two historic European matches. But, And what else does Movistar Plus+ broadcast? As a summary, we leave you a list of the games that we will be able to see in the coming days: Freiburg – Celtic: April 9 Seville – Atlético de Madrid: April 11 Chelsea – Manchester United: April 12 Atlético de Madrid – Barcelona (Champions): April 14 Betis – Sporting Braga: April 16 Atlético de Madrid – Real Sociedad (Copa del Rey): April 18 Manchester City – Arsenal: April 19 Girona – Betis: April 21, 22 or 23 Getafe – Barcelona FC: April 25 or 26 Logically, the platform not only has football. To all these parties, we must add a very good catalog of movies, series and documentaries with which you will have plenty of content. There is a lot to choose from, especially if you want to see movies nominated or winners of the Goya awards like ‘Sundays‘ or ‘The Dinner’, as well as other Oscars, such as ‘Sinners‘ either ‘Sentimental Value‘. Finally, we cannot ignore that Movistar Plus+ is a platform that allows two simultaneous reproductions. What does that mean? That you can share your account with a friend or family member without any problem, even if you do not live at the same address. Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | Movistar Plus+ In Xataka | Mega-guide to set up a home theater: projector, screen, sound system and more In Xataka | The best streaming platforms 2025 | Comparison of Disney+, Netflix, HBO Max, Prime Video, Movistar Plus+, Filmin, Apple TV, SkyShowtime and Rakuten TV: catalog, functions and prices

those who follow this Japanese custom and clean less at home and those who do not

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Everyone does what they want at home, but there are habits that are better than others and customs that, although you may like them more or less individually, may be a cultural custom specific to your region. Without going any further, there is one that raises blisters and that no one is completely clear about: take off your shoes when entering the house. Without going any further, the map that you see below these lines and crowning the article is from Wikimedia: in green, the states that take off their shoes when they get home and in blue, those that do not. We tend to associate this habit with Japan and although it is probably the best-known country where it is applied, it is not the only one. Essentially almost all of Asia takes off its shoes, also North Africa and Canada. The latest Wikimedia map on Which countries take off their shoes at home and which don’t In fact, custom is multicultural and independent. Thus, in Japan they even have an area of ​​the house set up for this purpose, the genkanwith a step called agari kamachi where the sacred limit is established between the “outer world” (dirty) and the “inner world” (clean), as the digital media Nippon explains. In Nordic countries the custom is more related to the weather: moving around the house with shoes full of mud or snow does not seem like the best idea. In the Middle East, the origin points to religion. Without going any further, the Quran has some verses like this from Allah to Moses: “I am your Lord; take off your sandals, for you are in the sacred valley of Tuwa.” The question that bothers half the world: with or without shoes at home? In the discussion forum You can see how some places have changed their tones over the years, such as Middle Eastern countries such as Pakistan or Afghanistan and more recently, the United Kingdom. More than a new custom (although COVID made some hygiene measures stay forever), it is that this habit was probably not well monitored. Although the British case is curious. The world map of the tradition of taking off shoes at home. Seasia.co a few years ago a Reddit thread echoed an original map from Seasia.co (which also had your articlefocused on Southeast Asia) much richer because it goes one step further. It’s no longer that there are places where they take off their shoes and others that don’t, it’s just that there are places where it seems wrong for us to do so. In that small group appear Spain, France, Italy and all of central and southern America. Just the opposite of what happens in the majority of Asia and Africa: if you go to a house there and choose to leave your shoes on following your customs, you will be having a rude gesture. Here the United Kingdom finds its nuance: the norm is to leave your shoes on, but in some homes they prefer to take them off. Shoes yes or shoes no? Leaving aside religious issues and focusing on practice, the reality is that taking off your shoes is a good practice from a hygiene point of view. This study from Macquarie University in Sydney makes it clear: up to 60% of the dust and dirt that accumulates inside a house comes from outside and enters, effectively, through the feet. The pharmacist Álvaro Fernández account in El Periódico de Aragón that “99% of the shoes analyzed test positive for fecal matter” because well, we walk through places where there are traces of excrement and dirt. Microbiologist Jonathan Sexton of the University of Arizona, confirm for Very Interesting the presence in almost all soles of bacteria such as E.coli (present in 96% of cases) and Clostridium difficile. And not only microorganisms: according to The Conversation, Shoes have pesticides from gardens, lead from urban dust and carcinogenic asphalt sealers, all of that goes home. But there is no need to be shocked either: there are fecal bacteria in our mobile and that’s not why we leave it on the doorstep of the house. Simply put: the best way to have a clean house is not to clean, it is not to stain. Prevention is better than cure. Of course, everyone in their house does what they want. In Xataka | The nations of the world and their stereotypes, seen by Japan in this amazing map from 1932 In Xataka | We had suspected for decades that Imperial Japan had a “great Mongolian route.” And finally we have found your maps Cover | Wikimedia

want a sauna at home and don’t have room

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Most of us mortals do not have a sauna at home, we have probably never even considered it. To begin with, it is not something necessary like a shower or bathtub, but they are also very expensive and also take up a lot of space. If you are one of the chosen ones who has considered it and can afford it, but the problem is space, this German company has the solution for you: a retractable sauna. The hidden sauna. It is an invention by Klafs, a sauna manufacturer based in Germany, and will be available in summer at a price not yet confirmed. The innovation of the Klafs S1 is that it is the world’s first retractable sauna. When folded, it has a depth of 60 centimeters which, for context, is the same depth as a PAX wardrobe from IKEA. When we want to use it, we just press a button on its touch panel and magic happens: it extends up to 160 centimeters. In total it takes 45 seconds to deploy. Three sizes. Klafs will market the Sauna S1 in three different widths, depending on how many people will use the sauna. The compact one measures 142cm wide and is suitable for one or two people, the intermediate one goes up to 172cm and can accommodate two or three people, and the large one measures 202cm wide and is for three people. All models have the same depth folded and unfolded (60-160cm). Design and equipment. When folded, the sauna can pass as one more piece of furniture. It is made of walnut wood and the exterior finish can be dark walnut or matte black, which moves away from the classic design of saunas with lighter wooden doors. Inside it has a bench, adjustable lighting and integrated Bluetooth speakers. Heat and steam. The S1 has the same heat and humidity technology as other saunas from the firm. It allows you to choose between four modalities: classic sauna, tropical steam, soft steam and aromatic bath. In steam modes it reaches up to 55% humidity, so it is not considered a Turkish bath, but it is halfway there. Regarding dry heat, the maximum temperature it reaches is 80ºC, which is typical in larger saunas. Of course everything can be controlled from an app. The domestic sauna market. As we said at the beginning, a sauna is not something we usually find in a home, but there is a whole luxury market for those who want to install one at home. Klafs itself offers several models designed for the home environmentbut there are also other brands such as Whipsawwhich has a model that imitates the design of a normal wardrobe. In large areas such as Leroy Merlin Or you can also find home saunas at varying prices, although generally quite high. The most economical are the folding and portable cabins with textile walls such as the Sauna Pod which costs “only” 750 euros. Image | Klafs In Xataka | Louis Vuiton has found the formula for extreme luxury: a mansion on a private island where one night costs more than a car

Xiaomi is testing the mother of AIs for its cars, mobile phones and home. And there is no trace of Google or OpenAI

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Xiaomi long ago stopped being simply a mobile brand and became one of the giants of the Chinese technology ecosystem. The company It no longer goes to volume, it goes to aspirationand to achieve this they want a remarkable user experience. A deep integration of artificial intelligence is inevitable to achieve this, and that is where MiClaw comes to life. Mike? Xiaomi has published on its website the details about MiClaw, your next step in exploring AI agents. It begins as a small-scale closed test, but it represents the pillars of what we will see in the near future on the company’s devices. What is. Xiaomi is testing with MiClaw the execution capabilities of its large AI models (MiMo) within the mobile-car-home ecosystem, both at the conversational level and in terms of execution capacity. It is a deep model, one with full access to every single event on the device, and able to reason for itself what action needs to be taken. What are you doing. The agentic AI prepared by Xiaomi follows a four-step model: Perception Association Decision Action In the text itself, Xiaomi gives us some examples of how its agent can make our lives easier. A refrigerator that can automatically check which consumables are missing at home, connect to our calendar and create a reminder that we have to make the purchase. You buy a train ticket, the agent reads the confirmation SMS, consults our calendar, and automatically prepares and schedules the trip. Why is it important. That Xiaomi is redoubling its efforts in AI is no coincidence. The company wants to be a benchmark in the ecosystem and conquer regions like Europe. Leading in artificial intelligence will be key for any of its product pillars: cars, home devices and mobile phones. Xiaomi wants to move away from the current interpretation-execution proposal, to integrate an agent capable of carrying out up to 20 consecutive and independently executed actions. At the moment, MiClaw works under closed beta on devices like the Xiaomi 17 Ultrabut Xiaomi’s idea is to develop an agent capable of working on any of its devices. Image | Xataka In Xataka | Is the newest the best for you? We compare the Xiaomi 17 Ultra against the Xiaomi 15 Ultra to see which is a better buy in 2026

Living for free in your parents’ house does not imply a donation of the home

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He house price It is one of the main obstacles to the emancipation of young people in Spain. According to data According to the Spanish Youth Council, only 15.2% of young people can afford to live outside the family home. Of them, 57.9% do so in rented apartments and a third of these young people share a flat with other young people to be able to bear the expenses. In this context, it is not strange to find people over 30 years old living with their parents. However, according to have confirmed the Ministry of Finance to VerifyRTVEit is false that living for free in your parents’ home, or in “any property of your parents”, can be considered “as a donation”. The Treasury makes it clear: there is no donation. Both from the Ministry of Finance like from the union of Technicians of the Ministry of Finance (GESTHA) point out that there is no tax or legal change that penalizes children for residing in the family home. Sources from the Ministry of Finance confirmed to damn.es that “there have been no legal changes or changes in the orientation of administrative actions since the IRPF existed, nor has it ever been considered a fiscal risk.” Carlos Cruzado, president of the GESTHA union, explained to RTVE that no taxes or duties apply additional taxes for the simple fact that an adult shares a home with his or her parents. Donation is a change of ownership, not use. The reason why no charge is made is because, simply, when a child lives with his or her parents, no transfer of assets occurs. The consensual use that is made of it changes, not the ownership. This change of use between family members without financial compensation does not fit into any of the assumptions of the Inheritance and Donation Taxso neither parents nor children they must pay that tax. The professor of Financial Law Rosa María Galán pointed to damn.es that, in the case of children without economic resources to survive on their own, the article 142 of the Civil Code obliges parents to cover the support, housing, clothing and medical care of their children. There is no need to argue for free coexistence since providing it is a legal obligation. It even applies to second homes. This same logic applies even when parents and children do not live in the same property, but, for example, the parents live in the primary home, and the children in a second residence owned by the parents. According to Cruzado, the Treasury “understands that there may be a free transfer and does not allocate a return at market value.” In this case, the parents are taxed the same as if the home were empty due to the imputation of real estate income in personal income tax, the same obligations that already exist. for having a second residence without regular use. In this case, the owner of the home must pay a tax of 2% of the cadastral value of the property, and in some cases is reduced to 1.1%. That is, what is taxed is the condition of second home ownership, not the fact that children live in the home or not. The transfer of use is not a donation: the distinction that changes everything. As and as explained José María Salcedo, managing partner of the tax firm Salcedo Tax Litigation to Idealistiche article 6.5 of the Personal Income Tax Law establishes a presumption of onerousness. This means that the Treasury tends to assume that any transfer has a price. However, this presumption admits evidence to the contrary, and the most common instrument to prove it is the bailment contracta document that formalizes the loan of the property without financial consideration and that, according to Cruzado, the Treasury “does not usually carry out these checks”, although it serves as a guarantee to justify “free of charge the right to use someone else’s property for a certain period of time.” In Xataka | There is a less painful solution so that an inheritance does not become a ruin for the heirs: renounce it Image | Pexels (Kampus Production)

now Sony has decided to close the chapter on its home recorders

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The decline of physical media is a reality, but it has not come suddenly or with a single announcement, but rather as a succession of small withdrawals that, added together, mark a change of era. Streaming is gaining ground while discs, players and other devices continue to be present in an increasingly smaller background. Some recent decisions within the industry are only deepening this transformation. Another company taking a step back. Sony recently announced that from February it will progressively cease shipping all its models of Blu-ray recorders and confirmed that there will not be a subsequent generation to take over. The message identifies as part of the closure devices marketed between 2023 and 2024, including the BDZ-ZW1900 and the BDZ-FBT4200, FBT2200 and FBW2200 families. A very Japanese category. Unlike other markets where Blu-ray was mainly associated with movie playback, in Japan home recorders maintained a very specific function for years, that of recording television broadcasts for later viewing. This particularity explains why the announcement has a direct impact, especially on local consumption, where these devices were still present in many salons. However, its disappearance also functions as a symbolic sign of the extent to which even the most resistant niches begin to lose meaning when content access habits change. The temporal sequence. Kyodo News notes that the last units will be shipped this month, marking the effective end of its commercial presence. That moment comes after another less visible previous step: the company had already stopped manufacturing both the recorders themselves as of recordable discs approximately a year earlierand the remaining activity was limited to completing the product output. Streaming, and something else. The audiovisual consumption environment has changed to the point of reducing the practicality of devices that were everyday items for years. When broadcasts can be viewed at any time from online platforms, whether global services or on-demand catalogs from the networks themselves, recording them is no longer a central need. Fewer and fewer manufacturers. Sony’s movement does not appear isolated within the industry. In recent years, several relevant players have been abandoning the consumer Blu-ray market, progressively reducing the number of companies willing to support this category. Oppo completely left its player business in 2018, Samsung stopped manufacturing Blu-ray and UHD models around 2019and LG, which was still one of the big names present, ended production in 2024. The closure of these recorders does not equate to the immediate disappearance of Blu-ray as a consumer format either. Different elements of the ecosystem remain active, from home players to computer optical drives and disk catalogs maintained by other companies. This persistence, although increasingly linked to specific audiences, shows that the transition towards digital does not erase previous technologies at once. Images | Sony | Mateus Andre In Xataka | If the question is how much technology can be packed into a collector’s figure, the answer is: these robots

a slam on Israel to manufacture rocket launchers and howitzers at home

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The Spanish defense of the last century has been built on the basis of delicate balances: first the almost total dependence on foreign allies, then the integration in large international consortiums and, later, the comfort of buying abroad what was not known or did not want to be manufactured within. This model, born in the heat of NATO and post-war industrial Europe, worked as long as the geopolitical chessboard was stable. Today, however, it begins to show cracks that force to rethink alliances. The “sovereignty mode.” Yes, Spain has taken an abrupt and unusual turn in its military industrial policy by activating a “sovereignty mode” that combines accelerated rearmament and technological rupture with traditional allies. A decision forced by political embargo on Israel and the deterioration of the environment European strategic but converted into a State strategy: the country has assumed that, without its own industry, any military capacity is fragile in a real war scenario. The result is a draft decision: manufacture key rocket launchers and howitzers for the Army at home, even if this implies more costs, more risks and longer deadlines. SILAM as a breaking point. The program of High Mobility Launcher System has become the symbolic piece of this industrial catharsis, moving from a design based on Israeli technology by Elbit Systems to a completely national solution. Not only that, along the way has been discarded both to Israeli suppliers and to the American alternative of Lockheed Martin, despite the fact that their missiles offered a quick and proven exit. The decision to move forward without shortcuts reflects a conscious bet for not depending on licenses, political vetoes or external operational limitations, even if it implies delays and assuming that, for years, Spain will lack of certain abilities fully mature medium and long range attacks. If you will, it is a strategic bet that sacrifices speed in exchange for control, something unusual in the recent history of national defense. Navy An alliance and nationalize brain and muscle. The union between Escribano Mechanical & Engineering and GMV materializes this strategy by concentrating both the industrial platform and critical digital systems in Spain. In this way, both the SILAM rocket launcher and the new ATP howitzers will carry fire direction, navigation, command and control through the manufacturing of designs, code and maintenance entirely in Spain. In other words, in theory, this remove dependencies on the most sensitive components and guarantees total control about the life cycle of the systems, from initial integration to their use in combat and their maintenance in the event of a prolonged conflict. A massive rearmament. Furthermore, the plan is not limited to SILAM and is supported by a self-propelled wheeled and tracked artillery program valued in more than 7.8 billion of euros, a scenario led by Indra together with EM&E. Systems integration will allow batteries to receive targets, calculate trajectories and open fire in seconds. This complete digitalization responds to the high intensity war model that NATO promoteswhere decision speed “aims” to be as decisive as firepower. Legal tensions and exceptions. There is no doubt, the depth of this turn sovereigntist advances between frictions, as demonstrated the judicial appeal of Santa Bárbara Sistemas, a subsidiary of General Dynamics, against the public loans granted to Indra and EM&E. At the same time, the Government has had to activate exceptionality clauses to the Israeli embargo to protect strategic Airbus programs. That is to say, industrial sovereignty, in practice, advances in fits and starts and forces constant balances between political principles, employment and international commitments. The horizon. In parallel, the growing position of EM&E as key shareholder in the capital of Indra and its technological alliance with GMV They reinforce or feed the idea of ​​a future national champion capable of competing with European giants such as the all-powerful Rheinmetall or Leonardo. The Executive, just in case, observes this possibility cautiouslyaware of the risks of concentration and conflicts of interest. In any case, the strategic message has already been sent: Spain has decided to stop being just a client of the global arms market to try to control, for the first time in decades, its own military capacity. Image | EM&E, Navy In Xataka | Ukraine has found what it needed in an unexpected ally. Spain had the missing piece against the shahed drones In Xataka | In the midst of rearmament, Spain has just surprised Europe: 5,000 million for 34 warships and four submarines

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