illegal

the illegal sale of street food

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If you usually travel by metro around Madrid, especially through the Plaza Elíptica or Oporto stations, it is likely that you have come across the scene: You leave the stop and suddenly you smell an intense smell of roast meat that makes you salivate and a voice that announces ’empanadas’, ‘humitas’ or ‘stuffed potatoes’. It is not a matter of any bar in the area determined to offer its merchandise to passengers, but rather the business of street vendors (normally immigrants, with and without papers) who have made the surroundings of the stations your particular market. It is not something anecdotal. Its activity has grown so much that Hospitality of Spain (HDE) already warns of its risks. Looking for life. That there are street vendors who have turned Madrid stations and their surroundings into improvised markets is nothing new. Nor that part of those merchants are dedicated to food. Long before the pandemic it was possible find people selling hot empanadas around La Elipa, just as other vendors were dedicated to offering counterfeit football shirts, handbags, belts or sunglasses. In 2024 ABC he even dedicated an extensive report to a group of Peruvians who were selling in the subway Bon Bon Bum lollipopa sweet from the Colombina brand. Despite the control of the security guards, there were 50 immigrants who made a living from this business, a task that they organized through WhatsApp and to which they dedicated up to 15 hours each day. They obtained the Chups through a “completely legal store,” argued one of them, who claimed not to understand why the authorities seized their merchandise. What has changed? That far from slowing down or stagnating, the irregular street sale of food in the area of ​​certain metro stations seems to have worsened in recent years. So revealed it a few days ago Alfredo Herrera in The Confidentialin a chronicle in which he describes the activity of several street vendors who sell their merchandise (especially empanadas, potatoes, soft drinks and ice cream) to passengers leaving the Plaza Elíptica, Entrevías, Oporto stations or even the Alcalá de Henares Renfe terminal. In hot and cold, rain or wind. These are usually Latin American immigrants. Some have papers. Others don’t and doubt they will ever be able to get them. They buy the merchandise from suppliers, relatives or prepare it themselves at home and then transport it in boxes or thermal refrigerators with which they are installed outside the stations, exposed to the sun, heat, cold, rain or wind. They strive to capture passengers leaving and entering the terminals because they know that the security provided by Metro can cause problems if they move their business inside. They charge in cash, although there are also those who accept payments via Bizum. “There are more and more”. Another of the ideas that leaves you bouncing the report of The Confidential The thing is that for many of them it is not a specific way of making a living. Some admit that they have been subsisting basically on street food sales for years. “I dedicate myself to this because I don’t have papers and it’s difficult to get them. Nothing has ever come of me in hospitality. I have to live off of something and this is a good option for those of us who don’t have documentation, which is why there are more and more people doing the same thing,” comments Juana 29-year-old Colombian who has been selling food for two years. “When I started there were very few of us, now the number of street vendors throughout Madrid has increased.” @soycolombianoeneuropa Let’s share this video to support this Comombiano who sells empanadas at the Plaza Eliptica metro station. IMPORTANT ⚠️ IF YOU DON’T HAVE ANYTHING GOOD TO SAY, IT BETTER NOT SAY ANYTHING. • • #soycolombianoeneurope #colombianosporelmundo #colombianosenespaña #colombianoeneuropa #immigrantlife #strangemytown #colombianinmadrid ♬ original sound – I am Colombian in Europe More than 1,200 euros per month. Her testimony is similar to that of Camila, Peruvian, 39 years old. Since he arrived in Spain, more or less in 2023, he has basically dedicated himself to selling food at a station on the Renfe network in the Community of Madrid. Recognize that it is removed more than 1,200 euros per month, but at the cost of working more than 10 hours a day at the door of a station and exposing themselves to the police confiscating their merchandise and suddenly losing goods worth more than 100 euros. It’s already happened to him. She assures that she registered as self-employed to regularize her business, but that only allows her to “move food, not sell it.” He is already looking for another job in bars and restaurants, although he also admits that to date “nothing has come of it.” “Absolute irregularity”. Proof that street food sales have increased in recent years is that it is already worrying Hospitality of Spainan association that brings together thousands of companies in the restaurant sector. Its general secretary, Emilio Gallego, warns that businesses like Juan’s or Camila’s represent a “absolute irregularity” and insists that “the least important thing” is that the bars and cafes in the neighborhoods where these street vendors work may lose customers. “The main problem lies in the violation of food safety,” he emphasizes after recalling that legal catering businesses must adhere to “more rigorous and strict” regulations than local ones. The big risk: poisoning. “In addition, these sales fail to comply with trade, tax and labor regulations. Not to mention that they can even constitute a crime for public health if someone suffers from poisoning,” duck. He is not the only one who emphasizes that last point. Experts remember how difficult it is to control the origin and traceability of a food that is sold outside legal channels. It may smell good, it may even be tasty, but… Where did the ingredients come from? Have they been kept at a good temperature? What about allergens? What if there is poisoning? “Serious impact”. On … Read more

They detect if you are wearing your seat belt, if you are on your cell phone or if you make illegal turns

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Pamplona is going to significantly strengthen its traffic surveillance system starting next June. Although we recently knew the setup of the new section radar of the AP-68which by the way is the second longest in Spain with more than 30 km of distance covered, now the Pamplona City Council will launch four radars with AI capable of hunting down practically any driving violation, from carrying your cell phone in your hand to driving without a seat belt, jumping a red light or changing lanes improperly. Automation. Until now, these types of violations depended on traffic officers. The arrival of these radars automates this surveillance and, above all, it will work as a pilot test in the country, because if they end up giving good results, it is reasonable to think that we will see this technology spreading to other Spanish cities and roads in the coming months. What do they detect?. The new devices incorporate a color camera and a license plate reading system that, combined with AI technology, identify a whole range of illegalities while driving. According to the City Council, they will be able to detect: Use of mobile phone while driving. Drivers without seat belts. Traffic in the opposite direction and prohibited turns. Improper lane changes. Running a red light. Do not respect zebra crossings or stop in yellow-marked areas. Added to all this is a speed control system, with a range that goes from 10 to 320 km/h. The objective according to the City Council is to “monitor compliance with traffic rules, regulate speed and avoid accidents in the city”, as share from Navarra News. What are they like?. The gray cabins are something that has been left behind on these new radars. These are mounted high on staffs, medians or gantries, and withstand temperatures between -30 and 70 degrees without the need for a protective casing. Another important novelty is that they cover several lanes at the same time and bidirectionally (both approaching and receding vehicles) and allow different speed limits to be configured for each lane. Where will they be installed?. Although the idea is that rotate between the eleven cabins that are spread throughout the city, the first planned locations are Army Avenue, Gipuzkoa Avenue next to the Oblatas Bridge, Sadar Street and Paseo de Santa Lucía. The fact that they rotate is precisely designed so that the driver never knows for sure if the cabin in front of him is working or not. Between the lines. Each radar It has cost the City Council 20,000 euros (VAT apart), an investment that the City Council considers justified by the number of infractions that a single device is capable of detecting. In addition, it should be taken into account that a device of this type can fine for behaviors that previously required the presence of an agent or were easier to avoid. So it is quite likely that they will end up recovering the investment based on fines in a short time. Before starting to operate, the radars must pass the approval process of the Spanish Metrology Center, a step that the City Council hopes to resolve in time to activate them during June. Cover image | Google Maps In Xataka | In its plan to make Citroën relevant, Stellantis has confirmed the rumors: a new Citroën 2 CV is arriving

The Supreme Court has declared the rule illegal, but the money is not going to return

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The Low Emission Zones of Madrid operated for years with regulations that the courts ended up declaring it illegal. During all that time, many fines were imposed and processed that thousands of drivers paid, and the City Council is clear about one thing: that there will be no refunds. What exactly happened. The Supreme Court of Justice of Madrid (TSJM) annulled part of the ordinance that regulated ZBEs in Madrid in December 2024, following an appeal presented by the Vox municipal group. The court considered that the economic impact report was insufficient, since it had not been correctly assessed how much it would cost citizens and small businesses to adapt to the movement restrictions, nor had less restrictive measures with equivalent effects been explored. As the ruling was not final at the time, the City Council continued to apply sanctions while appealing to the Supreme Court. However, the TSJM rejected the appeal on April 15with a sentence of 2,000 euros to the City Council for the expenses of the judicial process. Why there will be no refund. Vice Mayor Inma Sanz counted that current jurisprudence prevents giving retroactive effects to sentences when the sanctioned rule was in force at the time the fines were imposed. Along the same lines, the delegate of Urban Planning, Mobility and Environment, Borja Carabante, defended that the sanctions were placed under a regulatory framework that was valid at the time. The point that remains in the air. The City Council’s position is not completely uniform. Municipal legal services are still studying what to do with the fines imposed in the ZBEs of Plaza Elíptica and Centro (the two special protection zones) during the period between the TSJM ruling (December 2024) and the entry into force of the new ordinance (March 2026). It has been more than two years in which fines have continued to be imposed with a regulation that a court had already declared null. Carabante acknowledges that “whether or not” these specific sanctions are being assessed. The new ordinance as a shield. The Town Hall approved last month a new Sustainable Mobility Ordinance, correcting the previous one based on the indications indicated by the TSJM and keeps all ZBEs operational. The Consistory argues that this new ordinance leaves the sentence without practical effect, since it provides a solution to everything that the TSJM had requested. Among its novelties is that the vehicles of registered residents without an environmental label can circulate in Madrid as long as European pollution limits are respected. Opinion division. The Associated European Motorists (AEA) organization has publicly demanded to Mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida the annulment of all sanctions imposed until the publication of the new ordinance in the official gazette, on April 6. According to data from the AEA itselfbetween September 2021 and November 2025, the City Council imposed more than 3.3 million fines related to ZBEs for a value of more than 650 million euros. Its president, Mario Arnaldo, consider that “hundreds of thousands of drivers” have been sanctioned with fines of “dubious legality” through a strategy designed to continue collecting while the judicial process lasted. What those affected can do. The Supreme Court’s decision does not automatically annul any fine, but it reinforces the options of those who want to appeal them. According to the Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU), the situation varies according to each file. And those who appealed at the time and still have the procedure open have a better chance of recovering the money. However, the organization says that those who paid without appeal face a more complicated path, having to go through requesting full nullity. The OCU ask to the City Council to cancel the non-firm sanctions ex officio and return the amounts already collected in files still open, without transferring to the citizen “the burden of legal uncertainty created by an annulled ordinance.” Cover image | Madrid City Council In Xataka | 400 cameras and an ambitious goal: the first metro driven 100% autonomously in the Community of Madrid

Your price increases are illegal and you must return the money. There are those who will receive a 500 euro refund

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We ended last March with news: Netflix the price went up again. It is true that the measure applies exclusively to the United States, but taking into account that it is already its umpteenth time, we know its modus operandi: it is the canary in the mine of a probable global rise that will also affect Europe. And despite saying that it has been the umpteenth price increase for Netflix, it always comes as a bit of a surprise: after all, it is the second price increase in just two years. However, it is the clear trend in the sector. Paradoxically, just a few days later, a court in Rome has issued a historic ruling against Ted Sarandos’ platform: declare Netflix’s price increases between 2017 and 2024 illegal. The sentence. The Roman court has declared that the contractual clauses that allow Netflix to unilaterally modify its prices and conditions of service without indicating a justified reason are void and contrary to the Italian Consumer Code. The ruling covers price increases applied between 2017 and January 2024, that is, subscription price increases implemented in 2017, 2019, 2021 and November 2024 (unless your contractual relationship with the platform was after January 2024). As a consequence, it recognizes the right of those who have a subscription on the platform to a reduction in the current price of the subscription, to the refund of amounts unduly paid and to compensation for damages. In addition, it forces Netflix to publish the content of the ruling on its website and in the main national newspapers. within 90 daysas well as to inform its users. Why is it important. Because it establishes a relevant legal precedent in Europe: streaming platforms cannot raise prices arbitrarily and unilaterally based on generic clauses. It is not that Netflix cannot raise its prices (like any other company), but that it did so without contractual justification, which the court considers an abuse. This ruling lays the foundations to demand from digital platforms more transparency and rigor in their contracts with consumers. Context. The lawsuit comes from the Movimento Consumitori association (Italian consumers), which brought the case before the Court of Rome denouncing continued price increases from Netflix without explanation. Italian law requires that, if a company reserves the right to unilaterally modify a contract (ius variandi), you must specify from the beginning what causes could justify that change. Netflix did not do this: its contracts simply said that it could change the price whenever it wanted without giving reasons, the critical clauses are 3.5 and 6.4. The court considers that giving 30 days’ notice and allowing cancellation is not enough since when someone subscribes to the platform they do not know under what conditions the service may become more expensive. In April 2025 Netflix modified its terms of use linking possible changes to specific causes, such as service improvements, regulatory demands or technological requirements. How it affects users. Each subscribed person will have the right to a reduction in the current price, to a refund of more in that period and to compensation, which according to the Italian consumer association must be made spontaneously, although you can join the class action lawsuit in case that is not the case. The ruling requires Netflix to reduce the prices of its current subscriptions by an amount equal to the illegal increases. We see it better with an example: if you are premium and activated your subscription in 2017, today you pay 19.99 euros but you are entitled to the service for 11.99 euros. If you are a standard customer, you would go from paying 13.99 euros to 9.99 euros. And be careful, because this measure applies both to those who currently have a subscription and to former customers within that period. Up to 500 euros refund. MC lawyers explainPaolo Fiorio and Corrado Pinna, that for the premium plan, the illegal increases applied in 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2024 amount to 8 euros per month, for the standard plan they add up to a total of 4 euros per month and for the basic, 2 euros per month. Thus, a premium customer who has paid Netflix continuously from 2017 to today is entitled to a refund of approximately 500 euros, while a standard rate customer is entitled to a refund of approximately 250 euros. Italy is the tip of the iceberg. Although the case has been reported in Italy, in other countries on the old continent there are also lawsuits filed against the platform: Netherlands also has a demand similar budding, FACUA reported it in Spain (yes ok still no progress) and in Germany the European Audiovisual Observatory echoes that the courts of Berlin and Cologne have already ruled in the same direction. The basis is the same in all cases: the European Directive 93/13/EECwhich prohibits abusive clauses that generate a significant imbalance between the rights of the company and those of the consumer. Netflix’s reaction. Immediately after learning of the Roman ruling, the platform declared its intention to appeal: “We will appeal the decision. At Netflix, our subscribers come first. We take consumer rights very seriously and we believe that our conditions have always been in line with Italian regulations and practices,” as reported by Reuters. The appeal could modify or even reverse the ruling, so the case is not closed. However, the pressure on Netflix and the reputational damage has already been done. Netflix has always been the vanguard of the sector, so the future of this litigation could mark a before and after in the streaming sector. In Xataka | The best new movies and series to watch in April 2026 on Netflix, Prime Video, HBO Max and streaming In Xataka | Netflix’s umpteenth price increase illustrates a reality: streaming is already as expensive as what it came to improve Cover | KATRIN BOLOVTSOVA

In the United States you can buy a gun in a supermarket, but a Roscón de Reyes with a surprise inside is illegal

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In the Western collective imagination there is a preconceived idea: that in the United States you can buy anything. And of course, that image from the series and movies of a character buying a gun in a grocery store without much problem (later we will see that in practice this reality has a lot of fine print) and the hodgepodge of different slogans such as “The country of opportunities” or “the land of the free” do not help to think otherwise. However, if you are in the United States these days and the homesickness hits you so hard that you want a roscón de Reyes, you are going to be in for a surprise: although you can buy this popular sweet in some stores, it has lost a good part of the magic of the true ritual of eating a roscón: that someone randomly (more or less, we do not judge your expertise when moving figurines with the knife that splits) touches the figurine. Because although in the United States you can find the “King Cake”, most stores don’t take the risk and put the figurine aside, so that you can put it inside. They do it to comply with the law and avoid fines since, scrupulously speaking, the roscón de Reyes as it is known in Spain is illegal. There are roscones and roscones. First of all, the traditional roscón de Reyes that is consumed in Spain is neither the only one that exists nor is it only consumed here: France and Portugal also have their respective galette des rois with puff pastry or Gâteau des Roiswith almond cream and a figure. In Portugal there is the Bolo Rei with candied fruits and dried fruits. This European celebration was exported to America, adapting with other flavors and customs of each region. Thus, there are the Roscas de Reyes from Mexico, Colombia and Guatemala and there are also in the United States in the form of King Cakea popular candy in Louisiana for the Mardi Gras and also in Quebec, which has its own shades and glazes. In the case of the King Cake, the figurine in question was a baby that was once baked inside. In the past they were made of porcelain (“Frozen Charlotte”), but then they became plastic and generally, to stand outsideleaving the consumer the responsibility of hiding it inside before serving it, so there are those who who is disappointed. But it is better for a consumer to be disappointed than to face a fine or lawsuits. What the law says. The regulations that apply in this case are the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Law (Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act or FD&C Act) in force since 1938. The section that interests us for this matter is in section 402where it details that “confectionery that is partially or completely embedded with any non-nutritive object is adulterated, unless the FDA has issued a regulation that recognizes that the non-nutritive object has practical functional value to the confectionery product and would not render it harmful or dangerous to health.” The most famous example is Kinder eggs. And spoiler: neither the bean nor the roscón figurine is considered to have any practical functional value. Worse than fines are lawsuits. The fine in question for disobeying the law and integrating the figurine into the roscón is moderately low (to give us an idea, that of smuggled Kinder eggs it’s 2,500 dollars), that is why over the years there have been bakeries that have dared to challenge the law, arguing that culturally, whoever buys a Three Kings roscón, you already know that there are objects inside. However, possible cases of suffocation or injuries such as breaking a tooth that lead to lawsuits can be much more expensive. So there are those who deliver the roscón alone, others who place a large warning label and the figure in a separate bag and in plain sightin places like in the center of the cake or sitting on it. This is the most common practice in industrial bakeries or supermarket chains such as Walmart. It is easier to buy a gun than a roscón with a figurine inside. Returning to the purchase of weapons from the intro, sales in physical stores are centralized in gun stores and large stores with a sports and outdoor section. In the case of Walmartthey have stopped marketing pistols and military rifles to focus on hunting rifles and shotguns and in any case, the process is the same: with a separate counter, specialized personnel, you must be 21 years old and you have to fill out the federal form 4473 accompanied by your identification and they will accompany you to the door to make sure that you do not take it out of the box there. In Xataka | There is an eternal struggle between supporters of the roscón with cream and without cream. This is what science says about it In Xataka | The pastry chef’s wet dream (and the customer’s nightmare) has come true: a roscón filled with cream… without cream Cover | Photo of Nejc Soklič in Unsplash and DAP

The first is illegal constructions, the second is not knowing what to do with them

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In 2021, the Community of Madrid began to think that it was time to know what was happening in its territory. It seems like an absurd idea, but the truth is that the Spanish administration has been organizing its territory blindly for decades. And in that context, “reestablishing urban planning legality” is impossible. So they got to it and It took them four years to do it.. What have they found? Generally speaking, you have a problem: There are 5,334 hectares affected by illegal settlements in 56 municipalities. Of course, the problem is not perfectly distributed: 80% of these lands are concentrated in the plains of the main Madrid rivers, mainly in the areas of Tajuña (2,712 hectares), Jarama (1,019), Guadarrama (363) and Tajo (150). And of course that makes the problem much bigger. Because failing to comply with urban planning regulations is not only an administrative issue; On the contrary, there is an enormous risk for people and the environment. The latter is easily verifiable: there are regional parks, special areas and protected places that are key to biodiversity; and overlap with the areas affected by illegal constructions. But, in addition, as the Community itself attests, it entails an enormous physical risk because many buildings are in flood-prone areas, riverbeds and meadows. And we don’t talk about catastrophic events like DANAbut that the floods of towns (like Las Sabinas in Móstoles) has put the issue on the table. And no one has concrete answers. Above all, because it is nothing new: the state of impunity is endemic (and not only in Madrid) for at least 20 years. And we are not only talking about “lack of control” or “turning a blind eye”: we are talking about that, while jurisprudence is clear that actions on non-developable land They can only be exceptionalThere is always a license, a specific modification or a technical fix that makes it difficult to comply with the regulations. What is behind it, deep down, are the conflicting incentives between local and regional dynamics. It’s something we’ve been seeing from the eternal conflict of Algarrobico. That is, now we know the real magnitude of the problem. The study, which aims to demonstrate the regional executive’s commitment to soil protection, reflects above all decades of tolerance. Now it’s time for a complex debate: demolish everything or regularize it. And it is not just about luxury chalets or precarious settlements: there is a lot of informal productive use that fully affects local activity. Furthermore, this is Madrid, a region that, due to its demographic growth, has already organized many areas that until recently were the same or worse. If we zoomed in: the data for Spain would not be better. And there are no solutions in sight. Image | Community of Madrid / Elentir In Xataka | The Government is working on a coastal regulation with a question in the air: whether it can expropriate a house on the beach

We have a hard time differentiating a banana from a banana. And an illegal network was taking advantage of it in Spain

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Although for years the Spanish public has trained to know how to differentiate between a banana and a banana, the truth is that it is not easy. The best example has just given us the Civil Guard. Or, rather, the Alicante company that It is being investigated for spending more than 2,000 tons of banana imported by banana of the protected geographical indication of the Canary Islands banana. And that only in 2023. A millionaire fraud uncovered by a breath. Because since 2021 the company in question It was part of one of the six official marketing entities of the Association of Organizations of bananas producers of the Canary Islands (ASPROCAN). And if they have caught them, it was because a third sent an email to the association with A video in which it was seen The operators will unveil Bananas de Madeira and put them “on the tape where they are automatically packaged and labeled” with the distinctives of the Canarian banana. Is it difficult to identify each other? Yes and no. Indeed there are substantive differences between bananas and bananas. The former are smaller: 135.5 grams on average compared to 237.7 and about 15 cm compared to about 20 of the second. In addition, their curvature is much more evident, their flesh is more yellow and, of course, they have motites on the skin. For the rest, although there are densities in flavor, texture, caloric density and Other nutrients and organoleptic properties, They are very little significant. It is controversial to say it, but the truth is that the main difference between them are its geographical origin: the banana is Canary and the banana is usually cultivated in Africa and Latin America. That origin is important because it gives the product of certain peculiarities (which go beyond the nutritional and even arrive At the time of maturation in plant), but they are not enough to avoid problems and confusion. That is why IGP has been investing so much in ensuring its main market: Spanish. In the middle of the nightmare. According to what has transcended, the illegal network was working precisely during what It has been known as the ‘great nightmare’. From January 2023 to October 2024, only in three months of the 22 the banana had a price that we could call profitable. But that is a problem only for producers. The plot, making banana (considerably cheaper) by banana, had a very considerable margin. It was an almost perfect scam. From the Canary Islands they ask for traceability. And it makes sense: the Canarian banana is not just a fruit, it is all An industrial policy for the islands that has mechanisms regional, national and community in their favor. For years they have worked on ‘techniques’ for consumers to identify them easily (such as the famous sticker): you cannot leave the market to stop trusting them. The problem goes further, of course. The reality of the Canary Islands banana, such as that of most Spanish agriculture It is complicated: we talk about a perfectly greased industry, but that has long lived under regulations that came good. The opening of international markets and the arrival of fierce competition have made clear something that we had suspected for a long time: that our agricultural sector is A giant with mud feet and that if we want to remain leaders, we will have to make important decisions. We will have to do it sooner rather than later. Image | Pepelopex | Steve Hopson In Xataka | We go to the most expensive chocolate in history: how the cocoa crisis will shoot its price

LaLiga has in her hand to prevent people from stopping seeing illegal IPTV. You just have to imitate Netflix

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The nightmare of IPS blocks by LaLiga continues. Not only that: it seems to increase. Soccer is becoming a problem For Internet users in our country, and are (we are) paying fair for sinners. Why is this happening? This is what we try to find out analyzing one of the potential root problems – the cost of seeing football – and stating those prices with what has happened on other streaming platforms. Why what works for Netflix or Spotify does not do so for football? Let’s see it. How much does football cost in Spain and Europe Today in Spain football fans depend on telephone operators to enjoy these broadcasts. If the objective is to be able to access all the First Division Soccer matches of LaLiga and those of competitions such as the Champions League, The options are two: Movistar+ and Orange. They told it a few months ago Our mobile Xataka companionswhich explained what were the disputes available plans, in which fiber, mobile and television are always combined in different versions. In those two cases Prices start from 115 euros per month of Movistar or the 80.95 euros per month of Orange (although without mobile data). O2 and Jazztel also offer some games, but much more limited: each day we have access to a LaLiga EA Sports (First Division) match, a Champions League match (if celebrated day) and three games of LaLiga Hypermotion (Second Division). That exclusivity of Movistar and Orange, however, They could change: Yoigo and Masmoble plan a television service with Orange TV infrastructure and in which 90 channels and all football will be included. At the moment there are no prices or defined availability date for this project. And in Europe? Other European countries have different costs, but it is important here to emphasize that the prices we will talk about are access to football without further ad I would go apart. Thus, we have: France: Dazn has a package to see all the link 1 for 35 euros per month (25 euros/month if you are under 26 years). Canal+ has a plan that also includes European competitions and costs 29.99 euros per month. Germany: In Dazn Unlimited All Bundesliga and Champions League matches for 34.99 euros per month are available. There are some optional platforms such as Sky with similar prices. Italy: DAZN offers all the A series A for 30 euros per month, while they can see the Champions League, it must be combined with Sky Italy, which has a cost of 25 euros per month. The total cost is therefore 55 euros per month. England: Sky Sports has all the rights to convey the matches, and the package costs about 22 pounds per month (26 euros/month). BT Sport broadcasts the Champions League, and the cost in that case is 25 euros per month, so the combined cost is about 51 euros per month. What is also true is that these amounts and these plans vary constantly and both operators and platforms offer constant promotions in order to capture more users. When Netflix taught us the way There was a time when music downloads or films on P2P networks were especially popular. That was cumbersome and illegal, but there were not many more options either. Or none. This was what was seen in Netflix in 2015, when he arrived in Spain. Everything would change with the arrival of Netflix, Spotify and its competitors, who showed that we could have streaming services of fantastic content, accessible, with a great catalog and with a more than reasonable price. Suddenly I was no longer compensated to be looking for other places: The legal alternative was really remarkable. The subscription model settled and became the norm, and thanks to a good balance, content companies realized something striking: the best way to fight illegal content was to offer a good service at an acceptable price. This principle has been corrupted in recent years: Servcios like Netflix have Uploaded prices Notably, they have stopped allowing Share accounts And they have also put ads, Like all its competitors. Users can protest (we protest), but time has proved those responsible for these services, who have not stopped growing and They are in record figures. How have things come out to Netflix? We can see it in two quite representative graphics of the situation. Since 2012, when the service began to be available in the US (arrived in Spain Something later), Netflix was raising prices more and more frequent. With each climb protests, yes, but … Sooner or later most return. Netflix price evolution in the US. These changes have been analogous in the rest of the world, and Spain is no exception. Source: The Verge. In fact, growth in users is apparently unstoppable in Netflix. The plan with advertisements, which we can criticize so much, It has been a resounding success And today more than half of the new subscribers arrive at the service thanks to this plan. Evolution of Netflix subscribers globally from 2011 to 2024. Source: Business of Apps. At present, the platform has More than 300 million subscriberswhen a decade ago The figure was five times lower (62.71, According to Business of Apps). There have been hardly two semester throughout its history in which there had The shared accounts or the plan with ads. That seems to make it clear that despite everything to millions of users They are still compensated by paying those subscriptions And not to go to illegal content distribution services, so if it works for them, what is happening with football in Spain? The Netflix of Sports Today the standard plan with Netflix ads costs 7 euros per month. Not bad, especially considering what football costs. Even considering the cost of the most affordable plans to see all football in Spain (with many asterisks, about 29 euros in Orange), the price both here and in other countries in Europe seems elevated. Seeing football in Spain costs about 30 euros a month with Orange … Read more

Justice declares illegal part of its advertising business

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Google’s position as One of the most powerful actors on the Internet begins to crack under the pressure of the courts. The last setback for the Mountain View company has arrived with a defeat in the trial for advertising monopoly promoted by the United States Department of Justice. In a resolution signed this Thursdayfederal judge Leonie Brinkema has concluded that Google incurred anti -competitive practices in two key markets: that of advertisement servers for editorial groups (where she dominates with DFP) and the advertising exchanges of the Open Web (through ADX). Ads servers, such as DFP, owned by Google, are technical infrastructure that use many digital media to manage What ads are shown, when and who already. They are not the only market option, but one of the most widespread, especially among large editors. In practice, they act as the digital advertising command center. The second front is that of the advertising exchanges of the Open Web, the open environment where different actors, such as advertisers, agencies or media, bid in real time for advertising spaces. This ecosystem coexists with other alternatives, such as platforms controlled by Facebook or Amazon, but remains a key piece of the programmatic market. Adx, Google’s solution, is one of the main actors in this segment. According to the court, the company combined both products illegally For more than a decade, forcing editors to use all their technology if they wanted to access those auctions. That integration reduced the alternatives of the rest of the actors and left Google with the absolute control of the process. The question now is how to dismantle monopoly Brinkema considers that this strategy not only eliminated rivals, but also harmed the media, who saw their advertising income reduced, and advertisers, who ended up paying more. The sentence argues that any benefit derived from this integration is widely exceeded by the damage caused to the competition. From here a new stage opens. The judge has asked the parties to present a calendar to study the so -called “structural remedies”, that is, the possible measures that could be imposed following this ruling. Among the options that consider the Department of Justice is the forced separation of DFP and ADX as independent companieswhich would mean the heart of the Google programmatic advertising business. The sentence does not order that division at the moment, but the possibility is on the table. What happens in this phase can mark a before and after how digital advertising is managed. This part of the business meant about 30.4 billion dollars in revenues in 2024, approximately 9 % of the group’s global billing. Although the judicial decision does not affect other Google advertising services such as search advertisements, YouTube videos or Google Maps advertising, it does question the architecture on which its advertising strategy is supported in the open web environment, where until now it worked as a player who dominated all the pieces of the board. During the trial, the Court listened to media editors such as Use Today or the Daily Mailto advertising agencies, to rival technology companies already executives of Google herself, including the head of YouTube. All contributed information about how the Mountain View giant was closing the passage to other advertising solutions through internal decisions, conditioned contracts and technological changes designed to benefit only their own tools. The Department of Justice also denounced that Google eliminated internal conversations that could serve as proof and abused legal privilege to hide information. Although the judge has not yet resolved if he will impose sanctions for it, it makes clear in her letter that the responsibility for monopoly has already been accredited. This case adds to other open fronts against the company. In 2024, another federal court had already declared that Google maintained an illegal monopoly in the searches market, a process that also remains open waiting for possible corrective measures to be decided. In addition, the company has been sued in other states for the control of its application store, while the United States Government has also brought Apple, Amazon and Meta in parallel causes. Together, this new ruling against Google reinforces an idea that a few years ago seemed unthinkable: the era of technological impunity is coming to an end. For the first time in decades, the big digital platforms face not only investigations, but to firm convictions that could change the way they operate on the Internet. Images: Greg Bulla | Rubaitul Azad Images | The United States has tired of the monopolies of great technological ones. And wants to start “chop them” with goal

China has found a solution to tariffs for Amazon sellers in the US. The problem is that it is illegal

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The commercial war between the United States and China can shoot so many prices That the list is, a priori, endless. However, this 145% tariff figure imposed by the Trump administration (later Replicated by Beijing), it affects more products than others, and within that giant on online purchases called Amazon, the problem is much more fat for some vendors than for others. In China they have found a solution, although it does not seem legal. Fraud hidden behind shipments. I told it exclusively Fortune weekend. The rates imposed by the Trump administration of Chinese imports, which have reached such high levels Like that 145% We were talking about, not only have they destabilized great American retailers and sellers In Amazon, but they have also put in check the Chinese manufacturers and distributors who feed those supply chains. In response to this increasingly hostile commercial environment, several Chinese suppliers have begun to offer their US clients a “solution” as simple as illegal: falsify the declared value of imported products to reduce tariff load. It is, without any type of rodeos, a type of customs fraud. Illicit offers in digital tray. The medium lo He explained with examples. In messages sent by email and through the Wechat platform (then obtained by Fortune) at least half a dozen Chinese suppliers explicitly proposed to an American brand of domestic goods with a wide presence on Amazon that Subdeclara The value of its imports. “Many companies in the United States use invoices with minor values ​​to facilitate customs office and reduce rates,” wrote one of them. Another was still More direct: “We can modify the declared value in commercial invoices to help with tariff costs.” These proposals apparently have been frequent and formulated with total normality, as if they were part of the usual treatment. In some cases, suppliers added the option to use the shipping method Delivery Duty Paid (DDP), where the supplier assumes customs management and is responsible for manipulating the declared value of the shipment, thus creating a kind of deliberate barrier between the American seller and customs. Everything, of course, with the aim of relieving the tax burden, but assuming significant legal risks. A mined land for small importers. According to the medium, the founder of the American company involved (which anonymity requested so as not to compromise its usual suppliers) expressed concern that many small companies They can fall In these traps without fully understanding the legal consequences. Such and As he saidone of its suppliers said that this tactic is already common among competitors based on China. It is precisely this type of practices that, according to him, distorts the playing field: Chinese vendors who falsify the value of their shipments not only avoid high tariffs, but also obtain a direct competitive advantage over US vendors who follow the rules. From suspicion to confirmation. Apparently, suspicions about this type of practices are not new. Many American sellers have been complaining that their rivals in China could be Systematically subdeclating The values ​​of your products. Be that as it may, last week the issue exploded within the Amazon sellers community after a Chinese consultant published An entrance to LinkedIn stating that “the declared value of a typical container from China to the United States usually ranges between 5,000 and 10,000 dollars”, a figure that US vendors consider ridiculously low, especially in categories such as “home and garden”, where products such as furniture significantly raise real value. Play within legality. Options under the legal framework? Fortune said that in the face of pressure, some Chinese suppliers have begun to Offer small discounts in wholesale prices as a palliative measure, but that barely touch the surface of the problem. Others mention the possibility of Move production To other countries with lower tariffs, although they recognize that this alternative can only materialize over time. Meanwhile, illegal offers seem to continue on the table. The combination of punitive rates, unfair competition and lack of effective customs supervision has created a scenario where the incentive to the trap overcomes The will to respect the norms. A fraud without punishment. It is the last of the aid legs to explain this type of movements. Impunity seems to be a central ingredient of the crisis. Several American businessmen expressed to Fortune his frustration for the absence of consequences for those who commit customs fraud from China. The control mechanisms do not seem to be prepared to respond with the necessary forcefulness, and each container that enters undervalued represents not only a loss of fiscal income, but also a direct affront to the principle of loyal competition. In other words: the system, as it is, does not seem to punish the cheater. And as long as that does not change, the temptation to cross the line will remain there, in this case, disguised as a simple commercial proposal in an entrance tray. Image | World Bank In Xataka | The tariff war will shoot the price of a component that nobody speaks: the SSD units In Xataka | China responds again to US tariffs and rises to 125%: from here it would be a “joke” to keep climbing

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