increased

Someone has calculated which countries in the world have increased their military spending the most and there is a surprise: Spain is in the lead

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With the beating of war drums in the background, the invasion of Ukraine encystedthe tension climbing in the Middle East and Donald Trump feinting with removing the US from NATO at the same time required more investment military to its partners, in 2025 the world has chosen a clear path: spend more money on defense. Quite a bit more. SIPRI calculations show that global military spending increased by 2.9% last year to almost 2.9 trillion dollars. This increase is largely explained by the effort made in Asia, Russia and Europe, where an unexpected protagonist stands out: Spain. Despite the differences With the leadership of NATO and the loud friction with Trump, the reality is that Spain is one of the countries that has increased its investment most clearly and is already in the “Top 15” in volume of war spending. What has happened? Which the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has just published a study on military spending in 2025. It is a valuable tool because it helps us understand two things: how much the planet is investing in strengthening its war capacity and, more importantly, how that flow of money is distributed geographically. Reading it is particularly interesting in Spain for another reason: it shows that, despite the friction that Madrid has had with the White House and the address of NATO on account of military spending, Spain has made a notable investment effort. In fact, on the SIPRI list it stands out as one of the countries that has increased its defense spending the most, surpassing other European partners. Click on the image to go to the tweet. How much does Spain invest? If we base ourselves on the SIPRI data, 34,256 million of euros. The figure is important because of its scope, but above all because of the trend it shows: it shows that last year military spending increased by 50% in Spain. If we look back even further, to 2016, the increase is 122%. It is also the first time Since the mid-90s, the allocation for weapons exceeds 2% of GDP. If these data were not sufficient in themselves, they stand out even more when compared with the rest of the countries analyzed. Although the US, China and Russia lead the investment effort in terms of spending volume, when we look at the increase in spending there is only one nation that exceeds 50% of Spain. Which? Belgium, with an increase of 59%, although its level of spending is much lower than that of Spain (14.5 billion dollars). In fact, the increase in investment has allowed our country to position itself in the global “TOP 15”, behind Poland or South Korea and ahead of Canada. How is it possible? That jump is largely due to Industrial and Technological Plan for Security and Defense approved a year ago and that, according to the ministrycontemplated an initial investment of 10,471 million already in 2025. However, the SIPRI tables reflect that Spain continues to dedicate much fewer resources to defense than other EU (and NATO) partners, such as Germany, France, Italy or Poland, which in the last decade has skyrocketed its spending. Why is it important? For what we mentioned before: 2025 will be remembered for many debates, but there was one in particular that grabbed headlines for months and made Spain stand out worldwide. Despite Trump’s pressure for NATO partners to increase their defense spending from 2% to 5% of GDP, Madrid claimed that it could meet its commitments with an investment of ‘only’ 2.1%. His position was not liked in the White House, but it ended up leading to a pact with those responsible for the Atlantic Alliance. How much does the rest spend? That is another of the readings that leaves the study of SIPRI. In general, its technicians estimate that military spending increased by 2.9% worldwide in 2025, to around $2.9 million. It is the eleventh consecutive year in which the amount of resources that the planet allocates to the war machine has increased and explains that today the “global military burden” (its weight with respect to GDP) reaches 2.5%, marking its highest level since 2009. Are there differences? Yes. That increase was not distributed equally throughout the world. While in the US military spending suffered an annual contraction of 7.5%, in Europe military spending grew by 14% to reach 864,000 million of dollars. The same trend continued in Russia (+5.9%) and Ukraine (+20%), immersed in a war since 2022, or China (+7.4%) and Japan (+9.7%). That the US distances itself from this trend is something purely circumstantial. If its war expenditure decreased in 2025, it was due to the change in policy regarding the military support offered by Ukraine. In fact, SIPRI recalls that the US Congress has already given the green light to a considerable increase in military spending for this year and it is not unreasonable that something similar could happen in 2027. Image | Ministry of Defense In Xataka | Nobody saw it coming: Ukraine’s scariest drone doesn’t move, just waits for a Russian soldier to appear

Sudden death has increased by 30% in Europe. In Spain the problem is even more serious and silent

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It arrives without warning, unexpectedly and in most cases with a fulminant cardiac origin that leaves patients on the ground in a few seconds and without the ability to respond. These are some of the characteristics that the sudden deathwhich has always been one of the biggest challenges for emergency medicine and that we must increasingly take into account because cases do not stop increasing. And especially in Spain. A new trend. A large study recently published in the journal The Lancent has put figures to this silent reality, pointing out that mortality records in the last decade have increased by 30% in Europe, and the trend in Spain exceeds the European average. How it has been seen. To understand the magnitude of this finding, we must look at the methodology that the research team has followed, which has taken as a source of data from the WHO that come from 26 European countries between 2010 and 2020. In this period, more than 53 million deaths were recorded from many different causes, and of these 2,583,559 were classified as sudden deaths. It is not a minor figure, since this means that almost 5% of the total deaths in that decade fall into this category. And if we look back, we observe an average annual increase of 2.9% in Europe, although if we focus on Spain, this increase rises to 3.3%. It’s not COVID. Seeing that the study ends in 2020 and automatically blaming Covid and the vaccines that were administered is something that may be an idea that many have in their heads, but the truth is that it has nothing to do with it, since the upward trend had already been consolidated since 2013. Which is the culprit. There are several hypotheses on the table here, one of them being the aging of the population, which is much more vulnerable to fatal cardiovascular events. But age is not the main problem, since cardiovascular risk is conferred by having a poor lifestyle that includes a sedentary lifestyle, obesity, hypertension or diabetes, which continue to be silent pandemics that prepare the ground for heart failure. It is also important to highlight that the difference between various countries depends on the effectiveness of health systems, ambulance response times and, above all, the availability of defibrillators (AED) and CPR training of the general population. The latter is something in which Spain is not as aware as in other European countries, where a good part of the population knows how to act in the event of cardiac arrest if it occurs in the middle of the street. Causes depending on age. In the case of the under 35 years oldthe cause is usually a genetic or structural failure that has not been previously detected, predominating electrical alterations of the heart such as the famous Brugada syndrome. The problem is that many times the patient does not present symptoms until the onset of sudden cardiac arrest, having already seen cases in our country in very young people who, for example, They play soccer and suddenly fall on the field. In people over 35 years of age the origin changes and here lifestyle and wear and tear prevail, with acute myocardial infarction causing the vast majority of cardiorespiratory arrests. The Spanish context. The data provided by The Lancent study fit perfectly with the demographic and health puzzle of our country, since if we go to the INE we see that heart diseases (along with oncological diseases) are responsible for half of the deaths in Spain. And although the INE points out that in 2024 deaths from circulatory diseases decreased by 2.4% globally, entities such as the Spanish Society of Epidemiology and Cardioalianza remember an uncomfortable truth: Ischemic heart diseases continue to be the leading single cause of death in Spain. How to improve. The European study does not seek to create alarmism, but rather to light an emergency beacon in terms of public health. Stopping this 30% increase does not involve a magic pill, but rather a dual approach: improving early diagnosis in young people with a family history and, above all, filling our streets with defibrillators and citizens who know how to do cardiac massage. And, in absolute terms, cardiorespiratory arrest is a time-dependent process, meaning that every minute that passes without the patient receiving assistance translates into 10% less chance for your heart to beat again. This makes in 10 minutes It is almost impossible for a patient who has suffered an arrest and who does not receive CPR to come back to life, and this should make us aware of how important it is to know the basics of CPR, since it can truly save many lives. Images | wayhomestudio on Freepik In Xataka | We thought the marathon was heartbreaking. The largest medical follow-up to date has just settled the debate

There have been three times that PS5 has increased in price. These reconditioned ones with a 24-month warranty are the best alternative to spend less

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We told you a few weeks ago: PlayStation 5 has increased in price (again). The cheapest version of the console now starts at 599.99 euros, a price that is high and even more so if we take into account that it came out at 399.99 euros back in 2020. In what scenario does that leave those of us who want to renew the console? Well, in a complicated one, but in which there are alternatives to renew console for less money. We have an example in Back Market: we can get a PS5 Digital from 480 euros. PlayStation 5 Slim Digital The price could vary. We earn commission from these links A PlayStation 5 at a good price and with a 24-month warranty PlayStation 5 arrived almost 6 years ago in two different versions: without reader for 399.99 euros and with reader for 499.99 euros. If it had happened like in other generations of consoles, the normal thing at this point is that we could buy a PS5 in stores at a much lower price. However, paradigm shift: Now the same console costs 200 euros more. In a year where we will have great releases like ‘Marvel’s Wolverine‘or the more than expected’Grand Theft Auto 6‘, There are many people looking for a PlayStation 5. It is true that offers come out from time to time, but with the new prices that these consoles have, it will be difficult to see a good deal. That’s where these Back Market consoles come in. This store has expertly refurbished devices at very tempting prices. That is the case of the PlayStation 5 Digital, available right now for 480 euros. What do you want with a reader? You also have it available for 515 euros. The best thing is that, in addition, they are devices that They have a 24-month warranty and 30 days free trial. Other refurbished consoles that may interest you We have focused on these two models, but Back Market also has a section dedicated only to consoles. As a summary, we leave you some below: 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 | Alexandre Schrammel on UnsplashPlayStation In Xataka | PlayStation 5 Pro vs PlayStation 5: these are all the differences between the two Sony consoles In Xataka | Two years ago I bought a PS5. I wish someone had told me I needed these plugins too.

Poland and Spain are the European countries that have increased their contribution to space the most. For very different reasons

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“Europe wants to get its act together in space matters and become independent from States, so in 2025 it has launched the ambitious 15-year plan.”Strategy 2040: Elevating Europe’s future“, ha merged its largest companies and has approved a historic budget of more than 22,000 million euros. In this new budget of the European Space Agency, there are two countries that have taken a step forward in investment: Poland and Spain. Spain and Poland take a step forward. With a contribution of 1,854 million euros, the Spanish state goes from fifth to fourth positiononly behind Germany, France and Italy. Since 2022 it has surpassed the United Kingdom, the only member state that has been reducing its contribution since 2022. Poland has gone from twelfth place to become the eighth largest contributor. Although the objective of Spain and Poland is the same, their motivations are different: while the former’s priority is to support its industrial base, for the latter security and autonomy are essential. The success of ESA’s budget request lies in the programs it houses and how each country and its priorities can influence the general space spending trends of the old continent. The jewel in the crown: EOGS-ESA. One of the great engines is Earth Observation Governmental Service (Government Earth Observation Service), a key program of the European Space Agency focused on Earth observation with satellite data, but not only for science or climate, but also for defense and security in what they call dual use, civil and military. The economic injection from Poland and Spain was significant: 325 million euros for the Spanish state and 109 million euros for the Eastern country, more than half of what it put in 2022. But both financed different components of the project that align with their interests. Each country has its reasons. Thus, Poland was allocated to shared European systems and resilience networks (services that work even if there are failures or sabotage), which fits with its concern for national security, the protection of strategic infrastructures and obviously, the context of the war in Ukraine. For its part, Spain opted for a part of the most tangible project: building satellites, more specifically the “Atlantic Constellation“, a constellation of small satellites shared with Portugal to observe the Atlantic. Missing launchers. In Europe, traditionally the launching countries have been France, Germany and Italy through Ariane and Vega, but in recent years the panorama has become more complicated. On the one hand, the success of SpaceX has overshadowed European work and on the other, the gap in launches that has existed in recent years, as a result of Ariane 6 delaysthe breaking of collaborations with Russia and the stoppage of Vega-C. So other countries with less tradition have taken a step forward, improving competitiveness. In the case of Spain, it has allocated 169 million to miuraa reusable small satellite launcher from the company PLD Space. Poland has increased its contribution to the Future Launcher Preparatory Programme, an ESA program focused on new innovative launcher technologies. From 2022 to 2025 it has gone from providing three million to 48. Bringing historic programs to life. Although they had not previously been a priority for both countries, Poland and Spain have set their sights on older programs such as ‘Celeste’ or ‘Iris2’. ‘Celeste’ is an ESA mission based on low orbit satellites that reinforces Galileo in achieving more precise and difficult to interfere navigation, with a scope of application in the development of autonomous vehicles, drones and critical infrastructures. Poland has made its debut with a contribution of 10 million and Spain has tripled its investment. ‘Iris2‘ is something like the European Starlink, made up of a network of about 300 satellites that will provide secure, fast and resilient communications to EU governments and companies. With supervision from ESA, the objective is to guarantee European digital sovereignty. Its first launch is scheduled for 2029. In this mission, Spain has emerged by contributing much more than any other member state to Element 3, which focuses on user terminals, new services and missions, with 140 million euros. More R + D + i. Likewise, both states have gained weight in FutureEOESA’s R&D program for Earth observation focused on climate change, ecosystem collapse, human health and the impact of resource consumption. Thus, Poland and Spain went from 8.5 and 20 million respectively in 2022 to 35 and 110 million in this new budget. Poland’s space exploration. Poland has risen from 12.5 million to 61 million euros in just three years, with more than half of that increase (30 million) allocated to lunar exploration. However, they have just send its first astronaut in decades: Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, on an Ignis trade mission. The pioneer was Mirosław Hermaszewski, in 1978. In Xataka | “Elon Musk can monopolize everything,” warns Arianespace, which has been launching all of Europe’s satellites for 40 years In Xataka | A space war looms over our heads and Europe is the power that invests the least in defense technology Cover | Image from freepik

Spain needs to modernize its electrical grid, so the remuneration rate has increased. The effect will be noticeable in the next five years

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Until now we have observed the electricity bill as has increased after the April blackout. But this time the focus is not on the receipt, but on a silent decision that the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) has just made and that will determine how much it will cost to keep the light on in the next five years. Piecemeal. The CNMC has sent to the Council of State the circulars that establish how the transport and distribution of electricity is remunerated between 2026 and 2031, the so-called “network business”: the towers, cables and transformation centers that make it possible for energy to reach homes, factories and hospitals. The technical detail is a figure: 6.58%. This new percentage – up from 5.58% – is, according to the regulator, an update that better reflects current financial conditions, after a period of rising interest rates. However, the measure is far from the 7% or 7.5% requested by the large electricity companies grouped in Aelec (Iberdrola, Endesa, EDP and Naturgy) and that the small distributors represented by CIDE also claimed. And in the pocket? Good question. These circulars, which will come into force on January 1, 2026 if the Council of State does not introduce changes, define the remuneration criteria for the entire period 2026–2031. In the short term, the increase will not be directly noticeable on the bill, but it will influence the regulated costs that support the electrical system and that we all pay. According to CNMC calculationsthe impact of the change will be between 0.9% and 1.1% of the total annual costs of the system, depending on the level of investment. The purpose of this rate is to guarantee that companies that maintain and expand the electrical network receive a reasonable return on their invested capital. If the percentage is too low, investment is discouraged; If it is too high, the costs of the system and, in the long run, the consumer’s bill increase. The regulator look for a balance point: enough attractiveness for lines to continue being built and reinforced, but without transferring an extra cost to homes. A change in calculation. For the first time, historical data and future forecasts will be combined to estimate the cost of companies’ debt, rather than relying solely on past interest rates. New components are also incorporated: transaction costs (such as commissions for issuing debt), the so-called cost-of-carry (cost of maintaining financial positions) and a correction due to the European Central Bank’s bond purchase programs, which had artificially reduced the profitability of public debt and, therefore, the risk-free rate. According to the organizationthis is a “more realistic” methodology that incorporates recent market volatility. The change will be applied in a phased manner during the six years of the new regulatory period and expands the margin of recognized investment, including not only new infrastructure but also improvements and optimization of existing ones. The goal: keep bills contained while the network is modernized. The “K parameter”. Beyond the technicalities, what is at stake is Spain’s ability to electrify its economy without skyrocketing the bill. The CNMC has set it at 257 euros per connected kilowatt, compared to 232 euros in the previous draft. The companies maintain that the real cost is around 375 euros/kW, so the improvement falls far short. This parameter determines how many industrial projects, data centers or new homes can be connected to the network without the connection being economically unfeasible. According to the employerlimiting remuneration to that level “prevents connecting part of the new consumers” and can put the competitiveness of entire sectors at risk. This has been the response. Aelec expressed its “deep concern” and warned that the new circulars “compromise the electrification and industrial development of the country.” The employers insist that the rate is still below European levels – between 6.8% and 7.5% – and warns that “it discourages investment just when the country needs to deploy more electrical infrastructure.” More than 67 business and social associations have joined his call. In a manifesto cited by Aelec itselfwarn that, if conditions are not reviewed, “the Spanish electricity networks could collapse.” The employers’ association also criticizes that the CNMC has reduced the recognized maintenance costs by 37%, which, in its opinion, may deteriorate the quality of the service and stop the connection of new clients. For its part, the CNMC maintains that its obligation is to protect the consumer and guarantee the sustainability of the system. The organization seeks to “limit the impact of investments on customer bills” and remembers that everything that electricity companies invest in these networks is paid as fixed charges on the electricity bill. The balance, the regulator insistsconsists of remunerating the necessary investments without overloading the end user. A decision with long-term effects. Behind this technical dispute lies a fundamental question: can Spain electrify its economy at the necessary pace without increasing the remuneration of the networks? The Government has launched a plan to increase investment in networks by 62% until 2030, with around 13.6 billion euros to reinforce the national network, as El Economista recalled. However, Five Days points out that the new limitations of the CNMC could stop part of these projects and leave out consumers with higher connection costs. The electricity companies are now preparing allegations before the Council of State, while the regulator defends that its proposal offers stability and predictability for six years, a rarity in a context of financial and energy volatility. An invisible, but transcendental decision. The figure of 6.58% will not say much to the average consumer, but a good part of Spain’s electrical future depends on it. It defines whether there will be enough investment to connect the new factories, electric vehicle chargers or data centers that support digitalization, and also how much each family will pay to keep that network operational. You won’t notice anything on your next bill, but this decision determines how much you’ll pay—and how reliable your grid will be—over the next five years. Between containing prices and … Read more

The new space race has created Boomerang scrap. The probability that clash against a plane has also increased

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We are launching more rockets to space than ever. Between China and Spacex, they occur releases every few days in a new space race with multiple objectives on the horizon. It’s something that is lowering space transportationbut also generates a new problem: the amount of scrap that orbits our planet. And this generates another conflict: with more satellites and rockets in orbit, the risk that a fragment of some of them hit a plane is increasingly high. At the University of British Columbia they have proposed to analyze it and have determined that, to anyone’s surprise, the consequences of the clash would be devastating. The problem. Beyond the test rockets, transport of goods and people, something that is causing more and more launching are the satellites that bring the internet to any corner. There are several players in this segment, but Spacex carries the front with its program Starlink. These satellites are sent in rockets that, when they fulfill their function, lose height and return to the planet. Some partially disintegrate and others, to the re -enter the atmosphere without controlthey fall anywhere. The ocean is usually the main receptacle, it is also possible that they fall in urban areas or that, on their way, they clash against a plane. The probability. First of all, tranquility: the risk that these space debris impact an plane is still low, very low. According to The Aerospace Corporation, in 2021 (when they were thrown, but it was not the current fever), that risk was one between 100,000, or 0.001%. The system predicted, taking into account future releases, which by 2035 would rise to seven out of 10,000, or what is equal to 0.07%. It is, as we say, a low probability, but that is there. In the study From the University of British Columbia they have analyzed how all this depends on air traffic density. Taking as an example the traffic of September 1, 2023, and the United States as a area, we can see that, every year, there is a 99% probability that the resentments of rocket bodies occur in green areas, 75% in the yellow, 26% in oranges and 0.8% in red. Las Rojas are the most activity areas, such as the main airports, oranges are large cities and green and green move away from urban nuclei and, therefore, from the agglomeration of airplanes. Long March 5B. Beyond the direct clash of this space scrap against a plane, something whose probability remains exceptionally low, there is another problem: the danger of happening and leads to the decision to cut the airspace. On November 4, 2022, the body of the Long March 5B rocket, 20 tons of weight, re -entered the atmosphere, falling on the Pacific Ocean. All good, but it might not have been like this: the entrance location was the product of chance, since the body of the rocket was abandoned in the orbit and a planned design was not made for the re -entry of the remains. Consequences. The night before the reentry, different surveillance agencies, as well as the European Air Safety Agency, issued reports in which they encouraged national authorities to restrict airspace “in a corridor of at least 70 kilometers and up to 120 kilometers on each side of the estimated reentry trajectory ”of the rocket. Spanish and French authorities complied with this and They closed part of their airspace. As a result, 645 flights were delayed, with an average of 29 minutes per plane. In addition, some airplanes that were in full flight had to return to the origin airport or take a detour. It was the evidence of a lack of planning, anticipation and control over this space scrap. Interestingly, Portugal, Italy and Greece did not make the decision to close, generating other problems in their airports due to the unexpected increase in air traffic due to deviant flights. In purple, the airspace closed by the Long March 5B. In blue, his career and fall Solutions. Unfortunately, although this is a problem that will go more, controlling the reentry of space debris is not something that has an immediate solution. The researchers propose that those responsible for launching rockets also invest in controllable reentry technologies so that they do not enter the atmosphere unpredictably. These technologies include engines capable of re -effective to partially direct the rocket, but also a better mission planning so that the rocket falls into a remote area of ​​the ocean, far from populations and, evidently, air traffic. The problem is that, although the technology is there, they estimate that less than 35% of the launches perform these controlled inputs and, with 2,300 bodies in orbit with an annual increase of between 30 and 40 bodies, the risks will continue to increase. In 2001, the titanium engine coating of the third stage of a Delta 2, with a weight of approximately 70 kg, landed in Saudi Arabia, about 240 km from the capital Obviously, it is also a huge money expense, so achievements such as catch the Starship propeller and the advances of Spacex engineers so as not to have launch and throw rockets They are so important. And a global protocol is also necessary to manage these resentments and make coordinated decisions, not to delegate everything in an aeronautical industry that is not responsible. In the end, it is much more likely that there are alterations in air traffic due to this space garbage than to the clash of one of these remains with a plane, but whenever this probability is not zero, solutions must be contemplated. Images | Nature, Spacex In Xataka | The capture of the Super Heavy changes everything: Spacex has gone from being 9 years ahead of the industry to not having a rival

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