insurance

Orange’s “life insurance” to protect the internet

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More than 95% of international internet traffic travels over cables that are at the bottom of the sea. Africa and Europe start from very different positions, but they are essential to sustain essential services on both continents, such as the cloud or financial systems. Thus, while Africa It is the continent where demand grows the most bandwidth in the world and faces the problem of relatively old cables designed for much lower traffic than the current one, Europe has consolidated strategic nodes in places such as Marseille, Lisbon or the south of England, but is still exposed to the same risks of concentration and aging. Via Africa is born from both needs, the new submarine cable that Orange and an open consortium of seven operators have announced. The Via Africa cable. Via África is a new submarine fiber optic cable that will connect southern Europe with South Africa bordering the Atlantic. It will have European connection points in the United Kingdom, France, Portugal and the Canary Islands. On the western African coast, its nodes will be in Mauritania, Senegal, Guinea, Ivory Coast and Nigeria, although both the final complete route and other points in southern Africa are still pending definition. In any case, The reason for this cable is improve the diversity and resilience of international communications between both continents. Sketch of the layout. Orange Why is it important. To start with, this cable is the answer to that veteran and undersized infrastructure of the African continent and its growing demand at a time when cloud services, artificial intelligence and teleworking are skyrocketing traffic. Furthermore, the African Atlantic coast has some critical points due to the high concentration of marine infrastructure, such as the Ivory Coast, where several cables converge in the same physical place. This example is not coincidental: in March 2024 they failed the four cables that were there at that time at the same time due to a rockslide. The result? 13 West African countries with connectivity at minimum levels for weeks. But the problem is not only African: when these cables fail, Europe loses traffic capacity to the continent, dragging down operators, companies and cloud services that depend on that route. What Via Africa proposes is precisely a geographically different route, that is, an alternative that breaks that dependency. Six cables, the same physical point in the Ivory Coast. Submarine Cable Map Context. The African Atlantic coast is already served with cables such as SAT-3/WASC (2002), WACS (2012), ACE (2012), MainOne (2010) or Google’s Equiano (2023), but some of these systems are aging or have proven to be vulnerable. This new cable adds to a wave of investment in African submarine infrastructure, such as the recent 2Africa in Meta (2025) or the Medusa in the Mediterranean (2026). Orange needs few introductions: it manages more than 450,000 kilometers of submarine cables around the world through its subsidiary Orange Marine and in fact, last year charge two new cable carrier vessels to reinforce its maintenance and deployment capacity in the Atlantic, the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean, with delivery scheduled in 2028 and 2029. How are they going to do it?. At the moment the only thing that there is closed It is a Memorandum of Understanding for its construction by a group of investors among which are CanalinkGUILAB, International Mauritania Telecom, Orange Group, Orange Côte d’Ivoire, Sonatel and Silverlinks. From here, the process starts with a route study to determine the optimal route in terms of resilience, technical feasibility and economic efficiency. Likewise, the business consortium will prepare the bidding process to select the cable manufacturer, the next step. Yes, but. The announcement is a memorandum with big names behind it, not a construction contract, which means that the stage of the operation is extremely early: it could take years until it is operational or even never materialize. In this sense, logically there are still important unknowns pending that range from the total layout and its length, all the nodes, the manufacturer and installer and the route sheet with a date for its entry into operation or the cost. Furthermore, Via África is going to enter a space that is not free: Google already operates Equiano on the same coastal strip and Meta has its own cable circumnavigating Africa with the very long 2Africa of 45,000 kilometers. In short, it will have to compete with the infrastructure of the large hyperscalers. In Xataka | The submarine cables belonged to the teleoperators, and now the big technology companies are controlling them In Xataka | The first great Atlantic submarine cable that connected us to the internet says goodbye for a simple reason: it was too expensive to repair it Cover | Bryan Christie Design and Orange

Now you can enjoy an exclusive 15% discount on your travel insurance with Intermundial

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Your subscription to Xataka Xtra It is, from now on, a little more complete. If a few days ago we announced the exclusive advantages in the Samsung online store and the 99,999 credits for AI in Magnific (formerly Freepik), today we present you a new advantage that, it must be said, could not come at a better time. From today, all Xataka Xtra members can enjoy an exclusive 15% discount on Intermundial travel insurance. But there is more, because exceptionally and during the first two months the discount will not be 15%, but 20%. If you are planning a trip abroad and want to do it with extra security, you just have to access your subscriber area. There you will find this new advantage and the instructions to take advantage of it. Travel safer (and at a better price) Image | Taryn Elliott Interworld has been offering travel insurance for 30 years. Each year it insures more than 5.7 million people, manages more than 64,000 claims and assistance and has more than 6,000 distribution points. Additionally, as a curious fact, it is the insurance provider for Civitatis. If you usually travel and like tours, it will probably sound familiar to you. Travel insurance does two things: peace of mind and coverage in case of need. A visit to the doctor in depending on what countries and under what conditions can involve an enormous outlay. A visit to the emergency room in the United States, for example, can cost around $2,000. Let’s not talk about repatriation, which I hope no one will ever have to experience, but it is an expense of up to six figures that is not covered by the embassy or the consulate, but by the user. Travel insurance like those provided by Intermundial covers all these situations, in addition to protecting us against theft or loss of luggage, delays, missed connections, cancellations or overbooking, etc. With Xataka Xtrathat peace of mind comes out a little cheaper and, for that matter, here is a real case. An example of insurance for a three-week trip to Japan | Image: Xataka In October, yours truly goes on a honeymoon to Japan for 21 days. Totaltravel insurance, which covers up to five million euros in medical expenses, 350 euros for delays in the delivery of luggage and up to 2,500 for damage, theft or loss, to name a few figures, would cost under normal conditions 163.26 euros, that is, 81.63 euros per person. With the exclusive discount of Xataka Xtrawhich in these first two months is 20%, its price drops to 130.61 euros, or what is the same, 65.31 euros. That’s 33 euros that we can now spend on sushi or, better yet, on a 30-centimeter figure of Satoru Gojo. Join Xataka Xtra and save The Xataka Xtra subscription includes this and many other exclusive benefits, from a Discord server for subscribers to a direct line with editors through El Consultorio, a monthly meeting with the editors of the house, exclusive giveaways and a growing list of discounts and advantages on digital services. You can join from just 30 euros per year and take advantage of this discount, in addition to all those already available and everything that is to come: In Xataka | Subscribe to Xataka Xtra

Putting on a bear suit to defraud more than $141,000 in car insurance seemed believable. Until it stopped being

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There are stories that seem written not to be believed. It all starts with a luxury car, a course bear attack in the middle of California and some images that, in theory, should prove everything. The story fits in appearance, damage to the interior of the vehicle, claw marks, an animal that would have entered and destroyed the cabin. However, from the first moment there is something that squeaks. It’s not so much what you see, but how you see it, as if the scene is too well constructed to be real. The story began to go wrong when an insurance company reviewed more carefully a claim registered on January 28, 2024 in Lake Arrowhead, an area of ​​California where the presence of bears is not unusual. The report described how the animal had accessed the interior of a 2010 Rolls-Royce Ghost and caused damage to the seats and doors. The images provided seemed to support it, but the company detected enough inconsistencies to take it a step further. That notice ended up triggering a formal investigation by the California Department of Insurance. When the bear didn’t look like a bear From that moment, the investigation began to reconstruct how the scene had been created. As detailed by the California Department of Insurancethe alleged attack did not have any wild animal behind it, but rather a person dressed in a bear suit. To simulate damage, they used utensils claw-shaped kitchen tools, designed to tear meat, with which they marked seats and interior panels. The objective was clear: to build visual evidence convincing enough to support the claim before the insurer. The case stopped seeming timely when investigators found more claims with the same pattern. It wasn’t just one vehicle or one insurer. Those involved filed similar requests with two other companies, alleging that a bear had caused damage to the interior of two Mercedes-Benzes on the same day and at the same location. The recordings associated with these cases showed practically identical scenes, with the alleged animal accessing the cars and moving around inside them. With several files on the table, the California Department of Insurance formalized the investigation under the name “Operation Bear Claw.” The objective was clear: to analyze the claims together, images and videos provided to determine whether they responded to real events or a montage. The investigators reviewed the material provided, compared the damage described and reconstructed the sequence of the alleged attacks. As they progressed, the coincidences stopped seeming coincidental and began to fit into the same scheme. The key finally came together when an outside specialist reviewed the recorded material. A biologist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife examined the images and his conclusion was straightforward. The expert noted that the alleged animal was “clearly a human in a bear suit.” This technical assessment marked a before and after in the investigation, because it transformed a suspicion into a statement supported by professional analysis. One expert noted that the alleged animal was “clearly a human in a bear suit.” The next piece of the case came during the execution of a search warrant. In a home related to those involved, investigators found what until then only fit based on clues. The authorities They located a brown bear suit and kitchen tools used to tear meat. Both elements coincided with what was observed in the videos and with the way in which the damage had been caused, thus closing the circle between theory and material evidence. With the evidence now consolidated, the case moved to the judicial field. Those involved were arrested in November 2024 after the investigation. Three of them, residents of Los Angeles County, pleaded “no contest,” a formula by which they do not formally admit guilt but do not dispute the charges, in the face of accusations of insurance fraud, a serious crime. They were later convicted to 180 days in jail, approximately six months, and in two of the cases they were also ordered to pay more than $50,000 each in restitution. The economic figure helps to size the case. According to official information, the claims presented allowed those involved to obtain more than $141,000 in insurance payments. It was not a failed attempt from the beginning, but rather a scheme that managed to overcome the first filters and generate income. Only when an insurer flagged a claim as suspicious and the investigation moved forward did the case stop appearing to be an isolated incident. Although three of those involved have already been convicted, the investigation remains open. According to official information, a fourth defendant, Ararat Chirkinian, 39, is scheduled for a preliminary hearing in September. His case has not yet gone through the same phase as that of the others involved, so his responsibility within the scheme will be evaluated in the next judicial steps. The story, in that sense, is not completely over yet. The story ends as it began, with a scene that was intended to seem convincing and that, seen as a whole, was not so convincing. For a time, the plan worked and made it possible to obtain money from various insurers, but every detail that sought to reinforce the story ended up playing against him. The repetition of the same pattern, the analysis of the images and the appearance of material evidence ended up dismantling the initial version. Images | Valeriia Neganova | California Department of Insurance | Alexander Bendus In Xataka | In 2019, Elon Musk promised autonomous driving for all Teslas sold since then. In 2026, it has reversed

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

insurance doesn’t cover it

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In almost all Western armies there is a little-known paradox: private insurers rarely cover the most obvious risk of the military profession. For decades, protection systems for soldiers have combined commercial policies with special state regimes, because combat (due to its unpredictable nature and enormous potential cost) is often left out of conventional insurance almost everywhere in the world. Controversy at the heart of the military profession. The beginning of 2026 has unleashed a strong controversy around collective life and accident insurance for personnel of the Armed Forces and the Civil Guard in Spain. The reason is a clause that excludes deaths or disabilities derived directly from acts of war, which has caused outrage between military associations and families of soldiers deployed on missions abroad. The discussion has gained special strength in an international context increasingly unstablewith Spanish troops present in sensitive regions like Lebanon or the eastern flank of Europe, where the possibility of serious incidents is not theoretical but real. The small print. The controversy revolves around the technical concept of “risk of war”a common exclusion in the private insurance sector. Standard life and accident policies are designed to cover death or disability due to accident or illness, but they usually leave out events derived from armed conflictsconsidered extraordinary risks that are difficult to insure commercially. In the case of group insurance contracted for 2026, the clause establishes that private compensation will not be activated if death or disability is direct consequence of war declared or armed hostilities, which means that coverage is limited to ordinary service situations or non-war accidents. What happens when a soldier dies in combat. As They counted in MoncloaAlthough the exclusion has generated public alarm, the protection system for military personnel is not based solely on private insurance. In Spain (as in most NATO countries) coverage against combat or war actions is not articulated through commercial policies, but rather through compensation state pensions, extraordinary pensions and specific regimes for acts of service. This means that, if a soldier dies in combat or in a military operation, the main compensation comes of the public system of benefits and not of the group insurance contracted with an insurer. The role of private insurance. Group insurance managed by 2026 by insurance company MetLife It functions as an additional layer of protection designed to cover common service risks: accidents, non-war deaths or permanent disabilities. These types of policies are used in many armies to complement the public system, but rarely include explicit coverage of war because the actuarial cost would be extremely high. In practice, insurance acts as additional compensation for certain circumstances, while combat risks are integrated into the state compensation system. A model repeated in NATO. The truth is that the Spanish scheme is not an exception within Western military alliances. The United States, for example, covers its soldiers through federal programs such as the Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurancefinanced and supported by the State. In the case of the United Kingdom, the Armed Forces Compensation Schemean administrative compensation regime. For their part, France and Germany resort to systems of military pensions and compensation legal. Be that as it may, in all these models the logic is similar: war is not insured as a commercial risk, but is compensated through public legislation. The debate and controversy. Even so, the controversy has opened a deeper debate on the economic protection of military personnel and their families. Professional associations maintain that the war exclusion in private policy leaves a symbolic and financial void which can affect the perception of security of deployed personnel. In short, and although from the Ministry of Defense it is insisted in which no soldier is left unprotected thanks to the system of extraordinary pensions and compensation for acts of service, the truth is that the episode has highlighted a structural tension: the difficulty of fitting into the insurance market a risk that precisely defines the essence of the military profession. Image | Navy, Air and Space Army Ministry of Defense Spain In Xataka | The same day that the US threatened Spain and said it did not need the Rota base, the US invested 13 million in expanding the Rota base In Xataka | The great paradox of Spain is 7,000 million euros: nobody wants to take up weapons, but they are making money by selling them

The DGT ends the extension and anticipates mandatory insurance for 4 million vehicles

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They wanted to launch it on January 2, 2026 but at the end of December last year They confirmed that it would not be possible. Now, the DGT returns to the fray to try to organize everything related to light personal vehicles. That is, the scooters and derivatives that circulate on our streets. This time yes, this time there will be registration. Start-up. The DGT has confirmed that users of personal mobility vehicles (VMP) will have to register in the electronic traffic headquarters their electric scooters if they want to circulate in accordance with the law. Traffic wanted to have this measure ready with the start of the new year but it was today that the Council of Ministers gave the green light to the measure. In its last meeting, the Government approved the royal decree that regulates the operation of the Registry of Light Personal Vehicles to “comply with the first additional provision of Law 5/2025 of July 24, which modified the law on civil liability and insurance in the circulation of motor vehicles to introduce the obligation to insure all personal mobility vehicles, which came into force on January 2 pending the launch of the registry.” What does this mean? In short, if you have an electric scooter you will have to register it with Traffic. The measure is taken to have control of, according to the DGT, the four million personal mobility vehicles that circulate on our streets. The procedure is slightly different, as we will see later, depending on the age of the electric scooter but it is key because it is the first step to force the user to have insurance for your vehicle. The DGT already warns that not having it will be grounds for a fine “According to the provisions of the law on civil liability and insurance, lacking it will be penalized with between 202 and 610 euros and driving with a VMP without insurance with between 250 and 800 euros depending on whether it is considered a light personal vehicle or motor vehicle (more than 25 kilograms in weight and more than 14 kilometers/hour) by the aforementioned Insurance Law. They already have a certificate. In addition to registration and insurance, electric scooters must have a certificate in which all the technical characteristics of the electric scooter are collected. This allows an agent check if a scooter is complying with regulations or, on the contrary, it has been tricked to circulate above the maximum authorized speed of 25 km/h. This certification is collected with a plate on the chassis of the vehicle and is present on all electric scooters sold in Spain since January 22, 2024. The DGT itself, as happens with the V-16 beaconshas on its website a list with all approved scooters to be sold in our country. In this case, if the electric scooter already has this certificate, in the electronic office it will be enough to fill in the certificate number and the serial number. Then a digital registration certificate is issued so that our vehicle is registered as registered. Does not have certificate. In this case, you have a problem. First because the DGT requires that these scooters also be registered although at the time of purchase it was not mandatory to have the certificate. To do this, it is mandatory to have an invoice or technical sheet from the VMP and a photograph. If you do not have an invoice, the only possible procedure is to homologate the vehicle by going through a laboratory certified by the DGT to obtain the technical sheet. Once the certificate is obtained, the DGT issues an identification sticker that must be affixed in a visible place, as is the case with environmental badges on cars. And keep in mind that if you want to keep your scooter it is worth it. Without a certificate registration is not possible and without registration it is not possible to insure the electric scooter. The DGT opens an extension to certify all these scooters until January 22, 2027. From then on it will not be possible to circulate with a VMP without a certificate. How do I do it? As we said, the DGT will enable a space in its electronic headquarters where the entire process can be carried out. At the moment, this space is not open but Traffic assures us that it will be available “in the coming days.” In addition, the DGT assures that they will enable a channel to register the electric scooter when contracting the insurance and that they are working to be able to register it at the time the scooter is purchased at the establishment. Will they fine me? According to the press release, yes. As we said above, with fines of between 200 and 800 euros. However, Traffic does not specify in its press release from what date it will be mandatory to have a registered vehicle and insurance to avoid receiving the fine. Right now, we only know that scooters without a certificate have until January 22, 2027 to obtain it. When asked about this, the DGT has not given us exact dates or deadlines either. Traffic limits itself to stating that it will be informed about this and that the platform will be available “in the coming days” but there is no date indicated on the calendar. Photo | Marek Rucinski In Xataka | $25,000 fine for driving a souped-up electric scooter: Toronto has decided to apply a heavy hand to them

Leroy Merlin sells the V16 beacon for 30 euros that connects to its own app to notify emergencies and insurance

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On January 1, the new DGT regulations that forces us to carry a V16 beacon in the vehicle to use in case of emergency or breakdown. There are many models that exist on the market, although there are two manufactured in Spain that stand out from the rest. One is the Help Flash IoT+ and the other is this one that Leroy Merlin sells. It is about the V16 Ledone beaconwhich if there is something that stands out for it is the number of candles and also for having its own app. Its price, at the moment, is 29.99 euros. V16 approved DGT geolocated beacon LEDONE Connected The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Made in Spain and with characteristics different from the rest If you have not yet purchased a V16 beacon for your vehicle, this model has some features that make it stand out from the rest. One of them is its design, since it has a base that elevates itso it can be very useful to place in different types of vehicles. Another of its assets is that it has 120 candleswhich is triple the mandatory 40 candelas that this emergency light must have according to the DGT. In addition, it is manufactured in Spain, which gives it extra reliability. Although if there is something for which this stands out emergency light (and that only has one other model on the market) is because it has your own app. From this app, you can communicate directly with your insurance and emergency services, something that will be very useful if you have to leave your car on the shoulder. Other V16 beacons that may interest you If this V16 beacon does not convince you, on the market you can also find other models at a good price. These are some of them: V16 beacon Raykong by 35.99 euros on MediaMarkt: it is also one of the most popular models. V16 beacon iWottolight by 29.99 euros at Carrefour. V16 beacon Nk DP-EL2024-C1 by 29.99 euros in PcComponentes. V16 beacon help flash IoT+ by 36.81 euros on Amazon: a best-selling model with its own app to notify emergencies or insurance. Other accessories that may interest you for your vehicle 10.26″ Wireless Carplay Screen 360 Rotation 4K Dash Cam with Auto Stereo Audio Receiver The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Xiaomi Portable Air Compressor 2 The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Image | Webedia and Ledone In Xataka | Don’t wait until January 1: if you have to buy your V16 beacon, Leroy Merlin has them for less than 40 euros In Xataka | Safety, organization and entertainment gadgets and accessories for cars on long trips

The Government is looking for someone to manage thousands of affordable homes. An unexpected candidate has emerged: Rental Insurance

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The State already has a ‘girlfriend’ for its affordable rental housing. Barely a month and a half after the SEPES put out to tender a contract to find companies interested in managing its public park of rental apartments, a large pool of 17,300 propertiesthe Ministry of Housing already knows of at least one interested firm. Of course, one that perhaps Isabel Rodríguez’s department did not have: Seguro Rent, the same company that the Ministry of Consumer Affairs wants to impose a fine of 3.6 million for violation of rights. Those responsible for the company they advance that they have all the requirements included in the tender and boast of their “experience and training.” Manager wanted. To understand the case we must go back to December 1, when the SEPES (shortly after converted into HOUSE47) launched a tender which probably whetted the appetite of more than one real estate agency. The contract in question amounted to a total of 55.4 million of euros (not including VAT) and was basically looking for companies interested in assuming for two years the “comprehensive management of the leasing of the public housing stock for affordable rentals.” In total, the tender covers 17,324 homes spread throughout the country, although to facilitate contracting it was divided into lots. Specifically, four were created for different regions, with between 1,600 and 5,700 houses. A name: Rental Insurance. The announcement was posted on the Public Sector Procurement Platform and companies had just over a month, until January 8, to present their offers. At the moment at least the name of one is known: Rental Insurancea firm dedicated to leasing management that boasts of having managed more than 75,000 contracts. Specifically, the company aspires to become with one of the four lots tendered by the State, the first, which covers 1,661 homes located in Galicia and Asturias. In exchange for its management, SEPES (now CASA47) offers about 6.5 million. The company of course defends its resume to win the contract. “Alquiler Seguro has the experience and training required to take charge of the comprehensive management of the rental fleet, as it has been doing for more than 19 years with the more than 28,000 contracts it currently manages throughout the country,” has claimed the signature itself on a note. Bragging about history. The company does not stop there. In addition to highlighting his experience managing house rentals (including public protection), he remembers the agreements and collaborations he has had with firms such as YourTECHÔ and First Hfocused on access to housing for vulnerable people. On its website the agency presume also from its office network, with more than 50 points spread throughout the country, and its portfolio of tens of thousands of properties. Why is it news? Because Rental Insurance not only stands out for its greater or lesser experience. Beyond the criticism that you have received from entities such as the Madrid Tenants Union, the OCU either FACUAthe company it was news recently for a proposed million-dollar fine. In December, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs imposed a fine of around 3.6 million euros on it for violating user rights and taking advantage of its position of strength in the market. At least in December, when the news brokethe resolution was not yet final and the company was advancing its intention to appeal. During the investigation he had already presented more than a dozen allegations. Questionable practices. In the file, advanced by Cadena SERdetailed practices that were at least controversial, such as forcing tenants to take out insurance, being responsible for charges for non-payments or claims or paying for a ‘Tenant Service Service’. Not only that. The file also details the obligation for the tenant to accept being included in a file of defaulters. Your practices already FACUA denounced them at the end of 2023. When SEPES launched its tender insisted in the profile of the company that is seeking to run the public affordable rental park: “Management will be carried out from social commitment and not only based on economic criteria. For this reason, one of the services that the successful bidder must provide consists of the prevention, detection and early attention of situations of risk of loss of housing.” Images | The Moncloa, Rental Insurance and FACUA In Xataka | The Great Rental Review is not going to be a joke for millions of Spaniards: more than 4,000 euros more per year

There will be no insurance or registration for electric scooters on January 2, 2026. The DGT has confirmed it

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On January 2, 2026, I aspired to put some order with electric scooters. At least, the order understood as the DGT understands it. And on that date, all electric scooters They had to begin to comply with a series of conditions. They would have been sold as new or were electric scooters that are already in the hands of users. Now, the DGT has confirmed that this will not be possible. In order to apply the new regulations, it is necessary to a Royal Decree that has not been approved and that, as of December 23, 2025, it will be impossible for it to arrive in time for the new year. Despite this, Traffic reminds us that it is mandatory to have insurance for it, which will have to be active before the end of January of next year. So… what has been approved and what is mandatory? No insurance at the moment From 2024all electric scooters sold in Spain have a certificate that includes the technical characteristics of the electric scooter. This certification serves agents to verify whether or not said personal mobility vehicle complies with the technical characteristics for which it was created. And it must be taken into account that an agent can stop an electric scooter but they are also being done controls in some cities. In bliss plate Data such as the maximum speed at which it can circulate must therefore be reflected. In addition, the DGT had to have a VMP registry ready so that anyone who had a vehicle of this type could register their electric scooter. This forces those who have a vehicle of this type before 2024 to have to send the electric scooter to one of the laboratories accredited by the DGT. It will certify that the vehicle is not modified and confirm that it meets the permitted technical conditions. This registration will be a kind of registration for electric scooters and every new scooter sold in our country must be registered. The intention was to leave this possibility to the private customer until 2027, but they were going to be forced to have civil liability insurance as of January 2, 2026. This left them on the verge of having to “homologize” the electric scooter no matter what. However, the DGT has today published a clarifying note in which it states the following: “The Council of Ministers, taking into account the urgency of the processing of the aforementioned Royal Decree, agreed on November 18, 2025, to process it urgently. Although the hearing and public information procedures have already been completed, its approval will not be possible before next January 2” Without this Royal Decree approved, the DGT confirms that there is no legal basis to be able to demand from users registration and insurance of the electric scooter. They assure that “the technical development for the registration of VMPs is already completed” but that without the regulations that regulate this approved, they will not be able to demand these two requirements from January 2, 2026. Therefore, electric scooter users will not have to have insurance for their electric scooters as of January 2, 2026. But, in addition, Traffic does not indicate from what date they expect this change to be active. They only specify that it is mandatory to have insurance as of January 26, 2026 for those personal mobility vehicles with a weight greater than 25 kg and a speed greater than 14 km/h. Electric scooters are considered light personal mobility vehicles and, therefore, insurance will not be required. At least for the moment. Photo | Volodymyr Dobrovolskyy In Xataka | Barcelona suspected that many electric scooters are souped-up. They just stopped one that could reach 113 km/h

We are 21 days away from 2026. 21 days away from being fined if we do not have insurance for our electric scooter

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We have seen it with the V-16 lights and it will be repeated in the future. A standard arrives, makes a lot of noise and is forgotten. Until a few days before it comes into force, noise is made again and those affected run out to get their papers in order. It is the same thing that has happened with electric scooters. January 2, 2026. It is the date chosen by the DGT so that all electric scooters that circulate in Spain have three obligations: Owner’s liability insurance Electric scooter registration Electric scooter certification As with the V-16 lights, it is not something that was decided yesterday. It is something that It was approved in 2024 (to comply with the transposition of the Directive 2021/2118) so users have had more than a year and a half to complete all the procedures. Furthermore, the decision can be applied by City Councils for years as in Córdoba that has been active since 2023. What are the procedures? The one that can give us the most headaches is civil liability insurance. All users who use the electric scooter they must have insurance to cover our damages in the event that another driver is responsible for an accident in which we are involved or to cover damages to third parties if we are to blame. In addition, the electric scooter will have to be registered and have a certification confirming its approval. The latter is mandatory for all electric scooters that have been sold in Spain as new since 2024. But, in addition, it will be mandatory from 2027 for those that were purchased previously. The “registration”. This license plate is actually a plate that must be visible on the electric scooter with the relevant information that certifies its approval. The plate, like the approval, must be included in all electric scooters sold from 2024. If you have an electric scooter that does not have said plate and that does not have the certification, you must request a test in one of the four laboratories that have the approval of the DGT to carry out these certifications. You can do the procedure request from the Traffic website but only one of them, IDIADA, is located in Spain. What is certified? Electric scooters have been, for a few years, considered in a category of their own. Specifically, they are personal mobility vehicles and these are the most important criteria they must meet: Maximum speed of 25 km/h Weigh less than 50 kg Maximum power of 1,000 W if they do not have a self-balancing system Maximum power of 2,500 W if they have a self-balancing system Maximum handlebar height of 70 centimeters What if I don’t comply? Whoever does not comply will have to prepare the portfolio. And with the obligation to have civil liability insurance for the electric scooter also comes the obligation to pay a fine if we do not comply with it. Specifically, the penalty can range from 200 to 1,000 euros since in the reformulation of the Automobile Insurance Law It is established that electric scooters, classified as light personal vehicles, will face penalties of one third of those registered for cars. That is, a third of the penalty of between 600 and 3,000 euros that is established for those who drive a car without insurance, depending on the seriousness of the facts. Photo | Michel Grolet In Xataka | Barcelona suspected that many electric scooters are souped-up. They just stopped one that could reach 113 km/h

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