living

We have found the oldest living tree in the EU. It is on Teide and almost coincided with the Roman Empire

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Spain is a tourism monster, and one of the most visited points is Teide. The territory of the volcano is imposing, and Bárbol hides on one of its slopes. As the character of ‘The Lord of the Rings‘, Treebeard, a Canary Islands cedar that was the oldest living tree in the European Union. And we say “was” because it has just been surpassed by one of its own species. One that is estimated to be 1,544 years old. Clonal or non-clonal, that is the question. Before we get into the discovery, let’s clarify an important concept when talking about the oldest living trees. There are two categories main: clonal and non-clonal. And understanding them is quite simple: A non-clonal tree is an individual, the traditional concept of a tree that grows from a seed. It is a unique individual with its root system and a main trunk. A clonal tree is one that is born from a root system. For example, some roots can give rise to a tree that grows and dies, and from those same roots, another tree is then born, being a “clone” of the original. Another Canary cedar. Found by researchers from the School of Forestry, Agronomic and Bioengineering Industry Engineering at the Duques de Soria Campus and by experts from the University Institute of Sustainable Forest Management at the University of Valladolid, the newly discovered specimen is a whopping 1,544 years old and is, like Bárbol, a Canary Islands cedar. He overcomes it by several years, since esteem that Bárbol is 1,481 years old, and fortunately for these two specimens, they are very far from tourist areas and human influence. This has allowed them to spend a millennium and a half in the same place where they were born, without worrying about the deforestation of the area caused by humans, and they have not been affected by the eruptions of the volcano. To access the new specimen, the researchers had to be assisted by local climbers to access these remote areas of the Teide National Park to be able to take the samples. This is how they found Treebeard Importance. Thus, they have been able to carry out an inventory of ancient cedars located in these areas that are difficult to access. Of the 25 specimens analyzed with the carbon 14 techniquethe existence of eight millennia has been evidenced, three of them exceeding 1,500 years. They are the witness of an ancient population of cedars that would have covered a large part of the park. The team has commented that it is one of the most important concentrations of ancient trees in the European Union and, furthermore, that “its persistence is due to the inaccessibility of the rocks in which they live.” Lucky. Its scientific value is also enormous, since it is like a historical record of the climate. Studying rings of ancient trees allows us to reconstruct the climatic history of the region, obtaining data on rainfall and drought patterns, tracing an evolution of temperatures and, in the case of Teide, identifying the frequency of volcanic events. It all depends on the “portage”. Those responsible for this discovery are the same ones who already dated to Treebeard in 2022, and it must be said that in Finland they found a juniper with a century more on its bark. Baptized as Utsjoki, in a first analysis in 2021 it was given 1,242 years, but after the discovery of Bárbol, they repeated the analysis and they found with which he was many more: 1,647 years old. But since technicalities have their importance in these things, it must be said that… everyone is right in stating that “theirs” is the longest-lived. The difference is in the arboreal habit of each subject. Both are non-clonal, but while the Finnish juniper had a bushy appearance, the canary has an arboreal appearance. And… well, it must also be said that the juniper died in 1906, so the two canaries are the longest living trees. That’s how they found Utsjoki. | Photo: UTU, Marco Carrer Legends. It is evident that there is a “competition” to find the oldest tree, but this is not a race to turn it into something touristy, as if it can happen with other finds, but rather to have new specimens that allow us to obtain a historical x-ray of the land on which they are. Apart from the specimens studied with methods such as carbon 14 belonging to this classification of non-clonal trees, we have specimens such as Old Tjikko Swedish 9,560 years old. The “trap” is that it is a clonal specimen, so the root system is almost 10,000 years old, but the trunks that appear from time to time only last a few centuries. And finally, those that belong to “folklore”, such as the yew Llangernyw in Wales which, located in the cemetery of a church, is estimated to be about 5,000 years old or the yew tree Fortingall in Scotland between 3,000 and 9,000 years old. Too wide a range. Images | Jens SteckertUVa In Xataka | Even when Spain does it well, it goes wrong: becoming the third most forested country in Europe has become a problem

There are so many English people living in Alicante that the largest British pub chain has decided something: open there

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The millions of British tourists who land in the province of Alicante each year will now have a piece of their country just before they leave. As if Benidorm, Torrevieja or the entire Costa Blanca had not been enough, next January the first Wetherspoon in all of continental Europe will open at the Alicante–Elche Miguel Hernández airport. A “100 Montaditos British style”, but installed in the boarding area and designed, paradoxically, for those who are already queuing to return to the United Kingdom. The very British landing. According to The Guardianthe chain has confirmed that its premiere outside the United Kingdom and Ireland will be in Alicante, where it will open a newly built pub called Castell de Santa Bàrbera (when in Valencian it would be Castell de Santa Bàrbara), in “homage” to the fortress that crowns the city. This is a striking move for the company founded by Tim Martin more than four decades ago and which had never operated on continental European territory. For its part, as The Independent has detailedthe store will open every day from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. and will be located in the departures area, aimed mainly at British people returning from vacation. The space will be about 93 square meters and will have an outdoor terrace. In addition, the menu will replicate 90% of the typical Wetherspoon pub menu: full English breakfasts, fish and chips, burgers and pizzas. Even so, it will also incorporate some typical Spanish dish such as garlic prawns or Spanish tortilla, an adaptation that the company has already confirmed. The choice is not accidental. British tourism in the province of Alicante is one of the most important in the region; Benidorm is well known for this. According to data collected by La Vanguardiaalmost 90% of English people choose the province as their favorite destination. Although a decade ago the owner publicly celebrated Brexitthe chain has recently experienced slowing growth in the UK: like-for-like sales of 3.7% in the first 14 weeks of the financial year, lower than in previous years. According to The Telegraphthe company is suffering from the increase in labor, energy and tax costs, which has led its president to explore new markets, and hence its strategy focused on airports: places where traffic is guaranteed and the clientele is usually predisposed to consume, even at times when most bars would not open. A British icon, almost invisible for Alicante. Despite the commotion that the news has generated in the province, the truth is that this first Wetherspoon on the European continent will be out of reach of the general public. It will be necessary to pass security control to access, which makes it a rarity: a British icon installed in Alicante, but almost invisible to the people of Alicante. Although Alicante will be the first, it will not be the only one. Tim Martin has reiterated in different British media that his intention is to open “several pubs abroad in the coming months and years, including some in airports”. The new location at Alicante airport will, therefore, be a test by fire. One last drink before heading home. Alicante can now boast of having the first Wetherspoon on the continent, although only travelers who fly will be able to enjoy it. For British tourists, it will be the last sip of home before returning; For the province, further proof of the weight that this market has in its economy. Time will tell if this little pub next to the departure gates is the start of a new European conquest or simply a last pint in the sun before heading home. Image | FreePik Xataka | Years ago Alicante thought it was a good idea to build an artificial island with a luxurious restaurant. It didn’t turn out as I expected

the last one caused a big change in their way of living

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For ten years, in Kibali National Park (Uganda), a silent and brutal war was fought. Its protagonists were not humans, but the community of Ngogo chimpanzees largest known, which maintained a constant conflict with its neighbors until they ended up exterminating them to keep their territory. Now science has wanted to find biological meaning in this, and it has succeeded. Something natural. From the outside, this conflict can be seen as something very bloody, like the one we see between humans themselves to dominate a specific territory. But science believed that there was something more behind it, and in the end it has been seen that these wars They are more natural than we think within nature itself. And it gives us a concrete idea of ​​how the minds of these animals work. The PNAS scientific journal just found the biological logic behind this massacre, and has not hesitated to confirm that we are facing an evolutionary strategy very profitable. After the victory, the females in the winning group not only doubled their fertility, but infant mortality plummeted. A spoil of war. The investigation, led by Brian Wood and veteran anthropologist John Mitani, puts numbers to this brutality. And in this lapse of time the Ngogo expanded their domains by 22% at the cost of eliminating the neighbors who were occupying it in that case. But just like humans, we often create wars. to get more resourcesanimals seem to do something similar. This territorial expansion brought with it a great abundance of food resources that completely transformed the demographics of the group. To get an idea, the researchers in this case compared data from the three years before the conquest with those from the three years after. In this case it was seen that before the victory there were only 15 births in the group, while after the victory there were 37 new offspring. And it is not something random, since it is the first time that cooperative killing between groups has been linked to “territorial gain and greater reproductive success.” The biological sense. But beyond the fact that more chimpanzees are born in this environment, it has also been seen that much more survive. And in the chimpanzee population, infant mortality is really high because they suffer from serious malnutrition at the beginning of their lives, as well as diseases or infanticide. The data is quite clear. Before winning the war, 41% of the offspring died before they were three years old. After annexing neighboring territory and eliminating border threats, that figure radically dropped to 8%. Because? The equation is quite simple: more food in the environment, less competition and greater security as there are not so many enemy incursions that kill their young. Josep Call, a primatologist at the University of St Andrews, defines it as “biological rationality”. It is not a moral decision, it is pure natural selection: the genes of those who successfully apply this violence are much more likely to perpetuate themselves. Death patrols. A question that we can ask ourselves in this case is how an animal with these characteristics can be organized to go to war. And although we may think that they do it without thinking about it first, the reality is that they organize very well calculated border patrols in their territory. Upon reaching the border, these animals completely change their behavior, as they become much quieter to maintain stealth, with a strategy that is quite similar to what we can see in a human military exercise. The moment they encounter a rival group, if they are outnumbered they know that they will not be able to win and the smartest thing to do is to retreat. But if the situation is contrary, it will be attacked without mercy. Attacks include hitting, biting and dismembering. It is a coordinated violence that, in the case of the Ngogo, was favored by an unusual demographic factor: they had a disproportionate number of males, which allowed them to form patrol “squads” that were more lethal than those of their neighbors who did not have this advantage. War? Although the parallel with human conflicts is inevitable, scientists prefer the term “intergroup violence.” The reasons that exist to defend this difference are that among chimpanzees there is no ideology, but rather they do it exclusively out of biological necessity, such as having food or providing for the smallest members of the community. And the truth is that annihilating the neighbors is one of the smartest ways to achieve this. Images | Satya deep In Xataka | These researchers are not only convinced that chimpanzees can talk, but that we have proof since 1962

Faced with impossible housing prices, an alternative is gaining weight: living in a motorhome

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If you consult the online dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy you will see that, at least for academics, a mobile home It is a “vehicle with its own engine conditioned to make life in it.” In the Spain of 2025, that of the housing crisishe floor deficit and the price escalationcaravans increasingly have more of the latter and less of the former. They are still vehicles, but above all they are spaces in which their tenants live: they sleep, have breakfast, cook, wash, study or spend time reading or watching movies. They do not do it out of vocation (at least not in all cases), but out of necessity. Although they work, have a stable job and a salary, the money is not enough to access an increasingly tight real estate market, so they choose to do their daily lives in the few square meters of a motorhome. Housing, impossible. that the housing is getting more expensive (a lot) is nothing new. In fact, its price is one of the issues that most take away sleep to the Spaniards and has already motivated massive protests, some with a hint of tenant strike included. However, it is good to review a few data to understand the scope of the housing crisis that the country is experiencing. According to Idealista, rents have skyrocketed 96% in just a decade, a percentage that falls short if markets such as that of Palm, Tenerife either Malaga. The situation in the purchase and sale market is not much more buoyant. The increase in the price of the square meter, which fool around now with the values ​​prior to the brick bubble, have complicated access to the market, forcing families to dedicate years of salary to pay for housing. Result: homes that exceed the “effort rate” recommended economic and young people who only have one option left if they want to become owners: inheritances or donations. What if I move to a caravan? In view of all of the above, more and more people are asking themselves the question: if the market has become so draconian, if it prevents any ability to save and requires assuming exorbitant prices, why not change apartments for caravans? There is no data to help follow the trend, but a search on Google or diving on YouTube to check that abound the news of people who moves into mobile homes. It occurs in Balearics and Canary Islandsvery places touristifiedbut also in cities like Madrid. By necessity, by strategy. Although the price of housing is (almost) always the backdrop, not everyone who moves into a caravan does so for the same reason. There are those who take the step pure necessitybecause their salary does not allow them to rent a regular home, and those who decide to spend a stage of their life living in a caravan in order to gain savings capacity and make the jump at some point (without pressure or rush) into the buying and selling market. That is the case of Antonio, a 37-year-old civil servant who I counted these days to The Country What is it like to live in a caravan in Madrid. Although he has a stable job with a salary of about 1,900 euros per month, Antonio, a native of Alcoy, has lived in a motorhome since 2020. The formula gives him flexibility when he has to travel for work, allows him to have more private space than he enjoyed when he shared a flat and, above all, it seems like the smartest option today. “I live in a motorhome right now because I want to, not out of necessity. Although obviously if housing prices were different I would move to a house, my future project. What happens is that after this satisfactory experience I have become more demanding and I am not willing to be drowned like I did for 10 years,” relates. His mobile home, a second-hand 2003 Fiat Ducato Carioca, cost him 22,000 euros and by living in it, utility costs have been significantly reduced. Right now they don’t reach 100 euros a month. Are there more cases? Of course. The profiles vary greatly from one case to another. Also from one region to another. There are those who live in motorhomes because it is “the only solution” that finds itself in a market of skyrocketing prices, who are forced to opt for that exit while they work temporarily in tourist destinations and those who prefer to enjoy “their” handful of square meters before sharing a conventional and larger apartment with other colleagues. “I have everything in four meters, but it is mine and I don’t have to share a flat,” confessed in April to The Vanguard Begoña, a 61-year-old woman who lives in a motorhome in the Balearic Islands. “Here I have my kitchen, next to it I have the oven and the refrigerator and the field. I pay for parking, but it is infinitely cheaper than renting,” agreed in 2023 during a talk with La Sexta Carlos, a 23-year-old engineer from Murcia who had a job opportunity in Madrid. When he started looking at apartments he decided that the best thing was a caravan. Is there data? One of the big problems in tracking the trend is that it lacks official data as such. The INE census shows that in Spain there are 7,200 people registered in shacks and caravans, but that category does not have to fit exactly with that of people who choose to live in motorhomes and the statistical institute itself recognizes that when preparing the census it encountered “a certain limitation”, so the overall figure is probably higher. As a reference, in 2024 the local press pointed out that in Ibiza alone there were almost about thirty of caravan settlements. Even was spoken of locals with houses who chose to move into caravans in the high season to rent their houses to tourists. The goal: get some extra income in the summer. More registrations. … Read more

inside a living being

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For some time now, the most powerful nations in the world have started a race to find the rare earths that China dominates with iron fist. They all did it from the same perspective: with mining as part of the fundamental process for its extraction. And this is when China has announced the most shocking element in memory regarding these minerals. What if the mines were not needed? Challenging mining. The discovery by a Chinese-led team of scientists of a rare earth mineral formed inside a fern alive Blemchnum orientale It represents a profound break with the extractive logic that has dominated this sector for more than a century. For the first time, a hyperaccumulator has crystallized monazite (a critical material for strategic technologies) under normal environmental conditions, without heat, pressure or industrial processes. This natural ability turns the plant into a chemical laboratory capable of organizing metallic elements into functional structures, a phenomenon never documented in any living organism. The plant monazite. The monazite generated by the fern concentrates fundamental elements such as cerium, lanthanum or neodymium, all essential for magnets, lasers, advanced optical devices or energy systems. Its physical properties (thermal resistance, chemical stability and durability against radiation) place it in the core of the modern technology industry. That a plant can produce this mineral without human intervention reveals a completely new road to obtain materials that normally require intensive mining and aggressive chemical processes. Monacita The internal logic of the process. The identified mechanism shows that the plant crystallizes the mineral in their extracellular tissues to prevent non-nutritive elements from entering the cells. This spontaneous organization reproduces, on a plant scale, structures similar to the so-called “chemical gardens”, formations that arise when metallic salts self-assemble in aqueous media. This biological self-organization turns the fern into a system capable of transforming metallic solutions in minerals solids without altering their physiology. Hyperaccumulators as a tool. The process is based on the extraordinary capacity of certain plants to store metals in concentrations hundreds or thousands of times higher than those of the soil in which they grow. This ability makes hyperaccumulators ideal candidates for mining valuable items. without digging or removing large volumes of land. The detected mineral formation demonstrates that these organisms not only capture metals, but can convert them into a recoverable and stable form. A Blechnum Orientale fern A sustainable circular model. And here comes the possibly most transformative fact of the announcement. The combination of absorption, crystallization and plant detoxification allows us to imagine a model for obtaining rare earths based on plant cultivation in metal-rich soils. Once harvested, the biomass would serve as a direct source of the desired mineral, reducing dependence of mining operations traditional. The process also allows for simultaneously recovering degraded soils, treating them and returning them to an ecologically functional state, integrating production and restoration in the same cycle. Environmental implications. There is no doubt, the possibility of extracting rare earths without aggressive mining could alleviate geopolitical tensions in a sector dominated by few countries and marked by strategic risks. At an industrial level, it opens the door to cleaner and more diversified supply chains. And at the environmental level, it proposes a solution capable of reduce toxic wasteemissions and ecological damage, offering an alternative path to secure essential materials without repeating the impacts of the conventional extractive model. A new frontier for science. If you like, the discovery not only transforms the understanding of how minerals are formed in nature, but also opens up an innovation space radical that unites biology, geology and advanced technology. If the fern’s ability can be replicated, optimized or expanded to other species, plant mineral production could become in a key piece in the transition towards more resilient and sustainable supply chains. Science has shown that the plant can replace the mine, and now the challenge of transforming that possibility into a practical tool for the 21st century industry begins. Image | Ahmad Fuad Bin Morad In Xataka | The great paradox of the US: the world keeps asking for more F-35 fighters, but China has turned off the tap to build them In Xataka | Battery fever reaches the abyss: mining waste is changing life in the depths of the Pacific

tired of living in theme parks

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the word “tourismphobia”once seen as media exaggeration, began to describe for some time now a real climate: first were the massive marches and denunciations of unaffordable rents, then the jump to another guy of pressure (water guns, symbolic seals, terrace intervention) and then the extension of the unrest to iconic territories such as the Balearic Islands, where the protests in the middle of the high season sought precisely to hurt tourist visibility to signal that quantitative success had become a “non-living situation.” Latest case in Valencia reveals that the situation is far from over. Valencia as a symptom. At this time the video It has gone viral. The altercation between Dutch tourists on bicycles and young people in the historic center of Valencia (insults crossed, bikes on the ground, “tourists go home” versus “fuck you”) illustrates that the conflict has decreased, if possible, a step: It is no longer just political representation or organized protest, but direct friction in the saturated public space. They remembered in Levante newspaper that the video alone does not explain the background. The neighborhood platform contextualized the incident within an act for the eviction of a social space, denouncing that “real violence” is not the shout but the eviction, the noise, the daily saturation and the conversion of basements into tourist monoculture. The reactions in networks (some demonizing the neighbors as barbarians who tarnish the image of reception, others asking that “if they don’t respect, don’t come”) confirm that the phenomenon has entered a more polarizing phase, where each episode serves to reinforce side narratives. When it stopped being local. The demonstrations that occurred throughout Europe This summer they had a new nuance: they were no longer isolated cities in intermittent outbreaks but a coordinated mass that protests on the same day, against the same externalities and with recognizable symbols in circulation. Suitcases dragged to make noise, cardboard boats as an allegory of cruises or posters in English directed at the royal emissary of unrest made visible that for many, tourism stopped being just money and became a structural conflict over the use of land, air, water, sleep and disposable income. Housing as a trigger. The emotional thread that connects Barcelona, ​​Palma, Lisbon, Genoa, Venice or Marseille is not ideological but material: the hard core is the house price and social displacement linked to the monetization of the square meter in terms of tourism. When an apartment converted into a vacation rental doubles the potential income of renting it to a resident, the incentive structure expel population without individual bad intention. This displacement becomes more hurtful in island contexts or of historic centerwhere the supply cannot grow without damaging heritage or landscape, so the pressure It’s arithmetic: each hosted tourist competes with an expelled resident. that the conflict emerge in summer nor does it seem coincidental: the clash between external leisure and internal life It is maximum when the visitor demands speed, noise, density and carelessness, while the neighbor asks for sleep, shade, peace and access to basic goods. Globalization of fed up. What happened this summer of 2025 (the simultaneous protests in Mediterranean cities) proves that the unrest stopped being isolated to become a pattern of functional region in which the South has been reconfigured as North recreational playground. The demands shared in all the demonstrations reveal a common goal: decrease in tourism, limits on cruises, quotas on flights, moratoriums on tourist apartments, taxation of foreign capital and veto of land uses that externalize costs. If you also want, the political force of the phenomenon lies not so much in its radicality but in that is no longer marginal: social sectors that are not anti-system militants assume that tourism is a monoculture erodes civic resilience basics (residential market, mobility, access to services, quality employment) and that the gross profit of GDP does not compensate for erosion of the living conditions in the neighborhoods where the phenomenon is physically established. No cheap solution. And in all cities the underlying equation is similar: tourism is tax revenue, export income and low-entry employment in a country that has not generated equivalent industrial substitutes, but its territorial concentration produces social losses not internalized. The irony is that limiting it implies cut visible GDPbut not modifying it means gradually destroying the raw material of the habitable city. More simply put, success kills its own foundation. The Mediterranean arc went from competing to attract visitors in the 90s and 2000s to coordinating to contain them because the context of reference changed: when the limiting factor was employment, tourism was a solution, but when the limiting factor was land and housingtourism comes to form part of the problem. Uncertain future. Thus, without intervention, the outcome could be the silent consolidation of two parallel cities coexisting in the same place: one for tourists (abundant, prohibitiveephemeral, instagramer) and another for expelled residents to cheaper and worse served peripheral crowns. That pattern, in fact, already exists (Capo in Palermo converted in gastronomic park for visitors, Ciutat Vella in Valencia commercializedconverted Palma neighborhoods in decoration) and its deepening tends to become irreversible: when a street loses its base trade and their rents influence tourism, and as long as a solution is not found in the neighborhoods that absorb said impact, the videos like the one in Valencia They will not be an anomaly, they will be the symptom. Image | Zoetnet (Flickr) In Xataka | Decades ago, the cities of Europe came together to attract tourists. Today they join forces for the opposite: kick them out In Xataka | Spanish tourism faces the real risk of dying of success. There are already guides that advise against three of its great destinations

England is living an unprecedented invasion. The problem is that they are octopus, and everything they find are devoured

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It was at the beginning of 2025 when science gave With something “more” About those creatures that have given so much to speak. We knew that the octopuses were intelligent, but not to the point of having A “brain” on each arm that allows them, apparently, to act with extreme precision and independently. With such a versatile “beast”, the United Kingdom has been found. But not a normal one, a unprecedented invasion. Attack on the English coast. Yes, the southern coast of England has lived an unusual phenomenon: the massive arrival Mediterranean, a rare species in those waters and, suddenly, has become the protagonist of the docks and fishing markets. In Brixham, the main port of the Southwest, fishermen like Arthur Dewhirc up to 10,000 extra pounds Weekly. Between January and August they auctioned More than 12,000 tonswith daily peaks of 48 tons, which made the town the “octopus capital” of the United Kingdom. Restaurants and shops joined the fury, incorporating the animal of menus and facades, and making it local emblem of an exceptional year. Climate change. Scientists point out TO THE SEA WARMING as the main explanation of the phenomenon. Professor Steve Simpson, from the University of Bristol, underlined In the New York Times that the British waters are at the northern limit of the usual range of the Mediterranean octopus, but the increase in temperatures has made the environment It is more favorable For your settlement. What seemed impossible a few decades ago has now materialized: a direct pulse of visible climate change in the abundance of a species that previously barely reached those latitudes. Benefits and threats. Although for many drags the boom has meant an unexpected economic relief, for crab and lobster marshal It is more gloomy. The octopus, voracious and intelligent predators, have colonized the nasas used to capture crustaceans, devouring them inside and leaving only empty shells. In locations like salocombe, veteran fishermen like Jon Dornom They related the surprise initial (“hundreds of aliens” in their traps) that soon became anguish when checking how seafood populations collapsed. Of a successful trip with almost three captured tons passed to nasas full of remainswhich threatens the sustainability of your business in the medium term. Uncertain phenomenon. That is known, the last great irruption of octopos in English waters dates back to the fiftieswhen they appeared in mass and disappeared in just one or two years. That historical memory remembers the unpredictable of the phenomenon: no one can ensure if the wave will be repeated or if it has been an isolated episode. For fishermen, this uncertainty is crucialbecause its economic future depends on both the continuity of the boom and the ravages that may have caused in crustacean populations. Social and cultural impact. The emergence of octopus has not only lived in economic terms. In Brixham, the animal has become identity symbol Local: murals in coffee shops, neons in port buildings, viral chef videos showing how to prepare it and innovative dishes that have found good reception among neighbors and tourists. In fact, the creature has gone from exotic rarity to mass consumption product in an environment not accustomed to it. Popular enthusiasm contrasts with fear of those who see traditional species of English fishing, fundamental for the diet and trade of the region. Between bonanza and fear. Thus, the octopus invasion On the southern coast of England it reflects the complex interaction between climate change, fishing economy and marine ecology. While some celebrate the closest to an unexpected mana, others They fear a catastrophe that permanently alters the balances of his underwear. Plus: The experience of the fifties remembers that the octopus can disappear as suddenly as it came, but the Global warming suggests that phenomena of this type should be increasingly frequent. For fishermen, the lesson seems clear: the fate of their tasks no longer depends only on the sea, but on climatic fluctuations and the unpredictable behavior of a cephalopod that has become both salvation and threat. Image | Pexels, Martijn Klijstra In Xataka | We knew the octopuses were intelligent. But not to the point of having a “brain” on each arm In Xataka | The octos are not aliens, and scientists have had to go out to explain why

Goal is living in the first person a world reality. You may want not to depend on China, but you actually depend on it

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Although Mark Zuckerberg’s speech about the importance of American dominance in the face of China has adopted an increasingly aggressive tonethe reality is to stop depending on China in this regard It is complicated. And is that his strategic commitment to Smart glasses It depends almost completely on Chinese suppliers, especially on Gortek. According to sources of Financial Timesit is a company that has consolidated its control throughout the sector supply chain in Shandong. China dependence. Sources close to the company They assure that Zuckerberg has held meetings with Trump to talk about the importance of the United States leading the technological career against China. However, at least today, your company cannot manufacture your most promising devices without these Chinese companies. The Ray-Ban Meta glasses, which have sold More than two million units Since its launch, and the new Hypernova that aim to show during the Meta ‘Connect’ event, depend on Gortek for its production. Control. Goertek has not been a simple manufacturer. According to The medium, the Chinese company has executed an aggressive acquisition strategy to control key points of the chain: it has taken control of Shanghai Omnilight, specialized in micro/nano devices optics for smart glasses, and has financed the purchase of Plessey, a British optical supplier that also works in the finish line. “Goal has no choice but to work with them because they are the most stable and reliable supplier for key components,” They assure Sources close to the company. Failed diversification attempts. Goal has tried to reduce its Chinese dependence, moving part of the production of its Quest headphones To Vietnam. But even there, Goertk is still one of its main partners, as they point out from Financial Times. The Chinese company seems to have intuited the opportunities that it would have intuited very early The metaverso (who would say it) and its smart glasses, becoming an indispensable supplier. Past and present tensions. The relationship has not always been simple. According to affirms The medium, in 2022, tar The Quest. Meta executives came to discuss legal actions, but finally decided not to do so. Goertek denies having sold its own VR glasses and ensures strictly complying all agreements with its partners. The future also passes through China. According to the medium, the new Hypernova glasses, which will incorporate for the first time A small screen In one of the lenses to show notifications and responses of the Meta’s assistant, they are also being manufactured by Gortek. Fuentes say they would have a price close to $ 800, and represent the next step in the goal strategy to integrate artificial intelligence into portable devices. The premise is similar to what Google showed in its event Google I/or with that concept of smart glasses that already We could try in advance. It seems that we will have to wait for the event ‘Connect’ of Meta that will be held in the next few hours to learn more information about it. And now what. The company assures Having a “robust and diversified supply chain” and that does not depend solely on a manufacturer, but the information indicates that Gortek has become practically indispensable. A good part of the technology that drive this kind of glasses depend on Chinese manufacturers, so if this type of products end up being a massive success, it will be interesting to see what the strategy of Chinese companies around this other key sector will be. In Xataka | The Meta Ray-Ban have turned anyone into spy for 329 euros. Barcelona’s detainee is only the first visible case

China is living a fever for cherries and Spain wants to become its great garden. It will not be easy

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He was waiting, but the Spanish cherry has just received news that had been waiting for a while: China has opened the doors of Its gigantic market. After years of negotiation between Beijing and Madrid, the Asian giant has given green light to the export of fruits cultivated in Spain, an agreement that had already been profiled In spring but that has not resolved its last fringes so far. Now there are two other goods expecting: The pistachio and the dry fig. What happened? That one of the main markets of the world, the Chinese, has just opened to the Spanish cherry. And that is an important news for several reasons. First because that vast market is made up of more than 1.4 billion of potential consumers. Second because the Asian giant seems especially interested In this fruit, valued both for its taste and its cultural impact (it is considered a symbol of fortune, especially during the New Year), a demand that has been benefited until now especially Chile. But what has changed? Basically, that the General Administration of Customs of China (AGA) has given its definitive approval to exports of Spanish cherry. The news has been advanced by the department led by Luis Planas in A statement confirming that the Asian Administration has already published the registration of authorized establishments for the sending of fruit. “It puts an end to a complex negotiation process of several years”, stands out. The sector Trust in which the new protocol “expedite” its ability to export. Is it a novelty? Yes. And no. Beijing has just opened its doors, but the news will catch few by surprise. It was expected Since AprilWhen Planas and Chinese Customs Minister Sun Meijun signed several protocols for the export of pigs and cherries, agreements that add to the dozen of pacts signed since 2018 on sanitary requirements oriented to food export. To move from political theory to commercial practice there were nevertheless several pending procedures. In June, AGA technicians conducted an audit of plots and stores related to the export of cherries to confirm that they fulfill the sanitary protocol. Before, in 2024, a delegation sent by Beijing had already been in charge of visiting some producing areas of the country. Are the details known? Yes. The Government He has revealed Some details of the agreement signed with China. The closed protocol with Beijing, for example, that the phases of processing, packaging, storage and transport of the fruit that is exported to China is carried out “under the supervision” of the ministry. “This will also be responsible for ensuring that only the cherries of the registered orchards can enter the clothing warehouse for their selection and processed.” The agreement will be valid for three years and adds to the bilateral export pacts between Spain and China of those who already enjoy other crops, such as citrus, peach, plum, table grape, chaqui or almond. Among other merchandise, Chinese authorities also allow the sale of fodder oatmeal, olive paste and dehydrate alfalfa destined for animal feed. Soon the list could be extended even more. The Planas department acknowledges that, after closing the agreement for cherries, the files of two other products with roots in Spain continue to negotiate: The pistachio and dry figs. Why is it important? For several reasons. The cherry cultivation is not equally extended throughout Spain, but there are provinces in which it is relevant, such as Cáceres or Zaragoza. According to The latest statistics of the Ministry of Agriculture, in 2022 the production of cherry and icing of the country as a whole touched the 114,000 t, with a fundamental weight of Aragon (48,600) and Estremadura (40,000), followed quite distance in Catalonia (6,800), Andalusia (5,300) and Murcia (3,500). The sector expects the agreement with Beijing to expand its horizon. “It will open new possibilities for export to this fruit, whose culture has had an important development,” celebrated Already in April Pemex, the Federation of Producers of fruits, vegetables, flowers and plants. “The export of cherry from Spain in 2024 stood at 39,968 tons, the European Union being the first destination, with 33,440 T”. Among the extra -community markets stands out above all the United Kingdom, which received more than 5,700 tons, and South Africa and Hong Kong, with around one hundred tons each. Fruit shipments reached a value of 139 million euros. Will it have it easy? No. Although the agreement is good news for the Asian aspirations of the Spanish cherry, the truth is that it must compete in a complex market. According to the last forecasts collected by Produces reportit is expected that in the 2025/2026 season, which will last until March, the production of China cherries will grow 6% to 900,000 T, which demonstrates the bet within the country itself. One of the keys to that rebound is the increase in cultivated area, which during last season was around 199,000 ha. His high demand has led Beijing to use Chilean productionincreasingly focused on China. If in 2016 the South American country exported about 40,000 t of fruit to the Asian giant, in 2023 that figure had already fired until exceeding 370,000 t. At the beginning of the year the Xinhua agency He pointed out That during the last season Chile expert to the world more than 625,000 tons of fresh cherry, of which 568,000 left for China’s markets. Images | US Department of Agriculture (Flickr), Dominic Kurniawan Suryaputra (Unspash) and Ok Apartment (Flickr) In Xataka | Extremadura promised them very happy with its powerful Spanish tomato industry. Until China arrived

The food industry is living its highest price drop since 2014. There is a clear suspect: white brands

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Manufacturers in the food sector are living an interesting phenomenon. They go up Industry prices in general, Upload the CPIgo up What they pay consumers in stores when they buy food and yet The rates That applies the food industry have been in free fall for almost a year. Moreover, the sector is facing its highest price decrease since early 2014. Behind that apparent nonsense there is a clear suspect: the effect of white brands and The fight that is getting rid of supermarkets. We explain ourselves. A percentage: 3.3%. Among the many indicators that periodically publishes the INE there is one that helps us better understand a key link of trade, which connects industry with the chain of distributors that take their merchandise to stores. The so -called Industrial Price Index (IPRI) records the oscillations in the right prices in That “first stage” of “internal market”, when the articles leave the factories and do not yet incorporate other added expenses, such as transport, marketing or VAT. Your approach is different from that of IPCwhich takes into account the prices paid by consumers. The INE calculates the IPRI for large sectors every month and sometimes the indicator leaves us some surprise, as happened in June, when it showed an annual fall of the 3.3% In the food industry. What does that mean? That month food manufacturers decided to reduce their rates. Why is it important? For what that percentage means. What reveals to us is a Price drop In the food industry, an adjustment of the rates with which the products leave the factory. The most curious thing is that this fall is not the dominant tonic in the industrial sector. On the contrary. Even beverage manufacturers saw in June how their industrial prices experienced A 2.7% rise. He IPRI General registered one 0.8% rise and if We go down to detail We observed that the indicator rose in most industrial branches. It only retreated in oil refinement, the chemical, metallurgical sector … and food. The annual IPC rate, which reflects the prices paid by consumers, also It was positive: In June it rose 2.2%. If we talk about the specific IPC of non -alcoholic foods and beverages of the purchase basket, it also grew 2.8%. It matters what … And imports when. If we look back, to the context, we observe two interesting data. The first is that the price index of the food industry has already a few months adjusting down. In June he scored a variation of -3.3%, but in May he had already done -2.7%and in April 2.2%. Actually the indicator has been going back. The second fact that we must take into account is that the food industry I had a decade without registering such a pronounced price drop. To find a major year -on -year drop, you have to go back to February 2014. What is the reason? The million dollar question. In a context of industrial inflationwith energy, a 3.5% And the increasing industrial prices, why do those in the food sector descend? In An article in which he delves into that phenomenon, Javier Romera, from The economisthe remembered yesterday that the reduction of the industry arrives in a context marked by a crucial factor: the rise of white brands and their growing competition In supermarkets. THE GREAT PULSE OF THE SECTOR. The industry price adjustment therefore coincides with a key moment for manufacturers, marked by the pulse with supermarket chains and The growing weight that white marks have (those of the distributor itself, such as Auchan, Hacondado or Seleqtia). All this also after years marked by a deep inflationary crisis that has made the big chains that manage supermarkets try to contain prices. The phenomenon is not new and Manuel Morales, manager of the IFA group, in An interview with The economist: “If they don’t react, brands are dead.” His notice, he remembered, comes in a context in which white brands have a greater weight in the linear of supermarkets. “Already almost 50% add up and will continue to grow because they have increased quality and differentiating prices is increasing,” Morales foreshadowed. With that backdrop, the food industry has begun to Cut your profitability. In the first quarter it stood at 6.81% after falling for the first time since 2022. Does the white mark grow so much? Yeah. Last year Promarca presented A report which shows that in just a five years, between 2018 and 2023, the presence of white -branded goods in supermarkets increased by 13%. The opposite path followed the articles sold with the brand of its manufacturer, which during that same period they retreated 23%. Promarca represents manufacturers and is therefore interested in, but their report provides a valuable track. Promarca estimates that in a five years they have disappeared from the super more than 3,600 Products marketed by manufacturers outside the distribution chains while theirs, those of the white brand, added 1,800 only in the feeding and hygiene sections. The calculation was made after analyzing six large chains. The Statista platform estimates that the market share of the white brands grew between 2005 and 2015, fell for a few years and would rebound again in 2019 until they were in 2024 in about 46%. Other studies consider that their mark on the linear of supermarkets is greater and already exceeds 50%. Images | Arno Senoner (UNSPLASH) and Alcampo In Xataka | The favorite ice cream in Spain are from Mercadona and have no “brand”. And there is a Valencian company making gold with them

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