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Brihuega can no longer with tourists who come to their lavender fields

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“The municipality collapsed, I had a bad time.” The one who speaks is Luis Viejomayor of Br. 3,000 inhabitantsthe overwhelming success of his lavender fields. When plants bloom, in summer, Brihuega is filled with hectares and hectares of violet petals that in turn drag tens of thousands of visitors anxious to achieve the Selfie perfect. That is a blessing that leaves money in the town; But also a curse when, as the mayor acknowledges, the influx of tourists leaves the mother. What happened? That the mayor of Brihuega has recognized that the success of his lavender fields has a difficult face to manage. A few days ago, during An interview With the newspaper ABCOld boast of the attractiveness of his town, but also begged visitors who try not to collapse their streets. “We have a wide tourist, cultural and artistic offer for lavender”, He stressed The councilor. “Of course, I advise you to come to visit us from Monday to Friday, please. On weekends it is more complicated by the large number of people coming.” “I had a bad time”. The mayor does not stay there and recognizes that he has come to see saturation with concern. “Last Saturday, without going any further, the municipality collapsed. I had a bad time,” remember In reference to the 12th. To prevent episodes like this again, in addition to asking tourists to distribute throughout the week, old plans to speed up local transport. “We have to make a deterrent parking on the outskirts of the historic center and connect it with shuttle buses.” The data: 1,000 ha. The tourist success of Brihuega has little mystery: what this small town in Guadalajara has turned into a tourist phenomenon are its lavender fields. The area presumes to have 1,000 hectares of plantations full of flowers that distils to extract essences that are dedicated, for example, to the elaboration of perfumes. “With a lot of meticulousness, we collect millions of purple flowers that will then be distilled in the barrage,” he clarifies. Before the fields offer a unique stamp: a vast horizon of violet petals. FACE A, FACE B. Brihuega’s case is interesting because it reflects the “face A and B” of tourist success. The B, the least friendly, is the one that lamented old: the collapse. A is the return it supposes for the town. In his reportage ABC Slide that lavender flowering leaves eight million euros in just a few weeks. Old Precise that the petals are visible several weeks, which (added to His closeness to Madrid) Explain that last year Brihuega received some 140,000 people. “Managing such public influx in a short time is difficult. We work hard, we have security commission, but it is still a great influx.” Flowers with festival. The truth is that the success of the Brihuega lavender fields are not explained only by networks. The town itself has played a key role by promoting the Lavender festivalwhich has already several years underway and combine the landscape with performances of recognized musicians in Spain. This year, for example, concerts were organized on July 11, 12, 18 and 19 and the secrets, Iván Ferreiro, El Arbato and Beret acted. In past editions they have made it damn Nerea, Víctor Manuel or Luz Casal, to name a few. To their shows are added Other activitiesas lavender -based artisanal workshops. Beyond Brihuega. There is another key and it is the growing interest that awakens “flowering tourism” between a tourist profile that seeks alternative destinations. I recently told Efe in An article In which he points out that, so far this year, this type of tourism has already caught 20% more travelers. In the specific case of Carmona, famous for his Sunflower fieldsthe influx of visitors grew 6% last year and in Moratalla, also known for Your lavenderThe mayor estimates that flowering will attract 15,000 people in just a few months. Images | Lavender festival, Emiliano García-Page Sánchez (Flickr) and MMV (Flickr) In Xataka | The north of Spain has been complaining about mass tourism for years. Asturias has discovered the bitter consequences of losing it

Roig believes that in 2050 we will no longer have kitchens at home because we will buy the food out. Science is not so clear

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The appointment was designed to boast resultsbut during the presentation of his 2024 memory, Juan Roig, president of Mercadona, launched a prognosis that monopolized almost more holders than the milmillonary turnover of the company. For many of many, the Valencian He predicted That babies who are born in thirty years will not know what it is to have pots or a caster. “I said and kept it: in the middle of the 21st century there will be no kitchens.” The reason? People will feed out of home or base of precooked dishes ‘ready to eat’ like those sold by the Mercadona itself, according to Roig’s particular gastronomic dystopia. A study Recent suggests that the Valencian perhaps rushed in his forecast and that, despite the changes of habits, Spain remains a country full of kitchens. A percentage: 59.1%. What percentage of Spaniards still cooking frequently? And how do they do it? Questions similar to those are what was raised a while ago Elena Sandriof the Catholic University of Valencia (UCV). To resolve them, he conducted a survey with more than 1,500 participants who threw some interesting conclusions, now embodied in An article Posted in the magazine International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science. Specifically there is a fact that seems to question that the future without kitchens prophesied by Roig is just around the corner: 59.1% Of the Spaniards still cook daily or almost daily. “It is still central”. The study does not stay there. The study reveals that the average time that 59.1% dedicated to the kitchen is around the hour and a half and that there are still a clear differences between sexes: they cook more frequently, apply healthier techniques and show wider gastronomic knowledge. Its score is several points higher than that of men. If we look at the ages, clear differences are also seen: adults cook more. With that data the expert reaches A clear conclusion: “Homemade cuisine is still central to Spanish culture.” His study also reveals the importance of knowledge to favor “healthy culinary practices” or “sociodemographic disparities”, especially among men, people with low educational level, young people and people who live alone. “They tend to resort more to fast food and prepared dishes, often due to the lack of time, skills or knowledge.” Is it the only study? No. Throughout the last years several studies have tried to answer the same question: do we continue to cook the Spaniards? In 2023 FESNAD, the Spanish Federation of Nutrition, Food and Dietary Societies, made A study With a sample of 1,075 and obtained a photograph somewhat different from that of Sandri: according to their calculations, about 46% of the Spaniards continue to turn on their vitros or stoves every day. It is a considerable percentage, although it already crosses the border of the middle of the population. “Our kitchen at home is losing importance, we do not cook daily and cook alone. We do not cook every day for the little time we have and the speed with which we live,” He pointed out The Vice President of Fesnad, Rosaura Leis. Another interesting perspective is contributed by the Kitchen Canal, which also made Your own study with 2,251 interviews with people between 20 and 65 years. What did you find out? That the large majority of the population (around 90%) cooks at least once a week, but only a very poor 20% does so daily. New times, new habits. The previous fact, of course, must be analyzed taking into account another key that slides the Channel Cocina report: almost four out of ten Spaniards (36%) practice Batching Batchingso they dedicate a day to cook much of the food they consume throughout the week. Among young people that practice rises to 41% and if we talk about Madrid, 46% have incorporated it into their lives. The study It also reveals that more than half of the Spaniards eat from Taper at least once a week, especially lunch from Monday to Thursday, and 43% receive them from other people, especially (yes) of their mothers. Is it the only change? Again, the answer is ‘no’. Throughout the last years industry and researchers have been sliding data that reveal that, although Juan Roig’s prognosis may still sound distant, in Spain it is increasingly easy to meet people who feed (timely or of often) without turning on a single stove or take a pan. The Association of Prepared Dishes Manufacturers (ASEFAPRE) estimates that in 2024 the consumption of its products 6.6% shot In homes, overcoming the barrier of 700,000 tons. To be more precise, per capita intake grew 3.8% to touch 17.2 kg per year. Similar reading leaves Another report From the consultant Kantar, who reveals that the purchase of dishes “ready to eat” has shot 48% in a matter of two years in Spanish supermarkets. Moreover, its survey shows that in 20% of cases the client does not even consume them at home. “The interest at this time lies in the search for balance between time, health and culinary pleasure,” summarizes Veronika Kurshudyan, director of the Customer Area of the consultant. “Look for solutions”. Simply, and although Spain still is a country full of kitchens, people already “not only buy food”, warns Kurshudyan. Now demand something else when he goes to supermarkets: “Look for solutions.” From that approach it is better understood than when a few months ago the CIS dedicated himself to asking the Spaniards if they believed that industrial cuisine and the Fast food They were eclipse to home cooking, they meet a striking result: most (mostthree out of four) people responded affirmatively. What is the conclusion? The key I gave it a few days ago Miquel Echarri in THE COMIDIST- THE COUNTRY: Perhaps the prepared food is gaining ground at a good pace and there is already 40.9% of Spaniards who never cook or do it very afternoon in the afternoon (the other reading left by Sandri’s study), but home cooking is far from being a … Read more

China no longer copy, they copy

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For a long time, Chinese dolls of sinister smile They hang from the bags of many celebrities and influencers. It is the main reason why Labubu have become a trend in 2025reaching to quadruple sales in what we have been. Not even luxury marks can resist the fever of Labubu. Louis Vuitton already has its own Charm For the bag and no, it’s nothing cheap. VIVIENNE. It is Louis Vuitton’s pet that has already been used previously in other products like these very expensive Wooden dolls. Amid the growing popularity of Labubu, the French brand has opted to sell versions of its pet in format Bag Chams. As with Labubu, there are many different designs, although little resemble the price. Much more expensive. Although there have been auctions where Authentic fortunes have been paid for a labubuthe normal price of one of these dolls is Between 25 and 35 euros. Louis Vuitton’s response to this trend of bags for bag costs 1,100 euros. These are the ‘fashionist’ models that combine premium materials such as calf skin and mink hair. If we choose the normal model made of polyester and skin, “only” will cost us 850 eurosalthough there are also more expensive models such as East 1,400 euros That has a special design. A Chinese success. We recently lived a Similar fever with Sonny Angelbut it is the first time that a consumerist trend of this type born in China becomes mainstream He counted This Chinese journalist That the secret of Labubu’s success is precisely that they don’t seem somewhat Chinese. They have an ambiguous design and that makes them attract a more massive audience. This coincides with a General improvement in the perception of the image of Chinapartially fed by cultural successes such as Tiktok, video games like ‘Black Myth: Wukong‘o Board successes like the one of’NE ZHA 2‘. They are also a symptom of something else: it was usually China behind the rest copying their productsbut that Louis Vuitton has entered the labubu wheel is a clear indicator that Something is changing. There are more. That Louis Vuitton has taken this step would also respond to another reason: sales in China are not going well. In the first quarter of the year, The benefits of the LVMH group fell 11% In Asia-Pacific, a region that includes China. Part of this decrease would have to do with a slowed economy that has caused the Fall in the demand for luxury goods. Taking into account that it is 30% of the total sales, it is not surprising that they are worried. Recently They opened a new ‘Flahgship’ store in Shanghai and the new luxury Labubu would be within the brand’s attempts to revive interest. Pop mart. It is the parent company under which several toys lines are marketed, although Labubu are undoubtedly the most successful of all. The boom of these dolls began in 2024 and only in China generated the equivalent of 355 million euros. We have barely spent the 2025 Ecuador and in China they have doubled sales, but it is that In the rest of the world growth is 480%. The interest is huge and falsifications begin to be a problem worldwide. In fact, I was recently in New York and I could see all the souvenir stores of China Town full of Labubus that were clearly not original. Labubus in Spain. Began at the end of 2024 with the Opening of the first mart pop store In Barcelona. The kilometer tails already glimpsed that something was cooked. Labubu are currently exhausted in all stores and the Wallapop or Milanuncios type sale platforms They have filled with these dolls, Most a Much higher prices than the original. But the worst part is that high demand is already being used to create Fraudulent websites That, in addition to selling counterfeit figures, they steal user data. Image | Louis Vuitton In Xataka | China promised them very happy with day 996. Until they realized that it was shot in the foot

A Chinese firm has just presented a quadruped that challenges the limits. Boston Dynamics no longer has a clear path

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In a world where the focus seems to be in humanoids as Tesla optimus or the ‘nurse’ robot that already works in a Taiwan hospitala new generation of machines is winning its place. They are fast, resistant and are beginning to show that they can do much more than impress in videos. One of them has just run 100 meters as if their future depended on it, and is Chinese. Quadruped robots also compete. For years, the conversation about advanced robotics has been monopolized by biped figures. Robots that move as humans. But there is another way: that of robots that do not try to imitate us, but overcome ourselves in other areas. The quadrupeds, for example, have been demonstrating its usefulness in difficult terrain, repetitive tasks and, now also, in speed tests. A challenging career. It was just a moment, but it didn’t go unnoticed. How global aims aimduring a live broadcast of Chinese state television, a four -legged robot aligned on an athletic track prepared for something unusual: a 100 -meter race. When the stopwatch was launched, Black Panther II did, the new robot developed by the startup Mirror Me. He completed the route in 13.17 seconds, which is equivalent to an average speed of 7.6 m/s. In that same test, the robot sensors registered a peak of 9.7 m/s, and the company claims to have reached 10.9 m/s in previous internal tests. If that data is confirmed, we would be facing one of the fastest quadrupeds. Is it the fastest in the world? It depends on how you look. The figures invite to breastfeed, but it is always key to put them in context. Black Panther II reached 10.9 m/s in an internal test, which is equivalent to about 39.2 km/h. During the televised race, the registered peak was 9.7 m/s (34.9 km/h). Both figures exceed the official Wildcat,That according to the Boston Dynamics website reaches 30.6 km/h. For its part, the robot Cheetah – also from Boston Dynamics – reached 45.6 km/h (12.6 m/s) In laboratory tests. The demonstration, collected in an official video, was made on a running tape with external food and physical support to maintain balance. Even so, the data remains the highest technical reference registered by a quadruped. With that data, Black Panther II would be below the Cheetah – at least in tip speed – but clearly above Wildcat. In other words: it is one of the fastest quadrupeds ever built, although its brands have not yet been officially certified. For now, the formal title is maintained by the Hound robot, of the Advanced Institute of Science and Technology of Korea, which completed 100 meters in 19.87 seconds (about 18 km/h), As stated in the Guinness book. A young startup with very clear ideas. Mirror’s story didn’t start a long time ago. The company was founded in May 2024 in Shanghai by a group of professors and graduates from the University of Zhejiang. One of the founders is Jin Yongbin, a researcher at the Institute of Innovation in Humanoid Robots, while his partner, Wang Hongtao, is a university professor with trajectory in advanced robotics. In just one year, this startup has gone from developing robotic arms and mechanical hands to compete publicly with companies such as Boston Dynamics. Beyond the Black Panther II, Mirror already works on new prototypes. Among them, a fast bipedo in 2026 and a humanoid that, according to their plans, could act as a personal assistant for the year 2030. Images | Mirror me In Xataka | Elon Musk has updated Grok to look so much to him that AI is having hallucinations: Elon Musk is believed

Many clients are no longer believed that who is attending to them is not an AI

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Customer service is one of the most susceptible departments of being replaced by AI agents, such and As we have seen In recent months. Although the experiment They have not gone quite well To some of them, other companies keep their chatbots as the first line of attention of their customers. Such and as they counted in Bloombergthat is generating an unusual situation when those who attend to customers are human of flesh and blood: they confuse them With an AI and are forced to constantly demonstrate that they are real people. AI in the call-centers. Although the recent movements of the great technological ones pointed out that the customer service departments were going to be the first to notice the Impact of AI on employmentthe truth is that, According to data From the Gartner consultant, 95% of the companies surveyed intended to keep their human operators on the payroll. Others, however, yes They are depositing their trust in chatbots -based call centers to serve their customers. That does not mean that AI and systems of Natural language processing (PLN) are not used in marketing campaigns. That has made customers doubt whether who attends them are really human operators. “I tell you: ‘I swear, I’m a real person,” he said Bloomberg Lindsey, an operator dedicated to customer service and sales of American express credit cards. “I even ask them: ‘Is there anything they want to say to prove that I am a real person?” We no longer know what is true. In many cases, the AI ​​does not replace the operator in its role as final customer service, but acts as technology to redirect calls, so, when they reach the human operator, the client has already had to deal with an AI. Lindsey says that sometimes the clients ask “you are an AI?” Other times, they simply start shouting for talking to an operator or hanging directly. Nir Eisikovits, Professor of Philosophy and director of the Applied Ethics Center at Massachusetts University, He pointed outin The conversation that the current ability to talk about AI models is only an advance of the efforts of companies that develop that Technology to imitate humans in the rhythm or tone of the voices. “The inability to distinguish whether you are talking to a human or not only will go more,” making it much more complicated to distinguish if a client is Talking to an AI or with a real human. Sales scripts do not help. Sales techniques used by human operators do not help when distinguishing them from an AI. The call centers sector has evolved a lot From its birth In the 60s. Now the operators are monitored to control the conversation time and ensure that sellers follow a certain scripted structure For the entire sales process. In that script it is indicated from the tone in which they must go to the client, lists of words of obligatory use or prohibited, etc. All this cornering in communication, with predefined responses and protocols, does not help the client to distinguish whether there is a person or an AI on the other side. “It seems to me a compliment that I think I am professional enough to sound like a recording,” said BJ, a computer support agent. For his part, Seth, Lindsey’s partner offering American Express services, said that at least they ask if it’s an AI once a week. On one occasion, a client was questioning it for 20 minutes To check if it was an AIasking him about his hobbies, if he liked to fish in his free time and what kind of cane he used “it was as if he wanted to see if he failed. At a certain moment, I even felt that it was an AI tried to learn to be human,” said the telephone operator. What makes us human. The sense of humor is perceived as a feature intrinsically human, closely linked to intelligenceto the social context and the domain of language inflections to fit their meaning in a joke or joke. Therefore, humor is a resource that some operators use to confirm that they are human. Faith Lau, who works in an AI sales company in Canada, said that the first time they confused her with a bot she answered telling the customer’s joke. What his client did not know is that an AI is also Able to count jokes. Sarah’s strategy, which works in the US government anti -fraud, is much more visceral. “When I interact with an AI, it simply lets me speak, it does not interrupt me,” says the operator, for that reason when someone asks him to show that he is human, he tries to interrupt everything he can when they insist that he is not human. Certainly, There is nothing more human Someone interrupts you while you talk. In Xataka | We have tried Sesame’s conversational. It is the experience closest to a “human voice” that we have seen Image | Unspash (VAGARO)

What to do with half a million dogs that can no longer eat

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It happened in January 2024. In a society that changes to the vertiginous rhythm, the youth of South Korea had long been reluctant to a menu that was part of the culture of the nation for centuries: the Dog meat. Then there was a change of legislation, the “Menu with dogs” was prohibited, pursuing the practice With three years in jail. The problem is now numerical: what to do with half a million dogs. Force extinction. I told it in an extensive BBC report. The national prohibition of the consumption of dog meat in South Korea, approved in 2024 and whose implementation will culminate in February 2027, has plunged thousands of farmers in uncertainty and despair. During generations, the breeding of meat dogs was a source of legitimate income and, for some, even honorable. The historical decision of South Korea to ban the sale of dog meat in 2024 marked a point of cultural inflection after centuries of tradition culinary that included dishes such as The Bosintanga soup appreciated for its supposed vigorizing properties. Half a million. Today, however, figures such as Reverend Joo Yeong-Bong (religious leader and president of the Korean Association of Edible Dogs) describe a unsustainable situation: Merchants have disappeared, debts accumulate and the means to subsist fade. Not just that. The Times told That many farmers have hundreds of animals that can no longer sell, dogs whose relocation is complex or directly impossible. The government has offered compensation for Up to 600,000 Wones by dog ​​to those who close their farms before the term, but the measure is perceived as insufficient and poorly structured in front of an industry that still has about 500,000 animals in captivity. An ethical and political storm. The apparent victory of the animalist movement has uncovered a anguishing paradox: Dogs saved from the slaughterhouse could end up being sacrificed anyway due to lack of alternatives. Most of these animals are large, selected for their weight and commercial value, but considered Little suitable for adoption In an urbanized society where the small apartments. Plus: Many belong or are crossed with the Tosa-Inu breedcataloged as dangerous and subject to strict regulation. And if that were not enough, the shelter saturationthe lack of logistics resources and the social stigma that the dogs raised for consumption drag. Although the government ensures that euthanasia is not part of the plan, even leaders of animal welfare associations have admitted that many dogs They will end up being sacrificed. Activists such as Lee Sangkyung, from Humane World for Animals KoreaThey denounce that neither the State nor civil organizations were prepared to absorb the consequences of their own triumph. Partial solutions. Some isolated cases, such as R200 dogs escate In Asan and its shipment to Canada and the United States, they show that international adoption can be an exhaust valve, although limited. He stood out The BBC that testimonies such as former Yang Jong-Tae They reveal an emotional transformation: seeing how rescuers treated dogs with human dignity to him deeply, despite continuing to oppose the veto. For him, as for many in his guild, dog meat is not morally different to that of cow or pork. However, experts like Chun Myung-Sun point out that the consumption of canine meat entails health risks Superiors for not being integrated into the regulated meat system of the country. Although dog meat is still consumed in countries such as China, Vietnam or parts of Africa, in South Korea it has become more and more taboo. In 2024, only 8 % of citizens claimed to have tried it in the last year, compared to 27 % in 2015. From the announcement of the veto, more than 600 of the 1,537 farms They have closed. Ruin and generational emptiness. In addition, cultural progress brings with it a painful social invoice. The Times told that many breeders, especially the elderly, have resigned their future To poverty. Born in times of hunger and war, they say they can survive without income. However, young people in the sector face a much more gloomy reality: indebted, without buyers or clear job exit, and trapped in an activity condemned by law. Cases Like Chan-Wooa 33 -year -old farmer with 600 dogs and all its invested capital, describe the feeling of helplessness when seeing that neither the government nor the animalist organizations have offered them real solutions. Its history illustrates the clash between a moral system in transformation and an informal economy left on the sidelines. What began as a fight for animal compassion now runs the risk of translating A humanitarian disaster unnoticed. The invisible cost. The South Korean government currently invests some 4.3 million dollars Annual in expanding shelters and supporting private facilities, but still lacks a solid plan for the “disposition” of dogs. Animal defenders have relocated thousands since 2015, but warn that they cannot absorb The current volume. The farmers, on the other hand, cry out for an extension of the grace period, although some fear that it is not enough. Joo Yeong-Bong He warned That if a sustainable way is not found to solve the fate of dogs and humans trapped in this forced transition, the consequences in 2027 could be tragic. Thus, while the Fex prohibition From dog in South Korea can represent a moral milestone for the vast majority, it also exposes the ethical, economic and social dilemmas that arise after the approval of the law. Image | Pexels In Xataka | South Korea has eaten dogs for centuries. From now on, this practice will pursue with three years in jail In Xataka | South Korea plans to ban dog meat. So the “farmers” threaten to release two million in Seoul

China did not intervene in the war to protect Iranian oil. Because your plan is longer than the conflict

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For years, the relationship between China and Iran has been underpinned by a constant oil flow. However, the recent conflict between Iran and Israel caused Beijing He ordered his ships to turn in the Ormuz Strait. A seemingly technical gesture revealed something deeper: the limits of Chinese energy diplomacy. From partner to spectator. The recent climb between Iran and Israel, which included direct attacks and cross reprisalshe tested the link between China and the Islamic Republic. Although a truce promoted by Washington was declared, these weeks the gaze was set on this part of the planet. In that context, the international community looked towards Beijing, waiting for a clear gesture of support or at least mediation. But China opted for a prudent position: verbal sentences, called to dialogue, routine statements in the UN, According to Apnews. No military support, technical assistance, or real involvement. And that caught the attention, especially for what is at stake: between 80% and 90% of the oil that will export ends in Chinese refineries, which represents approximately 1.2 million barrels per day, According to France 24. Even so, Beijing chose diplomatic silence before the conflict. China is not the United States. And it does not intend to be either. While the United States maintains a network of military basesnaval fleets and strategic alliances in the Middle East, China has no comparable presence. Your only regional base It is in Yibutiand his attempts to expand to Oman or the Arab Emirates have been stopped, in part, by Washington’s pressure. As He explained The Interpreter, China has opted for a non -intervention policy. Its diplomacy in the region is pragmatic, transactional, guided by commercial interests rather than ideological affinities. “China’s footprint in the Gulf is commercial, it is not ready for combat,” said Craig Singleton, of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. For his part, William Figueroa, expert in China-Iran of the University of Groningen, It has been overwhelming In The Washington Post: “China has no capacity to militarily influence this conflict. Nor does it benefit from a broader war.” Although it is a matter of pragmatism. From Beijing, Zhu Feng, Dean of International Relations at Nanjing University, He has remarked In AP News that volatility in the Middle East “directly affects China’s economic security.” However, that does not mean that it will be absent. His greater diplomatic letter In the region was the 2023 agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia, negotiated in Beijing. Although he was read as a Chinese geopolitical triumph, The Interpretter He has nuanced: “The distension had already been brewing with the help of Kuwait, Iraq and Oman. China simply gave him the final touch.” That discreet presence in the diplomatic field contrasts with its constancy in another key front: the energy. China has continued buying Iranian raw at reduced prices, Taking advantage of Tehran isolation For US sanctions. As has reported on their networks The journalist, Bachar el Halabi after the recent US bombings against Iranian nuclear facilities, oil exports to China did not stop, and in fact, they reached record levels. However, the relationship is fragile. In 2020, Iranian president Mahmud Ahmadineyad criticized the agreement of 25 -year cooperation between the two countries for considering it opaque and suspicious. Rumors about alleged Chinese military bases in Iran They circulated in the local pressfeeding distrust. When there is a dependency. This week, Reuters He has revealed that Washington has authorized that ethane cargoes – a key natural gas for the petrochemical industry – are loaded in US ports to China, as long as they do not end in Iranian territory. The operation, according to the letter released by the Office of Industry and Security of the Department of Commerce, is approved under the condition that the product is not discharged or redirected towards Iran. It may seem a bureaucratic technicalism, but it really says much more. This type of movements exposes how the United States continues to set the rules of the global energy game, even when it comes to exchanges between its two main strategic rivals. For China, the message is clear: its energy trade with Iran is still under surveillance. And for Iran, the warning is even more evident: Any attempt to avoid economic isolation, even indirectly, can be blocked from afar. The dragon rhetoric. Beijing wants to be a global referee, but he is behaving as a spectator. A recent example is the Defense Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (OCS), held in Qingdao, where Chinese Minister Dong Jun spoke of a world in “chaos and instability,” According to Deutsche Welle. The meeting was attended by their counterparts from Russia, Iran, Pakistan and Belarus. China projected symbolic power, but did not offer concrete solutions. In fact, even when they will threatened to close the Ormuz Strait – where 20% of the world crude, vital for China – pekin transits only the diplomatic tone, without major consequences. And, as multiple analysts explain, China has little appetite for risk. It is not yet willing to “risk the neck” in others. As It has concluded Craig Singleton in AP News, “When missiles fly, the so promoted ‘Strategic Association’ of China with Iran is reduced to communications. Beijing wants Iranian Iranian oil and headlines as a peacemaker, but let Washington load with the risks of hard power.” A strategic patience. China remains a key actor of the global economic order, but its energy diplomacy does not obey improvisation or shyness. On the contrary, its caution in the Middle East can be a symptom of a deeper strategy: observe, resist external pressure and prepare the terrain before intervening seriously. Beijing is not dragged by the logic of immediate power. He knows that in regions as volatile as Middle East, the cost of acting too soon may be greater than waiting. His silence, far from being absence, can be part of a longer play. Because oil unites, yes, but it also marks the rhythm of a power that is not in a hurry, … Read more

“They no longer define a car”

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What do we value from a car? And what have we stopped assessing? Those are, without a doubt, two of the great questions in which the automobile industry is involved. An industry that was based on benefits and differential engineering but that seems to wonder what really defines it at the moment. And Ford has an answer, at least, to the second question. “They don’t define them”. The words are by John Lawler, vice president of Ford, and have been collected by Automotive News. “Before, the combustion engine defined what a vehicle was: the power, the displacement, the motor torque and everything else. I think that much of that has disappeared,” Lawlyer insisted. And, for the Vice President of Ford, the market no longer values ​​the specific characteristics of the combustion engine that a company can offer. “I don’t think consumers really think of motorizations as they did 30 years ago,” he emphasizes. That others do. The solution, says the vice president of Ford, is that in the face of a loss of interest on the part of the consumer, the smartest thing is to increase the subcontracting of this industry and, therefore, delegate in other companies the development of mechanics. In Motorpasion They collect that Lawlyer’s forecasts suggest that saving money in engines’ development involves dedicating more economic resources to other areas of the vehicle. A change of strategy that is essential to face the great rival that Western companies have in front of them: China. The true rival. “We have to be competitive with them not only in the speed of development, the software capacity, the electrical architecture, but also in the global electrification capacity”, of which Lawlyer speaks is from the Chinese industry, a speech that is not surprising coming from Ford. Jim Farley himself, CEO of the company, said a few months ago that Chinese cars were a “Existential threat” For Western companies. Nothing new under the sun. What was more surprising is that A Xiaomi Su7 will be brought under the arm And I wouldn’t want to get rid of him. What do we value? Farley said of the Xiaomi Su7 that it was “A fantastic car”. And I did not say it only because of the car itself, I also said it because of the ability of the car to be part of an ecosystem, of a whole that goes far beyond the car and that attracts customers for simply, to be part of a more complete family of products. That connection with the rest of our digital framework is something that Chinese cars are prioritizing what, each time we give more value. Tesla has built its brand image and this article of Insideevs It made us clear where Chinese cars are and everything they offer, turning the car into a kind of interactive center with wheels. “For years, the West was the goal. The mirror where Chinese brands were looked at. The standard that had to be achieved. Today, that mirror is broken.” During the visit to the Shanghai Automobile, My partner Javier Lacort also experienced A very similar feeling that summed up with those words. Differentiate when everything is the same. Until now, the automobile industry had played to differentiate itself in the mechanical plane. The Japanese boasted of reliability, the Americans were giant engines cars, Europeans have played both letters while leaning on more practical cars for day to day. Today, with emission regulations, forcing to reduce displacements and increase electrification, these differences are almost completely blurred. The associations between the companies point to an extreme standardization and there is only room to differentiate through the software. Finding, again, what attracts the public is the great challenge. And, there, it seems that China has the front by combining electrification, new experiences and low prices. Photo | Ford In Xataka | Ford has burned 2,000 million dollars and believes to be clear about the reason: “China has been in the electric car for ten years”

Spain is no longer the ugly duckling of the European technological ecosystem. Now has the opposite problem

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Spain is ceasing to be the lagged technological ecosystem of Europe. The venture capital funds have invested just over 1 billion euros in 95 Spanish startups only in the first quarter of 2025. That represents an 184% increase on the sum collected in the first quarter of 2024, according to a long report published by Sifted. Why is it important. Spain is already the Fourth European country in technological financing this yearand its operations count is already close to Germany and France, with populations and income per capita notably higher. The context. This moment is not accidental, but arrives at the confluence of three factors that have created the perfect storm: The gold fever that is being AI worldwide. Government movements favorable to technology, such as generous fiscal disasters, Visas for Startups and Digital Nomads wave Sett. The appearance of the so -called ‘Mafia founders’: those that have experience in large Spanish companies such as Cabify, Glovo and Job & Talent. There is a turn here: recent rounds are larger and faster to run than before, according to Sifted in statements from sources in the sector consulted. In figures: 95 capital rounds. 910 million euros collected in what we have of a second quarter … … which is 90% more than in the second quarter of 2024. And the trend accelerates: more than half of all financing operations in Spain had at least one foreign investor. The accumulated in what we have of the year is more moderate if we attend to the figures of The referentwhich reach 1,774 million euros compared to 1910, depending on the methodology and type of operations included. In any case, the amount is higher than that of any year except 2021, 2022 and 2024. And we have not even reached the 2025 Ecuador. In the foreground. The big names are here: Between the lines. It is a change that goes beyond money: that there are Spanish founders contacting large investors is a double sign: Increase confidence in your own startups. They look for better conditions than those offered by Spanish funds. This contributes to the gap between British and Spanish equivalent rounds, to give an example, reduce. Yes, but. The background question is whether there really is a change in the trend or if we are simply seeing the consequence of large funds looking for destiny to your money. And that arrival of foreign funds also represents a dilemma for national risk capital: More legitimacy for the ecosystem. But also more competition. Spain has gone from being ignored by the great international funds that its own founders often prefer the conditions that foreign investors can offer. Spanish funds now face a competition that previously existed. The problem contrary to the one they had five years ago. In Xataka | The worst nightmare for governments is to have more pensioners than workers: in Galicia it is already happening Outstanding image | Per Lööv in Unspash

It’s no longer about doing better chips, but connecting half a million

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The new battle of the AI ​​is no longer earned only with integrated circuits, but orchestrating complete systems that connect half a million chips working at the same time. Why is it important. For decades, the technology industry has been governed by the Moore law: The number of transistors in a chip doubled every two years. Today, calculation power advances come from the ability to connect endless amounts of chips between them, an effort that does not follow any predictable “law”. The turn. AMD has presented Your mi400 chip Not as an isolated piece, but as a complete system called helios Rack of the pre -installed data center. It is the implicit recognition that the era of individual chips is over. The context. Nvidia dominates the AI ​​because Jensen Huang had the vision of using GPUS for these calculations, which gave him the advantage of those who hit first. But AMD is shortearing fast distances (Bet on smooth his usually goes wrong), and the inherent change of the industry has also changed competition. Between the lines. Companies no longer hire chips engineers, but also more concrete profiles: Specialists in Design of racks. Systems architecture specialists. Specialists in data centers optimization. AMD is now using More than 1,000 specialized engineers in design of racks. Architecture chiefs who previously focused on concrete domains should now be somewhat more general to create more integrated systems. The threat. The biggest competitive pit (‘Moat‘) Nvidia is no longer hardware, but software. His suite CUDA It is the standard in the AI ​​industry to train models. AMD competes with ROCM. And although changing system can be too expensive, especially for small companies or independent developers, large companies can justify spending if the greatest efficiency gives them the right return. Yes, but. Companies are packing so much hardware in the racks that High soils and electrical networks They begin to be too tension. The question here is when they can sustain this race without finding physical limits. Deepen. The CEO of COPEAidan Gomez, said In the event that was “very easy” to migrate one of your company’s models to the AMD platform. Openai, Oracle and other great technological ones are looking for alternatives to Nvidia since he boom of chatgpt began to make your chips scarce. Supplier diversification is also strategic for projects like Stargatethe initiative of half a billion Openai dollars next to Oracle. Outstanding image | İsmail Enes Ayhan in Unspash In Xataka | Taiwan has decided to prevent by all means that TSMC technology arrives in China. Your future is at stake

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