losing

While Europe looks at Ukraine, the US has sounded the alarms for Spain on a closer front: losing two autonomous cities

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In July 2002, a handful of Moroccan soldiers landed on the islet of Perejil and raised a Moroccan flag there. The Spanish response came days later with a military operation so rapid and measured that it ended up becoming one of the diplomatic-military episodes strangest of the recent Mediterranean. What worries Spain. While Europe concentrates much of its military attention in Ukraine and the eastern flank of NATO, a much closer concern is growing in Spain: the south of the Strait. The problem is not just Morocco or the military balance in the Maghreb, but the change in the United States’ attitude toward the region. The appearance in Washington of official documents that describe Ceuta and Melilla like cities “under Spanish administration” in Moroccan territory has generated unprecedented alarm because it breaks a historical diplomatic taboo. For decades, the sovereignty of both cities was considered out of the question for Western allies. Now some American political sectors are beginning to treat her as an open dispute susceptible to future negotiation. US pressure. Spanish concern does not arise solely from a parliamentary report, but from the political context that surrounds it. Republican congressman Mario Diaz-Balartclose to Marco Rubio’s entourage and aligned with positions very favorable to Rabat, has not only publicly defended that Ceuta and Melilla are “in Moroccan territory”, but that the own report encourages the State Department to promote diplomatic talks about their status. All this coincides with the deterioration of the relationship between Donald Trump and the Spanish Government for military spendingNATO and the disagreements over Iran. In certain strategic Spanish sectors, the feeling is beginning to spread that Washington increasingly considers most useful to Morocco as a regional and less essential partner to Spain within its Mediterranean architecture. Morocco and the new balance. The most profound change may be occurring on the other side of the Strait. Morocco has been accelerating for years its military modernization through agreements with the United States, Israel, Türkiye and France, while also promoting its own arms industry. Since 2021, industrial projects linked to drones, weapons and advanced military production have multiplied. At the same time, Rabat has consolidated his diplomatic position in Washington after the American recognition of Western Sahara. For many Spanish analysts, the problem is no longer just migratory pressure or specific border crises, but the emergence of a regional power much more militarily connected to the West and increasingly secure in its strategic position. Spain is left out. The other big concern is that Spain seems have been left out of the new network of military alliances in the Maghreb. Italy has become the main strategic partner of Algeria in the Mediterranean, expanding defense agreements, industrial cooperation and military coordination with one of the most powerful armies in Africa. Morocco, meanwhile, close ties with Washington, Paris and Tel Aviv. Spain has managed to rebuild diplomatic relations with both neighbors, but it hardly has any relevant agreements on defense matters. This vacuum is beginning to be perceived as a serious problem in certain strategic circles, especially when linked reports to the Ministry of Defense they already admit that “South of the Strait of Gibraltar, military pressure is a reality.” Ceuta and Melilla as vulnerable points. That is why the reports of the Spanish Institute for Strategic Studies raise with increasing clarity the need to a specific plan defense for Ceuta and Melilla. The focus goes far beyond the military and includes logistics, cybersecurity, maritime surveillance, institutional resilience and protection of critical infrastructure. Fear does not necessarily point to an open conventional conflict, but rather to hybrid scenarios constant pressure: migration crises, diplomatic tensions, partial blockades or political attrition campaigns. Autonomous cities thus appear as especially sensitive enclaves due to their logistical dependence and geographical isolation. A brutal return: geography. If you like, all this reflects something broader: the return of geography as a central factor of European politics. For years, Spain observed the Maghreb mainly from a migratory and commercial perspective, while the greatest threats seemed to be far from the western Mediterranean. But the war in Ukraine has accelerated regional rearmament and has reorganized alliances throughout the area. And in the midst of this transformation, Spain begins to discover that one of its potentially most delicate fronts is not in the Baltic or in Eastern Europe, but just in the other side of the strait. Image | US Army In Xataka | The US threatened to take the Rota base to Morocco. Spain has buried it with an unbeatable offer: more territory In Xataka | ANDhe tunnel between Spain and Morocco seemed like a chimera. Now a tunnel boring machine manufacturer says it is viable

Despite the fact that it has been losing population and readers for years, Japan does not stop opening new libraries. And it makes perfect sense

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Japan has increasingly less people (in general). And less fond of reading (in particular). Despite one or the other, for years the country has been experiencing a curious phenomenon: its library network does not stop expanding, with hundreds and hundreds of new reading positions. To be more precise, Nikkei estimates that in 2024 there will be around 3,400 libraries spread across Japan, which is equivalent to 800 more than those that operated in 1999. The big question is… Why? The great paradox. In a country with less and less people and in which the passion for reading is losing ground, the logical thing would be for libraries to close. In Japan the first and the second happen (fewer people, fewer readers), but not the third. The curious thing is that he is not only avoiding the closures of reading positions. It is increasing them. Anyone who wants to find a place to read books at no cost has it much easier today than it was 25 years ago. Reviewing the data. To understand the paradox, it is necessary to first review three pieces of information. The first is the evolution of the Japanese population. According to World Bank Group, in 2024 they will reside in the country 123.9 million peopleconsiderably less than the 128 million it reached in 2010. And the medium and long-term outlook is not much better. The latest statistics Officials reveal that, far from slowing down, the decline in the birth rate is reaching historic figures and is advancing faster than the authorities anticipated. If nothing changes, in 2050 the population will fall to about 100 million. Less people, fewer readers. That is the second key. If we talk about reading, the problem is not so much that there are fewer Japanese as that those who exist seem less and less interested in literature. In 2018 the Agency for Cultural Affairs launched a survey to find out how often their fellow citizens read. He discovered that among those over 16 years of age the percentage of those who read less than one book a month was around 40-49%. In 2023, this indicator had already risen to 62.6%. Another 27.6% said they read between one and two books a month. As if that clue wasn’t clear enough, the number of bookstores open in Japan fell about 30% in just a decade. And the surprise came. With these figures on the table, the fact that just disclosed Nikkei and with which we started this article: today in Japan there are 30% more libraries than in 2000. Of the 2,600 public centers (in the hands of municipalities and districts) in operation at the beginning of the century, there were 3,400 in 2024. In 1996 they did not even reach 2,500. Although Japan is not far from it the country with higher ratio of reading seats per inhabitant, the increase is considerable and some libraries can even boast of moving hundreds of thousands of users a year. The Tenmonkan one, inaugurated in 2022, is around 700,000 people annually, many of them young people under 30 years of age. How is it possible? The big question. And the answer is simple: in Japan the libraries are not only more numerous, they are also they are changing. They are still reading spaces where one goes in search of books or a quiet room in which to devour a novel or study, but they are also places of socialization. Something similar to community centers, only with shelves full of books. “Residents use libraries very often. Together with auditoriums and museums, they attract people and create a lively atmosphere,” points out Katsuyoshi Kinoshita, head of the Foundation for the Advancement of Libraries. The “third place”. “They are spaces where people not only read books, but can also enjoy story-telling and other events or relax in a cafe,” confirm to Nikkei Fumihiko Suzuki of the Daiwa Research Institute. This openness has turned libraries into a kind of “third place” for many Japanese, a reference space beyond their homes, jobs or schools. Access is free, you can stay there as long as you want, there are always people and they often offer alternative activities to reading: events in auditoriums or for children, historical materials, museums… They are, in short, “meeting places.” Is it something spontaneous? Not quite. As explains Sadao Uematsu, of the Japanese Library Association, the phenomenon is partly explained by the “mergers” promoted at the beginning of the century, when “many reading rooms in community centers were converted into municipal libraries.” The success achieved last decade by some projects focused precisely on reading spaces encouraged other municipalities to get on the bandwagon. In recent years the pace of library opening has slowed down, but even so the phenomenon has aroused the interest of international institutions such as the World Economic Forum, which in February dedicated it an extensive analysis that connects the ‘boom’ of libraries with another of the phenomena that mark Japanese society: aging. In a country in which those over 65 years of age represent more than 29% of the population, spaces with community activities have become a key element for the well-being of the elderly. Against this backdrop, libraries have become valuable allies. Images | Olegs Jonins (Unsplash) and Yanhao Fang (Unsplash) In Xataka | While Japan’s population is sinking irremediably, Tokyo is growing. There is an explanation: ikkyoku shūchū

Murcians and Castilian-La Mancha have been fighting for nothing for years. Whatever happens with the transfer, what we are really losing is time

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Ultimately, this is the story of a deception. Since 2019, the Supreme Court has been saying exactly the same thing: the application of the European Water Framework Directive forces Spain to change the way it manages its transfers. And he hasn’t said it once, no: if we talk about the transfer of the Tagushe has said it, at least, six times. Despite this, the different administrations have been interpreting a political melodrama for years that has prevented the design of a system that minimizes the problems that the directive may create. And the result is that Murcians and Castilian-La Mancha They have been fighting for nothing for years. Fortunately or unfortunately, this race forward seems to end on May 5. What happens on May 5? If everything goes as planned, on May 5 the Supreme Court will decide the future of the Tajo-Segura Transfer and the Tajo Hydrological Plan 2022-2027. That day, the high court will decide what happens to the appeal of the Central Union of Irrigators of the Tajo-Segura Aqueductthe last major judicial process that remains open against the changes that the Government approved in 2025 to adapt to the regulations. It is, so to speak, the last legal bullet left for the irrigators of the eastern peninsula. And what can we expect? Bit. The president of the union himself, Lucas Jiménez, has publicly admitted ‘cold spirits’ and ‘without great expectations’, given the meaning of previous pronouncements. And at this point, the issue being debated is whether the new ecological flows (which, according to the University of Alicante, will entail an average loss of 105 hm³/year from 2027) come into force now or may be staggered. But, the unpopularity of the measure in large areas of the country has caused everything to be postponed. To the point that the National Court just admitted to processing Castilla-La Mancha’s appeal for the Ministry’s inaction in publishing the new rules: in fact, if Scrats’ appeal is overturned tomorrow, there will be no rules to apply the transfer. And then? The conflict will enter a new phase: given the eventual rejection and with the transfer cuts legally consolidated, all that remains is to discuss technical details and compensation measures. We must not forget that the Transfer supplies almost 150,000 hectares irrigation in Murcia, Alicante and Almería. This is water that is already de facto granted to irrigators and the State will have to compensate them. Although, of the 1,450 million euros that Moncloa committed to cushion the blow, it seems that only around 5% has been executed. The story that never ends. We have been fighting over water in Spain for decades and we have been unable to create a system that reorganizes the country (and adapts it to real water). Almost the opposite: for more than 30 years, it has never been like this. As explained in Datadista“since the deep drought of the 1990s, each dry period has served to implement emergency measures (…) or allow practices that were not eliminated when the rains returned, they were used to expand irrigation, increasing the problem of overexploitation and contamination of aquifers and the wetlands they feed.” And the bill for all that is what we are paying now. Image | Trent Haddock In Xataka | The Tagus reservoirs have reached their maximum level. The response of the authorities has been to empty them immediately

competes with all of Asia. And he is losing

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The race to develop models of artificial intelligence (AI) that the US and China maintain in their struggle for world supremacy is entering a new phase. And the physical applications of AI are gradually gaining prominence. By “physical applications” we mean the integration of one or more AI models into a mechanical device, such as a humanoid robot or a machine for industrial automation applications. The interesting thing is that the rules that will determine which countries will lead this emerging industry are different from those that currently govern competition in the field of AI models and software applications. And they are so for a reason: the robustness of the supply chain plays a fundamental role when the product stops being immaterial and takes the form of a cutting-edge hardware solution. In this scenario, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, and, above all, China, have a great advantage over the US and Europe. China is committed to the strategy with which it has managed to dominate the electric car Before continuing to investigate the industry specialized in the development of physical applications of AI, we are interested in diverting our gaze for a moment to the semiconductor market. At the moment in Asia they are manufactured 90% of memory chips, 75% of microprocessors and 80% of silicon wafers. These figures are overwhelming. So much so, in fact, that in the medium term they remain absolutely out of reach of the West. It will be very difficult for the US and Europe to compete with the Chinese companies UBTech Robotics, Agibot or Unitree Robotics The electric car market also clearly illustrates the strength of Asia in general and China in particular. The country led by Xi Jinping leads it with a global market share of 62%. On the other hand, the South Korean companies LG Energy Solution, SK On and Samsung SDI accumulate a joint global quota in the market for batteries for electric cars of 16%. And the Japanese Toyota produces more than one million hybrid vehicles per year. Japan’s position is peculiar because leads the production of hybrid carsbut it is lagging behind in the pure electric car market. Whatever China’s strength in the electric car market and Asia’s leadership in the integrated circuit manufacturing industry have been built on a very robust supply chain and overwhelming production capacity. Jixun Foo, the senior director at venture capital firm Granite Asia, which specializes in technology investments in Asia, ensures that “AI is not just about models or software applications (…) If we look towards Asia our advantage is in the supply chain, hardware and engineering capabilities.” That’s the key. China has opted for the same strategy in the physical applications of AI industry that has led it to lead the electric car market. Its meticulous control of the entire supply chain, its high manufacturing capacity and its cost optimization in all probability They are giving you a very important advantage in the industry of humanoid robots and machines for industrial automation applications. And not only in its struggle with the United States; It will be very difficult for Europe to compete in a market in which Chinese companies such as UBTech Robotics, Agibot or Unitree Robotics are already fully established. Image | UBTech Robotics More information | SCMP In Xataka | The US is doing everything to drown China. China has already achieved that 35% of its chip machines are its own

Promotional notifications have become pure spam. And often we cannot deactivate them without losing important

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In August 2023 I asked Wallapop in X to stop sending absurd notifications of the type “Hello! How are you today? Have you slept like a baby?”. It is the most extreme example, due to its absurdity, that I remember of an endemic evil of our era: abuse of notifications until they become another form of spam. Almost three years later, this problem is getting worse in the app industry, not less. The bank notifies me about home insurance before relevant events. Uber Eats offers me 30% on burgers I haven’t ordered. Spotify promotes a podcast to me that I don’t listen to. The situation has a technical name, notification fatigue, and an apparent solution: deactivate them. There’s the catch. I can’t mute my bank’s promotions without also missing the notice of a suspicious charge. I can’t turn off the offers from the company that brings me dinner without being blindsided by the delivery person. Apps purposely mix transactional and advertising in the same channel, and rarely let you separate them without digging into the settings. You choose between two evils: put up with the spam or be left without the ads that matter. This did not happen with SMS because sending an SMS cost money, although they were cheaper when sending mass messages. This minimum cost forced the issuer to think if it was worth it. He push it’s free. Sending you a hundred notifications costs the same as sending you one, so saturation is in the end the rational strategy of those who cannot conceive the inconvenience. Apple expressly prohibits promotional notifications without opt-in since 2020 and Google has similar policies, but brands avoid them by disguising advertising as transactional (“your order is ready… and look at this 2×1”) or directly sending nonsense, because nobody audits anything. It is the same landscape as that of public transport: signs asking for silence, reserved seats, clear rules and no one enforcing them. They are there to make things beautiful. And while, We have normalized that the bank that holds our money sends us advertising through the most intimate channel of the mobile phone, at no cost to him and at all costs to us. We continue deactivating notifications one by one, app by app, in which they allow us to segment by type of notification even if we search, until one day we miss something that did matter. That’s the part that doesn’t appear on any conversion panel. In Xataka | There is a generation working for free as a documentarian of their own life: they are not influencers but they act as if they were. Featured image | Xataka

is losing homes and gaining Airbnb apartments

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There are many shows held around the world, but few can boast the levels of popularity of the FIFA World Cup, which will be held this summer in North America. Nor to drag so many followers. In January the organization revealed that in just 33 days it had received more than 500 million of ticket requests for the sales phase of the random draw. If FIFA’s calculations are correct, more than six million of people will attend the tournament stadiums, leaving an average of 450,000 visitors in each host city. Such an avalanche of tourists is already being noticed in the housing market of Mexico City (CDMX), one of the cities involved. What has happened? That the CDMX residential market is strongly feeling the effects of the 2026 World Cup, which will be held this summer in Canada, the United States and Mexico. At least that’s what he claims Urban Memorial Projecta citizen platform that has set out to document the effects of gentrification, tourism and real estate pressure in the Mexican capital. A few days ago the organization launched a statement in which he warns that, on the eve of the competition, CMDX is suffering a flight of homes that are leaving the residential market to be offered in the tourist market, much more profitable. What does the data say? The figures come from Inside Airbnb and they are eloquent. According to your recordsin a matter of six months (December 2024-June 2025) Airbnb gained 770 “new accommodation spaces” in the Mexican capital. “On average, three apartments or entire houses were stolen from the residential rental market every two days during the first half of 2025 to be allocated to tourists through Airbnb,” underlines Urban Memorial. The organization recalls that, according to the latest update from Inside Airbnb, at the end of June 2025 CDMX had 27.51 active accommodations. Why is it important? Because the group appreciates “an acceleration in the conversion of housing from residential use to temporary accommodation” and warns that this transfer also occurs in “a critical moment” for the capital, in the midst of a residential crisis and on the eve of the World Cup. Added to these factors is that a good part of Airbnb’s offer corresponds to complete homes (17,713), the number of which far exceeds that of private rooms (8,995). The study also warns that this is the ‘photograph’ from a few months ago. “Surely it is growing at an even faster rate as we get closer to the World Cup,” remember the platform before specifying that Airbnb’s offer is not distributed evenly throughout the metropolis. 81% are concentrated in the four most central districts with the best services, with Cuahtémoc at the head. There alone, the “undisputed epicenter of the business”, there are more than 12,500 accommodations, 46% of the entire city. Are they denouncing anything else? Yes. The platform remember that although the Tourism Law (renovated in 2023) clarifies that accommodations advertised on websites such as Airbnb cannot be rented for more than 180 nights each year, this guideline is “generally violated.” To be more precise, after studying the data from Inside Airbnb, the organization found that there were 7,532 properties (about 30% of the total) that had already exceeded the limit of available nights. Who includes the standard? Especially large owners, according to Memorial. Is it the only warning sign? No. A few months ago the newspaper Reform he wondered how the World Cup was affecting the rentals of homes and commercial premises in CDMX, Guadalajara and Monterrey, venues of the tournament. His conclusion was striking: he estimated that rents in total would become more expensive between 25 and 40%. Already in December Julio César Mendoza, manager of the Inmuebles24 platform, slid the possibility that prices would rise, especially in the venues closest to the stadiums where the matches will be played, focusing on “flexible or temporary contracts” signed for the World Cup season. Does only the World Cup influence? No. Of course, not all of the increase is solely attributable to the FIFA Cup. The Spot2.mx platform remember that at least in the specific case of CDMX, the increase in the cost of commercial spaces is already coming from behind and is related to the gentrification of certain areas of the capital. In fact, there are studies that ensure that rents in the residential market they have shot up 45% between 2020 and 2025, displacing the population to the periphery. In his case the World Cup would act more as an accelerant. The truth is that there are landlords who started months ago to remodel their commercial spaces to attract brands during the months of June and July. Some Mexican media they also talk of landlords who have stopped renewing rental contracts precisely coinciding with the proximity of the World Cup. Does it only affect houses and commercial premises? No. Although recently the hoteliers of Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey they assured Since the anticipated occupancy level in its accommodation is low (30%), the sector expects demand to grow as the match dates approach. In fact, they predict that during key days occupancy will skyrocket to around 80 or 90%with rates 100, 150 or 300% higher than normal in key areas. The hotels near the stadiums hope to sell out. Images | Wikipedia and Zion Arellano (Unsplash) In Xataka | Mexico has been preparing for some time to host the World Cup. He had everything except the death of his great drug dealer

Spain is letting the lisp die in Andalusia without knowing that the /θ/ sound is a global rarity that we are losing

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In recent days, the University of Granada has presented a macroatlas with almost half a million audios that shows how the way of speaking of Andalusians has changed. The research is very interesting for many reasons, but today I want to focus on something specific: the slow, but inexorable agony of lisp. What is lisp. While the distinction between ‘s”https://www.xataka.com/”z’ and seseo gains ground in the south, lisping is losing speakers in the only place where lisping is used. It is a sociological question, yes: researchers are clear that stigma is the main force against this phonetic subsystem. But there is something else Because, in reality, what we are seeing is not just the death of the lisp, it is the end of the sound (θ) itself: one of the most unknown oddities of the Spanish language. A Spanish oddity? Although it is not something that is often explained much, the ‘c’ sound (/θ/) is relatively rare in the world — only in 43 of 566 languages ​​(7.6%) in the world. WALS sampling appears and only in 4% of the counts in typological databases (UPSID: 3.99%; PHOIBLE: ~4%). That is, very few living languages ​​have that sound among their phonetic repertoires. To give us an idea, the phoneme of the ñ (ɲ), quintessence of Spanish, appears in 35% of the world’s languages. But… what about the ‘c’? The usual explanation Why (θ)/(ð) are less frequent and why they are disappearing is simple: they are “soft” fricatives; That is, they are less strident sounds than (s)/(z) and, therefore, have less perceptual salience. This is what makes them tend to be lost or transformed easily over time. That does not mean that the Spaniard of the future is going to be sesante; but there is a high probability that it is sesante. The heritage of a language in the trash. It is clear that it cannot be argued from a philological point of view that the disappearance of (θ) is a bad thing. The Earth turns, languages ​​change. But it is striking that in a society in which historical heritage continues to be “valued”, the progressive loss of a sound does not set off alarm bells. And that it does so because we are not capable of accepting the diversity of our own language, normalizing it and defending it in the public sphere, is perhaps worse. Image | Wiebrig Krakau (Modified) In Xataka | “The most serious attack since there is memory”: Pérez-Reverte has started a crusade against the RAE from within the RAE

More and more Spaniards use AI in their daily work. They also fear losing their jobs because of it.

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Artificial intelligence has ceased to be a technological promise and has become something that more and more Spanish workers already have installed in their daily routine. Not long ago, talking about AI at work sounded like science fiction and, on many occasions, it was even seen like a trap at work. Today, the data tells a very different story and adoption not only growsbut it does so at a speed that surprises even the analysts themselves. A report from the InfoJobs platform highlights that in the last year not only has the percentage of employees who use AI in their work grown, but increasingly understands them better. It is increasingly used at work. According to the IV InfoJobs Artificial Intelligence Report63% of professionals in Spain regularly use AI tools in 2026. This figure represents an increase compared to the 52% recorded in the 2025 report and 50% in 2024. Within this increase in the presence of AI in the workplace, the report highlights that the spontaneous use of AI stands at 51%, 17 points more than in 2025. The data indicates that the difference between the total use of AI and that declared has been reduced from 18 to 12 points. That is, workers not only use AI more, but they also better identify what technology they have in their hands and what they can do with it. They have an AI and they know how to use it. In 2025, 48% of professionals said they did not know or did not know how to use AI tools. In 2026, that percentage has fallen to 28%, a reduction of 20 points in just one year. In this sense, the generation gap becomes more visible. Among those under 35 years of age, the declared use of AI reaches 63%, compared to 47% among those over that age. Mónica Pérez, Director of Communication and Studies at InfoJobs, summarizes it like this: “Artificial intelligence has gone from being an emerging technology to being progressively integrated into normal work processes. Beyond the increase in its use, the data reflects greater identification and awareness of the use of this tool by professionals, which points to an increasingly consolidated adoption in the work environment and a paradigm shift.” ChatGPT leads, machine translation goes down. Among the most used AI tools in Spanish companies, ChatGPT-type chatbots stand out, which have gone from 37% in 2024 to 52% in 2026 and already top the ranking of the most used. The integration of AI in design tools and as a programming assistant does not go unnoticed, with a significant increase in use in the workplace, standing at 17% and 16% respectively. For its part, automatic translation, one of the main uses of AI at work in 2025, it drops from 58% to 51%. The percentage of users who claim not to use any specific tool in their work has been reduced from 7% to 4%. All this fits with what is happening globally that, by eliminating friction at work, employees tend to take on more tasks, generating more fatigue and workload if it is not managed well. Fear of dismissal grows. Having a greater understanding of the potential of AI tools and knowing what they are capable of also increases the uncertainty about your future job. 39% of those interviewed for the InfoJobs report believe that AI will cause some specific layoffsalthough without replacing specialized work, a percentage higher than 30% in 2025. 23% predict more widespread substitution, while the same percentage considers that the workforce is not easily replaceable with AI alone. This perspective varies depending on presentation of your position to AI. Among those who already use AI regularly in their workplace, 46% see the scenario of specific layoffs as likely, compared to 26% of those who do not use it. The AI ​​gap between companies. According to the study ‘Digitization of the Spanish company‘ Prepared by the UGT union with data from the INE, 21.1% of companies with more than 10 workers used AI in 2025, which represents a considerable increase compared to the previous year in which 9.55% was registered. Among large companies with more than 250 employees, the percentage rises to 58.2%, an increase of 13 points year-on-year. The data from the report indicates that Spain exceeds the OECD and EU average in AI integration, with 20.3% of companies regularly using AI. However, Spain is still very far from the implementation of this technology in Denmark (42%), Finland (38%) or Sweden (35%). Despite the general increase in the use of AI, there is data that indicates that this progress is not being transferred to internal talent since the percentage of ICT specialists in companies it has been reduced from 16.44% to 15.67%, a figure that UGT describes as “unexpected and disturbing.” In Xataka | The biggest fear was that AI would take our jobs. The reality is that it is replacing those who are learning to work Image | Unsplash (Anastassia Anufrieva)

Sparkling water has a “secret” to losing weight. And it has nothing to do with its nutritional properties.

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Sparkling water is one of those ‘rare’ options on the drinks menu that few people consume in our environment, but little by little it is gaining popularity. prominence in the dietary field. All thanks to a recent scientific publication that pointed to its benefits in order to lose weight with its consumption, although there is quite a bit of fine print under this premise. The study. The epicenter of this new wave of enthusiasm is placed in a study published in BMJ Nutrition where a fascinating hypothesis is raised: carbon dioxide dissolved in water could increase the glycolysis in the organism. A process that basically does is ‘break’ the sugar we have in our cells to obtain energy. In this way, we would be reducing one of the components that gives rise to the ‘hated’ fat that we want to avoid. As? Drinking sparkling water and having this happen is not something very ‘normal’ a priori. Science suggests that, when consuming carbonated water, the CO₂ that gives rise to those bubbles that we see on its surface passes into the bloodstream, where it could stimulate our red blood cells so that they use more glucose and therefore, it does not accumulate as fat. On paper, it sounds like music to the ears of anyone looking to lose weight: drinking water to burn off sugar. There is small print. The study itself is a brief report and the scientific community she has been quick to qualify it: Even if the mechanism exists, the isolated effect is too small to produce “miraculous” weight loss just by drinking water. In this way, we are not facing a great ‘fat burner’, but rather a metabolic curiosity that will hardly be noticed on the scale if it is not accompanied by other changes. The real trick. If sparkling water doesn’t magically “burn” calories, why do many nutritionists insist that it helps with weight control? The answer lies not in metabolism, but in fluid mechanics and satiety. This is not something new, but studies from 2008 already showed that carbonated drinks had a direct impact on the stomach. The first effect focuses on the distention of the stomach, since the gas takes up volume. Thus, when drinking sparkling water, there is greater distension of the ‘upper’ part of the stomach compared to normal water. This makes we get full faster and we don’t want to continue eating. There is more. But beyond filling us up faster, this distension sends satiety signals to the brain through the vagus nerve. That is why the bubbles “trick” the stomach, making it believe that it is fuller than it really is. In this way, the brain interprets that it is full and inhibits our desire to continue eating. thanks to chemical inhibition. Japanese investigations on oral stimulation with CO₂ suggest that this feeling of fullness can reduce subsequent food intake, although the effect is modest and short-term. The substitution factor. The strongest argument for sparkling water has nothing to do with CO₂ or gastric motility, but rather behavior. This is precisely what I was aiming for. a meta-analysis by McGlynn which reviewed what happens when we replace sugary drinks with calorie-free options. The results in this case are quite clear: replacing cola or packaged juice with water (with or without carbonation) reduces weight, BMI and body fat. And this is where sparkling water shines as a replacement tool, since for many people accustomed to the sensory “aggressiveness” of a carbonated soft drink, flat water is boring. And its impact. Sparkling water offers that oral stimulation, with the beloved sting of bubbles, without the “toll” of empty calories. If carbonated water helps you quit sugary sodas, that is the relevant clinical impact, not the fact that carbonated water speeds up the burning of sugars we have previously consumed. It’s not for everyone. Although hydration guides indicate that sparkling water hydrates exactly the same as regular water, it is not for everyone. That same mechanism that helps satiety (gastric distension) is the number one enemy for certain clinical profiles, such as for those who have gastroesophageal reflux or irritable bowel syndrome. Here, increasing the pressure of the digestive system can aggravate these diseases. Images | Anja Michal Jarmoluk In Xataka | The myth of “two liters of water a day” collapses: a mistake from 1945 that science is now trying to correct

an AI that follows you from one device to another without losing track

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Motorola has presented its first ‘fold’ type foldable at Lenovo Tech World 2026, an ultra-premium line called Signature and, above all, Motorola Qira: an AI platform (they call it “personal ambient intelligence”) shared with its parent company Lenovo that works on smartphones, tablets and computers, maintaining the context between all of them. Why is it important. Lenovo and Motorola’s commitment to AI is something different: that AI is the same on all your devices. It sounds obvious, but it is not so obvious. Qira maintains the context, the data and the conversation. You start something on your mobile in the morning and continue it on your laptop in the afternoon without repeating anything. The move attacks today’s biggest productivity problem: switching between apps and devices often breaks your workflow. Each change involves explaining again what you need. Between the lines. This is clearly a response from Lenovo to the strengths of the Apple ecosystem. Apple has much of its advantage in syncing between iPhone, iPad and Mac through proprietary software, and now Lenovo is trying to replicate it with AI as the common thread. The difference is in the execution. Apple controls hardware and software. Lenovo depends on Android and Windows, third-party systems. Your only asset to create that fluid experience is for AI to be the glue. In detail. Qira is not just another chatbot. It is an “ambient intelligence” (the naming is from Motorola) integrated at the operating system level, always present without having to open an app. Summoned with “Hey Qira”, with a dedicated key or by tapping the permanent item on the screen. Works even offline using local AI. The proposal is based on three attributes: Presence: It’s there, it can proactively suggest things or wait for you to call it. Actions: Execute tasks between applications and devices without having to manage each step. Perception: Build a unified knowledge base (with your consent) that includes your interactions, memories and documents across all devices. The use cases. Lenovo and Motorola have defined specific functions where Qira should shine: “Next Step” suggests actions based on what you’re doing and helps you switch devices without losing track. “Write for me” composes emails, documents or messages directly where you work, adapting to your tone. “Catch me up” summarizes what happened while you were away and helps you get back to tasks. “Pay Attention” transcribes and translates meetings in real time, captures key points and generates summaries. privacy. Processing occurs primarily on the device to keep data local. Cloud services are optional and require explicit consent. Lenovo insists that Qira never collects data without user permission. The context. No manufacturer has yet managed to make their devices “talk to each other” naturally using AI. Samsung has tried it with Galaxy AIGoogle with Gemini and Microsoft with Copilot. Everyone stumbles upon the same thing: their assistants don’t remember what you did on another device. They are great on one device but they stop being great when we switch from one to another. The specific applications do shine there (ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Grok…), but they do not have the system-level integration that Qira, Galaxy AI and company do propose. Qira unifies under one name the dispersed solutions that have arrived until now: motorcycle ai (the lower case imperative is a Motorola thing), Lenovo AI NowCreator Zone and Learning Zone. The platform integrates collaborations with Microsoft 365, Copilot, Qualcomm, Intel, Perplexity and Google. Motorola does not have a large share in the premium segment, if Qira works well it could be an argument to attract customers. Qira will arrive in the first quarter of 2026 on “select” Lenovo devices and then on compatible Motorola phones. They have not yet communicated the list of models that will receive it. The approach is pragmatic: better to integrate what already works than to compete with OpenAI or Google in the creation of foundational models where they would hardly be able to scratch anything. Qira is not its own model, but a platform that connects different AI services depending on the task. Go deeper. Beyond Qira, there is a strategic reading: Lenovo is trying to become the reference manufacturer for those who do not want Apple but do not want to rely only on Google. It is a difficult space to fill. They all failed because creating ecosystems requires years of investment, gaining committed developers, and reaching users willing to change their habits. Lenovo has financial muscle and Motorola retains brand prestige. But you’ll need Qira to really work. In Xataka | The technology industry has been searching for the “next smartphone” for a decade. Now he thinks he found it with AI Featured image | Motorola, Unsplash, Xataka

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