Madrid

how a probe launched in 2006 woke up and warned Madrid from 9.5 billion km

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About 9.5 billion kilometers from Earth, a ship built by humans more than two decades ago continued to advance through a region of the Solar System that we barely know. He had left in January 2006had left Pluto behind and had been in hibernation for 321 days, almost silently, while its trajectory took it further and further away from us. So after almost a year, New Horizons sent the signal confirming his awakening. It did not bring spectacular images nor did it announce a great discovery: it simply told us that it had come out of its dream and was still in good condition. That signal did not respond to an order sent from Earth that same morning. Before going into hibernation, the team had uploaded a sequence of instructions to the main computer that told the probe when to wake up its systems. New Horizons executed that programming on June 23 and came out of hibernation without needing a new order from our planet. Only then did he send his message to us. When the Deep Space Network station near Madrid received itabout eight hours and 52 minutes had passed since waking up. From this station near Madrid confirmation was received that New Horizons had woken up and was still in good condition. Hibernating didn’t mean turning off the ship and hoping it would come back on months later. During that period, a good part of its systems remained disconnected to reduce consumption and wear, but the flight computer continued to monitor the general condition while the vehicle rotated stably on itself. Once a week, in addition, it sent a simple beacon to indicate if everything was still in order. This way, the team could know that New Horizons was still healthy without maintaining constant communication or unnecessarily occupying the ground antennas. The system that remained in control was not like the computers we carry in our pockets. The command and data management system is supported by a 12MHz Mongoose V processorprotected against radiation and designed to resist rather than run. This component distributes orders among the subsystems and executes routines that allow the probe to react without immediate intervention. Upon certain failures, the ship can initiate a recovery, switch to backup components, or send a request for help. At that distance, autonomy is not an added function, but a condition for survival. The probe also could not send each measurement at the time it was obtained. His observations were stored in two 8 GB solid state drivesa main one and a backup one, while the computer organized and compressed them for later transmission. Seen from our current devices, that memory is almost insignificant; in deep space, forces you to manage each data carefully. The team had to prioritize and wait until the vehicle could point correctly toward our planet. Discovering something was only the first part: we still had to get it to us. A space probe designed to last The next problem was keeping alive a machine that was traveling further and further away from the source of energy that illuminates our planet. New Horizons does not rely on solar panels, but rather a radioisotope thermoelectric generator that uses the heat released by the decay of plutonium-238 to produce electricity. The power it delivers slowly decreases over the years, so each instrument turned on implies a decision. On the other hand, the insulating layers retain the heat generated by the electronics themselves, while automatic heaters intervene when this protection is not enough. After visiting Pluto and Arrokoth, New Horizons continues to move outwards from the Solar System Finding us from the far reaches of the Solar System requires much more than turning on a transmitter. The spacecraft observes the stars and compares what it sees with a catalog stored on board to determine where it is facing. Its small thrusters then make the necessary adjustments to align the main antenna with the Earth. That antenna cannot move independentlyso the entire vehicle must be placed in the correct direction before starting unloading. Only then can the stored data begin a nearly nine-hour journey to us. The paradox of that hibernation was that New Horizons was still doing science. Although the controllers were not sending commands or downloading information, three instruments remained active to study the particles, plasma and dust surrounding the probe. SWAP, PEPSSI and accountant Venetia Burney continued to take measurements and retain them for when regular communication could resume. The mission had reduced much of its activity, but not its ability to observe: even during the longest sleep in its history, outer space continued to pass through its sensors. A ship launched two decades ago does not age like one of our devices: no one can bring it back, change a part, or connect it to a more powerful energy source. What the team can do is teach you how to better manage what you still have. Before its final sleep, New Horizons received a crash protection update to address the gradual drop in power and increased communication delays. Her awakening was not, therefore, an isolated trick, but the result of twenty years of learning to keep her alive from a distance. Images | NASA | In Xataka | NASA is looking for four people who want to live a year on Mars without leaving Earth

“Madrid is acting like a cheating administration that only wants to get the rooms from Madrid residents”

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Since it was first approved under the name of Madrid Central, Madrid’s low-emission zones have lived on a tightrope. Now, like Madrid 360, Justice has been demanding that Madrid return the money to thousands of Madrid residents for two years. With their latest decision they are closer to achieving it. What has happened? The Superior Court of Justice of Madrid (TSJM) has opened a separate piece within the execution of the ruling that annulled the Low Emissions Zone (ZBE) of Madrid in 2024. This decision arrives after Associated European Motorists (AEA) will demand that Justice execute the refund of the fines imposed with the previous mobility ordinance. At the moment, the Madrid City Council and the rest of the affected parties have a period of 20 days to present their arguments regarding this decision. And all this, why? To understand the story we have to go back to 2024. In Septemberthe TSJM declares the Madrid ZBE null and void, alleging that there was not a sufficient study of whether these low-emission zones could produce a “discriminatory effect for the most economically vulnerable groups.” In response, the Madrid City Council filed an appeal to the Supreme Court but this was rejected so the low emissions zone was now de facto cancelled. However, during that time, the Madrid City Council worked to modify its mobility ordinance and keep the ZBE active, which shields the entire city from the entry of unmarked cars. (from outside Madrid) and has two other interior areas of special protection. With the rejection of the appeal, Madrid would have to return the money for all the fines imposed from January 2022 until the entry of the new mobility ordinance but that is not happening. Not, at least, totally. What do they say at the Madrid City Council? In Xataka We have contacted the Madrid City Council who defend that “the sanctions imposed with the previous ordinance, and which exclusively affect Plaza Elíptica and Centro, the Special Protection Zone that annulled the TSJM ruling, will not be returned because they were processed with an ordinance that was in force” The answers to know what fines will no longer be collected must be found in the Madrid City Council website where it is specified that these are: Fines that are in process and have not been paid. Fines that have not been fully collected, even if they are being enforced. The first problem is that Madrid does not return the money for the fines paid and, in that case, the sanctioned driver has to go to court to claim the money. The second problem is that Madrid has only been returning the fines referring to the Low Emissions Zone of Special Protection of the Central District and Plaza Elíptica, two spaces with independent rules which prevents cars labeled C and B from parking on the street. In these areas, only the ECO and Zero emissions labels have free passage to circulate without restrictions. What do they say in AEA? What they defend in AEA is that the Madrid City Council must return all fines (those imposed in these special areas and those at the entrance to the city) regardless of whether they have been paid or not paid. The latest judicial movement, however, only affects fines that are unpaid. Mario Arnaldo, president of AEA, assures in statements to Xataka that Madrid “is acting like a cheating administration that only wants to get the quarters from the people of Madrid.” And it is that, according to the association’s calculations of drivers’ defense, between January 2022 and December 2025 (latest data available), Madrid has fined 3.4 million drivers for a value of 663.29 million euros. Of that money, 203.22 million euros are part of the fines for entering the Madrid municipality that the city refuses to return. In addition, the association remembers that Justice has already agreed with them in the appeals presented to receive money from fines already paid. This procedure must be done individually and what AEA pursues is that the Madrid City Council has to return all the money automatically. That is, the more than 660 million euros raised. So is it legal or not? Right now, breaking the rules of the ZBE in Madrid is grounds for sanctions. And the Madrid City Council hides behind the modification last April to keep alive this low-emissions zone that AEA has already resorted to when it understands that the problems for which the TSJM annulled the previous mobility ordinance have not been solved. At the moment “it has a presumption of legality,” AEA tells us. This means that the Madrid City Council has activated its ZBEs and punishes those who fail to comply with the rules, but Justice will have to decide in the future whether said space restricted to the most polluting cars is legal or, once again, falls into the same mistakes of the past. Photo | Korng Sok In Xataka | A very high percentage of the fines that are appealed in Madrid for the ZBE end up annulled: two reasons explain this

Madrid is preparing to have robotaxis this fall. The problem is that almost no one is clear how it is going to work.

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Madrid is about to become the first capital of the European Union with driverless cars circulating through its streets. Uber, Waymo, Cabify and several Chinese technology companies are already fighting for a million-dollar business that, according to current plans, should begin rolling out after the summer. Although there are still quite a few questions unresolved. What is happening. Uber was the first to announce the movement. In June confirmed an alliance with the Chinese technology company WeRide to operate in Madrid sensorized electric vans manufactured by Geely, the Chinese giant that also owns Volvo Cars or Polestar. To make it possible, Uber relies on two partners: Moove Cars, which provides the VTC licenses (of which Uber itself owns 30%), and Avomo, which is responsible for the maintenance and supervision of the vehicles and which already manages similar fleets in Austin and Atlanta. The legal framework. To launch a service of this type, three pieces were needed: regulation, licenses and fleet. According to share From El Confidencial, the first two were “the most conflictive” and had already been resolved, so now “it is the companies that have to take the step.” So, on the one hand, the DGT is in charge of homologating and technically certifying vehicles, while the Community of Madrid manages authorizations, insurance and the distribution of licenses between operators, based on changes in the regional Mobility Law. To avoid new conflicts with taxis, the regional government has chosen not to issue new VTC licenses, but rather to reuse existing ones with a limit of 100, to which a specific permit called “additional authorization for autonomous transport” will be added. According to El Confidencial sources, they point because the first pilots could start in central Madrid, Leganés and Móstoles, with Alcobendas also on the table. The Waymo mystery. Alphabet subsidiary has registered In just two weeks new companies in Paris, Amsterdam and Madrid (Waymo Iberia), adding to the one it already had in Munich since June. The name chosen for Spain, “Iberia” and not “España”, suggests that the company is also looking at Portugal, which has recently opened a legal framework favorable to autonomous driving tests. Even so, the commercial registration is only the first step, so it does not give us clues about a possible launch date, since to operate in Spain Waymo needs VTC licenses. Of the country’s three large fleets (Moove Cars, Auro and Vecttor), the first is already committed to Uber and WeRide, and Auro has confirmed that it is not negotiating with Waymo because it is focused on its expansion in Germany. This leaves as the only plausible way an agreement with Vecttor, the fleet owned by Cabify, which acknowledges maintaining “open conversations with the leading companies in autonomous mobility technology”, although it clarifies that, for the moment, “we do not have any closed alliance.” The Phoenix precedent, where Waymo just broke their alliance with Uber to recover its cars and operate with its own app, suggests that its long-term plan is to dispense with intermediaries as soon as it gains its own brand in each market. What Uber doesn’t count. The company announced in style that its robotaxis would arrive in Madrid before the end of the year, but for our part we did not receive a response from either Uber or WeRide about how many vehicles there will be in the first phase, whether the service will cover the entire city or just some neighborhoods, or whether any user will be able to order a car without anyone at the wheel. On the other hand, the DGT itself confirmed us last month that there was no request from Uber or its partners to test autonomous vehicles. The organization remembers that there are three test phases: a controlled one (maximum three cars, always with a safety driver), an extensive one (up to ten, also with a driver) and a pre-deployment phase, where the vehicle limit disappears and the driver becomes optional, although always supervised remotely. Right now, the only company in that last phase in Spain is Tesla, which test your FSD system with 30 vehicles throughout the national territory. The risks that Waymo already knows. Just like stand out From El Confidencial, the experience in the United States leaves two clear warnings. The first is vandalism, since in June, anti-ICE protesters burned five Waymo vehicles in Los Angeles, each valued between 150,000 and 200,000 euros, forcing the suspension of service in the city. The second, more serious for the business, are technical failures. And in just one month, Waymo had to first recall 3,800 cars for entering flooded roads and then 3,900 (97% of its fleet) for a software error that led them to sections of highway under construction. Despite this, the company defends that its cars suffer 94% fewer serious or fatal accidents than those driven by humans, and 84% fewer accidents with cyclists or motorcyclists. And now what. The calendar indicates that, starting in November, the first Uber robotaxis will begin to be seen in Madrid, with a safety driver at the wheel during the first months until the service becomes fully autonomous. The routes will be requested from each operator’s app and the cost is still unknown, but they are expected to be more expensive. Waymo is still a sea of ​​doubts, since it has a company created, but it still lacks a fleet partner to start. And at the bottom of the board we have Cabify and Bolt, who could be added later with vehicles from the Chinese companies Pony.ai or Baidu. Cover image | Hoseung Han In Xataka | A veteran Tesla engineer has summarized his workers’ feelings about the FSD: “We have all seen it fail”

It is not that mass tourism has settled in Madrid, Barcelona or Rome, it is that it has reached the Galapagos Islands

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Last summer, and while Spain declared war to the sector, vacation rental reached heights that until recently would have seemed more typical of a dystopia. In fact, the platforms began to do business by pool rental for hours. Meanwhile, in places like New York, those who turned off Airbnb in 2023, had discovered that two years later only The hotels are happy. With this scenario, the Galapagos Islands have found the problem at home. The arrival of Airbnb. I told it the new york times. In the Galapagos Islands, one of the most delicate natural environments on the planet, the rise of Airbnb after the pandemic has transformed the tourism landscape. Alicia Ayalaknown as “the queen of Airbnb”, symbolizes This twist: rents apartments at affordable prices that attract backpackers and middle-class families, in contrast to the elitist tourism that dominated for decades. Figures? There is more than 1,300 accommodations of this type compared to some 300 regulated hotels, which has generated an explosion of low-budget visitors who spend less and, according to critics, contribute to environmental deterioration and the trivialization of a declared place World Heritage. Impact and tensions. Criticism focused on the inability of short-term rentals to meet the strict environmental standards that do apply to hotels, forced to pay permits, provide funds for conservation and manage waste in a territory without drinking water or sustainable energy. The proliferation of uninformed visitors multiplies harmful behaviors: garbage on beaches, harassment of protected fauna or consumption of threatened species. In fact, researchers warn that uncontrolled tourism threatens to turn the islands into a “Venice of nature”, where the immediate economy takes precedence over the preservation of unique ecosystems. Mass tourism and local economy. The archipelago went from receiving 6,000 visitors annually in the seventies to a forecast of 300,000 by 2025driven by commercial flights, social networks and the appearance of cheap excursions replacing traditional luxury cruises. What is happening is a stage that repeats in the whole planet. This overcrowding has left family hotels with empty rooms, while they compete against Airbnbs that operate with lower costs and little supervision. At the same time, the tourism sector holds at 80% of 30,000 inhabitants, so the dilemma between immediate income and sustainability becomes more acute in an isolated environment that depends on expensive imports and limited services. The legal (and political) battle. Although the Ecuadorian Constitution and the special legislation of the Galapagos recognize the rights of nature and limit hotel development, the absence of specific regulation for Airbnb creates a vacuum (the problem is not only regulatory but also effective application of an already existing prohibition) that hosts have taken advantage of. The Ministry of Tourism has declared illegal many of these accommodations and has ordered closures, but lacks effective control mechanisms, while platforms such as Airbnb claim to comply with current regulations and ask for clear rules. UNESCO has urged Ecuador to slow growth and regulate digital tourism, although attempts by hoteliers to achieve changes have remained without an official response. Threats and uncertain future. To the tensions over tourism problems add up of illegal fishing, drug trafficking and, in August 2025, the merger of the Ministry of the Environment with that of Energy and Mines, interpreted by experts as a turn towards the exploitation of resources above conservation. In this context, the dispute between regulated hotels and Airbnb hosts reflects a deeper conflict: to what extent Ecuador is willing to sacrifice ecological integrity of the Galapagos to sustain their economy. Between the pressure of tourism growth, the lack of effective regulation and political signals that prioritize extraction over preservation, the future of the archipelago as a natural sanctuary remains, more than ever, in question. A version of this article was published in September 2025 Image | Diego Delso In Xataka | Mud houses were a symbol of poverty in the Himalayas. Until Airbnb arrived In Xataka | The CEO of Airbnb is clear that there are companies with too many meetings: his trick is to follow Jony Ive’s philosophy

To the question of which Spaniard has the highest quality semen, the answer is clear: it is not the people of Madrid.

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Semen also has geography. And in Spain, Madrid does not fare well. Let’s assume that semen quality has been declining for decades. In Spain it has fallen 28% in just 15 years, a 78% if we value the last two decades. That is to say, a concentration of sperm is produced so low that it is less than half of what it was in the 70s. And it continues in constant regression. With this breeding ground, the question is: and which region is coping best with this decline? Alcohol and coffee have nothing to do with each other. The investigation analyzed 386 men seen in seven Spanish fertility clinics—such as the Bernabeu Institute—between 2024 and 2025. After adjusting variables such as body mass index, exercise, and alcohol, tobacco, or coffee consumption, the authors observed that men from the north recorded the best seminal parameters, even when their habits were similar to those of other regions. This gives us a clue to talk about pollution, environmental inequality and public health. The results have been presented at the 42nd congress of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE). AND In it we can find clear differences in semen quality depending on the area in which the donors live. Those who win this game are the residents of the north, with Asturias and Cantabria far ahead of Madrid and the center of the peninsula. But there is fine print. More agile, faster. The total count of motile sperm is striking, almost double in the north than in the central area. In data: 94.35 million on average compared to 50.11 million in the central area. This index talk about health: “the northern region also presented the highest average sperm concentration (80.96 million/ml) and sperm motility (44.79%), compared to 55.4% in southern Spain and 53.4% ​​in the center.” If diet, exercise or substance use alone do not draw this map of semen quality, what does? The first conjectures point to a population that breathes worse, drinks and involuntarily incorporates into its body part of the atmospheric pollution, a mixture of industrial and agricultural toxins, where endocrine disruptors in plasticspesticides and everyday cosmetics. Out of the pot. Beyond Spain, the pattern repeats itself: studies with fertile men In cities such as Copenhagen, Paris, Edinburgh and Turku, they already showed in the early 2000s that the Finns had the highest sperm concentrations while the Danes recorded the lowest values, with also variations in mobility depending on the city. If we take a look at the retrospective analyzes of French donors found significant differences within the country itself in volume, concentration, and total number of sperm. The north wins again. In general, the men of the nordic west They have worse semen quality than those from the Baltic area, in parallel with a higher incidence of testicular cancer, another marker of male reproductive stress. Does better semen equal more pregnancies? Not necessarily, but almost. Let us keep in mind that, although the relationship with fertility is not linear, below certain thresholds of concentration and mobility, the probability of spontaneous pregnancy decreases considerably. To understand what “better semen” means, it is worth going down a level. According to the World Health Organization, reference values ​​are measured in concentration (millions of sperm per milliliter), ejaculate volume, percentage of motile sperm and proportion of sperm with morphology considered normal. It is necessary to distinguish between progressive sperm (the vanguard that advances efficiently), versus non-progressive and completely immotile ones. In morphology, the shape of the head, middle piece and tail (flagellum) is evaluated, since anatomical alterations can make fertilization difficult. Plastics and fertility. By the way: nitrile and latex gloves release plastic microparticles and contaminate environmental measurements does not invalidate that the presence of endocrine disruptors in human tissue does not affect male fertility. The evidence is solid. For example, a 2023 study that analyzed 6 human testicles and 30 semen samples found microplastics both in tissue and fluid: around 0.23 ± 0.45 particles per milliliter in semen and 11.60 ± 15.52 particles per gram of testicle, with sizes mostly between 20 and 100 microns, finding polystyrene in testicles and polyethylene and PVC in semen. The problem is broader. The taboo of male fertility, treated as a private matter, has obscured problems that can be investigated as a collective indicator. And this deterioration does not respond, or not only, to individual behavior. The greatest weight lies in the place you livenot in the genes you carry. A cardinal clue: of course smoking, drinking or moving more or less matter, but it does not depend so much on personal decisions. A debate that is more political than folkloric (and health and regulatory). A cocktail of bisphenol A, methyl, ethyl, propyl and butylparabens, benzophenones and phthalate metabolites is directly associated with significant reductions in total and progressive sperm motility. Therefore, Asturias beating Madrid is not something to celebrate, but rather to raise the alarm about the qualities of the water – it will not be that good -, what pesticides are used nearby and what mix of chemicals goes through daily life. The tip of an iceberg that does not lie in who comes out better off, but rather in the cost of those who come out worse off. Images | Unsplash (1, 2 and 3) In Xataka | We already know how much we Spaniards masturbate at work (and what is more important: which communities win) In Xataka | If you are worried about the quality of your sperm, science has a clear recipe for you: ejaculate more

Madrid wants the largest Ferris wheel in the world. For now he is settling for a French merry-go-round

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Fifty-nine years old. That is the amount of time that has passed since the noble Madrid Amusement Park has not had a new tender that allows a new company to manage the more than 30 machines that attract approximately one million visitors each year. A single operator. The concession worked in favor of a single company: for an initial period of 35 years, until 1992, the concessionaire could thus fully amortize the investment in civil works and attractions. And so much: it is estimated that more than a million people visit these attractions every year. The term was extended: first, an extension of 24 more years, until 2016; then another extension to the September 27, 2027coinciding with successive major internal reforms—more thematic areas, roller coasters, Nickelodeon expansion—that justified maintaining the same operator. almost six decades of continued exploitation since the concession to Parques Reunidos that began in 1967. And now, Madrid wants to “resurrect” it under two clear rules: a non-renewable eight-year concession and a complete overhaul. And, on the horizon, that gargantuan attraction that we have talked about on occasion. London Eye twice. Literally, Madrid dreams of the largest Ferris wheel in the world. Behind the capital’s Business Forum, which has been defending a structure of about 260 meters for years, doubling the 135 meters of the London Eye. Carlos Rubio’s design proposes an elliptical apparatus higher than the Ain Dubai (250 meters), with panoramic cabins and a multi-story observation deck in the center. The problem is that a good part of Madrid does not want to talk about the Ferris wheel. In 2025, the City Council commissioned a geotechnical study to assess whether it was viable to plant something of such a scale in the Enrique Tierno Galván park, within Arganzuela. The report concluded that technically it could be done. And the neighbors opposed it, suspecting that this move would be the prelude to the privatization of a green lung, an idyllic area to walk the dog or read for a while. The Delicias para Todos neighborhood association warned of the impact: 300 fewer trees, almost a thousand meters of lost soil and a stolen public landscape. They gathered more than 14,000 signatures against it in a few weeks. Finally, a municipal plot next to the EMT garages, next to the hospital Peace in Madrid Nuevo Norte, even without a formal project registered with the City Council, will presumably be the new home of this star wheel. A French merry-go-round. At the same time, the City Council has decided to put out to tender the management of the legendary Casa de Campo Amusement Park. José Luis Martínez-Almeida, mayor of the city, announced during the State of the City Debate that those almost twenty hectares will go to competition. Aim: modernize it. Among the conditions there is a very specific jewel to preserve, maintain and restore: the wooden merry-go-round, the oldest of all the machines, built in France in 1927 and acquired for the inauguration of the park in 1968. A fair trader from Madrid bought it and took it to the San Isidro meadow, to finally pass into the hands of the City Council and install it in Casa de Campo. It is considered “one of the pieces with the greatest heritage value in the complex” and protected under a wooden pergola to prevent it from deteriorating. Taxidermy and memory. This merry-go-round is an artisanal attraction in the art deco/modernist style, handcrafted by French cabinetmakers, with horses, tigers, elephants and even pigs carved in wood, some with glass taxidermy eyes, and period melodies that recreate the atmosphere of the early 20th century. A little murky for current childhoods, although the memory of the carousel outweighs any scare. During its last major restoration, completed in 2012 by artist Félix Rego, figures were disassembled and recomposed, damage after decades spent outdoors was corrected, and everything from the hood to the chrome was repainted. The idea was for the carousel to continue spinning as something active, not to leave it relegated to a museum piece. Madrid already had its ferris wheel. Compared to the 260 meter tall monster, Ferris Wheel Vision was modest, to say the least. Installed in the 70s next to the central lake and dismantled in 2011, this attraction offered views of the Casa de Campo. It was part of a period of expansions along with Jet Star, La Casa Magnética and Las Alfombras Mágicas. His disappearance was experienced as a small trauma. After 40 years of service, he received a tribute video official when he retired to make way for more intense speeds, like the Abyss or Tarantula. And she wasn’t the only one to die either. Seven Peaks, the Cafeteria Tree, the Ghost Ship… most of them have been falling in favor of roller coasters. New times, new rhythms. With the cable car under renovation —47 panoramic cabins Swiss-made, with glass floors in some of them, sensors, AI and almost double the speed—it seems time to check the nostalgic button. That today the City Council protects an almost hundred-year-old French merry-go-round at the same time that it opens the door to a gigantic structure says a lot about the moment: the capital wants to play in the league of global icons – “a Ferris wheel is worth a ride,” it is often said – but it knows that its true emotional heritage continues to float on the artifacts that have been spinning at 10 km/h in the Casa de Campo for decades. Continuous circular motion, the cycle of life. Images | Madrid Amusement Park; own assembly In Xataka | Madrid has been obsessed with having the largest Ferris wheel in the world for years. And it’s closer than ever to getting it. In Xataka | The best amusement parks in Spain: a selection of getaways full of fun and strong emotions

The price of apartments in Madrid is so sky-high that it is cheaper to buy an island in Scotland

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The island that you see on these lines on the left belongs to the Summer Isles archipelago, it is on the northwest coast of Scotland and it can be yours: a 35.9 hectare piece of land located in the heart of the Wester Ross Marine Protected Area, with caves, beaches, cliffs, a fully equipped cabin and even a jetty. Luxury. Buying an island is not something that most of us can do on paper. Or yes: it costs less than the average price of a 90 square meter apartment in Madrid, According to Tinsa data, one of the large multinational appraisal companies. The idea is no longer so crazy because if you can afford an apartment in Madrid, you can afford an island where Christ lost his lighter. The accounts don’t come out. The island of Mullagrach, as it is called, is available for bidding at the modest price of 350,000 pounds sterling, about 406,000 euros. And according to Tinsa, the average price of housing (new and used) reached an average value of 4,605 ​​euros per square meter in the first quarter of 2026. And rising: 18.07% annually, that’s nothing. That average value for a small apartment in Madrid is 414,481 euros. Idealista has fresher data and even more dizzyingly high: 5,984 euros per square meter in May 2026, so a 70 square meter apartment would cost 418,000 euros. Madrid is not alone: Tinsa has a map where you can choose provincial capitals, provinces and autonomous communities. Taking as a basis those approximately 400,000 euros and that area of ​​90 square meters, the reality is that it would also be better for you to buy that Scottish island than an apartment in Donosti or Barcelona. Average house price in the first quarter of 2026. Tinsa Why is it important. Beyond the joke of the island, because an acquisition like this has its substance and its fine print, the comparison is powerful to highlight once again the runaway price of housing both in purchase like for rentconcentrated especially in large nuclei. When buying a remote island is better than a medium-sized urban apartment, it becomes clear that there is a structural problem in large cities like Madrid, Barcelona, ​​London, Lisbon, Amsterdam: people who work there but cannot afford to live there. A reminder: the average salary in Spain was 29,540.26 euros per worker in 2024. To meet the 30% you need to undertake the purchase with a mortgage, you would need to allocate your salary in full for more than four years. Yes, you can buy an affordable apartment in Villaconejos del Caudillo, but your job is not there. And the offer of basic services in towns, after decades of depopulation and concentration in large cities, leaves a lot to be desired. The agglomeration economy At its best: the value of land depends not so much on its size or how fertile it is, but on its location relative to employment, services and transport networks. Context. The increase in housing prices in Madrid is neither new nor random: it has its explanation in a strong imbalance between supply and demand of a basic necessity common to the majority of large European cities, which concentrate more and more population and employment, while rural areas become empty, as confirmed by the OECD. The result? Urban housing is rising in price because many people want it and there is not enough housing available, nor is there public housing nor is there regulation. On the other side of the coin, rural land is stagnating or declining because fewer and fewer people want to live there. The island for sale is a good example: it is isolated and lacks basic services nearby. In fact, the offer is not rare: according to Fotocasa You can have your own island from 320,000 euros, although without construction. In detail. There are several economic mechanisms that explain this price gap between the Scottish island and the Madrid apartment. To begin with, the elasticity of supply: in a large city there is the space that there is and a series of restrictions (heights, assets, etc.) that do not exist or apply to a lesser extent on remote rural land. Demand is also different: you need to live close to your work, so the need for urban demand is inelastic. The demand for remote islands is a luxury good with a small interested base. Yes, but. Thus, the comparison between an island and an apartment is juicy enough to pass up, but in practice having an island implies a series of hidden costs that are not within everyone’s reach. And we are not talking about something as simple as not being able to get a mortgage: you have to get there by boat or helicopter, there is no doctor or supermarkets, there is no infrastructure, services and even coverage can be a problem. And if you regret it, let’s see how you find a buyer to get rid of it. In Xataka | Spain has a housing deficit and a huge problem to solve it: a land jam that blocks millions of apartments In Xataka | The plain of Madrid has become a nest of urbanizations and illegal homes: the problem is what to do with them Cover | Isle Ristol by Rude Health and Alev Takil

In its final stretch of having a Formula 1 circuit, Madrid has encountered a problem: sheep

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January 2024, Madrid confirms that it will have a Formula 1 circuit after years of chasing him. Without a permanent circuit that can host the event, the FIA ​​and Madrid political leaders welcome the proposal that the streets of a PAU north of Madrid and the IFEMA facilities They lay the foundations of the show. It is a movement, that of using a city as an attraction but not passing through any of its emblematic places, that the organization of Formula 1 has been practicing for some time. A sport that has been filled with semi-urban and insubstantial circuits, very far from the concept of Monaco. The problem is that the only thing that keeps Monaco on the calendar is tradition and glamour. The streets of the principality have become too small for cars much larger than decades ago and the spectacle on the track already seems to be the least of it. The solution has been to bring these circuits to spaces such as outskirts of Miami or Madrid. The problem is that people live there. Yes, there are people who are not always willing to have their streets transformed into a circuit, taking up assembly and disassembly work for weeks and having to suffer the noise of cars passing at 300 km/h a few meters from their portals. “They are selling my health to make money”said one of those affected by the Stop F1 Madrid platform. And the neighborhoods have their own dynamics and spaces that were there long before Formula 1 arrived there. For example: the sheep. Year and a half of notices Although it may not seem like it, the roads, paths and roads of Spain are the result of a planning designed centuries ago but live for the daily use of them. Sometimes, like roads, they have been used to structure our country. In other cases, although invisible to the untrained eye, they live for a handful of the most unexpected users. Every year, at the end of October, Thousands of sheep continue to pass through Madrid’s Gran Vía. Although it may have some folklore for those less familiar with the countryside, it is still part of the path for those who practice migration. Because yes, no matter how few they may be, there are those who keep transhumance alive. One of those historical paths that contemplate the passage of animals is the Vereda de los Leñeros, one of the livestock routes that pass through Madrid. These steps, points out the Community of Madrid itselfdefine the spaces intended primarily for the transit of livestock and which in the case of trails have a width of 20 meters. When the modification that IFEMA had to make to host the event was put on the table, environmentalists and neighbors confirmed that they were diverting the livestock route but, according to Antonio Giraldo, Spokesperson for Urban Planning, Environment and Mobility of the PSOE in the Madrid City Council, it was falling into illegality. “Either they ventilate a livestock trail (illegal) or reduce the surface of municipal green areas (illegal). But you cannot do both at the same time,” Giraldo then pointed out because according to their calculations, there was no space in the neighborhood to divert the livestock route without falling into one of these two assumptions. It has been a year and a half since the controversy began. The first voices that warned of the problem came in February 2025. In July 2026, weeks before the cars compete in the north of Madrid, those responsible for the region have presented the modification with a publication in the Official Gazette of the Community of Madrid: raise the livestock route to save the Formula 1 circuit in style. They explain in The Country that the Vereda de Leñeros has existed since the 19th century and that its original route passes through IFEMA, which has been trying to move it to the margins of the complex for years. However, it has not been until now coinciding with Formula 1 that the modification project has been presented. For the opposition, it represents a clear example that private interests are altering “land with very high protection that could derail the project.” Since then, the tug of war between the opposition and the Madrid City Council has been constant. Also the criticism from neighbors who have found in this supposed illegality the possibility of preventing the event from going ahead. However, everything seems decided for the livestock route to be modified. The City Council’s plan involves dusting off a preliminary project that proposed building an eco-bridge to save the M-11 and join the Vereda de los Leñeros with that of Valdecarros, which were separated when this road was built. That is, the plan goes through carry animals over a 12-lane stretch. A decision that the opposition, neighborhood groups and environmentalists continue to criticize. From the Madrid Ecologist Platform they point out that: “The livestock trails are public domain assets owned by the Community of Madrid, they cannot overlap with another public domain such as a green area (referring to the park through which the new path is intended to pass)”, in words collected by elDiario.es. The environmental group explains that the sections should be transferred by IFEMA since they were the ones that completely closed the passage of the road with their facilities and are the promoters of the event and that it cannot be the Madrid City Council that gives up land in a green area to give way to said modification. And from Liberum Natura they already announce that they will argue against the project (Justice already admitted another allegation of his in May) because they consider that if it is given free rein it could be used by other municipalities in the future so that the livestock trails are raised above green areas and thus they can continue gaining ground for private businesses such as building apartments… or a Formula 1 circuit. Photo | Madring and Sam Carter In … Read more

The greatest Japanese railway dream is a train that would connect Madrid and Barcelona in 75 minutes at 600 km/h. It’s also your biggest nightmare

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Year 2027, Japan prepares for the first trip of its new Maglev. The train that works by magnetic levitation runs at a speed of 505 km/h and has exceeded 600 km/h in its testing phase. It will barely take 40 minutes to travel between Tokyo and Nagoya, cities that are currently separated by more than an hour and a half of travel. If we move it to Spanish soil, the new Maglev that is about to leave Tokyo station would link Madrid and Barcelona in 75 minutes. Today, the fastest train takes 182 minutes and work is being done to reduce travel time to less than two hours. But all this is a dream. A nightmare, more like. And it is that Japan has been dreaming for years with once again taking the initiative in high-speed rail worldwide. Despite being the pioneers in offering trips on what are known as “bullet trains” and demonstrating to the world in 1964 that they were decades ahead of any competitor, China has surpassed them. A project aims to return them to the top. It is the Chuo Shinkansen line operated by a Maglev. But that project is taking hold and, at the moment, things are not looking too good. A decade of delay and shovelfuls of money When in 2015 the Maglev exceeded 600 km/h We thought that today we would travel by train much faster than we do. Japan then presented a seven-car prototype known as the L0 Series. It was one of the first steps to connect Tokyo and Nagoya in just 40 minutes. He calendar projected the dream described above. In 2027, Japan would have a line operated by trains capable of reaching 505 km/h. It would be a punch on the table on a board, that of high speed, which China dominates right now. The neighboring country and great rival has managed to establish itself as the place where the trains travel the fastest, move more people and They have more kilometers of roads available. But all these plans have been delayed and the new date points to 2036. They explain in the specialized media Japanism that the Chuo Shinkansen was designed as a fast route to link the large cities located on the Pacific coast. Currently, Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka are already linked by the Tokaido Shinkansen, but this new line would serve to decongest roads that circulate at their limits and, at the same time, offer the fastest route possible. So much so that Tokyo and Osaka, today separated by a trip of at least 202 minutes, would become connected in just 75 minutes. That is, an hour and a quarter. This alternative obviously requires the construction of an entire railway infrastructure that is encountering a multitude of problems. One of the big secrets why trains in Japan are so fast and punctual is that they use different infrastructure for their high-speed trains and conventional ones. With the Chuo Shinkansen it would be even more necessary since the train works by magnetic levitation. The Maglev is an old Japanese railway dream that has its roots in the 70s when research began on whether a train could operate using magnetic levitation. The idea is that the train “floats” on the tracks traveling at a very high speed, held by powerful magnets. This way friction against the tracks is eliminated and the ride should be smoother and quieter. Obviously, this prevents the current roads from being reused. To carry out this new infrastructure, Japan has proposed launching its trains underground for about 250 kilometers. Tokyo and Nagoya are separated by 286 kilometers and the project involves burying 90% of the route. And to reduce travel times, the train would go underground in the interior of the country, instead of continuing near the coast like the current Tokaido Shinkansen. High-speed trains have a problem: tunnels. The speed of trains in Japan is limited by the numerous holes that the country has had to make in its mountains to carry out its high-speed lines. With each entry into a tunnel there is a change in pressure that generates discomfort for passengers and enormous noise outside, as well as challenges for the movement of the train itself. The idea with Maglev is to eliminate these entrances and exits with a train that almost always runs underground. In this way, it can also work in vacuum conditions, which reduces the energy needed to reach speeds of more than 500 km/h. This idea has faced countless problems, they explain in Japanism. The project began to take shape in 2011 but has experienced constant delays and setbacks. First there was an important political struggle to decide what the final itinerary of the line was and it was not until 2015 when the ground began to be excavated. The problem is that the new tracks circulate, in some sections, next to current high-speed tracks. They explain in the middle that in the Shinagawa area the conventional train tracks are being replaced by magnetic levitation sections but that they can only advance 12 meters a day because there are only four hours of work left free, which is the interval between the last train of the day and the first of the next day. All this, added to the fights with the land owners and the technical difficulties, has increased the cost of the project. It was estimated that the line between Tokyo and Osaka would cost 9 billion Japanese yen, of which 5.52 billion yen would have to be spent between Tokyo and Nagoya. However, cost overruns have skyrocketed the final figure and in 2025 JR Central, in charge of the project, already estimated the cost of this last section in 11 trillion yen. All these cost overruns and technical problems (barely 2% of traffic will move on land, 86% of the time will travel underground and the rest on viaducts and bridges) have caused interruptions in construction and, as we have seen, an increase … Read more

Madrid is a black hole of workers and students who live outside Madrid. And they just took away their transport pass.

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No Autonomous Community lost as many inhabitants as Madrid in 2025. No Autonomous Community gained as many inhabitants as Madrid in 2025. It may seem paradoxical but is what the data says. Madrid has become a labor and economic black hole. And the consequences are obvious. It is the region that attracted the most population last year, adding more than 100,000 new residents. But it is also the one that lost the most population, with just over 12,000 people who have gone to live outside the Community of Madrid. The increase in house prices and the day-to-day cost of living is expelling some of its workers from the city. Some of them simply go to live far enough away to find more affordable housing with the promise that a quick train connection allows them to be just over an hour from their work. A good example is Valladolid. Those, perhaps, are the luckiest. Others have simply grown up outside the region, in a rural environment, and have come to Madrid to try their luck to get one of those jobs. statistics place only in large cities. Workers who, perhaps, simply They arrived in Madrid during their university days. and they have ended up staying. Unlike when they were in their twenties and returned to their place of origin every summer. Or workers who do not appear anywhere because they are irregular immigrants who have arrived in Madrid with the same promises as any other profile we have talked about before but that remain outside of any type of statistics. Madrid has decided to remove their transport pass from all of them. Or make it much more complicated. Unnecessarily unnecessary registration All the previously mentioned profiles could have access to the transport subscription of the Community of Madrid without any type of hindrance. All that was necessary was a DNI, a residence permit or a passport and to pay the corresponding fee each month. This transport pass allows you to take Metro, bus and Cercanías throughout the Community of Madrid, which is divided into zones. These areas even reach the closest towns in Castilla-La Mancha and Castilla y León and They range from 32.70 euros to 79.00 eurosdepending on the extension we seek to cover. Obviously, the pass is especially useful for those who travel by public transport to go to work or school, since it is a flat rate that in zone A is compensated after 40 or so trips. That is, if every week you take a train, a subway or a bus twice a day, the investment is already worth it. Much more if we take into account that the cost of the youth subscription (from 15 to 26 years old) is just 10 euros. But the Community of Madrid has announced something: you will have to be registered in the region or in one of the municipalities covered by the transport pass. (even if they are in one of the Castiles) to enjoy the flat rate. That is, this leaves out all those who have left the city to more distant municipalities, the students who do not register in the city because they return to their places of origin once the school year ends. Or immigrants who cannot prove their stay in the city. And the latter is what, everything indicates, has served as fuel for the Community of Madrid to make this decision. When the Government of Spain opened the door to the regularization of thousands of immigrants in April, some conditions were placed. One of them was to demonstrate certain rootssuch as receipts for rent, purchases… or being the holder of a public transport pass. The latter, because it is the simplest, filled the transportation offices with immigrants who wanted to get said transportation pass.. In response, in the Community of Madrid the requirements to obtain this card have changed and now they require proof of registration (unless you are a large family) in a municipality in Madrid or in surrounding regions. The result is that, automatically, immigrants in an irregular situation cannot get this transport pass but, as we said before, neither can workers expelled by the city itself, those who come to try their luck for a few months or university students. In The Country They point out that the Community of Madrid estimates that around 200,000 people are affected by this change, which will also be extended to all renovations in the future. That is, if you are not registered in Madrid and you renewed your transport pass last year, you will not have problems in a decade but it will be more complicated for those who renew it next year. The measure has sparked great controversy. And there are those who have pointed out the measure as “racist and exclusive”, as Oscar Lopezminister of the government of Spain and general secretary of the PSOE in Madrid, and of course numerous associations in defense of immigrants such as Regularización Ya, as reported in the newspaper. From the Community of Madrid they defend that The measure has been approved since 2011 and that has been delayed due to technical issues but in addition they have already opened the door for some autonomous communities to co-finance Madrid transport so that Your students can benefit from this flat rate. Those 200,000 affected barely exceed 3% of Madrid’s public transport users, but the economic hole is especially harmful to them. Right now, a university student who lives and goes to class within the city of Madrid pays 10 euros. If you take a bus and a subway each day there and back, you will make a minimum of 80 trips a week (Monday to Friday only). Without registering, you will start paying 58.40 euros. If you live in Madrid but study in another area beyond the city, you will pay at least 85 euros. The punishment is even greater if you combine the metro and/or the municipal bus with the Cercanías service. The situation is … Read more

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