Madrid

More than 400 cameras will monitor L6 of the Madrid Metro so that it circulates autonomously

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Line 6 of the Madrid Metro prepares to operate without drivers in 2027. This means that its infrastructure must resolve a series of technical aspects so that the metro can circulate in complete safety. What was previously monitored by a driver must now be done in an automated manner, and here there are a series of technologies that come into play that are worth highlighting. Rethink security from scratch. When a train has a driver, there are a pair of human eyes in the cabin that detect smoke, obstacles, people on the track or any anomaly in real time. Eliminating this figure does not mean reducing surveillance, but rather it must be technologically multiplied. The Circular, the busiest line on the network with nearly 400,000 passengers daily, needs a system that does not leave any blind spots. What does the system consist of? Madrid Metro plans to install more than 400 cameras along the 23.5 kilometers of route and in its 28 stations, with an investment of around four million euros, according to collect the middle 20 Minutes. The network will cover the entire infrastructure in real time: tunnels, ventilation shafts, emergency exits, pumping areas and platforms. As the media reports, in the underground sections between stations, the devices will be placed at very short distances from each other so as not to leave gaps unattended. dset fire before seeing it. Of all these cameras, about 60 will be equipped with specific smoke and fire detection technology, capable of sending early warnings to the control center before a fire spreads. Just like share In the medium, these devices will alternate with conventional video surveillance devices to guarantee total coverage. Security reinforced with technology. At the most sensitive points of the line (the Ciudad Universitaria and Arganzuela-Planetario depots, the Laguna depot and the stations with correspondence to other lines) perimeter fences several meters high, physical barriers and infrared curtains will be installed, technology usually reserved for industrial facilities or airports. All reinforced with controlled access through doors and control points monitored by video. What about the platforms and accessibility. From 20 Minutes they assure that the doors leading down to the tracks, located at the ends of each platform, will have new intercoms connected directly to the line controllers. Its function will be twofold: to authorize access for Metro staff when necessary for maintenance tasks, and to allow people with reduced mobility to request that the train wait longer before starting. It will be the controller who, from the command post, keeps the platform doors open for as long as necessary. Where is L6 right now. The installation of the platform doors is still underway and is forcing the closing to be brought forward from the line at 11:00 p.m. from Sunday to Thursday (two and a half hours before the usual time). Everything indicates that the restriction will remain in place until the end of the year if there are no changes. Meanwhile, the 40 new trains, manufactured by CAF, which have cost the Community of Madrid around 450 million euros, are advancing in production. When will it be ready. If the calendar is met, 2027 will be the year in which the Circular circulates alone for the first time in its more than 50 years of history. This would make Madrid one of the few cities that offer fully automated metro lines, along with Copenhagen or Lille. Cover image | Metro Madrid In Xataka | In its expansion of the Cercanías, Madrid is considering something unusual in Spain: launching a new line to Villaviciosa

Long before Real Madrid, the Roman Empire had already invented VIP boxes. And they ended in disaster

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In the first century, the emperor Nero ordered that some shows will include giant awnings to protect the most privileged attendees from the sun, while the rest of the public endured the heat in the upper stands. That seemingly trivial difference reflected the extent to which the experience of attending an event was already marked for money and status long before modern stadiums existed. Show business in Ancient Rome. Long before modern stadiums like the Bernabéu turned sport into a crazy revenue machine, the Roman Empire had already understood the economic potential of gathering crowds and charging for access. At that time, amphitheaters were not only leisure spaces, but political and commercial tools where prestige and money mixed openly. In fact, businessmen like Atilio They saw the games as a direct opportunity for profit, betting on filling venues at all costs and maximizing every available seat. In that context, the logic of squeezing capacity (with privileged areas for the elites and crowded stands for the rest) not only existed, but was central part of the model. Raised to make quick money. In this context, it is born the Fidenae project with a clear idea: build a lot, quickly and cheaply to start earning money as soon as possible. Attilius, a freedman with entrepreneurial ambition, decided to build a huge wooden amphitheater on the outskirts of Rome, reducing costs in the most critical elements. The structure was supported on unstable ground and was assembled with poor joints, while more seats than planned were added to increase revenue. The result was a building that appeared grand from the outside, but was actually designed more to maximize profits. that to ensure safety of those who were going to occupy it. Spectacle turned into tragedy. What happened? That the inauguration attracted tens of thousands of people who came with the expectation of witnessing gladiatorial combats after a period in which these spectacles had been rather rare. That amphitheater was filled to the limitthere was no room for a pin, with the public distributed by social classes and areas, replicating a hierarchy that also had its economic reflection. Thus, in a matter of seconds, what seemed like a festive day he happened to enter sadly in the Guinness Book of a total sporting catastrophe when the structure began to give way and collapsed simultaneously inwards and outwards. It was not just an accident, since the magnitude of the collapse trapped both those who were inside and those who were trapped. were in the surroundingsleaving a balance of victims that, according to sources, ranged between tens of thousands of dead and injured. The worst sports disaster in history. From then until now, because of its scalethe collapse or collapse of Fidenae was not only a local tragedy, but the biggest sports disaster that has ever been documented, surpassing even many modern episodes in number of victims. The figures, although imprecise at the time, point to a catastrophe comparable to major battles in terms of human losses (they were counted about 50,000 deadsome lost their lives instantly, while others were buried under the rubble), something totally exceptional for an entertainment event. The speed of the collapse, the absence of evacuation measures and the fragility of the construction made any reaction impossible, turning the amphitheater into a mousetrap, a death trap in a matter of seconds. What should have been a profitable business ended up being the most extreme example of how the search for profit can multiply risk to catastrophic limits. From greed to the first rules. There is no doubt, the impact of that disaster shook the Roman Empire and forced an institutional reaction that marked a before and after in the construction regulation. The Senate persecuted the person responsible, Attilius, and sent him into exile, but, more importantly, established rules that They demanded economic solvency to those who wanted to organize shows and forced them to build on safe land. Those measures can be considered one of the first attempts to regulate structural safety in public spaces, born directly from a tragedy caused by negligence. Ultimately, the episode left a lesson that is still very valid: when business prevails over security, the show not only cannot be guaranteed, it can end up becoming in his own catastrophe. Image | Wikimedia C. In Xataka | In 1995, South Korea suffered one of the great architectural disasters of the century. The culprit: the air conditioning In Xataka | If you’re hot at home, remember that Disney made an auditorium with a huge mistake: turning a neighborhood into an unbearable oven

Apparently, the oldest restaurant in the world is in Madrid

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Here’s a question for note: What do Tarantino, Hemingway, Tom Jones, Pérez Galdós, Charlton Heston and Nancy Reagan have in common? The answer is that all those celebrities enjoyed (or that’s what tradition says) of the stews served in one of the most special restaurants on the entire planet: Botin Housea food establishment famous for its barbecues located in the historic center of Madrid, five minutes from the Plaza Mayor. If the business is famous beyond the capital or Spain, however, it is not because of its vast list of illustrious clients, nor even for its baked suckling pig or lamb. What stands out is its age. The restaurant owners come back Its origins date back to 1725, which would make it the oldest in the world. This is how it appears certainly in the Guinness of records. The oldest? That’s how it is. The world is very big and above all it has many, many restaurants (in Spain close to 90,000), but if we ask the authors of the Guinness book no doubt Which is the oldest of all: Botín, a restaurant that traces its origins back to the beginning of the 18th century. This is how its owners defend it, they need that the business was founded in 1725, and so it is recognized the most famous record guide on the planet, the Guinness World Records. In fact, the place generates so much interest that in 2025, coinciding with its 300th anniversary, it starred in chronicles in media such as Smithsonian Magazine, The Times either Financial Timeswhose reporters took the opportunity to try their famous baked suckling pig and order a bottle of Rioja. And what is its story? The Guinness Book assures that the restaurant was set up in the 18th century by a French chef, Jean Botin, and his wife, originally from Asturias. Other versions they need that it was Jean’s nephew, Cándido Remis, who started the business (hence why he is known as ‘Botín’s Nephew’). What all versions agree on is that the origins of the business date back to 1725 and that the building it occupies, on Cuchilleros Street, is even earlier and can be dated to late 16th century. Another surprising fact is that, despite its astonishing longevity, the restaurant has only passed through the hands of two families: first that of its founder, then, already in the 1930s, that of the González family, who have run the restaurant since before the Civil War. How is it possible? The big question. No matter how good a restaurant is, no matter how much effort its owners put into it, or how appetizing their food is, it usually ends up declining over time. Changes in tastes, changes in cities, crises, pandemics, wars, generational changes… there are many rocks on which a family business like Casa Botín can run aground. If there is something exceptional about her, beyond her piglets, it is her great resilience and ability to adapt to changes. The authors of the Guinness Book themselves remember Until the 18th century, the inn could not sell meat or food. He only cooked the food that the guests brought. “There is a legend that it was feared that if taverns served meals, men would never return home to their wives,” remember in Smithsonian Magazine Floriana Gennari, anthropologist. Over time, towards the 19th century, the business began to be called a ‘restaurant’, emulating the culinary fashions of France and opting for a more select approach. “In fact they made cakes and sweets before focusing on pork and local meat,” duck Gennari. Is it really the oldest? Its owners so they claim. And this has been recognized by the Guiness World Record and international media that present it as such, including National Geographic, Forbes, cnn or Forbes, which included it in 2012 your selection of “10 classic restaurants to visit”. Now, the popular establishment on Cuchilleros Street is not the only one to claim that title. Without leaving the Community of Madrid we found another business, the Casa Pedro tavern, which hold that its origins can be traced back even further in time, to 1702. Even the international press has been echoed of the struggle between both establishments to be able to hang in their living room the certificate that distinguishes them as the oldest restaurant. Outside of Spain there are also businesses that they assure have a centuries-old history behind them, some even greater than Botín’s. And what are they? There are those who say that in Salzburg there is a place, the St. Peter Stifskulinariumwhich was founded in the 9th century. In Regensburg (Germany) there is another that dates back its history to the 12th century, the same century in which the museum supposedly opened its doors. Ma Yu Chingin Henan, China. In Japan we also find some restaurant which ensures that its history is well before that of Botín. Probably what few can compare with Botín (besides his suckling pig) is his history, rich in legends. It is said that Goya came to work at the premises washing dishes, Galdós organized gatherings there and the fire in his oven has never gone out, not even during the pandemic. Enough to have captivated figures like Hemingway, who mentions the restaurant in his work ‘Fiesta’. Images | Wikipedia 1 and 2 In Xataka | In Vigo the hoteliers have decided that it is enough to occupy tables to just have a coffee. Solution: minimum consumption

There are two Madrid startups that want to solve the logistical labyrinth of space

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If receiving an order from Madrid to Castilleja de la Cuesta (Seville) can cause you some headaches in the form of a delivery person who never arrives, imagine sending a package from Madrid to the moon. Space logistics is one of the last major bottlenecks in the commercial aerospace industry. For decades, sending cargo to space has been reserved almost exclusively to government agencieswith astronomical budgets and opaque processes. Today the industry is more open than ever, the demand for space shipments is growing, but the logistics infrastructure that supports them remains artisanal and fragmented. Two Madrid startups, Usyncro and Eye4Skythey are trying to change it. A packet destined for space. Send a kilogram of cargo into space costs approximately 20,000 euros and that is just the beginning. That package in question has to go through customs in several countries, go through the hands of multiple carriers and comply with export regulations for sensitive material. ESA and NASA satellite components are subject to dual-use regulations that vary between jurisdictions and require specific licenses for each international transfer (e.g. export control regulations and laws such as NASA’s ITAR). And when you arrive at your destination there is no one to sign a receipt. There is also no warehouse or workers. Just a satellite in orbit waiting for a critical component on which a scientific mission depends. The presentations. Usyncro is a SaaS platform founded in Madrid in 2018 that digitizes international trade logistics through blockchain and artificial intelligence, connecting all the actors of a shipment in a single panel: carriers, customs and operators. Eye4Sky is a spin-off of the National Institute of Aerospace Technology (INTA). It was founded in 2022 by researchers with more than twenty years of experience in space optics. Manufactures polarization modulators based on liquid crystalsoptical devices the size of a spectacle lens and barely 200 grams that analyze light to obtain information about the solar magnetic field or the composition of the atmosphere of other planets, something that a conventional camera cannot do, at a lower cost than traditional instruments and equivalent performance. It operates from the Madrid Science Park, within the ESA BIC incubation program. Why is it important. What Usyncro and Eye4Sky are building goes beyond their own businesses because it points to a structural problem: managing the supply chain of a space mission has always been the territory of large contractors and government agencies. A traceable and standardized digital corridor could lower that barrier to entry. On the other hand, INTA is not a university, it is an organization attached to the Ministry of Defense with a long research tradition but little history of serving as a seed for commercial companies. That Eye4Sky is its first spin-off after decades of applied research represents a paradigm shift: institutions that have historically operated in public and military logic are beginning to open up to civilian commercialization. As for projects on the table, Eye4Sky modulators are already present on the solar observation satellite jointly developed by the European Space Agency and NASA Solar Orbiter, are confirmed in VigilESA’s first space weather mission and in the quest Talisman of Satlantis to detect methane in the Earth’s atmosphere. Usyncro, for its part, already certified via blockchain the launch of Hydra Space satellites and executed the first digital air cargo corridor between Europe and Latin America. The joint project would be the definitive leap: applying that same logic to the most complex logistics chain that exists. Context. Usyncro was a conventional logistics company specialized in coordinating land, air and sea transportation chains. Its value proposition was clear: digitize and centralize the management of complex logistics operations with multiple actors, eliminating the dispersion of information and manual processes. It worked well on land, but the sky is the limit. The turning point came when joining the Retech Digital Entrepreneurship Network of the Community of Madrid, whose aerospace node is located in Tres Cantos. There they met Eye4Skya company that manufactured components for ESA and NASA missions, but had no way to reliably and traceably manage its logistics chain to the satellite. Just what Usyncro knew how to do: manage complex logistics chains with multiple actors. Of course, this time the final destination is in orbit. How they do it. Usyncro is developing a digital logistics corridor, a system that centralizes the entire journey of merchandise in a single control panel, from when it leaves the factory until it reaches its orbital destination. Each party involved in the chain is recorded, each transaction generates a documentary record and at each node along the route images are captured that certify the status and position of the shipment. Blockchain technology guarantees the integrity of the data and reduces time in each phase of the process. The final delivery is certified automatically, without the need for a physical recipient. In essence, it is applying to space logistics the same logic that has transformed land logistics in the last decade: total visibility, real-time data and end-to-end traceability. Yes, but. The project is still in the testing phase. Usyncro and Eye4Sky are shipping material to different countries via multiple routes to validate that the system works under real conditions before scaling up to space missions. Digitizing terrestrial logistics is already a complex problem, but doing it for space cargo adds extra difficulty in issues such as legislation or handling conditions. The margins of error are practically zero. It remains to be seen whether the platform can withstand the operational, regulatory and technical pressure of a real mission before the first big test next year. As Delia Rodríguez, CEO of Eye4Sky, tells: “Our devices are the eye of missions that protect the Earth and that starting in 2027 will monitor from space the invisible shield that protects our planet.” In Xataka | Spanish technology in the return to the Moon: the system designed in Madrid that NASA will use in Artemis II In Xataka | We have been deceived by the distances of the Solar System: the … Read more

Beyond prices and vacation rentals, housing in Madrid faces a huge problem: irregular houses

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Beyond price escalation, the pressure of the vacation rental or the decoupling Between the speed at which homes are created and new buildings built, in Madrid the real estate market faces a tricky challenge: irregular developments. The latest data of the Community of Madrid reveal that in the region there are dozens of settlements of illegal origin that bring together thousands of homes that start from an irregular situation. all one hot potato for administration. What has happened? The data has revealed it The Newspaper. The Community of Madrid has registered almost 200 developments built without the necessary permits, settlements of illegal origin that add up to thousands of homes. The calculation is based on an update of the inventory from the 1980s, when 136 irregular settlements were identified. The figure has changed since then for two reasons. The first, because there were nuclei that have managed to regularize themselves. The second, because the technicians have added to the list others that (for one reason or another) did not appear in the catalog that accompanied the 1985 regulations. What do the figures say? If you walk around Madrid you can find dozens of housing units built without respecting the regulations. Some very populous. Specifically, The Newspaper talks about 184 urbanizations or settlements of illegal origin and some 10,500 homes. The figure is partly explained because the 1980s census incorporated almost a hundred new consolidated residential areas. The Ministry of the Environment clarifies that in most cases they are the result of “urbanization processes outside the law” and “lacking planning”, which explains why they often do not offer “minimum conditions for urbanization.” Are all cases the same? Not at all. Not all urbanizations identified by the Community of Madrid are the same nor do they have the same dimensions. Particularly noteworthy is the settlement of La Vega del Tajuñawhich brings together a large part of the residences in an irregular situation detected by regional technicians. Specifically, there are 5,513 distributed over more than 2,700 hectares. With those dimensions it would be the largest settlement of its kind in the community, although not the only one where hundreds of people live. In Camino Viejo de Madrid and Vega Baja del Guadarrama there are also more than 1,400 buildings and there are others, such as El Rondelo, Pico Valsarón or Dehesa Nueva, with hundreds of homes. The Community has also noted constructions located in locations very close to the capital, such as Improved Field. How is that possible? The circumstances and context are not always the same, but a few days ago EPE visited a nucleus of Mejorada del Campo that helps to understand how settlements like this can be formed in the heart of Madrid. Specifically, the newspaper visited a nucleus that began to form in the 1980s, driven by developers who parceled out rural land and sold the land at affordable prices, offering it as an ideal space for “urban gardens” with access to water. Time, use and the increasing pressure that affect housing prices in Madrid did the rest. What were initially huts designed for tools gave way to more ambitious installations. Is it something new? Not at all. And not only because the history of these settlements can go back a long time. At the end of 2025, the Community of Madrid has already issued a statement in which he recalled that in just four years he had inspected 1,906 “irregular constructions” on protected land. To be precise, the regional government spoke of 5,334.3 hectares “affected by this type of settlements”, also identified in 56 municipalities. “Of them, about 80% are concentrated in the plains of the main Madrid rivers, the majority in the areas of the Tajuña River (2,712.5 hectares), followed by the Jarama (1,019.5), Guadarrama (363.2) and Tajo (150.2)”, explains the Madrid Executive, which warns of the “risk” it represents “both for people and the environment.” Hence, this type of construction appears among the objectives of the Urban Inspection and Discipline Plan. Does it only happen in Madrid? No. Settlements of this type are also common in other parts of Spain, such as Catalonia. “There are many urbanizations that were built in the 60s, 70s and early 80s of the 20th century, which were marketed without the necessary planning, urban management or basic public services,” recognize from the Catalan Generalitat. “Of the 1,433 identified in the 2015 catalogue, there are 730 with urban deficits. Many are concentrated in small municipalities and the tendency to convert housing estates into primary residences aggravates their situation,” acknowledges the regional government. The topic is complex because, as remember EPE When talking about the Madrid case, the legal framework varies over time: if a home built on non-developable land remains long enough outside the ‘radar’ of the authorities, the crime expires and can no longer be demolished. Images | Community of Madrid Via | The Newspaper In Xataka | Madrid believed itself immune to the TukTuk plague in the most tourist cities in the world. Now someone wants to ban them

The Portuguese AVE has a much juicier promise than the connection with Madrid. One of 7,000 million euros

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When talking about trains and infrastructure, there is a country that rubs its hands every time a new project is approved: Spain. Our country has a network of construction companies and rolling stock manufacturers that are among the most leading in the world. And they are already taking positions regarding a new project. One that has 7,000 million euros at stake. The Portuguese AVE. We said a few days ago that Portugal continues to move into an internal high-speed rail connection and that, in fact, its plans go directly through connect Lisbon with the south of Galicia before with Madrid. There are two reasons for this: the movement between Galicians and Portuguese has always been very high but, in addition, it means connecting the two largest Portuguese cities, finally, with a high-speed train. The objective is for the AVE between Lisbon and Porto to be ready in 2033, as well as its connection with Vigo. A year later the link with Madrid should arrive. If the deadlines are met, we will be talking about close a chapter that opened more than 20 years ago. 61 kilometers. It is the distance that runs in the Aveiro-Soure section, which the Portuguese Government has put out to tender. Although, really, we should say that “it’s back in the competition.” And from Portugal they have already tried to award this section without success through a public-private tender. To this tender only The Portuguese company Mota Engil was presented but his project has finally been rejected. This company had already gotten the go-ahead to build the first section between Porto and Aveiro but this time it was not so lucky. 7,000 million euros at stake. They explain in elEconomista.esthat the Portuguese Government has republished this contest with the aim of attracting more companies and projects. And the attraction is clear: now the contract has a potential of 7,000 million euros. The contract is launched to build the high-speed section and the required connections, which requires an adaptation of the Coimbra station, modifying the Northern Line between Taveiro and the southern entrance of said station and building an electric traction substation in the area. But, above all, it has something more juicy: the maintenance of all infrastructure except the section of the Northern Line and the Coimbra station. They explain in the middle that the maximum amount of the award is 1,603.36 million euros but that, in addition, payments are contemplated for a total of 30 years that can reach 4,765 million euros. Added to this is that the project will be partially financed during its construction with 600 million euros. The sum of the project, therefore, is more than 7,000 million euros. The Spanish options. In the middle they also point out that from Spain there will be competition on two fronts. One of them will be Acciona, FCC and Ferrovial, a “team” that has already attended together on other occasions and that, in fact, they dropped out of the tender for the first section of this new high-speed line. Sacyr will also present itself to the project but will do so accompanied by DST and ACA Engenharia & Construção, Portuguese partners with whom it is also presenting itself to the projects in the neighboring country. Again, Sacyr is also another company that already has experience obtaining contracts related to Portuguese railway lines. Pointers. Portugal is the last scenario that Spanish companies will attend, but it is by no means the only one. In recent years, Spanish construction companies have taken over the business of what is known as “AVE to Mecca” and They have found a gold mine in Saudi Arabia for your accounts. They have also found a vein in Vietnam. Although on other occasions this expansionism across half the world has cost some of them some displeasure. CAF, which had been acquired “the contract of the century in Belgium”decided accept the construction of a light rail in Jerusalem. One that passed through Israeli colonies on Palestinian land, which ended up leave the company out of the competition on the new Barcelona Metro trains. Photo | Alex Azabache and Seoane Prado In Xataka | France has tried by all means to prevent CAF from winning “the contract of the century” for Belgian trains. There is good news

Tuk tuks have become the symbol of the excesses of tourism in Madrid. There are those who are already asking to ban them

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If the City Hall data are correct, last year Madrid received a little more 11 million of tourists. A very intense flow of visitors left billions of euros in the capital, also giving wings to an industry that is looking for new ways to expand. His mark has been visible for a long time in the real estate sector through vacation rentals, but it is increasingly also visible on the street thanks to a figure who has been gaining prominence: tuk tuks. Their fleet has expanded so much, so quickly and so uncontrollably that they have slipped into the center of the municipal debate. And there is already someone wants to ban them. What has happened? Tourism is a huge economic engine. Madrid knows this well, estimating that last year foreign visitors left close to 17.9 billion euros11% more than in 2024. This enormous flow of income irrigates accommodation, hospitality, commerce and transportation, but also encourages new businesses, such as tours aboard tuk tuks. In Spain they are relatively common. They began to become popular around 2016. In a matter of a decade, however, their number has skyrocketed exponentially. In 2023 there was talk of around 50 vehiclesthe SER assures that they are already a hundred and just a year ago the Madrid City Council revealed that he was aware of at least six companies with tuk tuks. What’s more, in 2024 mobility agents reported “901 vehicles.” The problem is not only its accelerated increase, it is also the impact that they have in the city. What impact do they have? In words According to the Consistory, the increase in these light three-wheeled vehicles (with motor or pedal) causes “increasing congestion problems” in certain areas of the center frequented by tourists. The reason? The City Council talks about its accumulation in hot spots where they hope to attract customers, such as the San Miguel Market or the Royal Palace, sometimes ignoring the signs installed precisely to keep them away. The result is an increase in complaints from neighbors, merchants, tour guides and taxi drivers, who have already demanded a solution to what consider a clear case of “intrusion and unfair competition.” You don’t have to search the media to find them. There are those who have made evident their discomfort on the networks. Why’s that? “The accumulation of what are known as tuk tuks at certain points generates traffic problems, but also congestion at different stops that have been improvised as parking spaces for collecting tourists,” the City Council acknowledged a year ago, coinciding with the start of a surveillance campaign precisely to prevent irregular parking. The SER assures that in one week they imposed 148 sanctions. Click on the image to go to the tweet. What to do then? Improve local regulations. That is what at least the City Council has proposed, which in January acknowledged that it was working on a regulation that would allow the tuk tuk challenge to be faced more clearly. The advertisement he did it during Fitur the mayor, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, who also launched a notice to navigators: as long as the City Council does not adopt a new rule, urban mobility agents will continue to sanction. “We will continue to pursue a phenomenon that harms not only the image of the city, but also its own functioning. I don’t think it does any good for tourism either when things are not done properly,” insisted. This is not the first time that the local government has spoken out on the issue. Nor does it speak of a new regulation. In the past the Almeida team has already warned that tuk tuks must circulate respecting the regulations, which means stopping parking at points such as the Royal Palace or the San Miguel market. Debate settled? Not at all. Proof that the controversy is still alive in Madrid is that these days it has been revived again with proposals (and reproaches) crossed between the municipal government and the opposition. The reason? Which institution has the power to solve the problem. Madrid Current inform that the head of the Mobility area, Borja Carabante, has demanded that the central government modify the General Traffic Regulations to solve the problem. The PSOE however insist in that it must be the Consistory that acts via ordinance. What do they propose? The socialists have presented an amendment to the new Sustainable Mobility Ordinance, raising arguments to veto this type of vehicle on the streets, including the use they make of sidewalks and other pedestrian areas or the competition they exercise over other transportation services that are regulated and are required to meet requirements. Its approach goes beyond that maintained by the Council, which works to “regulate and order”. Although in other countries they have been circulating for years and also operate in more localities from Spaintuk tuks are situated in a complicated regulatory framework, such as recognized last year the Tourism area of ​​the Madrid City Council to The Spanish. He approach The starting point is simple: tuk tuks can circulate through the city, but they cannot bypass the bullfighting regulations and, therefore, occupy spaces where they now usually park to hunt tourists. Images | Madrid City Council and Caesar (Flickr) In Xataka | In its accelerated touristification, Madrid began to convert commercial premises into paid bathrooms. It turned out as expected

The metro has been splitting Rivas in two for decades. The city council has a plan to cover it up and has already presented it to Madrid

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The Rivas Vaciamadrid City Council has registered before the General Directorate of Infrastructure of the Community of Madrid its project to cover 2.5 kilometers of Metro Line 9B. This is a project that aims to transform part of the town’s urban layout, and the deadline for issuing its technical report has already opened. We tell you all the details. What exactly is this about? Just like they count From the town hall itself, the project consists of burying or covering the section of road that runs above ground through Rivas Vaciamadrid between the Cerro del Telégrafo Sports Center and the Rivas Futura station. They are 2.5 kilometers long and 30 meters wide which, if covered, would stop acting as a physical barrier that divides the municipality in two. On the surface, it is planned to extend the Linear Park, creating a corridor with green spaces for public use. The project also includes the construction of a fourth Metro station in Rivas, located on José Saramago street. Deadlines. The City Council had a technical meeting on February 27 with the General Directorate of Infrastructure, where it presented the solution. A week later, on March 4, it was officially registered, and now the Community of Madrid has three months to decide whether to move forward at a technical level. According to collect El Diario, the council has expressly requested “agility” from the regional administration. Tpolitical background. The fourth season brings them. And it is that according to Diario de Rivas, the Community of Madrid has already pointed out on more than one occasion that this infrastructure “is not justified on a technical level.” The City Council, for its part, insists that the project “is the result of months of rigorous and reliable technical work and that it meets the necessary requirements to move forward towards its execution.” The General Directorate of Infrastructure, for now, has limited itself to confirming that there was a meeting. What the data say. The City Council supports its position to move forward with the project through a survey in which they say that 78% of Rivas residents recognize the importance of this project. The organization frames it within its Rivas 2030 Urban Agenda, where it appears as one of its most notable projects to reconfigure its urban model. What happens now? The ball is in the court of the Community of Madrid. Before the end of June, the technical response from the General Directorate of Infrastructure should arrive. This report will determine if the project can move forward as planned, if it needs modifications or if the proposal (especially the new station) encounters obstacles from the regional administration. The Town Hall has expressed his confidence that the Community “facilitates the progress of an action long awaited by the citizens of Rivas”, but it seems that we will have to wait to find out if it finally materializes as the city council wants. Cover image | Google Maps In Xataka | BYD is already studying entering Formula 1, according to Bloomberg. And it is not a whim, it is a necessary step

Madrid stew. An American team manages to grow chickpeas in lunar regolith

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A team from the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M has achieved that a handful of chickpea plants complete their life cycle in a substrate that imitates the lunar regolith. That is to say, (for the first time) it has been possible for a legume of direct nutritional interest to germinate, develop flowers and produce seeds in a medium of this type. But, let’s go for twists. Grow chickpeas on the Moon!? Although that is the most striking headline, the truth is that it is not exactly that what researchers have shown. We have been trying to find ways to grow crops in the lunar regolith for years and, in fact, the tests that were done in 2022 on real samples were a failure. For this reason, the team has focused on demonstrating that a sterile substrate could be transformed into something similar to arable soil by exploring the symbiosis between the plant in question and a fungus. That is, the crucial thing is that they have managed to ‘bioremediate’ the pulverized rock. And what did they do? The researchers got together chickpeas with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. These fungi drastically improve the absorption of water and nutrients, increase resistance to stress and function for practical purposes as natural biofertilizers. The chickpeas in question flowered and produced seeds in soil containing up to 75% simulated regolith. In the soil composed of 100% simulated regolith they couldn’t get them to give seedsbut the step forward is incredible. Above all, because we have gone from a proof of concept in which lPlants could survive with a lot of stress to one where they can generate crops. The choice of plant is also interesting. Typically, space agricultural research has focused on short-cycle leafy vegetables and, indeed, lettuces. have been cultivated on the ISS for a long time. The problem, as researchers say, is that these vegetables serve to complement the diet, but do not contribute much nutritionally. Chickpeas (with their 15 grams of protein per cup and almost all essential amino acids) are something else. However, the question is important: does it make sense to plant on the Moon? And the answer, as Raúl Herranz of the CSIC points outit’s just not right now. If you need 25% of the necessary soil, mushrooms and some worms… it is probably more efficient to carry the chickpeas packaged. Luckily, this is only the beginning of the journey and there is still a long way to go before the final turnaround. The good news is that we are getting closer. Image | Salvatore G2 – POT In Xataka | A study has tried to find out why space food is so bad: it’s not the food, it’s the astronauts

Portugal had to choose where to take its AVE first. And between Madrid and Galicia, it is very clear

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It was October 2025 when the news broke. Then we learned that Madrid and Lisbon would be linked by a high-speed train in 2034. The objective set by Spain, Portugal and the European Commission is that both capitals are connected by a train that covers the journey in about three hours of travel. The first step to recover that connection is to have a line ready in 2030 with conventional trains that reopen traffic between both cities without having to change trains. The project rescues a line that It already existed in the 19th century but that time has erased. Furthermore, it follows the designs of a European Union that opts for the train over the plane and is that being able to cover this journey in 180 minutes would be a blow against air traffic, which is much more polluting. If the schedule is met, the AVE between both cities will be available almost three decades later than planned. The news, furthermore, seemed to indicate that Galicia was being relegated to the background. And the region has been fighting alongside Portugal for years to have a high-speed rail connection that structures the Atlantic axis. We now know that Portugal will prioritize Galicia over Madrid. First Galicia, then Madrid The confirmation came from the Portuguese Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, during the XXXVI Spanish-Portuguese Summit held in La Rábida (Huelva) who has indicated that he trusts that the Lisbon-Oporto-Vigo line will be completed in 2033 and, therefore, the deadlines prior to the agreement are met with Europe and Spain on Madrid-Lisbon. The words were collected in The Newspaper and it is confirmation that between Madrid and Galicia, The first place Portugal looks to is Galicia. The latest agreements to carry out trains between both cities seemed to put this connection between the Galician city and the two large Portuguese cities at risk. It must be taken into account that the first objective was for Madrid and Lisbon to already have a high-speed connection ready by 2030, the year in which Spain and Portugal (along with Morocco) will organize the Soccer World Cup. However, given the impossibility of meeting the deadlines, a delay until 2034 was agreed upon. This delay has not put at risk the Atlantic corridor in which The European Union has already invested 250 million euros (more than 750 million euros of European funds have already been spent on Madrid-Lisbon) and up to 3,000 million euros delivered by the European Investment Bank (EIB) in the form of soft loans. In Portugal they defend that the connection between their cities and the north of Spain is much more important than the link with Madrid. The high-speed project between Lisbon, Porto and Vigo had already consumed 11,000 million euros as of 2023 and, in the words of Carlos Fernandes, vice president of Infrastructure in Portugal, collected by The reason “develops our country and the centrality of our cities, and not the centrality of other Iberian cities (in relation to Madrid).” For the project to go ahead, it is necessary for Portugal to comply with the plans but also for Spain to have a high-speed exit between Vigo and Tui. From the Portuguese side, they have never denied that they prefer to prioritize the corridor towards Galicia. Pedro Nuno Santos, then Minister of Infrastructure, criticized Renfe in 2022 in an interview with The Countryensuring that they had maintained the night train between Vigo and Portugal but that on the Spanish side no one towed the trains. Right now, the trip between Vigo and Porto takes two hours and 20 minutes. That is, 140 minutes that would become only 50 minutes once the high-speed connection between both cities is consolidated. In fact, those 140 minutes are what is expected to take between Vigo and Lisbon, a huge leap by current standards. The big loser of the dispute is Extremadura. The region has been hearing for years about a Madrid-Lisbon connection that never seems to come. After years where trains have been a real headache, everything indicates that high speed should be completely ready in the region by 2030 but the delay to 2034 has been marked by the deadlines on the Portuguese side. The step forward in high speed is also key in Extremaduran mobility because, for example, it will allow connecting Madrid with Cáceres in one hour (right now it takes more than three hours) and Madrid with Mérida or Badajoz in just over an hour and a half when to reach the latter from Madrid you have to spend more than four and a half hours. Photo | Pedro Correia, Joaoalves0217 and Mstyslav Chernov In Xataka | Madrid and Lisbon will be linked by the AVE. It will only arrive (if it arrives) 24 years late

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