Madrid

Even if you are neither from Barça nor from Madrid, a Clásico is a Clásico. You can watch it without leaving home on Movistar Plus+

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Football has an impact all over the world, but not just any game. The Champions League always has a lot of pull, but if we talk about specific matches, there are few more attractive nowadays than a Clásico between Barcelona and Real Madrid. This weekend we have the last one of this season and we can see it on Movistar Plus+ for 9.99 euros per month. Remember: without permanence and whatever operator you are. Monthly subscription to Movistar Plus+ The price could vary. We earn commission from these links You also have the new Movistar Plus economic plan for less than five euros per month If you were waiting for something to arrive to try Movistar Plus+, there are few things better than a great game like El Clásico. The platform, as we say, does not have any type of permanence. This means that you can subscribe, try everything it offers and, if you are not convinced, unsubscribe whenever you want. What do you end up enchanted with? Well then you can switch to the annual plan with which you would save two months (costs 99.90 euros). The match between Barcelona and Real Madrid, which will take place next Sunday at 9:00 p.m., is not the only match that we will be able to see. Movistar Plus+ will also show the Alavés – Barcelona on May 13, as well as a match on matchdays 37 and 38 of LaLiga. In addition, it will also broadcast the Champions League final and the FA Cup finalanother great game between Chelsea and Manchester City. To all this we must add a catalog of series, movies and documentaries with very good options. From ‘Gladiator 2‘ which premieres today, to other award-winning films such as ‘Sundays‘ either ‘Sirat‘. Of course, there is also room for series like ‘I always sometimes‘or documentaries true crime by Carles Porta, among many other things. One thing remains to be added. If in your case you are not too interested in football, but you are interested in the rest of the Movistar Plus+ catalogue, then you have their new one available Free Plan. This, in essence, offers all the movies, series and documentaries on the platform (as well as more than 70 television channels) for only 4.99 euros per month. Also without permanence and, as with the other plan, you can share it with a friend without problems. Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | Movistar Plus+ In Xataka | Movistar Plus+ activates its Free Plan with complete programs and a lot of content, regardless of which operator you are In Xataka | Less than five euros per month and without permanence: this is the new Movistar Plus+ plan that you can even share with a friend

The gigantic Mayrit tunnel boring machine makes its way through the underground of Madrid to transform Metro L11

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It started on March 26 and in just over a month it has already left behind the first 200 meters of tunnel under the capital’s subsoil. The Mayrit tunnel boring machine advances towards Madrid Río with the objective of completing more than 5,200 meters of gallery before the end of 2027. And all to prepare the ground for the transformation of Metro L11. full throttle. The first month was slower than usual because the TBM was still in the adjustment phase. So has explained it the Department of Transport and Infrastructure of the Community of Madrid. And those first 200 meters have been drilled with the machine still running. However, from now on, Mayrit will reach its cruising speed: between 400 and 500 meters per month, which is equivalent to about 15 meters per day. What exactly is he doing underground. In addition to excavating (logically), as its cutting wheel, equipped with 54 discs, 172 picks and 24 battens, crushes the ground, the machine also places rings of concrete segments that form the final structure of the tunnel. At the same time, extracts about 3,500 tons of earth per day through conveyor belts that extend to the surface, where a hundred and a half trucks are responsible for transporting this material to landfills and disused mining operations. Transfer to the capital. Assembling a 98-meter-long, 1,500-ton machine at a depth of 27 meters is not a simple process. Mayrit was manufactured for 20 months in the German city of Schwana and traveled 2,000 kilometers by land and sea until reaching Madrid. Once here, it took 70 workers three months to assemble it piece by piece inside the future Comillas station. When does it stop and why? Mayrit works tirelessly 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in continuous shifts. But has scheduled stops. The first will be when it arrives at the future Madrid Río station, 1,114 meters from Comillas. There it will undergo a technical review of up to two weeks. Then he will repeat the process in Palos de la Frontera, Atocha and, finally, Conde de Casal. It can also stop at any intermediate point if any part needs replacement, which is scheduled approximately every 1,000 meters. The final destination and when it will arrive. The total route entrusted to Mayrit is 5,227 meters between Comillas and Conde de Casal, where the future interchange is located. The general director of Collective Transport Infrastructure of the Community of Madrid, Miguel Núñez, estimated In statements collected by 20 Minutes that the complete excavation will take between 13 and 14 months. With startup at the end of March, that puts the end of drilling around May or June 2027. Opening to the public will take a few more months, once installations, equipment and testing are completed. The work behind the tunnel boring machine. To complete this section 32,000 tons of steel will be needed210,000 cubic meters of concrete and more than 25,000 segments, whose production began in September 2025 in a factory created expressly for this project. The overall progress of the works already exceeds 50%, according to the City Council, and the investment in this phase amounts to more than 740 million euros. The biggest project behind it. All of this is just a part of something much bigger. The future Line 11 will travel 33.5 kilometers from end to end of Madrid, from Cuatro Vientos to Valdebebas, with 20 stations that will connect points such as Atocha, the airport, Zendal Hospital or the future Formula 1 circuit in Ifema. The complete route can be done in one hour and six minutes. The total investment exceeds 2.5 billion euros and the works will be carried out in four phases until 2031. Cover image | Community of Madrid In Xataka | From devouring diesel to being 100% electric: the incredible transformation of a 650-ton mining excavator in India

Madrid places the last piece of the park that will fly over the M-30

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The work on Parque Ventas in Madrid meets its deadlines and, in fact, is already has finished placing the 96 beams that will serve as support for the structural platform of the new space on the M-30. The idea is that this same space serves as a union for the districts of Salamanca and Ciudad Lineal, which have been separated for decades by the same highway. Meeting deadlines. Ten months after the start of work, the supporting structure is now complete. The delegate of the Works and Equipment Area of ​​the Madrid City Council, Paloma García Romero, has confirmed that, in addition to having placed the last beam, the roof development work is already underway and the first of the eight walkways that will give access to the park have been connected. The schedule remains unchanged and the opening is scheduled for spring 2027. Objective and figures. Parque Ventas has a platform 197 meters long and 16,370 m² in surface. This will fly over the 16 lanes of the M-30, the point with the highest traffic density in Spain, which supports about 150,000 vehicles per day in each direction. Its objective is to connect the neighborhoods of Salamanca and Ciudad Lineal, which have been separated by the same highway for decades. How it is built. The structure rests on piles founded between 16 and 17 meters deep. The 96 prefabricated prestressed reinforced concrete beams have been arranged in 32 transverse frames to the highway, supported on the edges of the platform and on piles located in the medians that separate the main lanes from the auxiliary ones. On those beams a concrete slab is now being laid 30 centimeters thick. The complete deck reaches 2.7 meters deep, with a middle layer of soil of 1.5 meters to allow for landscaping. Both the concrete and the prefabrication techniques have been chosen, according to the City Council, so that it affects traffic as little as possible during the works. Logistical challenge. Placing these pieces takes a lot of effort. According to counted A few weeks ago, Javier Nájera, head of the City Council’s structures service, told El Mundo that working during the day on that stretch could have generated delays of up to 14 hours. For this reason, the most critical operations were concentrated in summer, when traffic fell by 40%, and were carried out at night with cranes weighing more than 500 tons that, before six in the morning, had to be completely removed. The beams, weighing up to 200 tons and 40 meters in length, arrived from Rivas Vaciamadrid and Seville, since according to Nájera Manufacturing only from Madrid would be unfeasible for the pace they need. What will there be when it opens? The future park will include pedestrian areas, gardens with 591 trees and more than 48,800 bushes, more than 2,150 m² of meadows, children’s games, calisthenics equipment, a small grandstand for outdoor performances, two kiosks, fountains and street furniture. The eight walkways will connect the platform with both banks of the M-30, creating a green corridor between the Quinta de la Fuente del Berro park and the green area of ​​Ciudad Lineal. The other side of the project. The works progress, but not without disturbances. And the neighborhood platform AfectadosM30 has publicly denounced the impact of the nighttime operations on the more than 50,000 people who live in the surrounding neighborhoods. The platform also He contacted Xataka and questioned some aspects such as the discovery of underground water during the excavation, which forced the work to be readapted, or the final cost of the work. The City Council estimates the investment at 80 million euros, although the neighborhood platform elevates that figure up to 94.9 million if the modifications introduced after the initial award are included. What remains to be done. With the structure completed, the work now focuses on the concrete slab on the beams and the development of the roof. Next will come the waterproofing, the drainage system, the soil layer and, finally, the landscaping. Cover image | Google Maps and Madrid City Council In Xataka | The great artery between Madrid and Valencia had been awaiting renovation for years: 500 million euros will end the wait

Charging the battery properly is a hassle. So the Madrid firefighters have had to come out and explain how to do it.

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The Madrid Security and Emergency Agency has published a series of recommendations (something that comes remembering year after year) as a result of something they see constantly (: domestic accidents due to bad practices when charging a phone. What in 2026 seems obvious does not have to be so obvious, so it is worth collecting some of the points in which some users continue to fail. It doesn’t work anywhere. Raise your hand if you have ever carried your cell phone on the bed or sofa. Such a common practice can end up leading to a fire. The basic recommendations are clear. Do not charge the device near any device that emits heat, such as the car dashboard itself (when it is connected by cable to it) or a radiator. Do not carry it on beds, chairs or textile surfaces. These, in addition to increasing the temperature of the device, are highly flammable. The 112 recommendation is the same that we have been doing for years at Xataka: charge on a smooth, non-combustible surface, and if possible cool and ventilated. Be careful with chargers. 112 explains that we should only use “approved chargers.” To verify that this is the case, all we have to do is look at whether or not the charger has a visible CE marking. This type of charger always includes data on its input voltage, output, amperage and power. As Xatakero advice, we recommend buy chargers with official fast charging protocols such as Quick Charge (QC), Power Delivery or PPS. This is a perfect indication that the manufacturer has taken care to offer compatibility with the best charging protocols of the moment, since the final power does not tell us everything: how it charges matters. Add to this that, although chargers are specifically designed to collect heat (all the heat they collect is heat they take away from your device), it is best not to put them near flammable surfaces. Be careful with repairs. A point that we do not usually take into account and that can end in a bad outcome is the quality of the replacement battery. Nowadays it is more than common to use compatible batteries instead of the original ones, since they are much cheaper. Here it is important to be clear about where the battery comes from and what its safety guarantees are. A poor quality battery can bloat, not control the temperature like an original one, and cause significant damage. Go deeper. It is no coincidence that year after year, and with the arrival of heat, you discover these articles with tips (that you may or may not know) on how to charge your cell phone. Fires caused by plugged-in electronic devices remain on the order of the dayand every memory about the recommendations for charging our devices makes sense. With the rise of silicon-carbonincreasingly larger batteries, and fast charging systems that exceed 100w, we have advanced and safe technology, but it requires a little effort on our part. In Xataka Mobile | A 12,000 mAh battery in a mobile phone is possible: Xiaomi advances the future of silicon-carbon with the next Redmi

Evangelism has been leading a revolution in Madrid for years. Now he has turned the Metropolitan into a huge church

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evangelism build muscle in Madrid. The weekend tens of thousands of people gathered at the Riyadh Air Metropolitan stadium to participate in The Change 2026a Christian event that had its first edition in August 2023 at the Benfica da Luz stadium (Lisbon) and revolves around gospel, prayer and evangelization. The event is important not only for its content or participants, which includes the footballer Daniel Alves. It is above all because it connects with other manifestations recent and multitudinous Christianity. What matters, but even more so when and where. What is The Change 2026? A Christian macro event held this weekend in Madrid. Its highlight came on Saturday, when a massive event was organized at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano stadium (Atletico’s field) which, according to organizers’ calculations, was attended by more than 35,000 people. In the website from The Change details that the first event of these characteristics took place in 2023, in Lisbon, and has already attracted thousands of people. At its genesis is the Rodrigues Pereira Association, an organization promoted by the preacher of the same name. Tickets to the event were freealthough they required prior registration and the organization accepted donations. Why is it important? Its attendance data is interesting in itself, but if there is a reason that explains the curiosity that The Change has aroused (and the comments that it has generated in networks) is that it connects with other much broader trends. The main one, the celebration of massive religious events in Madrid. We had the best example beginning of 2026when the city hosted two events almost simultaneously that had thousands of attendees. He January 10 Vistalegre served as the setting for a concert by Kahuna Group Music, a Catholic group that brought together thousands of people. On the same dates, the Movistar Arena hosted the prayer meeting Callswhich had Alpha España among its organizers and had the evangelical group Hillsong as the opening act. They were not two isolated cases. In April some 85,000 people They participated again in the fourth edition of the Festival of the Resurrection, organized by the Catholic Association of Propagandists and which once again featured Hakuna. Catholics and/or evangelists? It is not a minor issue. The Change vindicate that their event “is not the fruit of a single organization”, but “the heartbeat of a united church, with the same feeling.” The Catholic Church, however, has distanced itself from the event held this Saturday at the Metropolitan. In fact, on March 12, the Archdiocese of Madrid sent a statement brief and firm in which he made it clear that it had nothing to do with The Change. “This initiative is being promoted in our diocese by people outside it, in collaboration with a priest and an association led by a Portuguese evangelical pastor,” pointed out the Madrid Catholic Church, which clarified in passing that it was only informed of the event “when it had already been called.” “Consequently, the Archdiocese of Madrid does not consider itself linked to this event and regrets the call for activities of this nature in its jurisdiction without the necessary coordination with diocesan pastoral care.” Is it an important detail? Yes. Because it connects with a broader phenomenon that transcends the event held this weekend at the Metropolitano. Beyond the rise of Christianity (a trend that studies do not always support: some suggest a growing interest in the spiritual, rather than in orthodoxy), The Change or Llamados show a change in the way of expressing faith. A shift that also pivots towards a form of collective prayer and celebration centered on pop music, rock, big screens and collective prayers, manifestations far from the liturgy of more traditional Catholicism. Is it something new? No. The change comes from years back and it has not been without debate. The Online School of Apologetics has published, for example a list of “twelve reasons why it is not good to listen to Protestant music” and in 2011 the website Religion in Freedom he was wondering Whether Catholics should take note of the evangelists’ use of music. All this, between the controversy by Hillsong. In recent days, voices uncomfortable with the Metropolitan event have also emerged. One of the clearest is Universitarios Católicos (almost 132,000 followers on X), which took advantage of the weekend event to remember the rise of evangelism in the Community of Madrid. “One of the consequences of mass immigration: the loss of our Catholic identity,” concludes. Religion in Freedom assures that, although on Saturday people linked to the Catholic Church or Charismatic Renewal of Madrid could be seen in the stadium, the vast majority of attendees were not linked to the Church of Rome. Specifically, the media estimates that if in the event held in 2023 in Lisbon Catholics represented 25% of the public, in the case of Madrid they were 10%. What was seen in The Change? The event revolved around gospel, corporate prayer and preaching. Among the participants, names stood out such as Rodrigues Pereira or Dani Alves, former footballer for FC Barcelona and the Brazilian national team sentenced to four and a half years in prison (sentence later revoked by the Superior Court of Justice) for a violation. From that same thing, from his experience in prison, Alves spoke before the thousands of people gathered at the Metropolitano. “I was in prison for 14 months, but there Christ set me free. I have lost everything, but by losing everything I found Jesus.” Is it just religion? No. It’s culture. And demographics. Events like Saturday’s may grab headlines, but they are rooted in a much more important… and silent reality: over the last few years, evangelism has been expanding throughout Madrid, coinciding with the increase in Latin American migration. The Observatory of Religious Pluralism in Spain recorded a few months ago 834 places dedicated to evangelical worship in the region, which made it the minority confession with the greatest presence, ahead of Muslims. The phenomenon, very visible in the polygons where new … Read more

The periphery was always the refuge of those fleeing the housing prices of Madrid. That’s over

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With an untouchable market, exorbitant prices and draconian conditionsfor years many residents of Madrid who wanted to buy a house had no choice but to look outside the capital, in the metropolitan area. The logic was very simple: perhaps they couldn’t afford a flat in Castellana, but they could in Alcobendas, Coslada, Leganés or Móstoles, towns relatively well connected to Madrid and with more ‘friendly’ real estate markets. The problem is that these shelters are becoming fewer and fewer shelters. Where do I buy a house? There was a time when the answer to that question was obvious. One bought where one could, but usually the market offered enough margin so as not to have to leave the municipality in which one wanted to live due to roots, personal ties or work. In recent years that margin has been increasingly narrowing in cities like Madrid or Barcelona, ​​forcing buyers to consider your future beyondin metropolitan areas. There are even people who, taking advantage of teleworking and the improvement of public transport, decide to put their things in boxes and move dozens (or even hundreds) of kilometers away without giving up their jobs in Madrid. It is something that is already perceived, for example in Valladolidwhich has seen its registry grow thanks in part to Madrid residents who come there attracted by a more affordable residential market. There are around two hundred kilometers by car between both cities, but the AVE allows you to cover the journey in just over one hour. Click on the image to go to the tweet. Is it a real solution? The problem, like pointed out a few days ago José Manuel García Suárez in Their prices may still be lower in many cases than those paid on average in the capital, but that distance is being reduced little by little. What’s more, the more affordable their markets were initially, the faster they seem to be becoming more expensive, lowering their value as housing ‘havens’. What does that mean? Although housing in these locations is still cheaper than in Madrid, the m2 has begun to become more expensive than in the capital, which raises an uncomfortable question: Will they continue to be an alternative for those fleeing the capital? And if so, how long? The phenomenon is best understood with Idealista data. Right now on the real estate portal, the average residential m2 in Madrid is offered at 5,960 euros. Except for some luxury developments, there is no town in the province with such expensive housing. However, what Madrid no longer stands out for is the rate at which prices rise. According to Idealistahouses have become more expensive there by 12% in the last year compared to 16% in Pozuelo de Alcorcón, 19.8% in Majadahonda, 19.3% in Alcobendas, 16.2% in Rivas-Vaciamadrid or 20.8% in Getafe. Population Price (March 2026) Quarterly variation Annual variation Madrid €5,960/m2 +2.4% +12% Alcobendas €3,962/m2 +3.5% +19.3% San Sebastian de los reyes €3,861/m2 +3.4% +12.1% Three Songs €3,904/m2 +2.1% +16.9% Las Rozas €4,031/m2 +3.3% +19.2% Majadahonda €4,675/m2 +4.6% +19.8% Pozuelo de Alarcón €4,966/m2 +2.8% +16% Boadilla del Monte €3,924/m2 +2.6% +17.4% Mostoles €2,924/m2 +4.5% +20.6% Leganes €3,120/m2 +2.1% +20.2% Fuenlabrada €2,810/m2 +4.6% +19.6% Getafe €3,162/m2 +3.7% +20.8% Rivas-Vaciamadrid €3,241/m2 +3.4% +16.2% Coslada €3,121/m2 +1.7% +23.5% San Fernando de Henares €2,983/m2 +1% +20.9% But it was something to be expected, right? More or less. That housing is becoming more expensive at a faster rate in Fuenlabrada than in Madrid capital is in a certain way logical. The higher a value is, the more difficult it is for it to register large percentage increases. In other words: that in Madrid housing has risen by 12% and in Coslada by 23.5% does not have to mean, in net terms, that the latter requires disbursing a greater amount of money. Making the above clear, data such as those published by Idealista show that the real estate market is overheating more quickly in the periphery than in the metropolis. And that is relevant because it paints a scenario in which the metropolitan area stops being the “plan B” of those looking for affordable housing. The phenomenon also It is not exclusive to Madrid. Something similar is happening on the outskirts of Barcelona, ​​which has seen how housing in Badalona, ​​Santa Coloma or Cornella de Llobregat becomes more expensive at a faster rate than in Barcelona. What can we expect? The outlook is complicated for several reasons. Firstly, because the Madrid or Barcelona market does not give any signs that it is cooling, not at least as far as prices are concerned. Also in Spain they continue to be created homes faster than new homes are being built, suggesting that the deficit that stresses the market will not be corrected in the short term. The question is how that will affect large metropolitan areas. Teleworking and public transportation mean that there are more and more people willing to live far from their jobs (the number of those who live and work in different provinces has increased by 30% since 2019), but cases such as those in Madrid or Barcelona show that price increases do not take long to spread to new markets, especially targeting the most affordable ones. Image | Joshua Aguilar (Unsplash) In Xataka | In its crazy rise in housing prices, Madrid has just broken a barrier: that of the most expensive apartment in its history

Real Madrid, Premier League and the final of the Mutua Madrid Open. Everything in Movistar Plus+

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We have just started May, a month in which many sports competitions are decided. There we can include LaLiga, the Premier League or the Euroleague basketballjust to cite a few examples. If you like all this, you have a lot to see in Movistar Plus+: a platform that you can subscribe to regardless of which operator you are and what it costs 9.99 euros per month. Monthly subscription to Movistar Plus+ The price could vary. We earn commission from these links The last Clásico of the season can be seen on Movistar Plus+ Have you ever thought about trying this streaming platform? Any time is good, but if you like sports in general (and football in particular), now is a good time. Also, since it has no permanence, you can try it for a month and, if it doesn’t convince you, unsubscribe whenever you want. That’s also what your ‘Free Plan‘, although this is more limited in content. Now let’s go to the sports agenda (about premieres, we’ll talk a little further down). This weekend there are quite interesting things, especially on sunday: Espanyol-Real Madrid, Manchester United-Liverpool and the men’s final of the Mutua Madrid Open tennis. If that’s not enough, next week things are going to be intense with Bayern Munich-PSG and the Clásico. And movies? We have a huge catalog on the platform with several Oscar winners, such as ‘Sentimental Value‘ either ‘Weapons. Others will also arrive like ‘Gladiator 2‘ in the coming days, although we cannot lose sight of the Movistar Plus+ series. There are own productions on the platform that are very worthwhilelike the recently released ‘Yo siempre sometimes’ or others that have been around for longer but are hilarious, like ‘Poquita fe’. If you are planning to take a getaway these days, Movistar Plus+ could be very good for you. You can download whatever you want from the platform to watch it on the plane or train. In addition, it supports two simultaneous playbacks, so you can watch what you want wherever you are while someone at home continues enjoying the platform. Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | Movistar Plus+ In Xataka | Movistar Plus+ for non-Movistar customers: what it is, how much it costs, channels, additional services and how to contract it In Xataka | Movistar Plus+ activates its Free Plan with complete programs and a lot of content, regardless of which operator you are

20 years ago someone believed they had the key to decongesting Madrid. Today it is gaining strength again with a name: M-70

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In 2005, someone put on the table that, perhaps, the time has come to decongest Madrid from transit trips. That is, those that start outside Madrid and end outside Madrid. The idea is not new by any means. The M-30 or the M-40 They were born with the clear objective of keeping cars away from the city center. More kilometers for the driver but with the promise of taking much less time to reach our destination. The problem is that the municipalities and neighborhoods adjacent to the M-40 are enormous in Madrid. Some even merge with the city itself. As a result of this problem, the M-50. The highway finished being consolidated in the early 2000s. It has a total length of 85 kilometers and with it you can go from Las Rozas on the A-6 to San Sebastián de los Reyes, already on the A-1, surrounding Madrid on its southern side. It serves as a connection to the entire southern belt of the city, passing next to Móstoles, Leganés or Getafe but also next to Pozuelo, San Fernando de Henares or Barajas. The connection, however, is not closed in the north. That is, there is no direct connection A-1 and A-6 or vice versa, it is necessary to surround the entire southern framework because right now no highway crosses that space. The closest is the M-40 which, as we say, is next to the capital. But what if we go further? What if we try to eliminate traffic in Madrid with a radial highway that links all the provincial capitals that surround Madrid and without having to go through this autonomous community? This is what was proposed more than 20 years ago and now they want to recover. The M-70, an old Castilian desire Although it sounds utopian, the truth is that carrying out the Pentagon Project or the M-70, as the idea has been known since 2005, this idea has been raised more or less seriously. In fact, that year it was included in the Strategic Infrastructure Plan for Madrid just as they collected in 20Minutes and was considered of General Interest of the State as it was part of the Strategic Infrastructure and Transportation Plan (PEIT) 2008. The crisis, however, wiped out any reference to the project. That name of “Project Pentagon” It is because its construction would create a road network with this shape by joining Segovia, Ávila, Toledo and Guadalajara, passing through other municipalities of considerable size such as Ocaña, Maqueda or Tarancón. The name M-70 would not exist as such at the moment because, really, the objective would be to connect highways between said capitals in a kind of Frankenstein that would allow movement between all the radial roads near Madrid but without the need to enter said autonomous community. The last consistent reference to the project is a statement by Emiliano García-Page in 2024 who made reference to the fact that the connection of Cuenca with the A-5 through an extension of the A-40 would make the latter the M-70 of the city. And at the time of projecting that future M-70, it was already projected that the A-40 would be the road that would largely structure the project. This road, the A-40 It is a connection that aims to unite Ávila with Teruel. At the moment, on the west side, the road has been passable since 2012 between Maqueda (on the A-5) to Mocejón (past Toledo). At that point the highway is cut off as it passes through Aranjuez (the only point where it touches the Community of Madrid) and extends again from Ocaña to Cuenca. At the moment, that Madrid section and the connection from Maqueda to Ávila is in the study phase. And to finish this old dream of the Castiles, it would be necessary to extend the highway to Teruel from Cuenca, whose preliminary project has already been completed and approved. The concept of M-70, however, would be realized with the existing connection between Ávila and Segovia and, most complicated, the connection of the latter with Guadalajara. The “simplest” thing (yes, in many quotes) would be to create a connection between Segovia and the A-1 and reuse the latter in the direction of Madrid to unfold the possible ring road taking advantage of the route of the N-320. The latter connects the A-1 highway with Cuenca passing through Guadalajara. However, this Segovia-Guadalajara connection seems really complicated given the geographical accidents along the way. Despite this, as we said, a hypothetical M-70 ring road It would be an amalgamation of different highways or linked highways, not the construction of an entire ring road. It would, however, be a possibility to alleviate some traffic on the east-west and west-east routes without passing through Madrid. The A-40 wants to be that solution in the south but there were already those who dreamed 20 years ago of carrying it out also in the north. Photo | Command on Wikimedia and Google Maps In Xataka | The great artery between Madrid and Valencia had been awaiting renovation for years: 500 million euros will end the wait

the history of the Torres Colón, the Madrid skyscraper built upside down

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Around here we love megastructures (and who doesn’t), but there are also curious stories in buildings that do not hold records of any kind and that even seem everyday to us. An example are the Columbus Towersin Madrid (Spain), whose architecture and construction posed certain challenges at the time and which almost made the saying “start the house with the roof” literal. There are 23 floors above and six underground, and its construction was possible thanks to the suspended architecture attributed to its architect Antonio Lamela (died in 2017). Or what is the same, the floors hang from each other, so that the upper floors do not rest on the lower ones. Not one tower, but two, and built from top to bottom This popular saying was already stated by Antonio Lamela, its architect, who maintained that towers could only exist if they were built from top to bottom. The reason: the irregular 1,710 square meter plot on which they were going to settle was too small and the municipal ordinance required many parking spaces, as explained in The Country. For this reason, the foundations would have to occupy a small space, hence Lamela began the construction in the opposite direction, something that in the end would cement (pun intended) an architectural work with a unique building in the entire world. and the decision to do two towers and not a single building as the City Council proposed, it was due to the fact that the architect and his staff confirmed that building a single tower would have deteriorated the urban image “due to the implementation of an element of enormous proportions.” Building them there was by no means a coincidence. The site was in the heart of the city and the City Council established that “the building must be an architectural unit of marked verticality”, as explained on the Estudio Lamela website, and there were numerous changes of criteria regarding a project (as we will see later) that had to adapt to a predictable urban framework, but that could never become a reality because of this. Image: Estudio Lamela And why build them? from the top to the base? As the study itself explains, they found a problem that could not be solved with the usual systems: the adaptation of the needs of the building (residential and with commercial spaces on the ground floor) was incompatible with traditional means, in addition to the irregularity of the site. Hence the idea of ​​”hanging” the towers, so that a double structure could be proposed with the two parts independent and in the end there would be a set of three almost independent buildings: the two towers and the one that acts as a base. Thus, the method consisted of raising a narrow pillar in the center (the core), on which to place the hanging platform (that is, the large concrete head). From there the floors were built downwards, the weight of which falls partly on the central pillar and the rest on the side braces. The pressure of the platform was in turn transmitted by these lateral braces, thanks to the tension of steel cables, thus compressing the soles against the head. “It’s like the building was turned upside down.” Antonio Lamela, architect. A project that was changing in its development The design of the Colón Towers, 116 meters high, was planned from the beginning, differentiating itself from what was usually done in “hanging” buildings, starting from steel structural heads. What was done is a design completely in reinforced concrete, using high-resistance post-tensioned concrete and making the slabs of the typical floors rest on their perimeter on the external tie rods, thus not being in tension but compressed against the post-tensioned concrete structure as we have explained before. In this way, the upper structure (in which the installation machinery would be located) receives the load from the 21 suspended slabs, transmitting it to the core, through which it descends to the ground foundation. For the façade, in principle folded sheet metal was used. anodized aluminum bronze color, although as we will see later this was not what was left in the end. They also count in The Country that this green crown art deco so particular, that it has been popularly known as “the plug”, that the reverse construction of this building baffled those who were watching the progress for years. The Colón Towers began to be built in 1967, but in 1970 the Madrid City Council stopped the works due to “political interests”, according to the architect in numerous interviews. With this (and the lawsuits), the City Council’s compensation allowed the initial use for luxury residences that had been planned to change to house offices, restarting the works and finishing them in 1976. A spectacular ending, but it was not the desired one either. The Colón Towers were considered the “building with the most advanced technology in building construction until 1975” made of prestressed concrete at the World Congress of Architecture and Public Works. It was a pioneering work in its construction, although there were already suspended structures (especially bridges) and over time we have seen more examples of both suspended architecture like this way of building them, like the corporate building of the Nykredit bank by Schmidt Hammer, the Media Tic building by Enrique Ruiz Geli or Hovenring, a suspended platform by ipv Delft that we saw talking about When buildings adapt to bicycles (and not the other way around). The project began being called Torres de Jerez, although it was named after Columbus as its construction took hold and was promoted, in the early seventies and by the construction company Osinalde. After deciding that they would be offices and once built, they were acquired by the family Ruiz Mateosbeing later expropriated to finally be bought by the British group Heron International. The construction company decided to change the aesthetics with a glazed exterior skin to avoid revocation, so that there was a double layer that increased … Read more

If you live in Madrid or Barcelona, ​​it is possible that a Latin American bookstore has opened next to your house

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The indomitableopened four months ago in the Madrid neighborhood of Prosperidad and directed by a Mexican. A few meters from Retiro Park, the now classic The Retreat of Lettersowned by two Colombians. In Arganzuela, the Argentine bookstore Mandolin It inaugurated its first Madrid branch a year ago. It is not an isolated or spontaneous phenomenon. It responds to an accumulation of demographic, editorial and economic factors that go beyond the folklore chronicle. From rookies to veterans. In this panorama, the most recent projects coexist with initiatives that have been established for a few years. The Mistral It opened in 2021 in the hall of the old Arenal Theater, two minutes from Puerta del Sol, by the Argentine Andrea Stefanoni, and was considered the most beautiful bookstore in the world by National Geographic that same year. His fame allowed him to organize a short story contest that received 150 manuscripts from different countries. Closer in time, in 2020, a couple of Venezuelans inaugurated The little beings also in Madrid, where they sell new and used books with special attention to Venezuelan and Latin American production. Olavidefounded by two Argentine journalists, combines book sales with cultural activities. AND Late Space It simultaneously functions as a bookstore, cafeteria and headquarters of Late, an Ibero-American network of narrative journalism founded as a cooperative by professionals from Colombia, Spain and Cuba. Repeating pattern. Although they are founded by Latin Americans, these bookstores do not operate exclusively with the diaspora as clientele. They are neighborhood bookstores in the most classic sense: children’s collection, independent labels and a personal relationship between bookseller and customer. They organize workshops and reading clubs. Sometimes they even serve cuisine from their places of origin. As a reflection of this phenomenon, the Madrid Book Fair of 2025 dedicated a table of its Meeting of Independent Ibero-American Bookstores to the phenomenon. The figures behind the phenomenon. The most recent breakdown by Latin American origin available, the analysis of the Elcano Royal Institute Based on INE data as of January 1, 2024, there were 4.25 million people born in Latin America residing in Spain (9% of the total population and 48% of all immigrants). The trend behind that figure has not slowed down: during 2024, the largest increases in the foreign population were once again concentrated in Colombians (+98,057), Venezuelans (+52,555) and Moroccans (+48,306), according to the INE. in December 2025. The accumulated result is that as of January 1, 2026, Spain has exceeded the 10 million inhabitants born abroad. A community of that magnitude, concentrated in large cities, generates cultural demand. But… why is this demand channeled towards the opening of own bookstores and not only towards consumption in establishments that already exist? The distribution obstacle. Part of the answer lies in how the transatlantic publishing market works. That Spain and Latin America share a language does not mean that they share a catalog: for example, El Retiro de las Letras imports directly from publishers in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile and Argentina to make authors visible that do not reach Spain through conventional distribution channels. Combed Cana bookstore specialized in Latin American fiction with offices in Barcelona and Madrid, recognizes that half of its titles are not distributed in Spain and that These copies cannot be returned if they do not sell.. It is a risk of excess stock that large chains are not willing to assume. The bookstore Juan Rulfoproperty of the Economic Culture Fund of Spain, and the Ibero-American Bookstoreopen in Madrid’s Barrio de las Letras since 2004, have been covering that specialized niche for decades. To those establishments have been added in recent years dozens of projects promoted by immigrants that multiply the offer, from bookstores specialized 100% in Latin American narrative to hybrid spaces with a focus on culture. Relief in the sector. The context of the book sector in Spain is not immune to this phenomenon. There are 2,754 independent bookstores active in Spainand although it is a figure in permanent declinethe business going well in economic terms: In 2024, the Spanish publishing sector had a turnover of 3,037 million euros, 6.3% more than in 2023, in its eleventh consecutive year of growth and with the highest figure since 2008. How do you explain that establishments fall while turnover rises? 85% of closures are caused by the retirement of the bookseller. Latin American booksellers are occupying a space where replacements are scarce, in residential neighborhoods of large cities where the traditional bookstore has closed. The limits of the phenomenon. It is advisable not to exaggerate the scope of the phenomenon. A few dozen bookstores founded by Latin American immigrants in Madrid and Barcelona do not reconfigure the Spanish publishing ecosystem. Spanish book exports in 2024 reached 381 million euros, aimed mainly at Ibero-American countrieswhich indicates that the flow of books between Spain and Latin America continues to be mostly in the opposite direction. What these bookstores do represent is a symptom: that of an immigrant community with sufficient cultural roots to invest in a business with fair profitability and that demands a very high vocation. A sector where the main problem is that retirements are multiplying and where there is a Latin American catalog with four million potential readers who continue to need intermediaries willing to cross the Atlantic. In Xataka | The 24 most beautiful bookstores in the world

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