Málaga

Malaga had some enviable rustic plots. Now you have a time bomb with 167,000 tons of debris and asbestos

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The volume of the figures is scary. According to official data from the Ministry of the Interiorthe Civil Guard has uncovered the illegal dumping of 167,000 tons of waste from construction works within the framework of what is called “Operation Cover”. This macro-operation has so far resulted in the investigation of twelve natural persons and three legal entities, all of them strongly linked to the construction and earthworks sector. They are accused of alleged crimes against the environment for systematically evading all legal controls required for the treatment of this waste. The trap of economic profit. Why was this location chosen? The answer, as is usually the case in environmental crimes, lies in economic benefit. As the environmental technical magazine explains Rethemethose investigated used rustic plots located in the Axarquía region to convert them, de facto, into clandestine landfills. The objective was purely lucrative: to avoid at all costs the payment of the corresponding fees for the treatment of this debris in duly authorized recycling plants. Behind the mountain of garbage. The problem is that it has become a critical focus for the residents of the area. According to what they warn from the Interiorthis negligence represents an enormous risk of fire due to the amount of flammable material that has been piled up. In addition, there is a real fear that toxic waste will seep underground and ruin the water in local aquifers. However, the most disturbing discovery in the area has been the appearance of fiber cement (asbestos) among the rubble. According to the local media South Journalimproper handling and exposure to the elements of this “highly dangerous” material causes the release of harmful fibers into the air, posing a direct and lethal risk to public health. The judicial future of operation “Cover”. With the damage already done on the ground, the focus now shifts to the courts. The police proceedings carried out have been handed over to the Environmental Prosecutor’s Office of Malaga, which will be in charge of leading the judicial procedure against the fifteen accused. However, the case is far from closed. The investigation carried out by agents of the Nature Protection Service (Seprona) of the Civil Guard remains open. The authorities have intensified surveillance in the province and it is not ruled out that new actions or accusations may occur in the coming months. The ghost of Nerja and urban pressure. This discovery in Axarquía is not an isolated case, but rather the symptom of a structural problem. local media provide fundamental context to understand the magnitude of the situation: the strong urban pressure in the province of Malaga and the immense volume of waste generated by brick greatly complicate control in rural and agricultural areas. Furthermore, what happened a few years ago with the illegal landfill in Nerja. In an old quarry located within a protected area (the Sierra Almijara natural park), more than 802,000 cubic meters of uncontrolled garbage accumulated over 18 years (from 1998 to 2016). Despite the obvious environmental catastrophe, the legal complexity of the matter led to all the accused, including businessmen and senior political officials of the municipality, being finally acquitted through sentences issued in 2023 and ratified in 2025. The bill we all pay. Hiding 167,000 tons of waste under the rural carpet of Axarquía is the empirical demonstration that the apparent economic “savings” of a few private companies ends up becoming a heavy and unfair toxic debt for the entire society. What was going to be a rustic plot dedicated to the land, today is nothing more than a time bomb loaded with asbestos, polluting liquids and flammable materials that waits under the sun for someone to finally assume the real cost of deactivating it. Image | Civil Guard Xataka | BonÀrea has achieved what practically in the world: that the system for recycling plastic packaging works

NASA has put a Spaniard in charge of the project for its future lunar base: Carlos García-Galán from Malaga

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Dressed in a jacket, light blue shirt and gold tie, Carlos García-Galán He did not occupy another chair at the NASA conference held in Washington. Escorted by the administrator Jared Isaacman and other top-level officials, the engineer from Malaga spoke before the press in the middle of the presentation of the agency’s new lunar turn. His presence at that time placed him at the forefront of a roadmap that redefines NASA’s priorities on the Moon. The context of that scene helps understand its relevance. Hours before,Isaacman had presented a roadmap that changes the focus of the agency. It is no longer just about returning to the Moon, but about establishing a sustained presence on its surface. The proposal involves deploying in three phases the initial elements of a permanent lunar base, with stable infrastructure and a logic that is more industrial than experimental. The man from Malaga who now pilots the Moon Base program This change of course also redefines the role of those who must execute it. In this context appears García-Galán, whose official position within NASA is “executive program” at the lunar base. This is a high-level management position, responsible for coordinate and guide program development, not an operational role on the ground. His role will be to lead the project from the agency structure, not to direct a facility on the lunar surface. García-Galán, remember, is not a newcomer, but an engineer who has developed his career within NASA and has been assuming responsibilities for years to get to this point. His presence in the announcement is linked to that trajectory, which now places him in one of the great bets of the US space agency at this stage. His career within NASA helps to understand why he has come this far. Before this appointment, García-Galán, according to LinkedInheld the position of “deputy manager” of the Gateway program, until now a relevant piece in the agency’s lunar architecture. With more than 27 years of experience In manned space flights, he has worked on the design, integration and operation of complex systems, participating in programs such as the International Space Station and the Orion spacecraft. His experience at Gateway also helps explain this appointment. In that program, García-Galán was involved in integration and management tasks within an environment with multiple partners and components. The new approach towards a lunar base requires precisely this ability to order diverse pieces, from missions to infrastructure, something that fits with the profile that has been developed within the agency in recent years. The program that he will now supervise is divided into several phases with a common objective: establishing a sustained presence on the lunar surface. NASA proposes a sequence of missions that will go deploying infrastructurefrom mobility and energy systems to communications networks and habitats. The idea is to advance progressively towards a base capable of sustaining longer-term human stays. Images | NASA (1, 2, 3) In Xataka | Elon Musk knows that TSMC is overwhelmed: Terafab is his idea to completely change the global chip industry

A startup from Malaga is the most used European AI app in the world according to Andreessen Horowitz. It’s called Freepik

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The venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz has prepared its already traditional ranking with the world’s top 100 end-user AI applications. There are many predictable ones in the top positions, but we are surprised because among the top 15 is none other than freepikthe platform created by the Malaga startup of the same name. Freepik in the world top. On the list we have many usual suspects (and some not so usual) in the top positions, but one of the big surprises on the list It is the Freepik platformwhich is ranked number 11 and is the only representative of our country in that ranking. But besides that, it is the first of all Europeans included on the list. This specific list is made with the number of unique monthly visits as a criterion. USA dominates. In that list the dominance of apps from American companies is clear, and only the Chinese one DeepSeek sneaks into the top 10 list. Here ChatGPT dominates the ranking with Gemini and Canva completing the podium, but it is surprising to see the relevance of Grok, ahead of Claude. And Google shines with its own light. Within the list, the presence of Google is also notable, which has four tools on that list: Gemini (in number 2 on the list), Google AI Studio (10), Google Labs (25) and the splendid NotebookLM (30). Most of these apps come from the US. Graphic: Xataka with Gemini. Data: Andreessen Horowitz. China tightens. It may seem that China’s role here is less relevant than it should be, but it must be taken into account that many Chinese startups focus on platforms and applications for the Chinese market. Even so, there are clear protagonists such as Capcut and Doubao (ByteDance), Qwen and Quark (Alibaba), Kimi, Kling, Cutout and of course the aforementioned DeepSeek. Europe has its protagonists. Freepik is the clear standout on this list among the European AI applications, but there are others that stand out and manage to make it onto the list such as Photoroom (France), Turboscribe and Veed (United Kingdom), Remove.bg/Kalleido (Austria) and another standout, ElevenLabs (based in London). An evolution towards hybrid apps. As Andreessen Horowitz points out, three years ago the distinction between “native AI” products and traditional software was clear. Today that barrier has disappeared, since massive tools like CapCutCanva or Notion have integrated generative AI as the core of their experience and revenue engine. They have taken advantage of their inertia, they have adapted and they have won. In mobile apps the ranking changes, and a lot. The most popular AI mobile apps in the world based on their number of active users each month is very different. Here Freepik disappears from the list, for example, and it is China that totally dominates with 22 of the 50 apps (44%). The US has 13 apps on the list (26%), while Europe only has four (8%) and other countries share the other 11 (22%). Here China benefits from its huge user base, who also very frequently use AI applications for all types of functions. ByteDance is especially eye-catching and has five apps on the list (CapCut, Doubao, Cici, Hypic and Gauth). Divergence of approaches. In general, all apps try to build user loyalty through their ecosystems and try to integrate more and more things so that one does not leave them. However, there are important approaches among some such as ChatGPT, very oriented towards being a “super app” for mass consumption, and Claude, from Anthropic, which focuses on professional and technical users. AI wants to be almost invisible. AI is no longer a destination, a website to go to, but is becoming part of the experience, a function integrated into the application. Thus, it now resides directly in the browser, in development environments or in office suites. In Xataka | The war between Anthropic and the Pentagon points to something terrifying: a new “Oppenheimer Moment”

The new director of Comic-Con Málaga does not come from fandom, but from a sector that can solve last year’s problems

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The first international edition of San Diego Comic-Con broke sales records of tickets and attracted almost 100,000 people to Malaga. The organization, however, received abundant criticism: capacity to the limit, queues that lasted hours and more than 550 complaints accumulated by consumer associations. Now comes a change of direction and, with it, a new opportunity to prove that pop culture’s biggest event can work outside of California. The first Comic-Con outside the US The mere news that Málaga would host the first international edition generated an expectation which translated into instant sales: three of the four days of the event were sold out in less than 24 hours at 50 euros per day. And there were still no guests. When these they started to advertise (Arnold Schwarzenegger, Antonio Banderas, Elle Fanning, Jared Leto or the composer of ‘Final Fantasy’ Nobuo Uematsu, among more than thirty international guests) the first criticisms intensified: it was not an event for fans, like its original namesake, but rather oriented completely to the mainstream. Some figures. The official statement announcing the first plans for 2027 takes stock of last year and speaks of 95,784 attendees over four days, with an economic impact of 44.3 million euros and the participation of more than 110 exhibitors and brands such as Disney, Nintendo, Lego and Bandai Namco. Here we find the first discrepancies with the past: the Malaga City Council announced at the time that attendance had been greater than 120,000 people (thus exceeding the 30,000 daily visitors admitted to the Trade Fair Palace). 25,000 visitors difference in the information that the organization does not explain now, nor is there any mention of the more than 550 consultations accumulated by Facua and OCU to file claims. Changes in the organization. Implicitly admitting that there are issues to improve, a change has also been communicated to the front of the event. Fernando Piquer assumes general management, replacing Javier Barberá. His profile is striking: founder and CEO of Movistar Riders, one of the most recognized esports teams in Spain, and responsible for the Global Strategy of Movistar KOI before this new assignment, he has no previous connection with the world of comics or fandom, which has already generated the first criticism. However, his choice makes sense: large esports festivals have served in the last decade as a laboratory for managing massive events, with young audiences, a festive atmosphere and large numbers of people in closed venues. These are events used to digitally managing massive influxes: digital accreditation systems, capacity control by zones, staggered time slots, computerized queue management, all of this is applied today to entertainment fairs. The question remains for the 2026 edition about content and guests, but a good team should solve that problem. Possible solutions. Massive and comparable events such as Gamescom in Cologne or Paris Games Week have incorporated ticket systems by time slots, official apps that show crowd saturation maps divided into pavilions, and there are organizational teams dedicated exclusively to managing access flows. It is also worth reviewing the prohibitions on bringing water and food to the event, given the saturation that occurred at the food stalls and fountains. They are technical problems that have been identified and that can be solved: the next step should be announcements in that direction, especially considering that criticism of the event in terms of organization was widespread. In Xataka | “We are taking the industry towards 3D”: the creator of ‘DOOM’ has a full-time job and that is explaining ‘DOOM’ to you

OpenClaw is the most viral, fascinating and dangerous AI of the moment. For this last reason, it has joined forces with VirusTotal from Malaga

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In 2025 we had a ‘DeepSeek moment’ and in 2026 we are having an ‘OpenClaw moment’. This AI agent is super powerful, but also super insecure. There is, however, good news, because the Malaga company VirusTotal has partnered with the OpenClaw project to try to mitigate one of the most important cybersecurity risks of this AI agent: its skills. what has happened. OpenClaw (formerly Moltbot, and before Clawdbot) has announced that it has begun a collaboration with the Malaga cybersecurity company VirusTotal, owned by Google. The agreement will see VirusTotal be in charge of “scanning” and analyzing the so-called “skills”, which work like OpenClaw plugins and add all kinds of functions. They do it, of course, but many take the opportunity to introduce malicious instructions that allow them to steal data and remotely operate other people’s AI agents. More security for disturbing AI. Peter Steinberger, creator of the project, has joined Jamieson O’Reilly, cybersecurity expert and founder of the company Dvulnand Bernardo Quintero, founder of VirusTotal, to offer that “additional layer of security for the OpenClaw community.” In it official announcement explain that “all the skills published in ClawdHub (the project’s official skills “store”) are now scanned through Virus Total’s Threat Intelligence system, including its new capability Code Insight (code inspection)”. Bernardo Quintero indicated on Twitter how the effort has already allowed 1,700 skillls to be identified as malicious. If the skill is malicious, it is blocked. This analysis carried out with the VirusTotal tools allows us to identify skills as malicious and block them immediately so that they cannot be downloaded. Not only that: those skills that have been classified as benign are analyzed again every day to detect scenarios in which for some reason they could end up becoming malicious. Still, be careful. Those responsible for OpenClaw warn: the VirusTotal scan helps a lot, but it is not a total guarantee that any skill can perform malicious actions on the machine on which we have our AI agent installed. The attacks of prompt injection Sophisticated skills can manage to cross that barrier, but of course this collaboration means that OpenClaw users can be much calmer regarding the skills available in the ClawdHub repository. OpenClaw wants to be much more secure. This first effort joins OpenClaw’s ambition to have a complete cybersecurity model which includes things like a public roadmap for your new developments in this area, a formal communication process, and details about full audits of your code. Plugging a problem that could kill OpenClaw. The OpenClaw project soon went viral due to its eye-catching options, but shortly after doing so a security audit initial 2,851 skills detected 341 malicious skills. Companies like BitDefender also joined these efforts to avoid problems with tools like AI Skills Checker to check whether a skill was dangerous or not. These malicious skills were, for example, capable of executing shell commands on the victim machine, which gave the attacker complete control of those resources. Attacking the machine is confusing it with natural language. Normally cybersecurity attacks are complex, but the problem with AI agents is that they work with natural language. This implies that to infiltrate these systems you do not have to use code, but simply “convince” and “trick” the AI ​​with natural language. That is where prompt injection attacks come in, which consist of giving instructions to those AI agents that can confuse them to obtain something that theoretically they should not allow them to obtain. Personal data, API keys of the models we use at OpenClaw, email accounts and passwords for all types of services… the possibilities are endless, and OpenClaw, which has access to all of this to operate autonomously, can end up being “tricked” into transferring said data. Beware of OpenClaw. These problems now seem a little less feasible thanks to the collaboration with VirusTotal, but those who are trying OpenClaw on their machines or any other platform should be very alert from the beginning. There are guides that help you install it with some barriers important security issues, and the project itself has a command (‘openclaw security audit –deep –fix’ to audit the most important problems and address them. In Xataka | OpenAI has a problem: Anthropic is succeeding right where the most money is at stake

Ouigo cancels services between Madrid, Seville and Malaga, with thousands of passengers affected

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Maybe you already had the ticket purchased and your suitcase half packed, or maybe you had taken advantage of one of the recent Pink Days by Ouigo to move between Madrid, Seville or Malaga at a particularly low price. Everything seemed to fall into place until, upon reviewing the trip or receiving a notification, the plan began to go awry without much visible explanation. Traveling at high speed is usually synonymous with predictability, but these days it has become a source of uncertainty for thousands of people. Ouigo has canceled several of its high-speed services during this month of January in the Madrid-Seville and Madrid-Málaga corridors, a decision that the company itself attributes to “operational reasons.” as explained to newspapers such as El País and the world. The cut affects eight daily services from Friday to Monday and six daily services from Tuesday to Thursday on those same routes. The problems would last until January 22, with an estimate of about 15,000 passengers affected. Ouigo’s message to those affected. According to the information provided by the company itself, affected passengers have been informed of the cancellations in advance and have received direct communications about the available options. In these notices, Ouigo proposes two main alternatives: change the ticket for free to another available service or cancel the trip. The company maintains that this decision has been made to guarantee the quality of service during the period affected by operational problems. Those who decide not to relocate their trip and opt for cancellation may also qualify for financial compensation. The amount of this compensation varies depending on the moment in which the cancellation was notified and is between 200% and 50% of the ticket price. The company defends that this scheme aims to cushion the impact of cancellations on travelers. In this framework, Ouigo adds that these compensations “go beyond what is legally required.” What the OCU says. In a statementthe OCU emphasizes that the refund of the ticket must be made by the same means of payment used in the purchase and that accepting a voucher is not mandatory, but a voluntary option. Furthermore, it points out that in certain cases those affected can claim additional compensation for the damages suffered, such as accommodation expenses already paid, lost reservations or tickets to shows that could not be attended, as long as they can prove it with documentation. If the traveler considers that the solution offered is not sufficient, the OCU reminds that there are formal mechanisms to complain to Ouigo. The organization explains that you can submit a complaint form directly on the company’s website, in addition to contacting its customer service by telephone. Specifically, Ouigo provides a toll-free number, +34 900 759 781, and another with a local rate, +34 911 674 583. Ouigo takes it away from you and Renfe gives it to you? Renfe moved quickly on two fronts that were very visible to the traveler. On the one hand, activated special AVLO trains in the Southern corridor to absorb part of the demand, with two additional services between Madrid and Seville, one at 12:00 p.m. and another at 5:17 p.m., both with tickets from 7 euros. On the other hand, he did not waste time telling it on social networks, where he launched direct messages to warn of those alternatives. The company has also indicated that it will reinforce the capacity of its trains if demand demands it in the coming days. Renfe messages in X No statement on Ouigo networks. Beyond the notifications received by those affected, there is a simple check that allows us to better understand the scope of the situation. When reviewing Ouigo’s website During the purchasing process, there is a lower supply of daily services on the Madrid-Seville and Madrid-Málaga corridors, especially on the dates affected by the cuts. On the other hand, according to our review, we have not located specific communications about these cancellations on the website or social networks of Ouigo in Spain (x, Facebook, instagram). What to do if I am one of those affected. The first thing is to check if we have received a cancellation notification and check exactly what affects our trip. From there, it is time to decide between a free ticket change or cancellation and confirm what compensation corresponds to each case. If the cancellation has generated other expenses, it is advisable to gather all the documentation as soon as possible to be able to make a claim and, if we need to travel on those dates, there is no choice but to check what alternatives are still available in the affected corridor. Images | OUIGO In Xataka | I have tried to buy one of the 7 euro Renfe tickets. And Renfe has done Renfe’s

A teenager discovered the ‘Málaga’ virus and ended up founding VirusTotal. The enigma that remains is the same since 1992: who programmed it

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Bernardo Quintero (@bquintero) was 14 years old and his first PC, an Amstrad PC-1512, had just arrived home. It was 1987, and the co-founder of VirusTotal He was excited by this machine that allowed him to exploit his computer curiosity. His hobby ended up being trying to circumvent the copy protection systems of some games, and he was there one day when something suddenly happened. A little white ball moved on your screen. By itself. Without him having done anything. He soon discovered that it was a computer virus. One that he ended up studying to know how to detect and eliminate it. He succeeded, and over the next three years he ended up improving his first antivirus, a tool that allowed him to recognize and eradicate seven different viruses he had encountered. It didn’t seem like that project was going to go much further, and Quintero began his studies in Computer Science at the Polytechnic University School of Malaga. In one of the first classes, a professor asked if anyone wanted to raise a grade with a Pascal programming project. He signed up, and when talking to the professor, he asked him if he had done any previous projects. “Well, yes,” he replied. “An accounting program, disk utilities, an antivirus…”. The teacher cut him off. “Did you say antivirus?”. When he answered affirmatively, the professor asked him to accompany him to his office. There he showed him how the entire IT department had been infected by a virus that the antivirus did not recognize. Fragment of the code in Turbo Pascal 5.5 of the antivirus that Bernardo Quintero developed to eliminate the “Málaga-2610” virus (1992). Source: Bernardo Quintero. Quintero soon detected where the problem could be and went home with an infected disk to work on an antivirus. It took him more than he thought, but after a few hours he managed to figure out how to detect it and delete it. That helped him pass the subject, but it also ended up being the definitive seed of the professional project that would end with the founding of Virus Total. He tells it all in more detail in his novel, ‘Infected‘, which he published at the beginning of the year and in which he narrates those beginnings and how that ended up leading him to create VirusTotal, the Malaga company that would later end up being bought by Google. That virus in his faculty was called “Málaga”, and Quintero spent years without paying much attention to it again. So, three years ago, this expert posted a message on Twitter (X) to try to solve the mystery of who would have created it. Already then he discovered that according to several sources the virus had been created at the Polytechnic School of Informatics. The objective, I counted thenit was not about bringing the name to light, but about chatting with that person and remembering those times. He failed to reveal the mystery, and that mystery remained unsolved again. But Bernardo Quintero never forgot that and returned to the fray with a new attempt a few days ago. After first publishing a message on X, the next day he published a summary of that story on LinkedInand asked for help in that post to try to solve the mystery once and for all. We contacted him, and he told us how while in the past he had focused on discovering how it infected and creating the disinfection tool, he never tried to find out who had created the “Malaga” virus. But he told us that “now, looking at it with new eyes, I have seen a couple of interesting details and I have discovered the motivation.” In fact, he adds that thanks to those messages on X and LinkedIn “I have received stories from several people who studied those years at the Polytechnic of Malaga and who believe they know the author.” Of those candidates, he explains, “I have ruled out 3 or 4, but there is one that fits very well with the new data I have.” The mystery seems to be close to being solved. “I just need to clear up one unknown to confirm the author.. And if it is confirmed, there is a beautiful and sad story that will be worth telling.” Everything therefore indicates that it will finally be known who was the author of that virus, and Quintero has promised to tell more details these days. We will be attentive. Image | Mika Baumeister In Xataka | The computer with the most malware in the world: this is MICE, the challenge of Bernardo Quintero and VirusTotal

There was a reason for airports to avoid solar panels, and Malaga has just dismantled it

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In our daily lives we are increasingly accustomed to seeing solar panels. on balconies either roofs. Even when we travel by car it is common to find plate-covered land either large wind turbines. However, there is one place where until now solar energy seemed out of place: airports. For years, sun reflection was an unsolved problem in the airport environment. The fear that a flash could affect a pilot on approach stopped any attempt to install solar panels. In Malaga, that fear is no longer an obstacle. In short. Malaga-Costa del Sol Airport sum for the first time self-consumption photovoltaic installations promoted by private companies. Europcar and Goldcar They were the first to take the stepwith a project developed by the Malaga engineering company Ubora Solar. As La Opinión de Málaga highlightsit is not a project promoted by Aena, but rather a direct commitment by private companies to generate their own clean energy in one of the most regulated and monitored spaces in the country. The big obstacle: glare. The main challenge of the project was not technical or economic, but rather air safety. The possibility that the solar panels generated annoying reflections or glare on pilots and controllers was a critical concern, also regulated by Aena regulations. The answer involved an exhaustive analysis of visual risk. Ubora Solar developed aeronautical glare studies following the standards of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), taking into account everything from the actual flight trajectories to the visibility from the control tower. All of this served to precisely define the orientation and inclination of the panels within the airport complex. The results were conclusive. Luminance values ​​were well below the European threshold of 20,000 cd/m², and any possible reflection coincided with the position of the sun, being “masked by its own brightness”, a phenomenon known as sun masking. In other words: the reflection exists, but it is imperceptible and does not pose an operational risk. In other countries it was already a reality. Although solar installations already exist in airports in other countries, the case of Malaga is especially relevant due to its private nature. In the United States and in different parts of Europeairport photovoltaics has been a reality for years, always subject to strict glare and air safety studies. The difference, as various media emphasizeis that in Spain this step had not yet been taken without a direct impulse from the airport manager. Málaga thus acts as a laboratory and precedent for a model that could be replicated in other airports in the country. A success that does not blind. For years, the sun was seen as a risk at airports. In Malaga, he has become an ally. The project shows that the greatest fear —the glare— it is not fought with prohibitions, but with rigorous studies, planning and technology. Málaga-Costa del Sol Airport not only manages takeoffs and landings. It has also opened a new path for the energy transition in one of the most complex environments that exists. And it has done so without losing sight of the most important thing: safety. Image | solar ubora and Unsplash Xataka | When the December sun surpasses that of April: the luminous paradox of a vertical panel on the balcony

Spain has never been a land of skyscrapers. Now someone wants to build one for luxury tourists in Malaga

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Malaga is known for the Alcazaba, Gibralfaro or its Cathedral. If Hesperia and the Qatari fund Al Alfia manage to move forward with their plans, in not too long it will also be for another building, one that will also mark their skyline: the Port Tower. The project is not new (it has years on the table) and has generated considerable controversy in the city, but its promoters have just made it clear that they are not giving up: after receiving green light of the Port, the companies that are trying to move it forward have organized an event to share dates, data and investments. Their objective is to demonstrate that they are still committed to building a 144-meter tower in a country, Spain, that stands out for its little hobby by the skyscrapers. What is the Port Tower? A megaproject which has been in the offices of administrations for almost a decade and (above all) generating debate in Malaga. And the “mega” thing is more than justified in this case. At least if we pay attention to the latest data broken down by their promoters. The idea is to build a skyscraper 144 meters high, 59 meters wide and 19 meters wide at the end of the Levante dock, in the middle of the port, near the maritime station where the cruise ships dock. The tower will act as a huge hotel 382 roomsbut its promoters they insist in which it will arrive accompanied by a much more ambitious and useful infrastructure for the city that will cover, in total, 54,000 square meters. “The hotel will be located in a currently depressed area, where there is nothing, and we are going to recover that environment for the city and the citizens,” slide from Hesperia, a fundamental piece in its promotion together with the Qatari fund Al Alfia. Is more information known? Yes. Both about the hotel itself and the urban development that will accompany it. The icing on the cake will be the skyscraper: 144 meters high whose centerpiece will be accommodation focused on the high-net-worth clientele that comes to Malaga. The objective, in fact, is for it to operate as a five-star Grand Luxury hotel and be managed by an international chain (there are already interested parties). Beyond the hotel, the complex will include a 2,500 m2 auditorium, underground parking, a restaurant, a plaza and a 1.3 km boulevard with viewpoints, a bike path, green areas… The development companies in fact calculate that the complex will cover around 54,000 m2. “It is not a speculative project, it will have a return for the developer, but above all for the city because it creates many public spaces,” investors claim in The Opinion of Malaga. How much will it cost? There is talk of an investment of about 200 million eurosalthough initially the figure was quite inferior. This high amount (along with the special status of the land) explains why the promoters insist on the “transformative” and social dimension of the project and the return it will have for Malaga. The reason? To begin with because the promoters they do not rule out qualify for European funds and have support from the administrations. Before even thinking about financing, the project must nevertheless get its future cleared by the Council of Ministers, for which it is key that its public utility be demonstrated. Why is it news? The initiative is by no means new. A quick search in the newspaper archive arrives to verify that he has been chaining procedures for years, a complex path during which he even changed his star architect: the Valencian José Seguí He moved not long ago to the Londoner David Chipperfielwinner of the Pritzker Prize (the Nobel Prize for architects) in 2023. In recent weeks, however, the tower has been in the news again for two reasons. The first came in October, when the Port Authority gave the green light to the complex and allowed him to move on to the next stop in his processing: the State Ports table. There they must study it in depth before it reaches the Council of Ministers, which must rule on whether the hotel complex fits into the Levante dike. That is, whether or not it authorizes the hotel use of that space. The second reason why the tower is being talked about these days is because its promoters, Hesperia and Al Alfia, have organized an act to emphasize that they are not giving up. In fact, the quote served to explain details of the Chipperfield project and outline the schedule managed by the companies: their objective is to resolve the pending issues “in the medium term” to start the works as early as 2026. According to their estimates, the work will last about three years. Will that be possible? First, the project must overcome certain obstacles. And not all of them have to do with financing. The project needs the green light from the Council of Ministers and Óscar Puente, Minister of Transportation, since has warned that the Executive will not move until it knows the judicial resolution to the appeals presented by the Defendamos Nuestro Horizonte platform and the Academy of Fine Arts of San Telmo, critical of some aspects of the project. They are not the only ones. ICOMOS, linked to UNESCO, has warned also the landscape impact of the tower. Spain, country of skyscrapers? Although in Spain there are skyscrapers like the Crystal Towerin Madrid, of 249 m, and in Andalusia itself we find the Seville Tower (180.5 m), the truth is that our country does not exactly stand out for its large buildings. Some time ago Skyscrapercenter made a ranking with the nations with the highest number of towers that exceed 150 meters and Spain occupies 32nd place, behind other European countries, such as Germany, France or the United Kingdom. The Malaga tower is a reminder of one of the controversies generated by this type of structures: its impact on the landscape … Read more

A beach bar in Malaga had the happy idea of ​​taking its ‘Sardinator’ robot for a walk. Until the police found out

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An establishment in La Malagueta decided to innovate when it came to attracting new customers with an advertising robot that wandered along the seafront, advertising mojitos, caipirinhas and espetos for four euros. Although the idea was striking and made heads turn among the local residents, the Malaga City Council has stopped the initiative. ‘Sardinator’ does not comply with municipal regulations and the Local Police have already reported the beach bar. The beach bar play. The robot, named Sardinator, walked along the La Malagueta promenade inviting people around to follow its voice to the beach bar. It wasn’t a waiter robot of those that serve inside the premises, but an autonomous device designed to advertise in the middle of a public street. It advertised drinks and food as it moved, although according to MálagaHoyhis ability to avoid obstacles left a lot to be desired: “he avoids trash cans, but he is not so skilled with people”, even tripping over a pedestrian. Why did the police intervene? Just like has shared The medium, Elisa Pérez de Siles, Councilor for Public Roads of the Malaga City Council, assured that this type of robots “are not authorizable” in the city. The use of the device on the promenade violates the municipal ordinance, which is why the Local Police were ordered to draw up a report and report the establishment. Although in other cities they are quite popular devices, in Malaga “there is an ordinance that must be complied with,” said the councilor. The political reaction. The municipal group Con Málaga has also focused on the issue. Its councilor, Toni Morillas, submitted a letter to the mayor asking about the robot after receiving complaints from neighbors who observed the advertising device “with astonishment.” Morillas even described the situation as “Málaga, the lawless city” on his social networks, according to inform MálagaHoy, highlighting the concern over the lack of control over this type of initiatives on public roads. The legal loophole of advertising robots. The case of Sardinator is something very specific and Spanish legislation does not yet specifically contemplate autonomous advertising robots on a public road. Municipal ordinances regulate outdoor advertising through urban planning licenses, but these regulations are designed for static elements such as fences, signs or posters. Many ordinances expressly prohibit the distribution or delivery of brochures and advertising on public roads, and even advertising in circulating or parked vehicles except for very specific exceptions. The boom of robots in hospitality. Sardinator does not seem to have had the same luck as other robots that have had growing popularity, such as those who work inside serving at the tables. In Spain, waiter robots are being introduced mainly in fast food restaurants, chains and some fine dining restaurants. Cities such as Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Valencia or Seville have already seen the introduction of these robots in several establishments. The fundamental difference here is that these robots move in controlled private spaces, not on public roads, which avoids conflicts of this type. Without going any further, in Malaga, there are several establishments that have incorporated this type of robots, although never outside the premises, as is the case of Sardinator. How they work. Waiter robots are designed to take orders from the kitchen to the customer’s table, following already marked routes and avoiding obstacles. The manufacturers are mostly of Chinese origin, including PUDU Robotics with its Bellabot and Kettybot models, Orion Star with Lucky, and Keenon, although there are also Spanish companies such as DAX Robotics with its Delibot and Slimbot model. The prices of waiter robots range between 6,000 and 15,000 euros, and they can support up to 60 kilos of load. They are equipped with LIDAR laser sensors and 3D cameras to move autonomously and safely. Robots as an alternative to labor shortages. The labor shortage in the Spanish hospitality industry, which affects more than 60% of businessesaccording to the Bank of Spain, means that this type of device could end up being an effective alternative. This is not about replacing staff, but about easing the burden due to the difficulty in finding waiters and qualified staff, which is why many establishments are turning to service robots as support. Although they are not yet a complete substitute for human interaction nor are they profitable for all establishments, these robots may end up representing a pragmatic response to a structural problem. And now what. The La Malagueta beach bar will have to return to traditional advertising methods or look for alternatives that respect the regulations. Meanwhile, ‘Sardinator’ has stopped touring the promenade and his catchy “mojito, caipirinha, daikiri” promotion is no longer heard in the area. Let’s give a minute of silence for our friendly friend. Cover image | Javier Albiñana In Xataka | The crazy story of the Galician woman who registered El Sol before a notary, sold plots online and then took eBay to court

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