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The map of Spain’s exports, a much more industrial country than you think

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In a global world but with tariffs where China is the factory of the world and Germany is the engine of EuropeIt is easy to fall into historical clichés when we talk about the Spanish state and the great Mediterranean classics such as olive oil, ham or wine, but the reality is that Spain exports many more products to the world. Yes, those typical ones appear on the list, but there are other less known ones that are ahead. And if we open the range to products and services, we cannot miss a sector in which it is a world power: tourism. He Atlas of Economic Complexity from the Harvard Kennedy School is a very useful tool from the popular Harvard University, which takes the international trade data that different states report to the United Nations to display them in a single graph after cleaning them with the Bustos-Yildirim method. It includes data from 250 countries and territories, classified into 20 categories of goods and five categories of services, covering more than 6,000 products. The result is an x-ray of what Spain sells to the world and what it reveals does not always coincide with the image we have. The last period of time collected by the Atlas of Economic Complexity is 2024, where we see that the Spanish state exported 590,000 million dollars in more than a dozen sectors. And there is a clear dominant: the service sector. What does Spain sell to the world? 2024 Edition. Harvard Atlas of Economic Complexity Travel and tourism takes over the top left corner, worth $107 billion. It is pure tourism: according to the World Travel & Tourism Councilthat is the spending of international tourists within the territory, 10.9% more than the previous year. It is followed by a generic “Business” and if we take into account other pink portions such as insurance, financial services, transportation or the mixed bag of “Not specified”, we find that this pink band of services is 163,000 million dollars of the total, that is, Services account for 28% of everything that Spain exports. There is life beyond services The second largest rectangle on the graph corresponds to cars, with a value of $37.1 billion. It’s in the upper right corner, in purple: the car is also the first manufactured productbut in third place and well behind two categories of services. As we saw in this map of the European automobile industrythe gold of the sector in the old continent belongs to Germany, but Spain takes the silver, with a share of 16.4% and almost two million cars assembled per year. Next to it is the rectangle of engine parts, with 10,000 million dollars. However, if we add the set of cars, parts and commercial vehicles, the set adds up to about 65 billion dollars. That is to say, that automotive is the second sector that Spain exports the most. From this point on the difference is no longer so much and in fact it can be divided into two. On the one hand and in pink, the chemical block, with medicines as the most prominent industry (more than 12,000 million dollars). The total is around 37 billion dollars. Yellow corresponds to food, which together represents about 45 billion dollars. Here exports are scattered with pork, olive oil, wine or citrus being the most relevant. Outside of these sectors, the most notable is petroleum and refined oil, with just under 9 billion dollars and below 3%. Minerals, machinery, metallurgy, electronics or textiles have even less influence. A global and deeper reading of the map makes it clear that Spain is, in terms of exports, a tourist and agri-food power with a notable automobile and chemical industry. Dependence on tourism is a double-edged sword in that it allows us to take advantage of Spain’s competitive advantages, but at the same time it depends on external factors, such as COVID or emerging markets that can absorb demand with lower prices. And although it is money that comes in without the need to manufacture anything, it does not add complexity: there are no patents or exportable technologies. Furthermore, the quality of employment is lower than other sectors. In short, it is a structural issue: no rich country sustains itself by selling good weather and that is the best invitation to reindustrialize. In Xataka | Who has seen you and who sees you, Spain: Google Maps to find out how it has changed from the 50s to today In Xataka | Wealth inequality by country, explained in a graph: Spain among those where the wealth gap has grown the most Cover | The Atlas of Economic Complexity

This map of the August solar eclipse is a gem for discovering where and how to see it best

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Those of us who love to look at the sky in search of astronomical landmarks are in luck: the classic summer Perseid shower is joined by the first of the three eclipses planned between 2026 and 2028that of August 12. It will be a historic event in that it will be the first total eclipse visible on the peninsula since 1912. There is still time to find a good place free of light pollution (or at least, not “light pollution dump“) close to where we are. That is, if we are lucky enough that the solar eclipse is full wherever we are. Taking into account that it will be in the middle of August, surely there are those who are preparing a getaway to a potentially ideal location. In addition to finding a place where the eclipse is total and free of buildings and streetlights, if we want to enjoy the solar eclipse in its maximum splendorthere are other aspects to take into account, such as whether the shadows will bother us or how long it will be visible. The National Geographic Institute has a section on your website where to monitor in which parts of the world the solar eclipse will be seen and which areas will be partial and which will be total. Thus, we hope to see it in North America, much of Europe and West Africa. Where to best see the total solar eclipse, on an interactive map But it will only be total in a relatively wide strip, the one you see in the dark that crosses the Arctic Ocean, the northeast of Greenland and the extreme west of Iceland, crossing the Atlantic Ocean to enter the Iberian Peninsula. The time when the eclipse will be at its maximum It will be at 19 hours and 46 minutes (peninsular time) and at that point on the planet (near Iceland) it will last at most two minutes and 18 seconds. Where the solar eclipse will be seen: areas where it will be total and areas where it will be partial. IGN The total eclipse will cross the Iberian Peninsula from west to east from A Coruña to Palma, passing through cities such as Lugo, Oviedo, León, Zamora, Valladolid, Palencia, Segovia, Burgos, Soria, Santander, Bilbao, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Logroño, Guadalajara, Cuenca, Zaragoza, Teruel, Lleida, Tarragona, València and Castelló de la Plana. In Spain, the local maximum will occur around 8:28–32 minutes, and totality will last up to 1 minute and 50 seconds at the point of longest duration (the Asturian coast). Madrid and Barcelona are outside the strip: although they will see a visually impressive 99% partial eclipse, it will not reach the point that will be seen in the strip. This IGN interactive map It has an animation where you can see the progress of the shadow that will form the superimposition of the moon on the sun. The shadow of the solar eclipse, in an animation If you are interested in having more precise information about a specific location, it includes a box where you can enter addresses or cities, which opens the doors to having data such as its visibility profile, duration, when it will start, its peak point or the time you will be able to see it. Eclipse data for Estella – Lizarra. IGN On the right side it has several options such as sharing information, background layers for example the satellite view or a particularly interesting one: layers. Thus, you can activate the duration to know in which areas you can enjoy more viewing time, the degree of obscuration or visibility, because you could go out into nature to see it without being bothered by the lights and discover that the shadows of the terrain disturb your vision. The interactive map, with visibility, darkness and duration layers activated. IGN An important detail for choosing the site: The eclipse will occur at sunset, with the sun low on the horizon, which will require observing it in a place that offers good visibility to the west, without mountains, buildings or trees that obstruct. On the other hand, remember not to look at the sun directly except during that period when the eclipse is total. But it’s better not to risk it and use approved glasses. In Xataka | Solar eclipses visible in Spain: these are the three astronomical events of 2026, 2027 and 2028 In Xataka | Half of Spain waits expectantly for the historic eclipse of August 2026. The authorities are already thinking about the problems Cover | IGN and Kevin Baird

has now created the first chemical map of the hidden face

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While NASA chokes on the MoonChina is going like a rocket. Not literally, but they lack little. The satelliteand has become a priority again in space exploration due to its potential in scientific research, but also like mine and even as a ‘battery’and everyone wants their share of the space cheese. China is completing steps at an astonishing speed in their goal of going to the satellite and has just reached another milestone: they have created the first chemical map of the hidden side of the moon. And it is something with the potential to accelerate the next steps on the satellite. In short. A investigation conducted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tongji University and the Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics has led to chemical mapping of the entire satellite. That includes something that was “unexplored” in this sense until now: the hidden face. Until nowalmost half of the lunar surface that remains hidden from our eyes was “uncharted chemical territory” because… well, we hadn’t been there. In the Apollo missions, materials were collected that allowed, together with the observation missions, to carry out this chemical profile of the satellite, but only of the visible part. It is, in short, where we had been. The Chang’e-6 mission changed that when, in June 2024, returned from his mission on the hidden side with about two kilos of material from the South Pole-Aitken basin. AI. They were the first samples collected from the far side and the only thing researchers could cling to if they wanted to develop that chemical profile of the satellite. It is, so that we understand each other, like the DNI, and to create the chemical map, they have used artificial intelligence. They dumped the sample data along with other orbital spectral data collected by the multiband imager. Kaguya from Japan and, after a process of data cleaning and refinement, the researchers have mapped the distribution of six large groups of oxides. We are talking about iron, titanium, aluminum, silicon, calcium and magnesium, and this is something that allows us to develop a hypothetical historical profile of the Moon. For example, we now know that the highlands have a higher concentration of magnesian rocks compared to the visible side. And even if you think “so what,” this indicates that the Moon’s magma ocean crystallized asymmetrically: first in one of the hemispheres and then in the other. Importance. There is still data to be revealed, but this chemical map is more important than it may seem. It is a different way of mapping the satellite and… well, it conditions everything we want to do on the Moon soon. Rough wayis a key advance to understand both the elemental composition and the geological evolution of the planet. You can also create a chronology of impacts and something more “useful”: it is a guide for future missions. By having data on the composition of the soil and the probability that there are more or less resources In certain areas, this chemical map allows moon landing sites to be selected based on very specific data. For example, if future missions want to focus on collecting regolith rich in certain elements, the chemical map is a thread of clues to pull on. Future. Because we are no longer talking about “well, when we return to the Moon…” we are talking about powers that have very clear plans not only to send automated probes, but to set foot, again, on the satellite. He NASA’s Artemis program -which continues to accumulate problems- will be the first manned flight around the Moon in 50 years, and future trips They are aiming for lunar landings. China, for its part, wants to send the Chang’e 7 probe to the south pole in search of ice; Chang’e 8 to test the utilization of resources directly on the satellite and manned flight missions for 2028 and a moon landing in 2030. Russia was also in the loop with the Luna project, as well as the creation of the space base in collaboration with China, but its solo projects have been delayed. Therefore, the fact that we have the first chemical map of the satellite is not only an achievement to satisfy scientific curiosity, but also a guide for those future missions on the ground. In Xataka | Mars was the great space battleground between China and the US. Now it’s the Moon and there’s too much at stake

All the lighthouses that illuminate the coasts of the North Atlantic, gathered in an impressive interactive map

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The figure of the solitary lighthouse keeper in charge of the thankless task of keeping his tower operational and in good condition at the service of the boats has long been a rare sight: they are in danger of extinction in front of the automated towers, both in terms of lighting and other auxiliary tasks within of the DGPS differential system. There are (almost) no lighthouse keepers, but the lighthouses look like never before. Only Europe’s 90,000 kilometers of coastline They are a veritable garden of lighthousesbut one thing are lighthouses (that iconic tall tower with a light on top) and another is lights for maritime signaling, where large lights, small lights, beacons or buoys enter. The reference technical standard is IALA Recommendation E-110, as collects and translates into Spanish Puertos del Estado. If we talk about maritime signage, things change there and the figures increase: there are 23,217 lights in the northern seas alone, according to OpenStreetMaps. It must be considered that this is open data, provided by the community, with areas very well mapped and others not so well. The lighthouses of the North Seas, as we have never seen them If we stick to the northern seas, the lighthouses drop to around 2,500 units. Although his thing is teaching and business, Wharton University professor Ethan Mollick has condensed all this information into an interactive map using vibe coding: Lighthouse Atlas. Lighthouse Atlas This map of the northern seas is more than a mere cartography of that maritime signage: it is interactive, making it a tool as visual as it is impressive for the possibility of playing with zoom, filtering or the information it shows. If you also hover over the lights, you can see more data such as their name, color range or frequency. In addition to being able to filter to see only the headlights (‘Major lights only’), as Mollick explainseach light has the correct color, each flashes with the appropriate frequency, and its brightness has been scaled according to OSM data. You can also see how far away they are visible. How far are the light signals seen in the Atlantic, between the Spanish and French states Thus, the size of the points serves to get an idea of ​​how close or far the vessels can be to view the signals. For example, on these lines you can see how much the signals of the muga between the Spanish and French states illuminate. Especially striking because of how congested the Norwegian coast is, as can be seen numerically. in the database from Norsk Fyrhistorisk Forening, the company that compiles a detailed map of locations along the entire Scandinavian coast. However, of the historical 212, it has about 150 operational. It is not the only one: Scotland and the Isle of Man, the coasts of Denmark and the Adriatic Sea, on the coasts of Greece and Türkiye are also well nourished. In Xataka | A man bought a desert island in 1962: he planted 16,000 trees and turned it into an anti-rich sanctuary In Xataka | All the lighthouses of Europe, with their different patterns and colors, gathered in this fantastic map Cover | Lighthouse Atlas

whoever sells the shovels also wants to sell the map

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NVIDIA prepares the launch of NemoClawits own open source platform for enterprise AI agents. The official announcement is expected for GTC 2026, the company’s annual conference, which starts on March 15 in San José. Why is it important. NVIDIA has built its dominance by being the neutral infrastructure provider: it sells shovels to anyone who wants to dig. NemoClaw changes that position. By entering the agent software layer, you begin to compete directly with Anthropic, Microsoft, Salesforce and the community itself open source which until now considered NVIDIA an ally, not a rival. The context. The obvious trigger has been OpenClawan open source AI agent that allows complex tasks to be executed locally without human intervention and that OpenAI acquired a few days ago. Its success showed that there is a huge demand for freelance agents, but it also exposed its risks: Meta even banned its use on business devices following an incident in which an agent accessed a computer without instructions and deleted emails en masse. Companies needed something more controlled and NVIDIA has seen the opportunity there. Between the lines. The platform will be hardware agnostic: it will run on chips from AMD, Intel and others, not just NVIDIA GPUs. It is an apparently generous movement that hides a clear expansionist logic. It’s the same move that Meta made with Llama: giving away the software to boost demand for the hardware that runs it. If NemoClaw ends up becoming the standard de facto For business players, NVIDIA will be able to maintain its influence on the ecosystem even if competition in chips intensifies. The big question. NVIDIA has reached out to Salesforce, Cisco, Google, Adobe and CrowdStrike to forge early partnerships, but none have confirmed any agreement. There are reasons for skepticism: Salesforce has Einstein, Google has Vertex AI Agent Builderand both have clear incentives not to give ground at the application layer. The fact that they contribute to NemoClaw’s open source does not prevent them from continuing to develop their own platforms in parallel. NVIDIA’s success will depend on whether NemoClaw brings something that no one else can, or if it is just another framework gathering dust on GitHub. Yes, but. Gartner estimates that more than four in ten agentic AI projects will have failed by 2027. The business agent market is promising, but still more promise than reality. Furthermore, NVIDIA is entering an area where its competitive advantage (raw silicon power) matters less than the ability to orchestrate complex workflows, manage agent memory, and ensure security in regulated environments. That’s something that chips don’t provide. In Xataka | If the question is how much OpenClaw is taking over, the answer is… in China they are lining up to install it Featured image | Xataka

Delaying the closure of a single plant forces us to redesign the entire energy map of Spain

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Right in the middle of a relentless political and business battle to extend the life of the Spanish atomic park, the harsh reality of the market has imposed itself. While top executives discuss the long-term future, the present has hit the table: the owner of the Almaraz II nuclear power plant notified the Nuclear Safety Council (CSN) of an unscheduled shutdown of its reactor and its decoupling from the electrical grid. The alarms did not go off due to a security problem. In fact, the incident was classified as level 0 (no significance for security) on the international INES scale, to which we have had access. The real reason was purely economic and motivated by causes related to the electricity market. As explained The Extremadura Newspaper, The recent succession of storms triggered renewable production —sinking electricity prices— which, added to an “unaffordable tax burden” that represents more than 75% of its variable costs, made it completely unfeasible to keep the reactor on. The recent pulse: from disconnection to extension This disconnection collides head-on with the intense corporate movements of recent weeks. At the end of October, Iberdrola, Endesa and Naturgy presented to the Executive a formal request to postpone until June 2030 the closure of Almaraz, whose two reactors were scheduled to be disconnected for 2027 and 2028. But the ambition of the sector does not stop in Cáceres. According to Five Daysthe president of Iberdrola, Ignacio Sánchez Galán, has confirmed that they will request the expansion of other plants in the future, ensuring that “most of them can reach 60 and even 80 years.” This position is supported by technical and logistical arguments from the industry. As detailed in The Economistthe CEO of Endesa, José Bogas, aspires to prolong “in round numbers about 10 more years” the entire Spanish nuclear park. Bogas argues that it does not make logistical sense to proceed with the complex dismantling of two groups of the same plant on different dates (2027 and 2028). Meanwhile, the CSN is already analyzing the documentation to issue its mandatory report, foreseeably in summer, as reported in a press release from the regulator itself. The possible extension of Almaraz has opened a huge gap between two irreconcilable visions of the energy transition. In the block of those who defend extending atomic life, economic and labor arguments set the pace. According to the statements of Ignacio Sánchez Galán collected by Vozpópulinuclear power plants are a key element in reducing the price of electricity. In fact, the president of Iberdrola recalls that European countries that lack this type of energy, such as Italy and Germany, pay “about 20 euros more” per megawatt hour for electricity compared to Spain and France. Added to this defense of competitiveness is the warning about the direct impact on the final consumer’s pocket. A recent report from the OBS Business School alert that if Almaraz closesthe inevitable dependence on gas would increase the electricity bill by around 23% for households – between 150 and 250 euros more per year – and up to 35% for industry. Beyond the receipt, there is the territorial factor. The College of Industrial Engineers, in statements to The Energy Newspaperremember that this plant not only generates 7% of the electricity in all of Spain, complying with the highest international safety standards (WANO 1), but is also a vital economic engine to sustain 4,000 direct and indirect jobs that stop depopulation in the region. However, against this position stands a solid wall of detractors who see the extension as an imminent danger for the green transition. A joint investigation by the Rey Juan Carlos University (URJC) and the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC), prepared on behalf of Greenpeaceconcludes that extending Almaraz for just three years would mean “momentary relief, structural damage.” Researchers calculate that this decision would cost consumers a cumulative extra cost of 3,831 million euros between now and 2033 and would stop up to 26,129 million euros in investments destined for new clean energies. From Greenpeace they also point to the so-called “plug effect”: since nuclear is an inflexible technology that produces fixed gear regardless of demand, it often forces us to disconnect or waste renewable energy—free and clean—in times of high sun or wind. This situation generates a climate of enormous concern in the green sector. In an interview with InfoLibrePedro Fresco, general director of the Valencian renewable employer association Avaesen, warns that granting a “mini-extension” of three years would be the worst possible scenario. In his opinion, this movement would send a message of total uncertainty to investors, threatening to stop the development of future renewable projects in its tracks. The “Domino Effect”: rewriting the energy map The true background of this battle is that Almaraz is not an isolated piece. As several experts warn he Vigo Lighthouse and andl Newspaper of Extremaduradelaying the closure of the Cáceres plant would unleash an unstoppable “domino effect” throughout the national territory. If Almaraz is delayed to 2030, its closure would coincide in time with that of Ascó I (Tarragona) and Cofrentes (Valencia). The electricity companies assume that the Government would also have to postpone these closures to avoid overlapping the gigantic and complex work of dismantling four reactors simultaneously. This would also force the closures of Ascó II, Vandellós II and Trillo to be pushed well beyond 2035, blowing up the current National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC). The final decision is in the hands of the Executive, which for the moment maintains its position. The Government has marked three non-negotiable red lines to accept any change: that it guarantees radiological safety, security of supply and, above all, that it does not cost consumers an extra euro or imply tax reductions for electricity companies. And this is where the circle closes. As Galán insists on Vozpópulithe plants bear an enormous tax burden of “30-35 euros per megawatt hour.” Without a tax reduction, electricity companies threaten economic viability; but without profitability, it is the market itself that, as … Read more

If Spain wants to imitate China and be a “country of engineers”, this map reveals the extent to which it has a problem

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An essential requirement for an energy and digital transition to occur in Spain is that there are enough engineers to cover demand. While it is true that there are more and more degrees that have the last name of engineering, the reality is that there are fewer and fewer professionals with the legal capacity to execute the transformation of the state, such as collects the Third Report from the Institute of Graduates in Engineering and Technical Engineers of Spain. In addition, the offer is being concentrated in specific communities. And that is a problem. Why is it important. Enabling engineering is that which grants legal powers for infrastructure and safety, for example what is behind ensuring that a bridge does not fall. With classic branches such as Civil, Mining or Naval Engineering decimated, Spain would lose autonomy and competitiveness by having to resort to imports to sign its essential projects. Jose Antonio Galdón, president of INGITE, deepen on the consequences of this fact: “On the students, who access Degrees with an Engineering denomination without a clear professional exit, and on society, which needs engineers with powers and responsibility to guarantee the safety, quality and sustainability of infrastructures and services.” On the other hand, the lack of complete supply in certain communities forces talent to emigrate, emptying technical capacity to regions that need engineering professionals to develop and establish their industry. Engineers are going to be needed. Two decades ago, those studying engineering represented 24% of the total number of university students and today that weight has fallen to 17%. as detailed by the COIGT. The engineering They are the ones that have lost the most students and also this one concentrates around computer engineering and emerging technological branches. Although the global female quota in engineering is 23%, it is precisely in these branches where it is most concentrated. On the other hand, Engineering such as Mining and Energy, Topography, Civil or Naval continue to decline and in some Autonomous Communities they already have less than 10 graduates. Although there are thousands of graduates each year, it is estimated that in Spain will have a deficit of 200,000 engineers in the next decade to meet demand. More engineering but less enabling. The IGNITE report confirms a phenomenon that has been registering for a long time in previous analyzes: Non-qualifying degrees, that is, those that do not allow the exercise of the regulated profession, have increased massively and now reach 53% of the total. On the other side of the scale, those enabling them are stagnating and even decreasing in some autonomous communities. The decline has been especially serious in places such as Asturias (-28.56%), Castilla y León (-28.79%) or Extremadura (-34.02%). The report makes a special mention: La Rioja. The small upstate community takes the cake with explosive 190% growth in engineering. But in small print: the fault lies with the non-qualifying degrees, which have grown by 431%, going from 433 to 2,289 enrolled. At the opposite extreme is Extremadura, which has the greatest drop in students, with 20.25% less. Engineering students from CCAA in Spain. INGITE Spain at two speeds. According to the reportthe Autonomous Communities that concentrate the largest number of engineering students and graduates are in Andalusia, Catalonia, the Valencian Community and the Community of Madrid. In addition to obviously because its population is larger, also because only Andalusia, Madrid and Catalonia have all the branches of engineering, revealing a territorial inequality in access to studies. The gap between public and private. The phenomenon of non-qualifying degrees is especially important in private universities, a type of center that grows out of control in the statealthough unevenly. Thus, while in the Balearic Islands, Castilla-La Mancha and Extremadura there is no this type of center and Galicia opened the first in 2022-2023, in Madrid there are 13 according to data from the Community itself. Since the 2015 – 2016 academic year, the autonomous communities where the number of degrees in private entities has grown the most has been Andalusia (from two to nine), Aragón (from three to nine) and La Rioja (from two to seven). In Xataka | If the question is which countries have the most workers with higher education, the answer is not Spain In Xataka | The university degree with the most job opportunities in 2025 looks into a great abyss: that of a future conditioned by AI Cover | INGITE

There is a Spain built on urbanizations. And this INE map reflects it graphically

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The graphics are just that, graphics, but there are some that reflect reality better than the most polished of mirrors. The INE has just demonstrated it with an infographic which summarizes the key ideas of his last gazetteerits detailed catalog of “towns”, a broad and diverse label that includes both municipalities (from capitals to towns) and smaller and more isolated nuclei. It may seem like a simple statistical curiosity, but it reveals questions about the history, demographics, and the social and economic challenges of each community. One country, a thousand strays. If you walk around your municipality and pay attention to the license plates that identify each neighborhood, you will see that there are certain words that are repeated over and over again: road, place, valley, cove, path… If you take the car and go to the other side of the country, it is likely that this list of terms will change completely. The reason? A cocktail of linguistic, demographic, social and historical factors. The topic is so interesting that the INE dedicates it a whole section. The Spain of urbanizations. What does it show the database from the INE? That there is a part of Spain in which the most used word is not ‘vega’, nor ‘valley’, nor ‘source’, nor ‘cove’, but a term that has more to do with the hand of man than with geographical features: ‘urbanization’. To be more precise, what the INE analyzes is the most repeated word in the names of the singular entities of each autonomous community. That is, all that “habitable area” of a municipal area that is clearly differentiated from its surroundings. So to speak, it is the most basic unit, formed by nuclei and which are then grouped to make up parishes, councils and towns. Going down to detail. When analyzing each region, INE technicians verified that the most repeated term to designate these nuclei varies greatly from one point to another in the country. For example, in Galicia it is ‘outeiro’in Asturias ‘riba’, in Castilla y León ‘vega’, in Extremadura ‘vera’, in the Balearic Islands ‘cala’, in the Canary Islands ‘lomo’ and in Andalusia ‘fuente’. If we look at Catalonia the most frequent word is ‘can’ (house of), in the Basque Country ‘elexalde’ (a reference to the antechurches) and in the Community of Madrid the most used term is ‘valley’. The surprise comes when we look at Murcia, Castilla-La Mancha, Aragón and the Valencian Community. In these four regions, the most frequent name does not refer to geographical features or natural enclaves, such as ‘sources’. No. The majority word is ‘urbanization’, which tells us about its nomenclature, but also about development at an urban, historical and socioeconomic level. Does it show anything else? Yes. The INE graphs reflect that the population is not distributed equally throughout the Spanish territory. What’s more, there are profound differences between one region and another. The clearest case is made by the comparison of Galicia and Castilla y León. Although the latter is the largest community in the country, with about 94,244 km2‘only’ 6,181 unique population entities are distributed throughout its territory. They may seem like many, but they pale when compared to the 30,518 in Galicia, which does not reach 29,600 km2. The data is interesting because it gives us a clue about the territorial structure of each region and its level of fragmentation. After all, and in the words of the INE itselfa singular entity is a “clearly differentiated” inhabited area within a municipality, to such an extent that it has its own specific name. After Galicia, the region with the highest number of settlements of this type is the Principality of Asturias (6,983), Castilla y León (6,181) and Catalonia (3,910). Despite its size, Castilla-La Mancha has ‘only’ 1,708 and Aragón does not reach 1,600. More than just curiosity. The data is striking, but if the INE calculates it it is not out of statistical curiosity. Their tables demonstrate that singular entities tell us a lot about the population structure of a territory… and its aging, with all the challenges that this implies. The smaller the settlement, the older its neighborhood appears to be on average. For example, in singular entities with less than 50 residents the average age is 54.4 years, but the figure drops to 46.6 if we talk about entities where between 500 and 1,000 people live. If we go to those of more than 10,000, the average age drops to 44.1 years. Although in Spain there are thousands and thousands of unique entities made up of only a few dozen people, their weight at the population level is very low: they host only 1.2% of Spaniards. Images | Google Earth and INE In Xataka | In Burgos they have had an idea so that emptied Spain does not devour it: take care of food for the elderly

a revealing map that anticipates several demographic challenges

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The old continent is older than ever, literally. Because Their average age is already around 50 years old. and the birth rate shows that except in Monaco, our sons and daughters they are not enough replacement (the “magic” number is 2.1). So much so that it can be said that Europe is shrinking, something that It hasn’t happened since the black plague. Old Europe vs young Nigeria. The latest Eurostat update gives an average birth rate of 1.38 babies per woman in the EU and 3.6 million births in 2023 for a population that around 450 million. If we set a “Eurovision” and expand the borders, including states like the United Kingdom or Russia, the figure rises to 6.3 million. It is still little, especially if we take into account that only in Nigeria 7.5 million were born in that same year, has a birth rate of 4.5 babies per woman and that the middle ages around 18 years old. A huge lake is in the making. Note: in Nigeria there are 222 million inhabitants. A picture is worth a thousand words. In Brilliant Maps have synthesized this data into a very simple map with this devastating fact that shows the rapid population growth of Sub-Saharan Africa, specifically Nigeria, which has one of the youngest populations in the world. A single country, with a much smaller area, surpasses an entire continent in births. Brilliant Maps map with data from Our World in Data In perspective. Taking United Nations data for Europe and Nigeria from 1900 to 2100 (until 2023 the data is accurate, from then on the UN predictions are used) the evolution and trend leaves no room for doubt about the change produced in the last century in figures: In 1950, 12 million people were born in Europe and 1.7 million in Nigeria, which had a population of 548 and 37 million people respectively. In 2000, 7.3 and 5.5 million were born in Europe and Nigeria, which had a population of 728 and 126 million people. By 2100, less than 5 million births in Europe compared to 6.6 million in Nigeria and 592 million inhabitants for the old continent compared to 476 million in the African country. The turnaround is such that on reddit there is a graph which, although more qualitative than quantitative, sums it up well: The population difference between Europe and Africa. reddit Why is it important. Beyond statistical curiosity, we are facing a paradigm shift that will define the 21st century. If “demography is destiny”, how they attribute to Auguste Comte, Europe aims for change (renew or die, never better said). Of course, Nigeria’s population explosion is not la vie en rose either. In Europe. Europe’s demographic winter is raising alarm bells for its welfare state simply because the population pyramid is inverting, thus threatening its intergenerational social model: first, delaying the retirement age. On the horizon, the cut of benefits even though there are many people who “the cannon life” is not sticking. On the other hand, the market has found a vein in the “silver” economy in the form of care for the elderly: without going any further, those related professions are already applying for rise like foam in the coming years. In Nigeria. Having 7.5 million new people in a territory is quite a challenge. On paper, it is a fantastic opportunity to train and employ a mass population that can drive massive economic growth (as has China in recent decades). The problem is not doing it and finding yourself with unemployed and frustrated youth. On the other hand and regardless of this difficulty, such a high population increase translates into high pressure on its current infrastructure, for example there will be an urgent need to build schools or hospitals. The communicating vessels. Given the previous perspective, the migratory flow is as inevitable as it is necessary. From old Europe, in search of labor to fill vacancies and thus manage its decline without losing its standard of living. From young Nigeria, to alleviate internal population and infrastructure pressure. A symbiosis not exempt from cultural frictions, culminating identity tensions in the rise of the extreme right and the flight of talents in the African country. In Xataka | If you were born today you would be born at 17.5% in India: the map that shows the distribution of world birth rates In Xataka | Where the world’s next 1,000 babies will be born, in a surprising map Cover | Brilliant Maps

The time it takes to get to a highway anywhere in Spain, on a revealing map

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Faced with the pressing housing problem in Spain In large cities, one of the simplest solutions for those who can afford it is to leave stressed centers such as Madrid or Barcelona in search of more accessible municipalities and properties. How much? It depends on your budget, what your work is like and what the destination location offers you in such objective terms as services and infrastructure. And there is one essential to move: the distance to a main road. I speak with knowledge of the facts: this was a key factor when choosing a municipality to buy an apartment months ago. My new location has direct access to the highway and getting from there to my trusted padel club in Pamplona is 10 minutes longer than doing it from my old apartment, located in the center of the Navarrese capital. Although it is not ideal, my pocket has appreciated it and the sacrifice is profitable for me. Now, having chosen an idyllic municipality in the Navarrese Pyrenees would have been a very bad idea in terms of mobility (although bucolic on days like today). That was my personal decision, but given the prices, I know that I am not alone: ​​from buying in the capital to doing so in a municipality in the province there are price variations of up to 131% in Madrid or 126% in Álava, according to the latest Idealista study that collects La Razón. Because if the price of the property in Villagónadas de Abajo is the lowest in the province but it is where Cristo lost his lighter, already such. Well yes: the price differences are abysmal and the communications are too. An x-ray of territorial inequality and Spanish orography This map created by Digital Cartography With data from the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, this is evident. The cartography collects the minutes by car to a highway or highway from a good part of the Spanish state (if there are no this type of roads, as happens in Ceuta or Melilla for example, then they do not appear) with information from 2022. To see everything in a more intuitive way, they have used the colors of the traffic light, where green is what can cost you up to 20 minutes and red goes from one hour to 133 minutes in the maroon areas. The access time to a highway or highway in Spain. Digital cartography with data from the Ministry If we superimposed a physical map with a demographic one we would find a clear diagnosis of red zones in critical areas such as the Asturian massif and the Pyrenees, the muga with Portugal (especially in Zamora, Salamanca and western Extremadura), the Iberian System and the maximum expression of “Empty Spain” in the south of Teruel, the north of the basin and areas of Guadalajara or the Betic Systems. We know that in communications Spain It is a centralized state with Madrid as the nerve center and the lines of these main roads, although they do not appear on the map, can be intuited. Without going any further, it is not too difficult to imagine where the A-2 goes to Barcelona or the A-6 to A Coruña. That is the first clue as to why we find such an uneven map: the radial network model, which leaves enormous gaps in peripheral areas that are not linked to large state/European corridors. Obviously the extreme orography of the Pyrenees or the Iberian System makes construction difficult on a technical and economic level (it is not that it is not possible to lay out viaducts or tunnels, it is that it makes the cost skyrocket), but the Average Daily Intensity mandates: for a public work to be approved there is a cost-benefit analysis and if an area has a low population density, the ADI is low, making it difficult to justify the investment. On the other hand, there are environmental restrictions: some of these red zones coincide with national parks or protected areas. In this scenario, obtain a Environmental Impact Statement (mandatory in projects of this magnitude) is an impossible mission. The small print. Something that I greatly appreciated when I returned to Navarra is that there is no traffic… compared to Madrid. The rush hour for leaving work or school may be noticeable in a few minutes of delay, but it is light years away from the traffic jams that I have had to suffer in return or bridge operations when I lived in the state capital. Because although in Madrid almost everything is green, in practice those minutes correspond to a distance traveled respecting the limits of the road and assuming fluid traffic. In Xataka | This is the DGT map to visualize where there are active V-16 beacons in Spain. There is another more useful unofficial map In Xataka | Europe’s passenger car industry, in a revealing map that makes it clear who is the real “engine” of the EU Cover | Digital cartography

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