Mayor

The mayor of Lisbon has turned it into a magnet for European startups

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Carlos Moedas does not feel like a conventional politician. The current mayor of Lisbon and former European Commissioner for Innovation recently insisted in which his training as an engineer marked his management. The idea: less rhetoric and more structural solutions. And it certainly seems to carry out this proposal, because it is leading a transformation that seeks to position the Portuguese capital not only as a tourist destination, but as one of the most relevant technological nodes in Europe. unicorn factory. The nerve center of this transformation is the call Unicorn Factorya hub of innovation that was launched in 2022 and that has become the flagship project of its mandate. Since its creation, this initiative has multiplied its size by five, and today it already houses thematic divisions specialized in cutting-edge sectors such as AI, blockchainhealth or green technologies dedicated to the agricultural field. The success is tangible: 17 “unicorn” companies (valued at more than $1 billion) have moved their operations to the Portuguese capital. Attracting startups. Moedas explained in comments to Financial Times how the real challenge of Lisbon is not to see companies born, but to help them grow. The project attracted 300 companies in 2025, a figure that represents notable growth from 250 the previous year. Among them there are companies with founders from the US, Brazil, or Denmark. Favorable conditions. To attract these startups Moedas has used several levers. The first is to sell Lisbon for what it is: a safe capital with a great quality of life. The second is to highlight that the tax regime for qualified immigrants is advantageous, and there are also tax credits for R&D, which of course is a strong argument for companies that consume a lot of resources in those initial phases and can thus receive aid in this process. But. The road, Moedas openly acknowledges, is not without potholes. Portuguese bureaucracy remains complex – the same thing happens in Spain – and that can deter entrepreneurs. The mayor of Lisbon states in the interview that a good part of his time is spent talking on the phone with foreign founders and helping them overcome these bureaucratic barriers. “Politicians do not create jobs, the markets create them,” he repeats: their job is to facilitate, not hinder, or at least that is the message. Competence. Although the activity is notable, there are founders of companies who know that the market is raffling them off. María Ribeiro Soares, from Immersiv Studios, warned of the difficulty retaining talent compared to markets with higher wages such as the United Kingdom or Germany. The other venture capital. There is another peculiarity in this entrepreneurship market. Lisbon startup founders have realized that while traditional venture capital is cautious, the so-called family offices are very willing to bet on these projects. These investors, often experienced, high-net-worth former founders, provide funding but also advice. Lisbon is not alone. The rise of Lisbon as a technological node is also accompanied by other Portuguese innovation centers such as Braga and Porto, where, for example, the biotechnology sector flourishes. There is also a direct connection with universities oriented to this market, and in that northern region of Portugal alone there are already some 1,200 startups with a combined valuation of close to 9 billion euros, according to the FT. The other great challenge. Portugal’s efforts to attract external talent have led to the arrival of numerous digital nomads, but this has had a counterproductive effect: it is causing an exodus among young Portuguese. They cannot access a housing market adapted to the pockets of those nomads, who charge triple. Rental prices have skyrocketed, and that has created tension that the mayor must manage. Image | EU2017EE Estonian Presidency | Aayush Gupta In Xataka | Portugal’s radical proposal to stop touristification: an underwater cable that connects with the US

The new mayor of New York is a rare bird in the US, but he has an even more unexpected facet: a shareholder of Real Oviedo

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Among the many congratulations that Zohran Mamdani has received over the last few days, after conquering the seat of mayor of New York, there is one that stands out as unexpected: that of Real Oviedo. Yesterday the club carbayón conveyed his congratulations via It may sound strange, but it is better understood when you know a key fact: Mamdani has been a shareholder of Real Oviedo for years. To understand it you have to go back to 2012. Who is Zohran Mamdani? That question might have made sense a few years ago, when Mamdani was one of a long list of members of the Albany Assembly. Today his name is one of the most popular in the United States, even outside the political sphere. The reason: on Tuesday he beat Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa in the race for New York City Council, becoming the elected successor of Eric L. Adams and crowning a dazzling rise. Click on the image to go to the tweet. Why is it so popular? Taking into account that New York is the main city in the United States (and one of the most media-rich on the planet), becoming its mayor should be enough to gain global projection, but Mamdani stands out for something else: an unorthodox profile. So much so, in fact, that it is a rare bird in the long history of the municipality. To start with his age: he has just turned 34, making him the youngest politician to hold office in the last century. As if that weren’t enough, Mamdani is an immigrant (born in Kampala, Uganda), Muslim, made his debut in the world of rap under the name Mr. Cardamomo and defines himself as a “democratic socialist.” He is also a skilled communicator, handles himself with ease in networks and has not hesitated to run as one of the strongest voices in the opposition to Donald Trump, whom he sent a public message after proclaiming himself the winner of the municipal elections: “I know you’re watching. I only have three words for you: turn up the volume! New York will continue to be a city of immigrants, built by immigrants and driven by immigrants. And starting tonight led by an immigrant.” Click on the image to go to the tweet. And what does it have to do with Oviedo? To answer that question we have to go back to 2012, when Real Oviedo passed through low hours. In Spain the winds of recession were blowing and the club carbayón He was seen with battered accounts and confined to the Second Division Bfrom which it would still take time to come out. The club itself refers to that period, which began in 2001, as a “fight for survival”. With that backdrop, the Asturian team decided to desperately search for a capital increase to save it from the hole, an effort in which the city devoted itself and which had the support of well-known figures, such as the popular British journalist Sid Lowewho gave visibility to the campaign on social networks. The call from Lowe, a native of Archway (London), but a fan of Real Oviedo since his student years in the Asturian capital, came among others to a young man from Kampala, a football fan and with musical whims: Zohran Mamdani. At the time he was only 21 years old, but he decided to join the wave of support. On November 9, 2012, at 5:47 p.m., he responded to Sid Lowe’s request with a message posted on Twitter: “I just bought a share, am I possibly the first shareholder of the eral Oviedo based in Maine? #SOSRealOviedo.” His tweet passed without pain or glory. The message from one more fan. One more among hundreds. Things changed on Tuesday, when Mamdani became mayor of NY. Is it your only relationship with football? Mamdani is more than just a politician, former rapper and (now) elected mayor of the largest city in the United States. He is also a self-confessed soccer fan. He himself has said that he made his first steps during his student years and his Arsenal fandom. “My uncle is a fan. I had magnets of the Invincibles (the team that won the 2003-2004 First League without losing a game) on my fridge. I loved David Seaman, Sylvain Wiltord, all of them… I have gone to many Arsenal games, many with my uncle. It has been a very important part of my life,” explained recently to The New York Times. Beyond the stands or the fields, Mamdani has known how to combine his football hobby with his political side, which has led him to launch a campaign to demand that FIFA not marginalize New Yorkers in the World that will host North America in 2026 and that includes the MetLife Stadium between its stages. Their proposal is that the organizers reserve part of the tickets for residents and also offer them a discount. The objective: that enjoying the championship is not an unattainable luxury for New York families. Images | Real Oviedo and Wikipedia In Xataka | In 2017 Liverpool signed a star footballer. Without knowing it, he had found the solution to racism in sports

Galicia has advised not to bathe in the most famous hot springs of Ourense. His mayor has responded to the Fraga in Palomares

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Is it worth an image than a thousand words? Manuel Fraga believed so. That is why in 1966, when he served as Minister of Information and Tourism of Franco, he starred in one of the more emblematic moments (and Castizos) of the recent homeland: a swimsuit was put and accompanied by the then US ambassador, Angier Biddle Dukethere was a dip near Palomares. It was only a few weeks that several thermonuclear bombs had fallen in the area after the collision of a B-52 bomber and an American tank plane and (of course) an image of a certain normality had to be transmitted. If Fraga himself bathed without fear of radiation why were people going to do it? Almost 60 years later the mayor of Ourense, Gonzalo Pérez Jácomeit seems to have reached the same conclusion as your compatriot. To clear the doubts about the health of Las Termas do Muiño, one of the most popular claims of the municipality, the councilor decided to cope some bermuda and take a bath before the cameras. Of course, instead of Angier B. Duke to him accompanied his own councilor in charge of the portfolios of tourism, arts and celebrations and thermal management, Noa Rouco Ferreira. Both in a swimsuit, both arranged to the dip. “As if we would return 60 years ago” Click on the image to go to Tweet. “Five, four, three … we are here, in the hot springs of Muiño”, Pérez Jácome starts in a video in which he poses next to Rouco and a huge poster of the Xunta that advises the bathroom in the area. Before following the mayor realizes that without a shirt or shirt he has no way to hold his micro in the flap, so he chooses to hook it on the hairs of the chest. Solved that small logistics, continues, pointing to the poster with the Galician government logo. “It would be very long to explain all this regulation, which is a roll. You will see through our social networks and different informative channels what the situation of the hot springs is. The fact is that this is the recommendation of the Xunta,” insists pointing the poster. “And as if we came back 50 or 60 years agowith that of Palomares, here the councilor and a server, the mayor of Ourense, we are going to take a bath. “ At that point the video is cut to show Jácome and Rouco in the water. “Natural paradise, incomparable in the world. I pay attention to me, pay me attention. You will see, you will see,” proclamation The mayor of Ourensana Democracy (DO) lying in the water with his partner. The piece lasts 68 seconds, enough for the ‘bathroom in Palomares’ of Jácome has become news in the rest of Spain and the video fly in networks, something that is already accustomed. Throughout the last years the Galician has gained impact beyond the local chronicle by The music video with which his party was presented to the elections, a piece in which he versioned the Village People; Your crusade Against the bollards either The teleworking and his hubby by The costumes. Now adds a new reason: a picture with echoes of the Fraga bath in Palomares and The jacuzzi of Jesús Gil. In the background there is something more complex: the status of the Termas do Muiñoa set of swimming pools almost in the bed of the Miño very popular in Galicia. In June the Xunta He warned That the area does not have the statement of thermal water or complies with the characteristics to be declared a “bath area”, which warned: “As long as it is not regularized, from the Xunta the City Council is requested to place a signage that reports the recommendation of the recommendation of Refrain from the bathroom“ For the Consistory things are different. In A statement released after the bathroom of Jácome insists that the “discrepancy” with the Xunta is only of “administrative, non -sanitary” character and insists that the bathroom does not represent any risk. “The hot springs maintain the same usual health, what has changed is the regulations of the Xunta by introducing new administrative requirements, than non -sanitary,” emphasize The ourensana democracy leader, who ensures that the “periodic analytics” that the City Council performs the health of the waters. For now, his media dip He has achieved something: That Media Spain is talking about the hot springs of Muiño, something that does not come to them badly now that the installation has returned after several months closed by the floods of the Miño. Images | Gonzalo Pérez Jácome (X) In Xataka | If the question is how to prevent people from throwing garbage outside the cubes, in Galicia they have had an idea: rummage into it

Starbase has acquired municipality status with a Spacex employee as mayor

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The residents of the small community that surrounds the Spacex headquarters in Boca Chica, southeast of Texas, have overwhelmingly voted in favor of constituting the city of Starbase. A step that gives Elon Musk’s company an unprecedented level of autonomy to develop the huge Starship rocket. Only six votes against. As We count in DecemberSpacex had initiated legal procedures to turn its growing Texan complex into an independent municipality. The movement followed Musk’s decision to transfer the official Head of California to Texas, in search of a more favorable regulatory and fiscal environment, and With explicit support From the state governor, Greg Abbott. Now, that plan has materialized. The vote took place on Saturday and resulted in 212 votes in favor and only six againstaccording to the Cameron County Elections Department. It is not a surprise, taking into account that the vast majority of the approximately 283 eligible voters within the territory of 3.9 square kilometers are employees of Spacex or their relatives. Who is the new mayor. The city of Starbase will be governed by a municipal commission of three members, composed, as expected, by three people linked to Spacex who presented themselves to the position without opposition. The mayor is Bobby Peden, current vice president of tests and releases in Texas de Spacex. Jenna Petrzelka, former Starbase Engineering Operations Manager, and Jordan Buss, current Senior Director of Environmental Health and Safety of Spacex, will be the other two councilors. Why does Spacex need your own city? The key is the control and agility that it gains with change. According to A letter to the authorities Signed at the end of 2024 by Kathryn Lueders (General Director of Starbase and former director of NASA manned flights), Starbase acquires greater autonomy to expedite the development of Starship and the colonization of Mars. With the city status, the Municipal Commission (Spacex controlled) has authority over zoning, construction projects and other aspects of local life. Although it is not a blank check to ignore state or federal regulations, it gives them considerable power to mark their own rhythm. Spacex was already de facto managing some infrastructure, such as the road (whose traffic frequently interrupts for evidence and rocket transfers). And already provided medical attention or education (the Astra Nova School of Elon Musk) to the families of employees. Starbase has a housing problem. Constituting the city of Starbase, Spacex has eliminated many bureaucratic friction to build the necessary infrastructure to attract and retain talent in its new headquarters. A critical point is housing. The company had no power to build enough houses for the hundreds of workers who would like to live near Starbase. Currently, some 260 employees live there with their families, almost 500 people. Other 3,100 move from Brownsville and nearby areas. In fact, a recent attempt to build more attached houses was rejected by the county. A controversial control over the beach. The creation of this “business city” is not exempt from criticism. Ecological groups and local residents have been expressing their concern for the growing control of Elon Musk about the area, especially with regard to access to the popular Beach of Boca Chica and the adjacent state park. For now, the closure of the road and the beach for the spacex launches and tests required the county authorization. However, there are legislative initiatives in Texas, promoted in parallel to the creation of the city, to transfer that closing authority directly to the Mayor and the City of Starbase. Spacex argues that this would speed up the releases now that they are looking for federal permission to increase the frequency of 5 to 25 per year. Following the steps of Toyota or Huawei. The creation of Starbase as a city follows a pattern that we already saw with Toyota City in Japan or the huge residential campus and R&D of Huawei in China. Also in urban projects such as the neighborhood Sidewalk Torontopromoted by Google in Canada. For Spacex, having its own city is another step to strengthen its mastery of space releases with Starship, whose ultimate goal is to take humans to Mars. Now, officially starbly on the map, Elon Musk has a little more control over his Texan fief to try to convert that vision into reality, although the controversy and scrutiny, without a doubt, will remain there. Image | Spacex In Xataka | Leaving California is just the first step: Spacex has started the procedures to create an independent city in Texas

Political Round: Mayor turns to allies to save herself

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The attack against the mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass after the dramatic fires has placed her in a vulnerable situation, after the serious crisis took her by surprise in Ghana when she was making her fifth international journey. It is known that the progressive movement is looking for a candidate who can give them the fight when they try for re-election next year; and many wonder if his former opponent, Rick Caruso, would come for a rematch. The mall businessman raised $20 million for the Fire Department Foundation to purchase equipment to help save lives. And here comes the interesting thing: the mayor has realized the pit she has fallen into, and has turned to her political allies to save her. The president of the Los Angeles County Federation of Unions, Yvonne Wheeler, and even the international firefighters union headed by Frank Lima, another union of theater employees and two more representing service workers have publicly come out to clean him up. the image, splashed by fire. The campaign to remove blame for the fires is underway. First stop, the unions. The City’s budget problems, which will be aggravated by the expenses of the feared fires, will not help him in his quest to regain his lost popularity. And things have gotten so bad that the devastation caused by the fires prompted Councilwoman Traci Park to resign as chair of the Los Angeles Council’s 2028 Olympics Committee to dedicate herself full time to recovery efforts. as president of the Special Committee on Recovery newly formed by the councilors. Rob Bonta rises Contrary to Bass, the figure of California prosecutor Rob Bonta has risen to the skies with the arrival of the anti-immigrant hurricane Donald Trump to the White House. And no politician in California, nor Governor Gavin Newsom himself nor Mayor Bass, has been as open and vocal as the prosecutor after the avalanche of anti-immigrant measures by the new president.. Bonta, who immigrated as a child with his parents from the Philippines to California, immediately sued the Trump administration over its executive order that wants to end birthright US citizenship. The opportunity to make his name better known in the state comes when time is short for him to decide whether or not to enter the Democratic race for governor. De León opens fire Former councilman Kevin de León reappeared on the scene, publishing on site De León, author of the Sanctuary Law he introduced when he was a senator, said he made sure this legislation survived the most rigorous legal challenges, even winning approval from the Supreme Court in the early Trump era. De León tagged in his comment Prosecutor Bonta, who defended SB 54 against a Justice Department memo that calls on prosecutors to prosecute those who do not participate in federal immigration enforcement efforts. Without delay, Republican Congressman Kevin Kiley responded to De León, telling him that he introduced a bill to prevent California from going after local officials who do not comply with SB 54. Kiley’s plan is to end the Sanctuary State in California and MediCal for undocumented immigrants. All of this becomes more relevant following the announcement that Huntington Beach in Orange County has just declared itself a Non-Sanctuary City and filed a lawsuit against California’s Sanctuary State law.

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