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Spain’s plan is to release 115 million barrels

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Every time you start your car in the morning or a factory turns on its machines in Europe, the bill rises at the rate of conflicts that occur thousands of kilometers away. To give you an idea of ​​the hole: in 2023 alone, the European Union spent 427 billion euros buying energy abroad. We are talking about a drain of more than 1,000 million euros a day. This chronic dependency forces us to pay what the Transport & Environment organization (TEA) calls a “geopolitical bonus”. As we have analyzed recently in Xatakathe logistics bottleneck and the current crisis in the Middle East threaten to replicate the worst scenarios of shortages and volatility of the past. Cushioning the blow. Precisely to mitigate this premium and as an urgent response to this scenario – marked by the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and the war in Iran – the Government of Spain, through MITECOhas just authorized the release of up to 11.5 million barrels of oil from its strategic reserves. This measure represents the Spanish contribution (2.9%) to the historic contingency plan of the International Energy Agency (IEA) to inject 400 million barrels in the global market. The mobilization, which will begin immediately by putting into circulation the equivalent of four days of national consumption, seeks to contain price volatility and avoid panic in the face of a suffocated supply. The toll of European vulnerability. The repercussions of the war are falling directly on the pockets of families and the competitiveness of companies, creating a bottleneck in the great global funnel of fossil fuels. The figures from previous crises paint a gloomy picture: when a barrel of crude oil exceeded the $100 barrier in 2022, the bloc’s energy gap skyrocketed to 604 billion euros, an extra 500 million a day. The suffocation of the great global funnel. The economic weight of this European vulnerability is divided today into three major fronts: The hit to the driver: According to analysts TEAwith crude oil set at $100, EU motorists will pay an additional 55 billion euros in one year. This is equivalent to an average increase in costs of 220 euros per year per driver. In fact, the price of gasoline at the pumps threatens to consolidate around 2 euros per liter, an increase of 24% compared to the average recorded in 2025. Industrial asphyxiation: While the International Energy Agency (IEA) releases 400 million barrels of strategic reserves to buy time, experts warn that the barrel could be close to $200. The volatility has caused European gas futures to jump 30% in a single day, recording massive electrical fluctuations that push entire factories toward insolvency. Handcuffed governments: Unlike the massive social shield deployed in 2022, European governments today have a much narrower fiscal margin due to accumulated deficits. Despite this, given the fear of deindustrialization caused by this extreme volatility, Brussels already considering breaking taboos and intervene in the market through tax cuts and caps on electricity tolls. An electric shield against the crisis. Faced with this scenario of chronic vulnerability, the technological and energy transition is acting as a real financial firewall. In last analysis of TEA explains that The current energy crisis will affect gasoline cars five times more than the charging of electric vehicles (EV). The numbers behind the wheel leave no room for doubt. With the rise in crude oil prices, traveling 100 kilometers in an average gasoline car would cost 14.20 euros, compared to just 6.50 euros for recharging an EV. If we look at company fleets, the monthly extra cost derived from the crisis would amount to 89 euros per combustion car, compared to only 16 additional euros for electric cars. At a macroeconomic level, the electric vehicles that already circulate on European roads prevented the import of crude oil worth 2.9 billion euros in 2025. Since TEA They emphasize that maintaining climate ambition and accelerate the mass adoption of these vehicles would avoid the payment of 45 billion euros in foreign crude oil over the next decade. A clear winner: the geopolitical paradox. This situation redefines the energy map and yields a clear winner. The suffocation in global supply has caused an unprecedented geopolitical paradox: the United States has been forced to issue emergency waivers to prevent India’s collapse, allowing it to buy Russian crude oil stranded at sea. As a result of this crisis, Vladimir Putin’s crude oil has gone from being sold at huge discounts to commanding a historic premium in the markets. Despite the enormous economic pressure and the fact that the crisis directly benefits hostile powers, the European Commission remains firm in its veto. EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen has emphatically assured that they will not import “not one molecule” of energy from Russia. Geography is destiny. The current crisis in the Strait of Hormuz is a painful reminder that structural dependence on fossil fuels remains the great Achilles heel of the Old Continent. As Antony Froggatt warnsexpert of TEA: “Europe must prioritize electric vehicles, heat pumps and renewable energy to ensure this does not happen again.” As long as economies remain tied to the trade routes of an unstable Persian Gulf, the economic security of European citizens will depend on conflicts thousands of kilometers away. Accelerating the end of fossil fuels is no longer solely a climate imperative; Today it is the most pragmatic decision for national security and economic survival that Europe can make. Image | Unsplash and Moncloa Xataka | The industry is fighting over impure oil crumbs, literally: it bodes worst for the economy

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

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

in one million euros a year

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Inditex has just presented the best results in its history. For the first time in its history, the company founded by Amancio Ortega has reached 6,220 million, with a turnover that was close to 40,000 million euros. In that context of historical numberswhat its top managers earn draws attention…and not precisely because they are modest figures. Marta Ortega, president of the company and youngest daughter of Amancio Ortega, has been in office for four years and her remuneration has not moved a single euro since it stabilized at one million a year. Meanwhile, the CEO, Óscar García Maceiras, has just raised his salary for the third consecutive year. The CEO who rises while the president remains still. As reflected in the Annual Corporate Governance Report 2025 of Inditex, García Maceiras closed 2025 with a total remuneration of 11.55 million euros, which represents an increase of 3% compared to the previous year and a cumulative increase of 38% since he assumed the position of CEO in November 2021 after the departure of Pablo Isla. Their remuneration is broken down into a block of 7.4 million euros in cash which includes a fixed salary, short-term variable percentage and long-term variable percentage. As and as usual In senior management positions, remuneration is completed with a package of shares or other financial instruments valued at 4.1 million euros. These new shares are added to the 118,329 titles which he already has. This salary growth for the CEO caused the total amount allocated to the board of directors to also increase, going from 14.28 million which they registered in 2024 to 14.5 million euros in the last financial year. One million euros a year: the price of presiding over Inditex. Martha Ortega became president non-executive of Inditex in 2022 and since then her salary has always followed the same line. In his first year he received a salary of 834,000 euros. However, in the following three years and unlike the rest of the directors of the Zara parent company, his salary has remained unchanged at one million euros. Neither the company’s record results nor the increase in dividends to shareholders have moved that figure. Now, that million is not the only income that Marta Ortega receives from her ties to the group. According to published Digital EconomyIn addition to her remuneration as president of Inditex, she receives remuneration for her participation in the boards of directors. of Pontegadea Investments, Partler 2006 and Pontegadea GB 2020, the companies with which the Ortega family controls the textile group and manages the rest of your investments. In addition, its shareholding percentage also brings some dividends, although without reaching the levels that this year Amancio Ortega will receive. A top management that also wins. García Maceiras is not the only one who has seen his income grow after the company’s good results. The joint remuneration of the 19 executives who form Inditex senior management It amounted to 139.5 million euros in the last financial year, compared to 132 million the previous year. That is, an increase of 7.5 million distributed among that select group of managers. In contrast, the average Inditex employee he earned around 40,000 euros in 2025, 5.26% more than the previous year. The difference between what the CEO earned and what a standard employee of the company receives exceeds 280 times. It is a gap that does not go unnoticedespecially in a year in which the company has broken all its historical profit records. ​Amancio Ortega does not care about his salary. There is a surprising fact when the remuneration of the Inditex leadership is broken down. Amancio Ortega, the man who founded the group and who remains its main shareholder with control of more than 59% of the capital through family officehe repeated in 2025 with an allocation of just 100,000 euros per year as a member of the council. Without a doubt, this is a figure that, compared to the 3,234 million euros that it will receive in the context of the dividends that correspond to its participation, has more symbolic than practical value. In Xataka | Marta Ortega has inherited something more than a textile empire: Amancio Ortega’s taste for big logistical bets Image | Wikimedia Commons (Nemigo), GTRES

A single shareholder will earn 3,234 million euros thanks to Inditex’s record profits: Amancio Ortega, of course

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There are companies that never stop breaking their own records and Inditex is one of them. The Galician group that owns Zara, Massimo Dutti or Pull&Bear has closed its 2025 fiscal year with a record net profit of 6,220 million euros, which is 6% more than the previous year. It is the fourth consecutive year that Inditex exceeds its own historical highs. However, what is really striking is not only the record achieved by the textile giant based in Arteixobut that record profit also implies unprecedented dividends for its shareholders. The 2026 dividend is the largest that Amancio Ortega will receive from Inditex in the entire historical series. No less than 3,234 million euros. A billion-dollar dividend. The Board of Directors of Inditex approved in its presentation of 2025 results the distribution of dividends among its shareholders. Given the increase in profits obtained this year, Inditex will offer a total dividend of 1.75 euros gross per share, which represents an increase of 4.17% compared to what it delivered the previous year. This dividend is made up of two parts: an ordinary component of 1.20 euros per share, equivalent to 60% of net profit, and an extraordinary payment of 0.55 euros per share. As is customary for the textile giant, the distribution of this dividend will be carried out in two equal payments of 0.875 euros per share. The first, scheduled for May 4, 2026, and the second will be sent on November 2, 2026. Two dates on the calendar that, for Amancio Ortega, have a very specific economic implication. What happens to Amancio Ortega. With a participation of 59.29% of the capital, distributed between his company Pontegadea (50.010%) and Partler Participaciones, Amancio Ortega controls 1,848 million shares of Inditex. Applying the dividend of 1.75 euros for each share, the resulting figure is 3,234 million euros gross, which implies surpassing the barrier of 3,000 million euros for the second consecutive year. Ortega received 3,104 million euros in 2025 for this same concept. To put this data in a little perspective, in the last five years, Inditex has raised its dividend by 88%. During that period alone, Ortega has earned 13.12 billion euros in dividends. Almost half of that amount, about 6.3 billion, corresponds only to the last two years. 100% of that income has gone directly to the accounts of Pontegadea, with which it makes all the investments that have led it to become the largest Spanish real estate by value of assets and one of the largest in Europe. The rest of the Ortega family also receives dividends. Despite being the largest company on the Ibex 35, Inditex has not lost the participation of the Ortega family, so its founder is not the only one who benefits from the distribution. His eldest daughter, Sandra Ortegacontrols 5.05% of the capital through the Rosp Corunna companywith 157.48 million shares without voting rights. For them, he will receive 275 million euros in dividends. A figure that, by itself, would be an extraordinary income for any medium-sized company. Curiously, Marta Ortega, youngest daughter of the tycoon of fashion and current president of the company, only controls 42,511 Inditex shares, for which she will receive a payment of 74,400 euros for those dividends. An abysmal difference with respect to his father. In Xataka | Amancio Ortega: the billionaire who lives like a neighbor (except for private jets and superyachts) Image | GTRES, Unsplash (Igal Ness)

Lola Lolita has 13 million followers and Carmen Maura has four Goyas. And the festivals are clear about who goes to the red carpet

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The presence of content creators and influencers at the Goya and the Malaga Festival, where they move like fish out of water, has a reason for being and an economic justification, which has generated considerable controversy. The episode of Ona Gonfaus, unable to name a Spanish film at a film festival dedicated to Spanish cinema, has condensed everything that is happening with surgical precision. Although beyond that there are also uncomfortable questions that the actors are not willing to ask themselves. Goyas without actors. On February 28, 2026, the 40th edition of the Goya Awards was held in Barcelona. Posh influencers such as Dulceida, Laura Escanes, Marina Rivers and Jessica Goicoechea walked the red carpet. The actress Yolanda Ramos saw it from homein pajamas: “Except when I was nominated and the following year, neither before nor since have I ever been invited.” A few days before, Marc Biarnés had published a video asking, bluntly, what certain influencers were up to on Spanish cinema night. Norma Ruiz, who in 2025 had filmed four films, I had not received an invitation either.. It took a week for the spark to catch fire at the Malaga Festival. What happens in Malaga. The 29th edition of the Malaga competition, dedicated to Spanish cinema, opened on March 6 with the debate still hot. The media took advantage of the red carpet to take the pulse of the sector. Carmen Maura summed it up with no room for interpretation: “influencers seem very good to me, but they don’t make films.” The director Isabel Coixet signed a column of opinion in which he compared the precarious situation of many creators in the industry with the preferential treatment given to influencers. Ona Gonfaus arrives. The Catalan influencer paraded on the red carpet of the Cervantes Theater on Friday, March 7, when a reporter asked him to recommend a movie. “I don’t know now… a movie about what?” he responded. The journalist insisted: “a Spanish one, since we are at the Malaga Film Festival.” Gonfaus proposed “the new Eight surnames.” He was referring to ‘Eight Moroccan Surnames’, released in December 2023 and which, obviously, had no link with the festival’s programming. The singer Olivia Bay, who I only remembered ‘La casa de papel’. The background mechanism. The Film Academy does not improvise these invitations, although it does not completely control them either. Agency sources confirmed that content creators who attend events like the Goya do so “associated with the sponsors.” The brands that advertise have the possibility of bringing guests to the event with the greatest media coverage of Spanish cinema, and they want their ambassadors there. photocall. In most cases, the influencers They don’t even access the auditorium: they generate content for Instagram or TikTok and follow the gala from annex spaces, not from the stalls. The importance of influencer. The third edition of the ‘Influencer Economy’ study, Published in February 2026 with data from 154 million pieces of content, it confirms that Spain has 285,000 active creators with more than 10,000 followers on Instagram and TikTok. The volume of sponsored content grew by 73% on TikTok and 45% on Instagram during 2025. The previous year, the influencer marketing business had already grown by 40%. It is obvious that there is an amount of money at stake that is beyond what the Spanish film industry can move. The uncomfortable truth. There is an argument that the actors avoid formulating directly, although it is implicit in the entire controversy: a good part of the influencers of lifestyle They are, right now, better known than most of them among the public between 16 and 25 years old. Lola Lolita He has 13.3 million followers on TikTok and 4.3 million on Instagram. Marina Rivers exceeds 7.9 million on TikTok. The reach of its daily publications frequently exceeds the total number of spectators that any Spanish film of the year has had in theaters. Of course, acting and accumulating followers are very different things, but it certainly explains why brands prefer that presence on red carpets: the return in impressions is incomparably more substantial. And it also explains why the organization of a festival that depends on sponsors cannot do without them. The number of followers it doesn’t explain everythingbut it is still the metric with which brands decide where to invest their quota of invitations. A possible solution. What could be questioned is what type of influencer is invited. There are creators with notable audiences who dedicate their platforms to cinema, regularly recommend Spanish films and know the industry inside out. But it’s not those (as Javier Ibarreche, Javi Ponzoeither It’s not a movie) to those who invite the Goya or the Malaga Festival. Profiles of lifestyle who have never published anything related to the medium, and whose presence advertises cosmetics, fashion or travel brands. A film influencer with a million followers who knowingly recommends a film from the festival would be doing something more valuable than inviting someone who cannot name a title when asked on the red carpet. But perhaps it is too much to demand a balance between economic performance and going beyond ‘Three Moroccan surnames’. In Xataka | 24 hours running in a showcase: Verdeliss’ latest challenge reminds us that impossible challenges are huge business

is that we are missing 20 million physical barrels a day and there is nowhere to get them

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The entire planet has been paralyzed in a funnel of salt water just 33 kilometers wide. With the escalation of war in the Middle East, headlines from around the world warn that the price of crude oil has surpassed the psychological barrier of $100registering record increases of 36% in a single week. However, the price is only the fever; the real illness is much more serious. To understand the magnitude of this crisis, we must stop looking at the stock price and start looking at the physical barrels that are missing. Today’s fundamental and structural problem is scarcity: the market is drying up. Overnight, we face the disappearance of some 20 million barrels a day. It is a logistical catastrophe five times greater than the one we experienced in the historic crisis of 1973. The 20 million barrel hole. According to data collected by The Kobeissi Letter and confirmed by Goldman Sachsthis blockade takes about 20 million barrels a day off the board (approximately 20% of world consumption). To put it in perspective, this supply shock is the largest in history and is equivalent to adding, at once, the losses caused by the Iranian Revolution (5.5 million), the Yom Kippur War (4.5 million), the invasion of Kuwait (4.3 million), the Iran-Iraq War (4 million) and the invasion of Ukraine (2 million). We are not facing a reserve crisis, but rather an absolute logistical collapse. As we have explained in Xataka, just open the platform Marine Traffic to see a swarm of some 240 immobilized vessels, including at least 40 supertankers (VLCCs) loaded with two million barrels each. The chaos is not only physical, it is also electronic as there is severe interference in the tracking systems (AIS), showing ghost ships located inland due to signal hacking. The fear of sailing is justified, tanker traffic in Hormuz has fallen by 90% and freight rates for supertankers have skyrocketed by 600%. The domino effect. Unable to take ships out to sea, onshore storage tanks have been filled to the brim. Iraq has been the first major physical victim of this plug. The data of Bloomberg They give the actual measurement of the cap. Iraq has had to plummet its production by 70%, falling from 4.3 to just 1.3 million barrels per day. The shock wave has already reached the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, which have begun to close wells for a very basic reason advance by Financial Times. They have simply run out of physical space to store the crude oil. Given this scenario, OPEC+ promised to inject an additional 206,000 barrels per day. However, analyst John Kemp explains in Financial Times that this is a mirage: almost all of the cartel’s surplus capacity is inside of the Persian Gulf. If the ships cannot leave, that crude oil does not exist for the rest of the world. Nor are alternative pipelines a panacea. Javier Blas, columnist of Bloombergexplains that Saudi Arabia and the Emirates have pipelines to bypass Hormuz to the Red Sea, but a report from Goldman Sachs warns that the actual diversion capacity It is only 0.9 million barrels per day compared to the theoretical 6.5 million. The shortage is already hitting critical sectors. As my colleague Alberto de la Torre warned about an unprecedented crisis in aviation fuel (jet fuel), whose price in Asia reached an anomalous record of $225.44 per barrel. It is estimated that 40% of the jet fuel arriving in Europe passes through Hormuz. Since airports have very small storage tanks, the supply chain is stretched. Airlines such as WizzAir already foresee losses of 50 million euros due to this extra cost alone. Panic has reached governments. According to reports Financial Timesthe finance ministers of the G7 and the International Energy Agency (IEA) are preparing an emergency meeting to release between 300 and 400 million barrels of their joint strategic reserves. It is a desperate measure to stop the global inflationary impact. President Donald Trump, facing US gas stations at $3.45 a gallon, downplayed the blow on his social media, stating that short-term prices are “a very small price to pay for peace and security.” China’s master plan against the US “Donroe Doctrine”. While the West panics, in Beijing there is the calm of someone who has done his homework. The US strategy was to suffocate the cheap crude oil (Iran and Venezuela) that the Chinese industry feeds on, in what some analysts call the “Donroe Doctrine” (the US attempt to control up to 30% of the world’s reserves together with Guyana and Venezuela). But China was anticipated. Last year it spent $10 billion absorbing excess global crude oil, building up strategic reserves for 96 days. Today it has 166 million barrels floating safely off its coasts. In addition, it has triggered the purchase of Russian and Saudi crude oil, and has accelerated its true national shield: the electrical transition. With a 50% market share in electric vehicles and 430 renewable gigawatts installed in one year, Beijing demonstrates that, unlike a ship in Hormuz, sunlight cannot be blocked by the US Fifth Fleet. ANDThe ghost of 1973. Comparisons with the 1973 Arab oil embargo are inevitable but misleading. In ’73, the cut was 4.5 million barrels; Today the hole is 20 million. The economic damage suffered by the world was seven times greater than the value of the missing oil, all because of the collective panic that paralyzed investment and consumption. Today, however, the physical scenario is so extreme that the structural blow is guaranteedWhether there is panic or not. The only current advantage is that the United States is today the largest producer in the world and its economy depends much less on crude oil than it did 50 years ago, which gives it a certain shield. The tyranny of geography. If the ships do not sail, signatures like S&P Global Energy They predict a brutal “demand destruction”: unaffordable prices that will force the world to forcibly stop consuming crude oil. In the … Read more

a clash of moons 100 million ago wants to solve it

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Few planets in the Solar system are as recognizable as Saturn and its characteristic rings. They may not be as visible to the naked eye, but around them there are also an impressive 274 moons. Well, according to a recent study from the SETI Instituterings and moons could be linked by the same event: a colossal collision 100 million years ago that left Saturn’s environment as we know it. Context. The first time we approached Saturn was in 1979 with NASA’s Pioneer 11. A few years later, Voyagers 1 and 2 flew over it. It was the probe cassini on a 13-year mission that shed some light on this planet, its rings and its moons. Cassini discovered three anomalies that did not fit the models proposed by astronomy: The rings are about 100 million years old, much younger than the billions they expected (friendly reminder: The solar system is 4.6 billion years old) Several moons had strange, asymmetrical and unbalanced orbits. Saturn’s internal mass is more concentrated in the center than predicted. The previous hypothesis. In 2022 a team of astronomy professionals established a hypothesis to explain these anomalies: the explanation could be that Saturn had lost a moon about 100 million years ago, precisely the date on which the youngest rings were formed. The discovery. Based on the previous hypothesis and after several simulations, they arrived at the explanation that where Titan orbits today there were two moons: a Proto-Titan and a smaller Proto-Hypérion. At some point they collided and the Proto-Titan absorbed the other. What was not integrated was regrouped forming the current deformed and asymmetrical Hipérion. This process explains why Titan does not have craters on its surface and its eccentric orbit, inherited from the perturbations prior to the impact. Because of this irregular orbit, Titan destabilizes Saturn’s inner moons, throwing them outward and thus causing cascading collisions between them. In short: Saturn’s rings would be the scar of this process, not the original characteristic of the planet, but the result of a chain reaction of destruction caused by the collision between two primitive moons. Diagram of Saturn’s rings from NASA Why it is important. Because Saturn’s rings are no longer seen as an aesthetic curiosity and become what they truly are: fossils of cosmic events. Furthermore, it requires reviewing the models proposed by the scientific community until now to expand knowledge about planetary formation in general. Without going any further, it provides more information about similar systems, such as that of the Earth and the Moon, whose origin is also attributed to a primordial collision. On the other hand, Titan has a strategic importance in humanity’s space plans: it is one of the most interesting candidates in the search for life thanks to characteristics such as its dense atmosphere or its methane oceans. Knowing its origin is not only a historical question: it is understanding what conditions made it possible and whether something similar could be repeated in other worlds. How they did it. Starting with the 2022 hypothesis, they applied computer simulations to check whether an additional moon could get close enough to Saturn to form rings. The goal was to recreate the solar system over thousands of iterations until the results matched the Saturn environment we know. The SETI Institute team, led by Matija Ćuk, got here after introducing an additional unstable moon that always ended the same way: with Hyperion disappearing again and again. It was the sign that a premise was incorrect, so they proposed something new: and what were there were two extra moons? Yes, but. Although this study offers a plausible explanation of the current Saturn environment, it is still based on simulations. There is no direct physical data from Titan. In fact, the team itself recognizes that they need more data. That’s where the mission comes in. NASA Dragonflywhich could provide more essential data to understand why the rings formed. This drone from the North American space agency will land on Titan in 2034 to analyze the chemical composition of its surface, which could reveal traces of the primordial impact and confirm (or not) that Titan is really the result of a merger. In Xataka | We have been deceived by the distances of the Solar System: the closest neighbor to Neptune is Mercury In Xataka | A new “solar system” has just been discovered. There’s just one problem: it shouldn’t exist. Cover | NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, M. Tiscareno (SETI Institute), M. Hedman (University of Idaho), M. El Moutamid (Cornell University), M. Showalter (SETI Institute), L. Fletcher (University of Leicester), H. Hammel (AURA); image processing by J. DePasquale

The same day that the US threatened Spain and said it did not need the Rota base, the US invested 13 million in expanding the Rota base

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More than 7,000 kilometers from Washington, on the coast of Cádiz, is one of the military enclaves most important of the United States outside its territory. NATO missile shield destroyers operate from there and dozens of military ships and aircraft pass each year heading to Africa, the Middle East or the eastern Mediterranean. In the midst of international escalation, that place returns to position in the center of the geopolitical board. And it reminds us again that everything has a price. Political noise and military reality. The diplomatic crisis between the United States and Spain in the wake of the war against Iran has been marked by harsh statements, veiled threats and rhetoric that suggested a strategic rupture between both countries. Washington openly criticized the refusal of the Spanish Government to allow the use of the Rota and Morón bases for operations against Iran, while Madrid defended that this war lacked legal coverage and it did not have international support. However, under this political clash a much more prosaic reality remains intact: the daily functioning of military cooperation between both countries. has barely changed. Bilateral agreements remain in force, facilities continue to operate normally and collaboration between the armed forces runs through technical channels that, although it may not seem like it, are completely separate from diplomatic noise. A threat with millions under his arm. Yes, the most revealing paradox of this situation occurred on the same day that the United States raised its tone against Spain and dropped that I didn’t need the naval base of Rota. While the political rhetoric spoke of distancing, the US Department of Defense simultaneously awarded a contract of about 13 million of euros to renew various infrastructures within the Cádiz base, from paving and parking lots to structural repairs and painting of facilities. It we count last week. The contract, awarded to a spanish company and with an execution period of five years, it was not an isolated investment but part of a broader program of modernization that will last until the next decade. In practice, while public discourse hinted at a strategic cooldown, the Pentagon was reaffirming with money and works that Rota remains a centerpiece of its military architecture in Europe. Rota as a logistical pillar. Investments are not limited to maintenance work. Washington has also approved projects much more ambitioussuch as the construction of enormous fuel depots capable of storing tens of thousands of barrels to supply naval aviation and ships of the 6th Fleet. Added to this are new missile warehousesammunition maintenance facilities, hangars for strategic transport aircraft and improvements to docks and landing strips. All this logistical reinforcement has a clear recipient: the US destroyers permanently deployed in Rota, which will soon pass five to six unitsin addition to the numerous ships and aircraft that use the base as a support point for operations in Africa, the Mediterranean and NATO’s southern flank. Thus, far from losing relevance compared to other locations such as Morocco, Rota is thus consolidating itself as one of the most important logistical nodes of the US naval strategy. Spain also expands its base. As we write A few days ago, the reinforcement of Rota is not just an American bet. The Spanish Navy has also launched its own expansion plan to solve an increasingly evident problem: the base has become too small for the number of ships it houses. Currently, American destroyers, a large part of the Spanish fleet, amphibious units and naval aircraft coexist there, in addition to ships participating in international exercises. Solution? To absorb this growing traffic, the Ministry of Defense is preparing a profound transformation of the facilities valued at more than 300 million eurosone that will practically double the port’s capacity with new docks, fuel tanks and logistical expansions. The project even contemplates modify the mouth of a nearby river and reclaim dozens of hectares from the sea to build new port infrastructure for the future F-110 frigates and to the Spanish amphibious ships. Morón and cooperation. Meanwhile, the Morón air base also continues to be part of the joint military plans. US command reports new facilities are planned ammunition storage and improvements in critical infrastructure within the Sevillian facility, with investments that could reach tens of millions of dollars. At the same time, air operations continue developing normally: American tanker planes continue to use Spanish bases for their logistics missions and, when the Spanish Government limited their use for certain operations related to Iran, the aircraft simply they moved temporarily to other European bases without altering global military cooperation. The Frigate and Iran. In fact, Spain’s own military performance in the conflict illustrates well this duality between political discourse and strategic reality. While Madrid insists that it is not participating in the offensive against Iran nor does it allow the use of its bases for that purpose, Spain has at the same time deployed one of its most advanced units in the eastern Mediterranean. The Frigate Christopher Columbusequipped with the Aegis combat system and anti-aircraft missiles capable of intercepting threats at more than 150 kilometers, has been integrated into the air-naval group of the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle next to Greek ships to protect Cyprus against attacks with missiles or drones. Its mission is defensive and framed within the support of European partners, but its presence demonstrates that Spain remains fully involved in regional security in the midst of the escalation of the conflict. The diplomatic “show” and the military machinery. In short, the sum of all these movements paints a peculiar scenario, to say the least. On the surface, the declaration war between Washington and Madrid suggests deep tensions and strategic disagreements over intervention in Iran. But under this political spectacle, the joint military machine continues working normally. United States iinvest hundreds of millions in reinforcing its bases in Spanish territory, Spain expands them facilities to accommodate more ships and aircraft, armies they continue to coordinate within NATO and Spanish forces participate in military … Read more

an exclusive Ferrari worth 40 million euros

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There are weddings that are remembered for the banquetfor the dress or for the music. Charles Leclerc’s wedding will be remembered, above all, for the car. The Monegasque Scuderia Ferrari driver married Alexandra Saint-Mleux a few days ago in an intimate ceremony held in Monaco, and chose to leave the place of celebration a piece of motor history: a Ferrari 250 Testa rossa from 1957. The images that went viral In networks they showed the couple traveling the streets of the Principality aboard a car that, according to the most recent estimatesmay have a price close to 40 million euros. A picture that is rarely seen outside of a museum or an elite auction. A car born to win that became a myth The protagonist of this story is the 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa, a two-seater roadster built with a single purpose: to compete and win. His name, precursor of the mythical name that the brand was about to losemeans “Red Head”, in reference to the color with which the cylinder heads of its engine were painted, a 3.0 liter V12 capable of developing 300 HP. For the time, those figures were a declaration of intentions. Essentially designed to participate in the Sport Prototype championship of the 60s, the 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa It competed directly against rising brands such as Maserati or Aston Martin. Among his most notable achievements is having inaugurated the Ferrari record in the 24 Hours of Le Mansone of the great milestones in the history of the Italian brand. Beyond its sporting history, the Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa that Lecrerc wore at his wedding is also a work of engineering thought out down to the last detail. Its structure is based on a tubular chassis and has body elements designed exclusively by Scaglietti, which further adds more value to each unit. Under its body hides a 140-liter fuel tank, a four-speed manual gearbox, independent front suspension and disc brakes. With all this technical equipment, the car was capable of reaching a maximum speed of 270 km/h, a truly extraordinary figure for a two-seater vehicle that did not exceed 800 kg in weight. An exclusive gem in every sense Today, driving one of these cars through the streets of Monaco is already something almost extraordinary due to the extremely high historical value, but also economical of the unit. One of the factors that contributes to its exclusivity is that Ferrari only manufactured 19 unitsso we are talking about one of the rarest classic cars that exist on the face of the Earth. That rarity has a market price that goes accordingly. OK to what was published by The Vanguarda 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa already broke world records at auction in 2009, when it was awarded for 9,020,000 euros at the event Ferrari Leggenda and Passione celebrated in Maranello. Since then, its price has only grown. There is one detail that should be clarified, and that is that the Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa that Leclerc drove on his wedding day is not his property. It was a special loan for the link, most likely coming from the Ferrari historical collection. Even so, the gesture of the Italian brand towards one of its star drivers says a lot about the relationship between the brand and the young driver. A transfer that is already a gift in itself. What is clear is that Leclerc, known for his taste for historic automobiles and his professional link with the brand of The Prancing Horseknew how to make the most of the moment. While the world of Formula 1 was preparing for the start of the 2026 season at the Australian Grand Prix, the Monegasque driver got married and crossed Monaco at the wheel of one of the most valuable and exclusive cars on the planet. It is difficult to imagine a more spectacular way to start a new stage of life. In Xataka | The Ferrari F150 Muletto M4 has been key in the history of Ferrari. The problem is that it has also been the ugliest Image | Ferrari, Flickr (Dave Hamster, Mike Turner, Jim Culp)

127,000 million in weapons for war

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It took Germany more than seven decades to speak again openly to build the most powerful army of Europe. For much of that time, its military spending was conditioned by the political and legal limits imposed after World War II. Today, however, the country that for years symbolized European strategic pacifism has become the largest investor military of the continent. And that change is having consequences far beyond its borders. Perplexed in half of Europe. The meeting that took place yesterday in the Oval Office left an image that is difficult to ignore: Donald Trump publicly attacking to Spain while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz remained silent at his side. The US president accused Madrid of the “veto” in Rota and of not assuming its share of NATO military spending, and threatened with economic reprisalsa warning that was surprising for its harshness against a European ally. When it was Merz’s turn to respond, avoided questioning the tone or substance of the threat and limited itself to pointing out that all members of the Alliance must increase your investment in defense. The scene drew attention because the leader of the most powerful country in the European Union did not come to the defense of a community partner at a time of maximum diplomatic tension. A calculated strategy. They remembered in the New York Times that very possibly the chancellor’s silence was not improvised. His strategy in the White House was to avoid any direct confrontation in front of the cameras and reserve disagreements for private conversations. Merz had arrived in Washington with the intention of maintaining a functional relationship with an unpredictable president and very sensitive to public criticism. The German priority was to discuss the conflict with Iran, the war in Ukraine and trade tensions with Europe without provoking a head-on clash with Trump. This calculation would explain why the chancellor chose to let the attacks on Spain (and the United Kingdom) pass during the meeting, even knowing that the scene would generate discomfort in several European capitals. 127,000 million reasons. There is, however, an even simpler reason behind this caution: the gigantic rearmament program German. Faced with public reluctance from Spain, Germany is preparing to spend around of 127 billion dollars in defense this year, a figure that makes it by far the largest military investor in Europe. The German Government’s plan is even more ambitiouswith the aim of raising spending up to 3.5% of GDP in the coming years and build the most powerful conventional army on the continent. This strategic leap marks the end of decades of military containment and places Berlin at the center of the new European balance of power. The German project. The German bet responds to a combination of factors: the war in Ukraine, fear of Russian aggressiveness and the perception that the United States could reduce its commitment to European security. After decades of reducing its army, Berlin tries recover capabilities at great speed and become the military pillar of the continent. This process is also transforming its defense industry, with companies like Rheinmetall expanding rapidly thanks to the increase in the military budget. If the Government’s plans are fulfilled, Germany will end up spending more on defense that France and the United Kingdom (and, of course, Spain) together in conventional capacities, a change that profoundly alters the military balance within Europe. Two diametrically opposed visions. In that context, the clash with Spain is better understood. While Germany pushes a massive increase of defense spending within NATO, Madrid has shown a more cautious stance regarding this increase and has defended more critical positions regarding some recent military operations. From the German perspective, the central issue was not the Trump threat, but the fact that Spain stayed away of the new rearmament consensus that Berlin is trying to consolidate among the European allies. That’s why Merz responded by underlining the need for all Alliance members to meet agreed military spending targets. A delicate balance. If you like, the chancellor’s attitude actually reflects a deeper strategic tension. Germany aspires to lead a stronger Europe militarily, but at the same time it needs to maintain a close relationship with the United States for this project to be viable. The US nuclear umbrella, technological cooperation and the NATO structure remain essential pillars of European security. In that context and always from the German prism, confront publicly Trump would have put at risk a balance that Berlin considers fundamental for its own rearmament project. The result is a cautious or fearful diplomacy that seeks to strengthen Europe without breaking the link with Washington, even when that balance forces silence in such uncomfortable and embarrassing moments for half of Europe. Image | IToldYa, Picryl, 270862 In Xataka | The small print that explains why the US has threatened Spain as an enemy: it has been vetoing the shipment of weapons to Israel for months In Xataka | “It’s not what we need”: Germany has just put the finishing touches on Spain’s great military dream, the European anti-F-35 is disappearing

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