money

The Supreme Court has declared the rule illegal, but the money is not going to return

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The Low Emission Zones of Madrid operated for years with regulations that the courts ended up declaring it illegal. During all that time, many fines were imposed and processed that thousands of drivers paid, and the City Council is clear about one thing: that there will be no refunds. What exactly happened. The Supreme Court of Justice of Madrid (TSJM) annulled part of the ordinance that regulated ZBEs in Madrid in December 2024, following an appeal presented by the Vox municipal group. The court considered that the economic impact report was insufficient, since it had not been correctly assessed how much it would cost citizens and small businesses to adapt to the movement restrictions, nor had less restrictive measures with equivalent effects been explored. As the ruling was not final at the time, the City Council continued to apply sanctions while appealing to the Supreme Court. However, the TSJM rejected the appeal on April 15with a sentence of 2,000 euros to the City Council for the expenses of the judicial process. Why there will be no refund. Vice Mayor Inma Sanz counted that current jurisprudence prevents giving retroactive effects to sentences when the sanctioned rule was in force at the time the fines were imposed. Along the same lines, the delegate of Urban Planning, Mobility and Environment, Borja Carabante, defended that the sanctions were placed under a regulatory framework that was valid at the time. The point that remains in the air. The City Council’s position is not completely uniform. Municipal legal services are still studying what to do with the fines imposed in the ZBEs of Plaza Elíptica and Centro (the two special protection zones) during the period between the TSJM ruling (December 2024) and the entry into force of the new ordinance (March 2026). It has been more than two years in which fines have continued to be imposed with a regulation that a court had already declared null. Carabante acknowledges that “whether or not” these specific sanctions are being assessed. The new ordinance as a shield. The Town Hall approved last month a new Sustainable Mobility Ordinance, correcting the previous one based on the indications indicated by the TSJM and keeps all ZBEs operational. The Consistory argues that this new ordinance leaves the sentence without practical effect, since it provides a solution to everything that the TSJM had requested. Among its novelties is that the vehicles of registered residents without an environmental label can circulate in Madrid as long as European pollution limits are respected. Opinion division. The Associated European Motorists (AEA) organization has publicly demanded to Mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida the annulment of all sanctions imposed until the publication of the new ordinance in the official gazette, on April 6. According to data from the AEA itselfbetween September 2021 and November 2025, the City Council imposed more than 3.3 million fines related to ZBEs for a value of more than 650 million euros. Its president, Mario Arnaldo, consider that “hundreds of thousands of drivers” have been sanctioned with fines of “dubious legality” through a strategy designed to continue collecting while the judicial process lasted. What those affected can do. The Supreme Court’s decision does not automatically annul any fine, but it reinforces the options of those who want to appeal them. According to the Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU), the situation varies according to each file. And those who appealed at the time and still have the procedure open have a better chance of recovering the money. However, the organization says that those who paid without appeal face a more complicated path, having to go through requesting full nullity. The OCU ask to the City Council to cancel the non-firm sanctions ex officio and return the amounts already collected in files still open, without transferring to the citizen “the burden of legal uncertainty created by an annulled ordinance.” Cover image | Madrid City Council In Xataka | 400 cameras and an ambitious goal: the first metro driven 100% autonomously in the Community of Madrid

its new contest for the AVE will prioritize quality over money

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Last month, Renfe gave the green light to the purchase of those 30 new AVE trains (expandable to 40) with which it hopes to renew its fleet in Spain. The railway operator has launched them into competition and it is expected that in September we will know which companies will be in charge of producing these new trains. What is clear is that Renfe does not want to repeat the chaos suffered with Talgo, and has already admitted that it will seek to prioritize quality over price. About the Avril trains. This new tender has a starting point that has given the operator quite a headache. We talk about The Talgo Avrilthe series 106 trains that today cover, among other routes, the Galicia-Madrid high-speed line. Renfe ordered 30 units in two batches between 2015 and 2016 and the result ended up being a deadline disaster. The trains arrived more than two years late, costing Talgo a penalty of 116 million euros. And when they finally went into service, the first few months left a rosary of incidents on different lines. Renfe does not want to repeat this chaos, so it intends to be more cautious in the specifications. How the new contest works. The operator has structured the scoring of the offers so that the technical proposal worth 70% of the final gradecompared to 30% that corresponds to the price. Within this technical section, almost 60% of the total is evaluated with objective criteria, but there is 10.2% reserved for value judgments, that is, a more qualitative assessment. Normally in public contracts, the price usually has much more weight. Here, Renfe is betting on paying a little more if that guarantees a better train. Interested manufacturers must submit their offers by June 9, and the opening is scheduled for September 9. The trains requested by Renfe. The specifications require that the new convoys travel at 350 kilometers per hour, that they carry the European ERTMS/ETCS and the Spanish ASFA signaling systems, and that they have at least 450 seats. The first five trains must arrive within 40 months from the signing of the contract, and the entire fleet within 78 months, at a rate of one new train every 45 days. The contract also includes the supply of spare parts and maintenance, bringing the total value of the agreement to 4,145 million euros, according to they count from CincoDías. Who has more chances to win. Two manufacturers start as favorites: Siemens, with its Velaro Novo, and Hitachi, with the ETR-100. But there are more candidates. And just as account The medium, Talgo, despite the Avril precedent, is analyzing the specifications to see if it can present an improved version of that same model. Alstom could also opt with its Avelia AGV, the same train that operates in Italy. The elephant in the room: Chinese trains. The Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, announced the contest at the end of March in the Congress of Deputies. Puente has been sending messages about the possibility of buying Chinese trains to reduce costs, an idea that has generated controversy in the sector. For now, the specifications point in the opposite direction, since both the technical requirements, the deadlines and the weight given to quality over price would make it very difficult for a Chinese manufacturer, with no presence or history on the Spanish railway network, to compete. At least in this particular tender. Why the secrecy? Renfe has shielded the documents with a confidentiality clause. Whoever wants to see them has to request them directly from the company, sign a commitment signed by a manager, and receive them in hand. The reason that the operator has officially given is the liberalization of the high-speed market and the presence of competitors such as Iryo and Ouigo, to whom Renfe does not want to give clues about its commercial strategy. Renfe has also warned of possible legal, civil or criminal actions against anyone who leaks the content. What’s coming now? If the schedule is met, Renfe could know in September who it will buy its next AVE from. With 124 of the 160 high-speed trains circulating in Spain, the fleet needs to be renewed, since some models have been in operation for many years and their withdrawal is urgent. Cover image | Renfe In Xataka | Two floors, 200 meters long and one objective: to modernize the most used and chaotic Cercanías line in Spain

Nothing Phone (4a) Pro vs Google Pixel 10, when you offer more for much less money

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Nothing has surprised us again with a mobile phone that manages to stand out in both its mid-range and high-end. In fact, it can compete with much more expensive models, as is the case with the Google Pixel 10. But… How are these two phones different? Let’s go over it in this article. Nothing Phone (4a) Pro (8 GB, 128 GB) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links The price could vary. We earn commission from these links The differences between the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro and the Google Pixel 10 Design and screens One of the most important differences is in size. He Nothing Phone (4a) Pro bets on a larger diagonal of 6.83 inches, while the Google Pixel 10 It is more compact with a screen size of 6.3 inches. The curious thing is that, despite the size, There are only six grams of differencewith 210 grams for the Nothing and 204 grams for the Google. On the back we also see a very striking difference. The Google Pixel 10 maintains the sober appearance that we have already seen in previous generations, while the Nothing mobile incorporates a larger rear camera module, in which we find several cameras and a screen (Glyph Matrix) with luminous points that turn on and off when receiving notifications or listening to music, shows the time and can even be personalized. Processor and RAM and storage configurations While the Google Pixel 10 comes with the Google Tensor G5the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro incorporates the Snapdragon 7 Gen 4. The Qualcomm processor offers balanced performance for the mid-high range and stands out for its energy efficiency. On the other hand, the Google chip is aimed at the use of artificial intelligence functions, although it heats up excessively when executing intense tasks. Both phones start with a minimum storage configuration of 128 GB, but while the Google Pixel 10 comes in this case with 12 GB of RAM, the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro stays at 8 GB. Keep in mind that this configuration of the Nothing mobile phone can be very tight if we are going to use many apps or process AI locally. Photographic section Google phones usually stand out for their photography section and the Pixel 10 is no exception. However, the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro has hit the table by betting on a much more attractive telephotodespite having fewer increases. The Nothing mobile telephoto offers processing that is supported by the hybrid zoom of up to 7x and the results are very good in terms of detail, sharpness and color. Its maximum digital zoom is 140x and, although it takes time to process the image and can sometimes invent some details, the level of success is adequate. Battery Both phones come with batteries with quite similar milliamp figures, since the Google Pixel 10 incorporates a 4,970 mAh battery and the Nothing mobile comes with another 5,080 mAh. However, we do have differences in the charging options: The Google Pixel 10 supports 30W fast charging and 15W wireless charging. This means that it will take a while to have the battery at 100%, especially if you use wireless charging. The Nothing Phone (4a) Pro supports only 50W fast charging (although it also supports reverse charging), which means that you will have a 100% battery in less time than with the Google mobile, but you will not be able to use a wireless charging base. Software, support and price Both phones come with Android 16, but they are different. Nothing’s mobile relies on its NothingOS customization layer, which incorporates a minimalist aesthetic and is supported by three years of updates and six for security patches. For its part, the Google Pixel 10 has purer softwarewithout a customization layer. Support in this case is seven years of updates and security patches (six taking into account that the mobile was launched in 2025). And if we talk about prices, we are faced with two mobile phones that compete in different ranges. The Google Pixel 10 is currently available for a price of 599 eurosbut it was initially launched for 899 euros. On the other hand, the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro is currently priced at 479 euros. In summary: which mobile phone to choose according to your tastes and needs Why choose the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro The Nothing Phone (4a) Pro has been a surprise. Its price right now is 479 euros and it stands out in several aspects: Its quality-price ratio: Nothing’s mobile phone stands out both for its price and for its processor, the photographic section and, of course, the design, especially on the back, where we find the Glyph Matrix screen. fast charging: Despite not having a battery that supports wireless charging, the 50W fast charging allows it to be recharged to 100% in less time than the Google Pixel 10. telephoto sensorthe icing on the cake to a good photographic section in the mid-range that yields very attractive results for the price of the mobile. Why choose the Google Pixel 10 The Google Pixel 10 continues to be a very good purchase option. It has been dropping in price since its launch and is now available for 599 euros. Where it stands out the most is in: Minimum storage configurationwhich despite only having 128 GB of internal storage, at least comes with 12 GB of RAM. wireless charging so as not to be limited to using only wired charging. Google supportwhich offers six years of software updates and security patches. Technical sheet with the main differences between the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro and the Google Pixel 10 Nothing Phone (4a) Pro google pixel 10 SCREEN 6.83 inch LTPS flexible AMOLED panel 1,260 x 2,800 pixel resolution Adaptive refresh from 30 to 144 Hz 2160Hz PWM 1,600 nits maximum brightness with 5,000 peak nits Gorilla Glass 7i 6.3-inch OLED panel Resolution of 2,424 x 1,080 pixels 60-120Hz refresh Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 3,000 nits peak brightness DIMENSIONS AND … Read more

China and the US have focused on the race for humanoid robots. Now China is clear about which ones make money: dogs

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It is difficult to talk about all the open fronts that China and the United States have. The technological war covers everything and, if there is a race for artificial intelligencethere is one just as fierce in the field of robotics. The two powers are focusing on the humanoid robots to put them in factories or in customer service, but the market is talking and it turns out that they prefer dogs. Robot dogs, specifically. In short. Right now, China is the summit of robotics. Not only because of how advanced their robots are, but because they are already putting them to work. work in factories, stores either museums. They are not theory, they are practice due to government support and, above all, because the components to make a robot are manufactured… in China. This advantage is something that no other country has and that is essential (let them tell the eTSMC’s 60 minutes strategy in Taiwan). There is multitude of robotics startups and, although the humanoids are the most striking, the robodogs are the ones that make money. In an article by SCMP They explain how quadruped robots are preferred by robotics companies because they are becoming business drivers. AgiBot is one of those companies, and has just expanded its robot portfolio with the creation of a subsidiary -AgiQuad- focused exclusively on quadruped models. Their justification is that they consider that it is what is going to boost the robotics business and they do not want their robodog to live “in the shadow of a humanoid robot.” That is, instead of launching under the same brand a humanoid robot and a quadruped one and that customers have to choose (and compare), they prefer to ensure that each branch of the business operates a different type of robot. Projection. AguQuad plans to become a 500 million yuan (about $73 million) business by this year, scaling to 10 billion yuan by 2030 with 300,000 annual robot shipments. At the moment, they say that they have everything sold and that they continue producing units because they are completely out of stock in the warehouse. And they are not the only ones. Other companies like Amap or the giant Alibaba They want to get into this robot fight to stand up to Unitreebut in the field of four-legged robots. Speaking of the dancing queen, it is estimated that Unitree’s quadruped robot division generated 490 million yuan in revenue in the first three months of 2025 alone. That is, in just three months, it generated as much as what AgiQuad expects to generate this year. Already Deep Robotics He is also doing well in this field. Deployment. According to IDC analyses, the quadruped robot market generated $180 million in 2024 and is expected to generate $700 million this year. The estimate is that the segment will reach 50,000 million yuan, about 7,329 million dollars. And the question is… where are these robots going? Many go to exhibitions and fairs in which the robotic muscle of Chinese startups is shown, but there are others that are already operating on the ground. China wants ‘civilian’ quadruped robots, like assistance for blind peoplebut there is also deploying units among firefighters and, as we said a few days ago, within the Chinese army with support, reconnaissance and attack units. The race doesn’t stop. This scenario makes sense if we take into account several details. The first is the most practical: quadruped robots have years of analysis behind them and have already proven to be very useful in various scenarios. the chinese army He’s not the only one who has them. and, for example, in the United States they are beginning to be deployed in data center surveillance tasks. And the second reason is because those years of research and development have led to them becoming increasingly cheaper to produce, allowing their manufacturing to scale and leaving more margins for manufacturers. Prices are also falling and it is easier for different actors to integrate them into their workforce. Precisely for this reason, quadruped robots can be a viable commercial product for those same companies that continue to push the development and commercialization of humanoid robots. The Unitree itself that we talked about before just started to sell its R1 model through AliExpress with a planned launch for the United States, Japan or the United Arab Emirates. Price? $8,200, but you start somewhere. In Xataka | China will bring together more than 300 humanoid robots in a half marathon. The goal goes beyond running

Netflix makes more money than ever and its shares fall 9%. The explanation is that Netflix is ​​the new mainstream

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Reed Hastings founded Netflix 29 years ago with an idea as simple as it was revolutionary: charge a fixed fee in exchange for access to content on demand and without interruptions, in a digital version of the video store by mail in which the company took its first steps. This Thursday, as the company posted solid quarterly results that still disappointed Wall Street, it was announced that Hastings will step down from the board of directors in June. The man who built Netflix is ​​leaving now that the platform is no longer what he envisioned. The results. The results for the first quarter of 2026 are, in absolute terms, notables. They reached 12.25 billion dollars, 16% more than in the same period of the previous year, meeting what the company itself had projected and slightly exceeding the average expectations of analysts. Net profit grew 82% to $5.23 billion. It is a spectacular percentage, yes, but that earnings per share of $1.23 includes the $2.8 billion break-up fee Frustrated deal with Warner Bros. Discoverywhich inflates the accounting result. Without it, the number would have been more modest. And that’s why shares fell 9% on Wall Street. Fall in the stock market. The main reason for this stock market crash was not the data for the quarter, but the outlook for the second. Netflix projects 13% growth in revenue for Q2, to about $12.6 billion, when the Wall Street consensus was closer to $13.1 billion. The difference is small in relative terms, but enough to remind us that investors have been accustomed for years to Netflix far exceeding its forecasts. Goodbye Hastings… The company has also announced that Reed Hastings, co-founder and until now president of the councilwill not stand for reelection when his term expires at the shareholders meeting on June 4, 2026. This ends 29 years with the company which he himself co-founded. Hastings had already given a step back in January 2023when he left the co-CEO position in the hands of Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters. His definitive departure from the board, the company explained, responds to his desire to focus on philanthropy and other projects. During the call to analysts after the presentation of results, Sarandos had to respond to whether Hastings’ departure had any relationship with the failure of the operation with Warner Bros. Discovery. Sarandos stated that “I’m sorry to anyone who seeks palace intrigue. Reed was a great defender of that agreement.” …hello to the announcements. Hastings was for years one of the most visible skeptics within the company regarding the use of streaming advertising. In 2022, when Netflix first lost subscribersdeclared to be “against the complexity of advertisements.” Four years later, the advertising business has become one of the structural pillars of the company. The company works with more than 4,000 advertisers, 70% more than the previous year, and the advertising-supported plan already accounts for more than 60% of new registrations in the 12 countries where it is available, according to data from Netflix itself. The projection of advertising revenue for 2026 is 3,000 million dollars, double the 1.5 billion generated in 2025. It is paradoxical that the platform that has been seen as an evolutionary step of traditional television, without its inconveniences (among which, without a doubt, is advertising), now competes directly with YouTube and linear television for brand advertisements. What’s more: Netflix has migrated its advertising technology to its own platform, leaving behind dependence on Microsoft, and programmatic purchasing It is already close to 50% of its advertising business not tied to events. The paradox. That is, everything in these results points to a great paradox. The company itself recognizes which represents less than 5% of the share global television, but projected annual revenues of between $50.7 billion and $51.7 billion place it among the largest media companies on the planet. And meanwhile, its shares fall 9%. There is an explanation for all of this. For years, Netflix was a company of exponential growth, the type of asset that technology funds love: skyrocketing subscriber metrics, unstoppable geographic expansion, its own content that accumulated prestige and audience… Now it is something else: the mainstreamprofitable and predictable, with several monetization levers (subscription, advertising, live sports, gaming) and a business model that is no longer surprising, but widely imitated. A solid company, with a dominant position and prospects for growing profitability, but at a calm pace, in the medium term. It is certainly not the Netflix that Hastings built. In Xataka | Netflix is ​​desperate to find the next franchise that will make it gold. The problem is that he can’t find it.

His biggest problem is not money, but balance

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Spending a vacation on board a cruise ship is a tourist option increasingly in demand even by travelers high purchasing power. However, Mario Salcedo, a millionaire who made his fortune in finance, decided 26 years ago to turn his daily life into a vacation. Since then, he has been linking cruise trips turning these giants of the sea in your home. However, this life of luxury aboard some of the largest pleasure ships has taken its toll on him: he has lost “his land legs” and is no longer able to walk in a straight line when he arrives in port. Always live on vacation. The millionaire of Cuban origin counted in 2019 to The New York Times He was never interested in starting a family, so his life on land only consisted of working and working. So one day he decided to leave his apartment in Miami behind and embark on a cruise. The experience impacted him so much that since then he has been combining one cruise with another and now his house has several decks, swimming pools, dance floors and some fleeting neighbors with whom he socializes whenever he can. After being a regular among the passage of the Royal Caribbean companythe crew already knows him as Super Mario. “I don’t have vacations. People come here to spend vacations. Not me, I’m here to live my life,” explains the millionaire. Life on board. The millionaire investor uses a reserved table on one of the cruise ship’s decks where a handwritten sign reads “Super Mario Office.” Obviously They do not refer to the Nintendo characterif not to the place from which the millionaire sits every day for a few hours in front of his laptop to telework. In this way he has paid for the more than 1,154 cruises he has completed in his life on the high seas. The millionaire claims to dedicate between 70,000 and 100,000 dollars a year for his travels. The millionaire counted on an interview for Condé Nast magazine, who booked an inside cabin without a balcony, because “I don’t do anything in my cabin except shower, get dressed and sleep,” he explained. The rest of the day he could be found in his “office”, socializing with other travelers or dancing in one of the ship’s dance rooms. To avoid having to constantly change cabins, Salcedo plans it 150 reservations in advance, linking one voyage to another. The worst thing about living on a cruise ship is getting to port. Everything would indicate that the biggest cost of living on a cruise ship is money. However, for “Super Mario” the greatest sacrifice is going ashore. After more than 25 years rocked by the sway of the waves on the best cruises, the millionaire has developed a rare disease called landing disease. This is a rare disorder that affects the vestibular system of the ear which affects balance giving a constant sensation of movement even when you are stable and motionless on dry land. It is popularly known as “earth legs.” Usually, this is a disorder that lasts at most for a couple of days, but when your life takes place on the high seas, and you only spend a total of fifteen days a year on land, the disease becomes chronic. “I have lost my land legs. I sway so much that I can’t walk in a straight line. I am so used to being on boats that I feel more comfortable than on land,” he said in his interview. Doesn’t usually go ashore. There is no doubt that Mario Salcedo is like a fish in water on board a cruise, so the few times he goes ashore he does so to take a plane to take him to his next cruise, when they dock in Miami to check that everything is still in order in his apartment or when he has to make arrangements with the bank or medical visits. Luckily, except for his problem with balance when he steps on dry land, the millionaire in his sixties is in good health. A key factor for “Super Mario” to continue his adventure on the high seas, given that shipping companies prohibit that a person who requires constant medical care comes on board. In Xataka | Amsterdam has grown tired of too many tourists. And he has found a solution: fight the cruise ships Image | Royal Caribbean A version of this article was published in 2026

LIDL has joined the latest trend to make lots of money: setting up your own low-cost operator

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Lidl is at the doors of launch a low-cost mobile phone serviceeven more competition for a Spanish MVNO market that is beginning to become saturated and in which it seems practically impossible to surpass the current king: Digi. The LIDL plan. Grupo Schwarz, owner of LIDL, has acquired 9.9% of the communications provider 1Global, currently operating in Spain under the Orange network. The plan is to create a virtual mobile operator (OMV) to offer low-cost telephone services, wanting to expand the proposal throughout Spain and 30 more countries. The how. The service will be offered through LIDL’s nerve center for the smartphone: LIDL Plus. The application will allow the contracting and management of the service, ensuring the executive of the hypermarket chain that it will offer “simple connectivity.” LIDL has an important advantage over the rest of its rivals: physical presence throughout the entire Spanish territory and a potential customer in search of low prices. It is not the first in its sector: Eroski and Carrefour They were among the first in Spain to offer this service. {“videoId”:”x85jqs5″,”autoplay”:false,”title”:”DIGI TV Ad: "Enjoy with DIGI the advantages of going it alone"”, “tag”:”mobile”, “duration”:”40″} The electrical phenomenon. The MVNO market is beginning to become saturated with more and more companies outside the sector. The keys? Low operating costs and high margins. The most recent example is PcComponentes, which overnight became an operator with the help of Likes Telecom, a Spanish company focused on the creation of telecommunications brands. We also have recent examples in Revolut, Klarna or N26, players in the financial sector introduced into the world of telecommunications. A simple way to diversify sources of income and build customer loyalty through applications they already use. In Xataka Digi is dropping prices to attract more and more customers in Spain. The problem is that he still doesn’t make any money. Yes, but. None of these players are fighting to win the telecommunications market, where the king is simply unbeatable. DIGI is not only the low-cost operator with the largest volume of clients in Spain: it is the only one that can face giants like Telefónica, MásOrange or Vodafone (whom to pretend to surprise in the coming months). In Xataka | Digi wants to become one of the largest teleoperators in Spain. And that is why it has gone from 4,000 to 10,000 workers. (function() { window._JS_MODULES = window._JS_MODULES || {}; var headElement = document.getElementsByTagName(‘head’)(0); if (_JS_MODULES.instagram) { var instagramScript = document.createElement(‘script’); instagramScript.src=”https://platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js”; instagramScript.async = true; instagramScript.defer = true; headElement.appendChild(instagramScript); – The news LIDL has joined the latest trend to make lots of money: setting up your own low-cost operator was originally published in Xataka by Ricardo Aguilar .

Your price increases are illegal and you must return the money. There are those who will receive a 500 euro refund

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We ended last March with news: Netflix the price went up again. It is true that the measure applies exclusively to the United States, but taking into account that it is already its umpteenth time, we know its modus operandi: it is the canary in the mine of a probable global rise that will also affect Europe. And despite saying that it has been the umpteenth price increase for Netflix, it always comes as a bit of a surprise: after all, it is the second price increase in just two years. However, it is the clear trend in the sector. Paradoxically, just a few days later, a court in Rome has issued a historic ruling against Ted Sarandos’ platform: declare Netflix’s price increases between 2017 and 2024 illegal. The sentence. The Roman court has declared that the contractual clauses that allow Netflix to unilaterally modify its prices and conditions of service without indicating a justified reason are void and contrary to the Italian Consumer Code. The ruling covers price increases applied between 2017 and January 2024, that is, subscription price increases implemented in 2017, 2019, 2021 and November 2024 (unless your contractual relationship with the platform was after January 2024). As a consequence, it recognizes the right of those who have a subscription on the platform to a reduction in the current price of the subscription, to the refund of amounts unduly paid and to compensation for damages. In addition, it forces Netflix to publish the content of the ruling on its website and in the main national newspapers. within 90 daysas well as to inform its users. Why is it important. Because it establishes a relevant legal precedent in Europe: streaming platforms cannot raise prices arbitrarily and unilaterally based on generic clauses. It is not that Netflix cannot raise its prices (like any other company), but that it did so without contractual justification, which the court considers an abuse. This ruling lays the foundations to demand from digital platforms more transparency and rigor in their contracts with consumers. Context. The lawsuit comes from the Movimento Consumitori association (Italian consumers), which brought the case before the Court of Rome denouncing continued price increases from Netflix without explanation. Italian law requires that, if a company reserves the right to unilaterally modify a contract (ius variandi), you must specify from the beginning what causes could justify that change. Netflix did not do this: its contracts simply said that it could change the price whenever it wanted without giving reasons, the critical clauses are 3.5 and 6.4. The court considers that giving 30 days’ notice and allowing cancellation is not enough since when someone subscribes to the platform they do not know under what conditions the service may become more expensive. In April 2025 Netflix modified its terms of use linking possible changes to specific causes, such as service improvements, regulatory demands or technological requirements. How it affects users. Each subscribed person will have the right to a reduction in the current price, to a refund of more in that period and to compensation, which according to the Italian consumer association must be made spontaneously, although you can join the class action lawsuit in case that is not the case. The ruling requires Netflix to reduce the prices of its current subscriptions by an amount equal to the illegal increases. We see it better with an example: if you are premium and activated your subscription in 2017, today you pay 19.99 euros but you are entitled to the service for 11.99 euros. If you are a standard customer, you would go from paying 13.99 euros to 9.99 euros. And be careful, because this measure applies both to those who currently have a subscription and to former customers within that period. Up to 500 euros refund. MC lawyers explainPaolo Fiorio and Corrado Pinna, that for the premium plan, the illegal increases applied in 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2024 amount to 8 euros per month, for the standard plan they add up to a total of 4 euros per month and for the basic, 2 euros per month. Thus, a premium customer who has paid Netflix continuously from 2017 to today is entitled to a refund of approximately 500 euros, while a standard rate customer is entitled to a refund of approximately 250 euros. Italy is the tip of the iceberg. Although the case has been reported in Italy, in other countries on the old continent there are also lawsuits filed against the platform: Netherlands also has a demand similar budding, FACUA reported it in Spain (yes ok still no progress) and in Germany the European Audiovisual Observatory echoes that the courts of Berlin and Cologne have already ruled in the same direction. The basis is the same in all cases: the European Directive 93/13/EECwhich prohibits abusive clauses that generate a significant imbalance between the rights of the company and those of the consumer. Netflix’s reaction. Immediately after learning of the Roman ruling, the platform declared its intention to appeal: “We will appeal the decision. At Netflix, our subscribers come first. We take consumer rights very seriously and we believe that our conditions have always been in line with Italian regulations and practices,” as reported by Reuters. The appeal could modify or even reverse the ruling, so the case is not closed. However, the pressure on Netflix and the reputational damage has already been done. Netflix has always been the vanguard of the sector, so the future of this litigation could mark a before and after in the streaming sector. In Xataka | The best new movies and series to watch in April 2026 on Netflix, Prime Video, HBO Max and streaming In Xataka | Netflix’s umpteenth price increase illustrates a reality: streaming is already as expensive as what it came to improve Cover | KATRIN BOLOVTSOVA

Spain awarded 20 million euros to Stellantis to create jobs in Galicia. Europe has prevented the money from being delivered

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20,660,434 euros. That was the aid that the Government of Spain granted in 2017 to PSA (now Stellantis after its merger with FCA) as “regional incentives for the correction of territorial economic imbalances.” Just two years later, the European Commission already doubted the appropriateness of this aid. Almost a decade after its delivery, Stellantis will have to return the money. 20.7 million euros. It was the money given by Mariano Rajoy’s Government in 2017 to the automobile conglomerate PSA. The company, then directed by Carlos Tavares, had been looking for money framed within the “Industrial Plan 2014-2020” in which funds from the European Union were available. The Spanish subsidiary of PSA, known as PCAE, requested aid of 392 million euros in 2014 to carry out the necessary actions to modernize the plant and launch a new model. The aid program was expanded, with another 100 million in subsequent years because PSA was going to produce a new vehicle platform and a new SUV car in Vigo. In 2017, shortly before Mariano Rajoy left Moncloa, the Government of Spain provided the aforementioned aid of 20.7 million euros since it corresponded to the maximum percentage allowed with respect to the investment that was planned to be used. many doubts. In 2019the European Commission was already beginning to doubt the legality or compatibility of this aid. In a document submitted thenquestioned whether the subsidies provided were meeting the criteria to create employment in the area. In said letter, PSA was already invited and the Government of Spain has explained the reason for this aid. In that document, the European Commission questioned whether the positive effects of the aid outweighed the negative ones and, therefore, that the decision to financially support the company with those more than 20 million euros was not economically doping its commitment to our country instead of taking production to the Trnava plant (Slovakia) with which Vigo competed. According to the European Commission, it believed that both plants were competing on equal terms and that the socioeconomic context of the Slovaks was no worse than that of Vigo. Furthermore, they pointed out that the defense that this aid helped preserve employment in Galicia in the face of a possible relocation to Morocco (a position defended by Spain) was not sufficient because PSA had already previously relocated other vehicles that were previously manufactured in Spain. Seven years of research. Already in 2020, Europe continued to defend that the Commission had its doubts “regarding the contribution of investment projects to the development of the region in question”, as they stated in elDiario.es. Then it was thought that the company’s true intention was to improve the factory facilities with the sole objective of improving the company’s competitiveness but that it had nothing to do with an improvement in innovation and local investments. There were even doubts about the compatibility of being able to deliver these aid to a company like PCAE (the Spanish subsidiary of PSA). One of the most compelling reasons presented by the European Commission is, as they point out in The Worldthe choice of the Vigo company to the detriment of the Slovaks. And it is considered that opting for a more economically developed region to receive aid contravenes the principles of cohesion of the European Union, which prevents the delivery of this type of subsidies. Case closed. Now, the Government of Spain has notified the European Commission that it is withdrawing the subsidy of 20.7 million euros. He has done it because he cannot prove its legality. As the money has not yet been delivered, the European Commission has closed the investigation, they explain in the Galician media. praza.gal. At this time, Spain has not been able to demonstrate that the number of jobs increased after the aid was granted nor that it represented an economic boost in the region. In fact, it was possible that the number of jobs could even be reduced, as they point out in Motorpassion. During this time, the money has not been delivered because it remained frozen with the European investigation. Now we know that Stellantis will not charge it. Photo | Stellantis In Xataka | The Stellantis factory in Figueruelas has been looking for a reconversion plan for years. You already have it: make Chinese electric cars

Paying more for a very fast NVMe SSD is wasting money if you only save PDFs, but it is the only option if you are also going to work from it

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Like me, you have probably also at some point faced the purchase of a new storage unit, internal or external, for your desktop PC or portable. Something that, until a few years ago, was quite simplified: either you chose a 5,400 rpm HDD (revolutions per minute), or you chose one of 7,200 rpm. End of story. To something else. But since SSDs came onto the scene, purchasing (and usage) possibilities have changed a lot, making opting for one type or another is not so simple. Today, taking into account the price differences between HDDs (the “old” mechanical disks) and SSDs (the “modern” solid state drives), the choice is clear: SSDs win by a landslide, offering wide capacities and much, much higher speeds. Although well, the current context of AI surcharges It changes the film a little and, whatever purchase we make now, it will entail a greater outlay. But this shouldn’t last forever and, under normal conditions, SSDs are still the best value for money purchase option for general use. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links So, well, you already have one thing clear: to expand capacity, in general terms, the ideal in 2026 is to go for an SSD. However, the choice is not so simple because different technologies and different models come into the field of SSDs, each with a series of advantages and disadvantages. All of them, valid for any use you plan to give them, be careful. But not all of them cost the same and, depending on what you need your new unit for, Smart purchasing will tip the balance on one side or the other. And your pocket, of course, will thank you for choosing carefully. In other words and to give them first and last names: in a scenario in which you need more space for your PC or portable and you have to go through the checkout to expand it using an SSD, you will have to choose between an NVMe SSD or a SATA SSD (which are the main types of SSD that are generally sold). The first, more expensive and faster. The second, cheaper and slower. AND each one, in its proper context, shines with its own light. Next we are going to see how they differ and why they are a better purchase option compared to their rival, depending on the context. And thus pay more if the situation requires it or save as much as possible if you are not going to take advantage of its full potential. SATA SSD: not as fast but cheaper When SSDs burst onto the scene, they did so in a format we know as SATA. In units of different sizes (although also ostensibly more compact than mechanical HDDs) that are still commonly marketed in 2.5-inch models. If you have a laptop or desktop PC from a couple of decades ago, probably contains one of these. These SSD units were, at the time, night and day compared to mechanical HDDs. What used to take you half an hour to wait was suddenly completed in minutes. And also, without noise. The “problem” is that today, with much more modern and faster units (spoiler: NVMe), this type of SSD have been relegated more to pure storage than as devices for daily work. That is to say: what we once stored on HDDs, we now do on these SSDs. A digital storage room that, in any case, is much faster and makes it easier (and faster) to move large amounts of data and copy and paste files. In addition, the SATA SSD is probably the only option when it comes to somewhat “old” laptops: today, practically all models come with an M.2 connector (where the NVMe are installed), but if you have a laptop that is a few years old (around 2018 or earlier) it will probably not have said connector and the 2.5-inch SATA SSD is the one you will have to use. If you are also using a mechanical HDD, the change will be spectacular. Does this mean they are a bad choice? Not at all, they’re still great in 2026… but especially for what I’m doing: storing. Because if what you need is a “hard drive” on which to install the operating system, applications and games, or on which work intensively on tasks that require constant writing and reading of data (such as video editing), then you will be limited. This leads us to the next model: NVMe SSD. NVMe SSDs: faster and more expensive While SATA SSDs are somewhat larger and slower (but cheaper), NVMe SSDs are a rocket. The quickest and most direct way to describe them is: speed, speed, speed. While the former would become a one-lane national highway, the latter become a highway with eight lanes in each direction. This means that if a sporadic car (some file, such as PDFs) is going to pass through these “roads”, SATA is enough for you; If you need several heavy trucks moving at the same time (video editing, for example, with thousands of MB of data moving at full speed) then That national highway will collapse and there is no choice but to drive on the highway.. NVMe SSDs also stand out in design: they are compact, stylish and very small. The inseparable companion of any current desktop or laptop PCbut also in video game consoles by offering better performance in all types of tasks and taking up less space (something vital, for example, in the case of consoles). In fact, this is the type of SSD that the PlayStation 5, the Steam Deck… come with in the M.2 connectors that they incorporate. Connector that, by the way, has been present on practically any desktop or laptop motherboard for a few years now. This type of SSD is more expensive than its SATA relatives, but that extra financial effort is worth it if, in addition to storing data as such, you plan to work on them. … Read more

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