neighbors

In Euskadi they believe they have the solution to the neighbors’ opposition to wind power. Let them take 7% of your profits

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On May 18, the pre-booking period opened. In less than 24 hours, 51 residents of Rioja Alavesa had already put their money in the wind farm that no one wanted to have next door. Seven percent guaranteed annual profitability. Minimum investment, 1,000 euros. Project name: Gure Haizea. Our wind. Euskadi has not inaugurated a wind farm for twenty years. The last one came into operation in 2006. For two decades, projects have multiplied on paper and have gotten stuck in the courts, in the allegations commissions and in neighborhood assemblies. The result is that the autonomous community, which has a world-class wind industry, produces only 7.9% of its electricity with its own renewable sources. The Basque Government’s objective is to reach 15% in 2030. To achieve this, it needs the residents of the affected municipalities to say yes. And so far, the majority have said no. The park that no one wanted to have next to. The Labraza wind farm, in the Alava municipality of Oion, is under construction. Forty megawatts of power and an investment of 59 million euros. When it comes into operation, it will produce around 99,679 megawatt hours per year, enough to supply around 30,000 homes, and will avoid the emission of approximately 16,300 tons of CO₂. It will also increase the installed wind capacity throughout the Basque Country by 26%, according to data from Iberdrola and of Basque Energy Entity (EVE)the public agency of the Basque Government that co-manages the project through its joint venture with Iberdrola, called Aixeindar. What makes Labraza more than just another wind farm is what this joint venture has just announced: for the first time in Euskadi, citizens will be able to participate in the financing of the project and collect interest for it. The chosen formula is crowdlendinga type of crowdfunding in which individuals lend money to a project and receive a guaranteed annual interest in return. In this case, 7%. The platform that will manage the process is Fundeen, the first Spanish investment platform in renewable energies authorized by the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV). The maximum term is three years. The minimum contribution, 1,000 euros; the maximum, 100,000. The total objective of citizen financing: three million euros. As reported by the Basque Energy Entitythe pre-booking period opened on May 18. In just 24 hours, 51 small investors had already covered 60% of the objective, according to data published by ElDiario.es. The final financing will be formalized in June. The problem that profitability tries to solve. The rejection of wind farms in Spain—and in Euskadi in particular—does not arise out of nowhere. It has concrete and legitimate roots. The reasons for rejection They are diverse: the landscape impact of wind turbines in mountainous areas with strong natural and cultural value, criticism related to noise, the effect on birds and ecosystems, and above all the feeling that large electricity companies obtain benefits while municipalities receive little real compensation. In Álava, more than 100 renewable initiativeswith an especially high concentration that has triggered neighborhood alarms. The underlying issue is more structural. 84% of Spain’s renewable energy is produced in rural areas and in so-called emptied Spain, but without that money stay in the territory. The municipalities assume the visual, sound and landscape impact. Energy travels to cities. The benefits go to the company headquarters. That energy inequality is the core of a problem which has manifested itself in different ways in different territories: Aragon tried to keep its energy surplus, Galicia proposed half-price electricity for residents of municipalities with renewable installations, and now Euskadi is trying 7% profitability for its citizens. The proposal of crowdlending try to attack exactly that gap. If the neighbors also make money from the wind, the equation changes. The park stops being an infrastructure imposed by someone from outside and becomes, at least partially, an own investment. That is why the name in Basque matters: Gure Haizea It’s not just a brand, it’s an argument. More than money, also cheaper electricity. The mechanism is simple in its conception. Through the platform Fundeeninterested citizens can enter the Labraza project as lenders: they contribute between 1,000 and 100,000 euros for a maximum of three years and receive a guaranteed 7% annual interest regardless of what the park produces. They do not buy shares or become owners, but rather creditors of the project. It’s an important distinction: the risk is lower than in direct investing, but so is the control. The initiative is primarily aimed at the inhabitants of Labraza, Barriobusto, Oion and Rioja Alavesa, although it is also open to the entire historic territory of Álava. The objective, according to EVEis to always prioritize investors from the areas closest to the park. It is not limited to financial performance. The inhabitants of the Administrative Boards of Labraza and Barriobusto They will also be entitled to a special electricity rate once the park comes into operation, and throughout its useful life. The package also includes up to 90 local jobs during construction, an initial income of around 1.2 million euros for the municipal coffers when the works start and about 230,000 euros annually in taxes and fees. To explain the details, Iberdrola and EVE organized in-person information sessions in Labastida, Oion and Laguardia during the month of May. Spain already has precedents. What Euskadi presents as new is not exactly its own invention. The model of crowdlending for wind farms has already been tested in other Spanish communities, always with the same platform—Fundeen—and with a profitability also set at around 7%. In the Canary Islands, the company Ayagaures Medioambiente promoted the Renove II wind farm in Agüimes (Gran Canaria) with exactly this scheme. More than 45 investors, prioritizing the residents of the municipality, contributed 1,080,000 euros, 20% of the total budget of just over five million. The success was such that the company is already working on a second project with the same model. In Navarra, the Montes de Cierzo wind farm of the Norwegian Statkraft also … Read more

Neighbors in Chile tried to stop an Amazon data center. Justice has left a clear message with its decision

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Artificial intelligence has been part of our lives for a long time, often almost without us stopping to think about what is behind it. We use it as if everything were happening in an invisible layer: models, algorithms and, perhaps, servers in some remote location. But we can also look at it from another perspective. The infrastructure that supports that world is very real: it has a location, consumes resources, requires permits, involves enormous investments, and can also alter the environment of those who live nearby. That is one of the great debates that is beginning to accompany the rise of AI: the cloud also has neighbors. They lost the case. A specific case leads us to Huechurabanorth of Santiago de Chile, where Amazon plans to build a data center. The initiative had received a favorable Environmental Qualification Resolution in July 2024, but not everyone was convinced that the project had been evaluated accordingly. That concern reached the judicial route through a claim presented by Patricio Hernández Valenzuelaa resident of the area, and the Second Environmental Court resolved on April 9, 2026 to reject ita decision that leaves the data center in a position to move forward. A very specific concern. Hernández questioned whether the environmental evaluation of the project had not adequately taken into account a possible high voltage line that, according to his approach, would be necessary to power the data center. The criticism was not minor: if both infrastructures were linked, they had to be analyzed together. For residents, not doing so meant leaving relevant impacts on the environment out of the analysis. The key to the failure. The court’s reasoning involves clearly separating both pieces. The ruling concludes that the data center and the eventual high-voltage line cannot be considered to form a single initiative, among other things because the Amazon project does not include that infrastructure as part of its design. Furthermore, the planned electricity supply does not depend on its own installation, but on the network managed by third parties, which reinforces the idea that these are different projects. Without joint evaluation. Once the existence of a project unit has been ruled out, the court concludes that an integrated environmental assessment is not appropriate. The sentence explicitly states it: “it has been proven that between both initiatives there is no relationship of functional interdependence that conditions their execution.” This nuance is key, because it implies that the data center can operate using the available electrical infrastructure, without the need to subject its viability to a future high voltage line which, in any case, would have to be evaluated separately if it were to be considered. Beyond the legal debate. The Amazon project has very specific dimensions on paper. The data storage center in Huechuraba is designed to operate for 30 years, with an estimated investment of 205 million dollars. It would be built on an area of ​​10.9 hectares, with a construction of 21,350.07 square meters, in the street of Américo Vespucio 1055. From the company, collects Reutershave pointed out that the design of the infrastructure focuses on minimizing energy and water consumption, and maintains that the plan met environmental requirements. Chile as a hub. The Huechuraba project is not an isolated initiative within Amazon’s strategy. Amazon Web Services has proposed an investment of more than 4,000 million dollars in Chile over 15 years to build, operate and maintain its infrastructure in the country. The idea is to turn Santiago into its third major center in Latin America, after São Paulo and the central region of Mexico. Factors such as connectivity through fiber optic cables are added to this context. The concern of those who live nearby. Beyond the investment and digital infrastructure they promise, data centers are often accompanied by very specific concerns: high electricity consumption, use of water for cooling, heat or noise generation, and their fit into environments that, in many cases, have environmental or community value. Google did not have the same path. The case of Amazon is not the only one that has gone through this type of debate in Chile. Google had obtained initial approval in 2020 to build a $200 million data center in Cerrillos, southwest of Santiago. However, the project’s journey was different. In February 2024, the Second Environmental Court decided to partially reverse that permissionand months later the company announced that it would not continue with the initiative as it had originally been proposed, opting to start a new process from scratch for a project in the same location, but with a redesign based on air cooling. Electricity enters the scene. If we broaden the focus, the debate is not limited to a specific project, but to the system’s capacity to absorb this type of infrastructure. A Systep reportpublished on September 23, 2025 with data from the National Electrical Coordinator, indicated that, taking 2025 as a starting point, the electrical demand of data centers in Chile could increase by 270% in five years. The same projection places this consumption at around 1,207 MW in 2030. These figures help to understand why the energy issue has become one of the central axes when talking about the expansion of the cloud and AI. Images | Xataka with Nano Banana In Xataka | In 2024, Big Tech spent absurd amounts of money on AI. In 2025, they managed to spend 77% more

This is how stars in birth shape the destiny of their neighbors

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An international team of scientists has studied the clusters in which stars are born with both the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb and has discovered very useful data to understand how galaxies form. Both telescopes are very good separately, but the combination of both has been the key to reaching this information. Two giants of space. The Hubble Space Telescope takes many years studying the clusters in which stars are born. It is very good at reaching far and capturing high resolution images. However, the gas clouds resist it. For this reason, James Webb has used its infrared radiation detection instruments to lift the gaseous veil that covers stars in their earliest stages of formation. Together They have discovered something interesting. That the most massive star clusters finish forming stars more quickly. It may seem banal, but it has very important implications. From cloud to star. Stars are born in star clusters that form when a cloud of gas collapses under the effect of high pressure and gravity. Therefore, we have the gas cloud, then the star cluster, and then the stars that are being born. Stellar feedback. In turn, stars can influence the birth of other stars through a process known as stellar feedback. Two things can happen. Violent processes, such as a supernova explosion in massive stars, cause gas clouds to collapse, promoting the formation of more stars. On the other hand, younger stars release a lot of ultraviolet radiation during their birth. This radiation, together with the stellar winds, causes the gas clouds to disperse, so that no more stars can continue to form. beyond the veil. Thanks to James Webb’s ability to go beyond the gas cloudsit has been possible to reach the interior of 9,000 star clusters, located in 4 different nearby galaxies. Thus, it has been possible to analyze the spectrum of light emitted by each of them. This information is used to know their mass and age. For this reason, it has been proven that the most massive clusters disperse the gas clouds in 5 million years, while those with less mass can take up to 8 million years to do the same. Okay, so what? We already have this information, but why is it so useful? The truth is that it is very interesting information, because it helps us understand how galaxies are formed. Depending on the location of the most massive star clusters, the formation of new stars will be shaped differently. As soon as the gas clouds disperse, stars can no longer continue to form, so at points where there are massive clusters there is less time for this to occur. We also learn about planets. On the other hand, as explained in a statement from the European Space Agencythis information also helps us understand how planets form. And we must not forget that around the stars are the protoplanetary disks in which the planets are born. The faster gas is removed within a star cluster, the sooner protoplanetary disks around the stars will be exposed to intense ultraviolet radiation from other stars. That means they will have less opportunity to attract gas and accumulate dust to create new planets. Everything is connected. Thanks to the team formed by James Webb and Hubble, we now know much better how it happens. Image | THAT In Xataka | We have been studying the planets of TRAPPIST-1 for years with great hope. James Webb just knocked it down

Vinted is already worth 8 billion and has achieved it without AI. Just selling your neighbors’ used clothes

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Vinted, the Lithuanian second-hand platform, has closed a secondary sale of shares of 880 million euros led by EQT which increases its valuation to 8,000 million. It has not raised new capital. It has let investors and employees out, and brought in new shareholders (BlackRock, Schroders, Teachers’ Venture Growth) who can hold out both privately and on the stock market. This IPO does not even have a date yet, but the company says that already operates internally as if it were listed. Why is it important. The technology ecosystem in 2026 has been obsessed with AI for some time, so Vinted is a nice anomaly: it has built a profitable business, with more than €1 billion in revenue and €62 million in net profit in 2025, without mentioning AI anywhere. Its value proposition is different, and its story is not that of a startup that has found a shortcut but rather that of a market that has taken fifteen years to mature and that is now changing consumer habits on a continental scale. The context. Vinted was born in 2008 in Vilnius as a way for neighbors to exchange clothes. It has taken almost two decades to become what it is today: a second-hand trading infrastructure with its own logistics, integrated payments and presence throughout Europe. In 2024, TPG capital entered at a valuation of 5,000 million. In just over a year, that figure has risen 60%. In figures: 10.8 billion euros in gross merchandise value (GMV) in 2025, 47% more than the previous year. 1.1 billion euros in revenue (2025). 62 million euros of net profit (2025). 8,000 million euros of valuation after the operation, compared to 5,000 million in 2024. Yes, but. The profitability is there, but it is modest for that valuation: 62 million profit on 1,100 million income is a margin of 5.6%. Only 1.2 points above that of Mercadonafor comparison. Far below that of any technology. To justify 8 billion, Vinted needs to demonstrate that it can scale that margin and not just volume. The online second-hand market is quite competitive: eBay paid $1.2 billion two months ago to buy back Depop from Etsy and strengthen its position in second-hand fashion. Wallapop It has a generalist profile that also takes away its share in countries like Spain. And in the United States, the large market that Vinted has not yet conquered, the company recognizes which is in the testing phase, not expansion. Between the lines. The entry of EQT as an anchor investor in this round has more meaning than it seems. EQT is the Swedish fund that also controls Idealista and Magnific (before Freepik). Its commitment to Vinted reinforces the thesis that large European private equity funds are building positions in second-generation digital platforms: businesses with real network effects, their own infrastructure and proven traction in Europe, before they are listed. When the time comes to go public, they will be caught in it. The big question. Can Vinted replicate in the United States what it has done in Europe? The company has started allowing buyers from London and New York to trade with each otherbut the American market has its own dynamics, its own consolidated platforms and a different second-hand culture. The answer to that question will determine whether Vinted is an $8 billion company or has the potential to become an $80 billion company. In Xataka | There are too many clothes in the world and there is a company earning billions of euros thanks to it: Vinted Featured image | Xataka with Mockuuups Studio

four times more visitors than neighbors and a turn to luxury

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Ibiza is one of the biggest holiday destinations in Spain. Also one of the places that most clearly suffers the effects of mass tourism. That’s nothing new. The overcrowding of the island has generated a billionaire businessbut it has also led the neighbors to go out into the street (same as in other points of the Balearic Islands) to denounce its effects, especially in the real estate market. There is, however, a point in Ibiza where the weight of the tourism and its tendencies are felt in a special way: It’s Canarin Santa Eulària. In a way it acts as a huge tourist ‘laboratory’. One town, two realities. If something characterizes the great destinations (in Spain and any other place in the world) it is that their routine is very different depending on the time of year we are talking about. The high season has little to do with the low season. In It’s Canar That dichotomy is felt in a special way, as just remembered elDiario.es, which has revealed a peculiarity of the neighborhood: its tourist offer quadruples (at least) the number of residents registered. One figure: 7,600. According to the Hotel Federation Fehifin the area there are 7,645 tourist places, four times more than the number of residents registered (1,689). As a reference, the ‘Balearic Sea Report’ estimates that in 2023 they will operate in the entire Balearic Islands. 607,500 places legal tourist activities, while the INE counted in the region just over 1.2 million of residents. Although to the ‘legal’ accommodation offer of the ‘Balearic Sea Report’ we must add the one that operates outside the lawthe regional ‘photo’ is different from that of es Canar. “A ghost town”. This duality between summer and low season is deduced from the statistics, but above all it is felt on the street, as recognize some residents to elDiario.es. “What shocks us the most is winter because Canar becomes a ghost town,” says a neighbor. As temperatures and daylight hours rise, the neighborhood itself is transformed. “It’s a bit overwhelming because… Who isn’t overwhelmed when suddenly there are a lot of people in the area where they live?” he adds. In winter, even the surrounding hospitality offer collapses, which is reduced to its minimum expression. Beaches, market… and relaxation. It is not Canar (far from it) the only area from Ibiza or the Balearic Islands whose routine is marked by the flow of tourists. Its offer, however, has made it a popular destination among those looking for family-friendly tourism. To your beach offer adds its urban center, the port, the beach bars, activities and one of its great attractions: the hippie markets. “The truth is that it is tourism, as far as possible, very familiar. (almost all are British families) and respectful. Since COVID-19 it seems that there is also more national tourism, it is not like in Sant Antoni or Platja d’en Bossa”, comment the same resident. Part of this influx of visitors who choose to stay in es Canar do so in large two- and three-star tourist complexes. Changing the model. If the neighborhood is interesting, beyond its registration data or tourist offer, it is because it also reflects a trend that can be seen in other tourist areas of Spain: the commitment to tourism premiumthe one with the greatest purchasing power. It is something that is detected clearly in Madrid or Barcelona, ​​where have been shot luxury hotels and cruises. In recent years, businesses focused on a clientele looking for a higher category have been opening in the surroundings of es Canar and, if everything goes according to plan, in a short time the neighborhood itself will strengthen its offer in that sector. “Non-shrill luxury”. a few days ago Ibiza Newspaper revealed that work has started to build a new five-star hotel in the area. The idea is to provide it with 116 rooms and for it to open for the 2027 season. Its promoters they are already negotiating to choose an operator, but they advance that, although they want to target a higher segment, they will bet on “non-strident luxury.” “This is not going to be a hotel with rooms at 2,000 euros a night. It is a five-star hotel but not very luxurious. We do not aspire to have a media chef.” Images | Wikipedia 1 and 2 Via | elDiario.es In Xataka | Mallorca has been the dream of thousands of European expats for years. Now it has its own ‘Little Sweden’

We were going to turn trash into clean energy. Now the biogas sector faces its biggest challenge: convincing neighbors

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Spain may be emerging as great power in solar and wind energybut there are other green energies that choke him. The Spanish state is not having a nose for biogas. Or rather: it doesn’t smell good, in the most literal sense of the word. However, the sector has practically gone from zero to one hundred in record time: in just two years there are more than 200 biogas projects on the table in different processing phases. And they bring with them a problem: biogas is the green energy that no one wants close to home. The problem: energy transition vs. social rejection. In the roadmap for Spain’s energy transition (the PNIEC 2030), whose ultimate goal is for the state to achieve emissions neutrality by 2050, biogas has its role. But to make it possible, it is an essential requirement to build and launch plants. And here it collides with a wall of social rejection in the form of citizen platforms, not so much to the technology itself, but to the implementation model. There are no shortage of reasons: from the classic fear of bad smell to the lack of territorial planning, promoter companies that present projects without setting foot on the territory and talking to those who live there, the gigantism of some facilities or the shadow of macro farms as arguments, such as They explain for El País the emeritus professor of Environmental Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia Xavier Flotats and the biologist and researcher at the National Museum of Natural Sciences Fernando Valladares. Why is it important. That biogas appears in Spain’s energy transition strategy implies that, sooner or later, it will materialize; the key now is in the as. It is also a direct path to energy sovereignty that replaces natural gas. Just take a look at the electricity price map in Europe To understand it: countries that depend on imported fossil fuels suffer from price volatility, while those who have opted for their own alternatives They achieve greater independence and stability. But its value goes beyond energy. These plants generate organic fertilizers that replace chemicals derived from petroleum and offer a real solution to waste management. The slurry or agricultural remains will be produced the same, with or without a plant; The difference is that biogas allows them to be turned into a resource instead of leaving them as an environmental problem. Context. A biogas plant is essentially a stomach where bacteria break down organic waste without oxygen, known as anaerobic digestion. From here two products are obtained: a gas rich in methane and a fertilizer. Depending on the gas obtained, the plant is simply biogas or biomethane: biogas is methane combined with carbon dioxide in almost equal parts, so it is a “weak” fuel that is usually burned on site to generate electricity or local heat. However, biomethane plants add a refining step (removing carbon dioxide) to obtain a gas similar to fossil natural gas. In Europe, the biogas sector is a consolidated industry with more than 19,000 plantsof which almost half are in Germany. A picture says a thousand words: this Europe biomethane plants map of Gas Infrastructure Europe shows the density in states like Germany or Denmark compared to the Spanish desert. The ecological dilemma. For engineer Xavier Flotats, the general rejection is a contradiction: “For some activists, it is better that a landfill is emitting methane into the atmosphere than taking the waste to a biogas plant to do something useful with it.” And he goes deeper by explaining that although this outgoing digestate has 95% of the input composition by weight, its composition changes, it is mineralized and converted into fertilizer. Valladares assures that biogas plants are greenwashing in that the process does not make the waste disappear, they only remove 5%. And that “Biogas plants cannot be understood without the macro farms industrial poultry, pigs and cows.” For the biologist at the National Museum of Natural Sciences, the only viable plants are few, small, safe and expensive. Marina Gros, representative of Ecologistas en Acción recognizes that “There are discrepancies within the organization because there is debate, there are different visions.” And in fact, have published a guide to evaluate case by case. The elephant in the room. Beneath the biogas dilemma inevitably lies the controversy of macro farms: In the event of a possible deployment of plants, the reality would be that part of the biogas produced in the state would depend on its slurry. There are those who see this as taking advantage of an already existing problem, but for other people it represents a facelift to a type of industrial livestock farming designed to maximize productivity at a lower cost compared to animal welfare and the environmental balance of the territory. Separate the wheat from the chaff. Faced with this flood of projects, experts agree on the importance of distinguishing sustainable plans from those that are not. Some signs that indicate that a project is reasonable include choosing a location close to the waste it manages and operating on a regional scale, with a plan to use the digestate as a local fertilizer and a design that guarantees total watertightness. On the contrary, there are signs that are authentic red flag: that the plant is far from the waste but close to gas pipelines, the absence of plans for digestate, the reception of waste in open pits, competition with other plants for raw materials or a logic of an industrial macroplant detached from the territory. In Xataka | A strange source of energy is putting Europe’s energy unity at risk: manure In Xataka | The ace up Spain’s sleeve to grow even more in the renewable energy landscape: biomethane Cover | Spencer DeMera and Eli DeFaria

Spain has many options to manufacture the successor to the Airbus A320. We have advantages that our neighbors do not

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Airbus is going to have to make a very relevant decision within its business in the next decade, and that may affect Spain more than we think, although in a good way. We are referring to where the aeronautical giant will manufacture the successor to the A320, the best-selling single-aisle aircraft in the world. In this sense, Spain is running as a strong candidate, and even the CEO of the group himself counted that the country has ballots for it. Why this decision matters. The A320 is Airbus’ star product, the one that moves the bulk of its deliveries and the one that competes directly with Boeing in the highest volume segment of all commercial aviation. The program that replaces it will define Airbus’ industrial roadmap for decades, so the country that houses all its technological knowledge, investment and employment can give itself a good tooth in the teeth. In this context, Guillaume Faury, CEO of Airbus, counted during his meeting with the media at the Getafe plant that “Spain has many cards in its hand to attract these investments.” Where is Spain today? Airbus currently has eight centers and around 14,000 employees in Spain. The largest of them is the Getafe plant, the company’s headquarters in the country and its largest industrial facility in Spain, with nearly 10,000 workers. Added to this is the Illescas factory, specialized in carbon fiber structures, which would soon benefit from the A350 production increasegoing from 5-6 units to 12 in 2028. There is also a relevant presence in Albacete and Seville. “Basically all the activities we have in Spain are growing,” counted Faury. Advantages of Spain. Faury recognized that Spain presents “some competitive advantages over other European countries”, among them the progress in renewable energies, which can help contain energy costs, one of the factors that most concern the group on a continental scale. The CEO claimed also that Europe pays between 2 and 2.5 times more for energy than the United States or China, being a gap that hinders the competitiveness of this industry on the continent. Therefore, in this context, Spain can be a great asset for the company. Added to this is a supply chain with years of experience, qualified labor and a good relationship with the Government, according to Faury himself. But not everything is won. For Faury, the conditions that Spain must continue to meet for the award to be possible include competitive labor and energy costs, a reliable supply chain and a good availability of workers with the appropriate qualifications. He also warns that the challenge of competitiveness cannot be addressed only from a national perspective, but rather a European one. “If we want to keep the industry in Europe in the long term, we have to simplify the regulatory framework and guarantee affordable and available energy,” pointed out the CEO. Consider In this sense, we must “take the bull by the horns” in the face of a situation that he described as urgent. Cover image | Gabriel Goncalves In Xataka | AI seemed ready to destroy skilled employment. A new study with real data says something different: unemployment has barely moved

A remote town in Soria attracted neighbors by offering them a house and bar. Two months later they left due to the cold

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Beratón is a small municipality in Moncayo, province of Soria, which stands out for its high altitude (the largest in the province) and reduced census (38 inhabitants, according to the INE). However, in recent weeks it has left one of the clearest examples of how difficult it is to keep pace with the depopulation of the ’emptied Spain’. A few months ago, its City Council tried to attract residents by offering a “business + housing” combo that managed to awaken the interest of a young couple from Cuenca. They didn’t even last three months. The cold and the drop in activity have led them to pack their bags again. It could be just an anecdote, but it illustrates how complicated it is to reactivate rural Spain. Even when there is good disposition and ideas. What has happened? That Beratón (Soria) has left one of those stories that, although a priori may seem simple and anecdotal, reflect much more complex trends. In May, the municipality made the news because its City Council launched an unusual announcement: whoever agreed to manage the town’s tavern would have at their disposal a newly renovated house. Business and housing guaranteed. “All kinds of facilities will be provided,” the mayor insistedCarmen Lapeña, on the SER Soria network, who also recalled that Beratón was a popular point for hikers and groups who came to Moncayo to spend the day. And it worked? Yes. The offer attracted a familya young couple from Cuenca. His arrival was doubly good news: not only did he swell Beratón’s meager census, but in theory it would serve to reactivate the town’s main point of socialization. The joy, however, was short-lived. A few days ago our colleagues from Straight to the Palate revealedciting SER, that the new residents have not lasted even two months there. They packed their bags at the end of December, which does not prevent the mayor from continuing to think about attracting new blood for the town. Of course, starting in March, when temperatures begin to rise and the town regains activity little by little. Why are they gone? The couple’s decision is actually little surprising. To start Beratón it becomes a cold place in winter, with temperatures that often fall below zero. “The winter months are very hard,” acknowledges the councilor, who for that reason rules out trying to bring in new families during January and February, “bad times.” However, the weather is only part of the problem. After all, there are other icy locations (even more than Berathon) who have no difficulties in attracting hoteliers. Its other big problem is depopulation and especially the ups and downs of the census. Although the INE has registered there 38 inhabitantsactually that’s just a reference. Although during the summer months the town welcomes more than 300 residentsin the harshest months of winter it is left with a handful of inhabitants stable, just half a dozen. The figure is so low that it is difficult to maintain the profitability of a business, even if it is a bar. “The days are very short, very cold… sad. People come, but punctually.” Is it a unique case? The story of Beratón includes some of its own ingredients, but its underlying problem is not very different from that faced by other parts of ’emptied Spain’ that find it difficult to stop the population drain. If at the beginning of this century there were in Spain 934 municipalities With less than 100 inhabitants, in 2021 that figure had risen to 1,379. Of the slow emptying of ’emptied Spain’ echoed before the pandemic the Spanish Rural Development Network (REDR) and the problem does not seem to be subsiding. The latest data from the INE show that the club of localities with less than a hundred registered residents has added thirty municipalities in the last five years, remaining at over 1,400 as of 2025. Is it that complicated? It seems so. In Galicia we found other cases which, although again they may seem anecdotal, help to better understand the general trend. There are rural town councils there that are taking over businesses such as gas stations and stores to prevent them from closing, which would be equivalent to running out of services and further accelerating their decline. It may seem excessive, but a recent report from the Consello de Contas warns that in Galicia there are almost a hundred of towns in ‘danger of extinction’, many of them located in A Coruña and Lugo. In Spain, in fact, there are already ‘ghost towns’ for sale. Why’s that? Due to a combination of factors: rural exodus, poor communications, difficulties in finding employment or establishing a long-term life project… For a time the pandemic, reconnection with nature and teleworking seemed to clear the future of some towns, but that ‘renaissance’ it didn’t always stick. In the background there is another problem, much more complex: housing. It is one thing that when we visit rural areas of Spain we see empty houses and quite another that those same properties are available for people interested in taking advantage of them or are habitable. How to solve it? The big question. In rural areas there are also second residencetourism-oriented housing, constructions whose ownership has become blurred over the decades and others that do not directly meet the necessary conditions to welcome new tenants. “The legislation gives city councils weapons to act in case of ruin, but we are so small and with so few resources that we cannot execute the laws,” he lamented in 2024 Enrique Collada, mayor of Alcarria, a town of 71 inhabitants in Guadalajara. Similar message launches the Tierras Sorianas del Cid Association: “There is a lot of empty housing or housing with residual use that we should try to put on the market.” The objective: escape the effects of demographic winter. Another thing (as has happened in Beratón) is the rigors of the climatic winter. Images | Beratón Town Hall and Miguel Á. Garcia (Flickr) In Xataka … Read more

Toledo has stretched its Christmas season to last 49 days and attract more tourists. Some neighbors think it’s a bad idea.

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Day of celebration for some. Outrageous to others. The one of Friday, November 21 It was a night of conflicting feelings in Toledo. While the City Council celebrated the official switching on of its Christmas lights (the early risers of its history) a group of neighbors gathered in the historic center to protest the ‘bill’ of mass Christmas tourism. For them, long celebrations of 49 days (until January 8) marked by crowds and difficulties in continuing with their lives. The (mega)Christmas. They do not reach the height of Vigo, which turned on its lights November 15 and probably won’t turn them off until well into Januarybut Christmas in Toledo will be much longer than usual this year. The City Council decided advance one week the implementation of its lighting and redoubling its commitment to attract tourists: if in 2024 the red button is pressed on November 29in 2025 it was activated the 21stwhen they started to shine 1.1 million LEDs100,000 more than a year ago. The result: Christmas brighter and more extensive that are remembered in the Castilian-La Mancha town. A percentage: 94.25%. The bet seems to have gone well for the City Council, which a few days ago he stuck out his chest due to the flood of tourists it received during the Constitution and Immaculate Bridge. According to the data provided by its Tourism Councilor, the city achieved a hotel occupancy of 94.25%, which, he emphasizes, consolidates it as “one of the preferred destinations” for visitors. As a reference, the year-on-year increase in visits has exceeded 47%. Visitors came to Toledo from Madrid, Valencia, Barcelona, ​​Seville, other towns in the province of Toledo and even travelers from France, Italy, Argentina and the USA. The tourist boom was not limited to just the long weekend. Although Christmas has not yet started as such, The Spanish posted last week a series of photos that show that the historic center of the city was crowded again on the weekend of December 13 and 14. One coin, two sides. Greater influx of visitors usually translates (not always) in more business for restaurants, more guests in hotels and a greater number of potential clients for commerce. In Toledo, however, there are those who has raised his voice to warn that all this does not come for free to the city. And not just because of the cost of Christmas decorations. The same Friday that the mayor presided over the ceremony a group of residents of the historic center turning on the lights they concentrated to denounce the impact that crowds and mass tourism have on their lives. Is it something new? No. The debate on tourism (and its impact) it’s not new in Toledo. In fact, a few months ago the City Council gave the green light to an ordinance that seeks precisely to “promote a balanced coexistence between visitors and neighbors” and sets limits to the use of megaphones or tourist groups. This Christmas, however, the patience of the neighbors seems to have been exhausted. First for the phenomenon of Christmas tourismwhich transcends to other areas of Spain. Second, because this year Toledo has decided stretch your holidays. “Dangerous streets”. The most critical residents warn of the saturation of the historic center and how this affects their daily lives. After all, those who live in tourist areas are forced to continue with their routines (working, shopping, walking the dog…) with the streets crowded with visitors. “There are a lot of people circulating. I understand that they come to do tourism, to enjoy themselves, but they should be aware that there are people living there who are carrying out their normal daily lives,” explains to elDiario Natacha, a neighbor of the Historic Center who complains about the “overcrowding” on weekends. One of her neighbors, Carmen, goes even further and warns: “The streets are becoming dangerous.” And what is the solution? There is who poses distribute the tourist offer throughout the town to decongest the historic center and seek a “more livable” city model. One thing is clear: Toledo is forced to deal with two realities that seem to collide with each other. A, the discomfort on the part of its inhabitants with the agglomerations, something that is clear with their protests. The other reality is that tourism is a fundamental (and inalienable) source of wealth for the region. In 2023, for example, it assumed 7.3% of GDP of Castilla-La Mancha. Beyond Toledo. Toledo is not the only city that has encountered such a dilemma. In Vigo too have registered protests of neighbors and groups critical of the Christmas lights phenomenon, which according to the City Council attracts several million of visitors to the city in a matter of two months. Perhaps the most critical voice is that of the Vigo Central Zone Neighborhood Association, which complaint that the holidays become “a period of circulatory chaos, mobility problems, security problems, dirt and noise and light pollution in the heart of the city.” Your complaints already They have arrived at the court. Images | Toledo City Council In Xataka | There is a reason why Vigo is announcing its Christmas in Japan. And it has little to do with Japanese tourists

Every time you think you’re eating poorly lately, think about these Neanderthals who ate their neighbors.

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Approximately 40,000 years ago, a group of Neanderthals captured girls and women, took them to the vicinity of the Goyet caves (in present-day Belgium) and ate them. And no, it’s not a figure of speech. What is a girl like you doing in a place like this? Although the third Goyet cavern has been studied since the 19th century, it was not until a few years ago that tomographic techniques, ancient DNA analysis and isotonic measurements have allowed us to fully understand what was happening in the heart of the mountain. And we have seen the best example a few days ago in Scientific Reports, Quentin Cosnefroy and a large team of European researchers have managed to identify a minimum of six individuals among the mass of bones to be studied. At least four were adult or teenage women of short stature and surprisingly fragile bones. And that in itself was quite curious: why was the proportion of women so high? But it wasn’t the most curious thing: the most curious thing is that they had been eaten. Hunger. According to the analysis, virtually all of the bones show cut marks, fracturing for marrow extraction, and other signs of processing for human consumption. But the most striking thing is the selection: it is not a random group, but a very specific demographic sample. I have already said the key: the bones were too graceful to be Neanderthal bones (who, remember, populated the caves at that time). The isotopic studies showed that none of these individuals came from the vicinity of Goyet: that is, they were women from other groups who (as I said) were captured and taken to the cave to be consumed with tools. They were a banquet. And no, I’m not going overboard with sensationalism. The same study acknowledges that the statistical probability of finding such a gender and age composition is ridiculous. “The exclusive presence of women and children in the Goyet complex does not respond to chance or a sample of natural mortality. It is a deliberate selection,” said Christian Pérez. And he was right. The only reasonable explanation is exocannibalism; something that had only been identified in modern ethnographic contexts as a form of violence towards groups (in the context of tribal wars). As the authors pointed out, this interpretative key is what can help us understand what was happening. The last living Neanderthal. Little by little, the question of what happened to the Neanderthal universe becomes more accessible to us. In fact, “the appearance of extreme behaviors such as selective cannibalism could be interpreted as an expression of growing tensions” and that clears up many doubts about what could (and could not) happen. As much as the theories on assimilation gain strengththe truth is that this admiration was not a bed of roses. Image | Matt Benson In Xataka | The story behind the “terror farm” of Burgos: cannibalism, rats, corpses… and animal welfare seal

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