neighbors

A year later, it has been such a success that her neighbors are already asking about her

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Solar electricity can be generated right under the wheels of a train without posing any risk. Switzerland has just confirmed this in a project that, after a year of having startedhas shown that the idea works, and is now beginning to arouse interest in France, Italy and Asia as well. What has happened? In April 2025, the startup Sun-Ways installed photovoltaic panels between the rails of a 100-meter section in the town of Buttes, in the canton of Neuchâtel, Switzerland, resting on the sleepers. They claim that it is the first installation of this type in the world, and its particularity is that the modules can be easily removed when maintenance work needs to be done on the track. Twelve months later, more than 11,000 trains have passed over the panels without any incidents being recorded. “We have achieved our objectives, both in terms of railway safety and electricity production,” explained Joseph Scuderi, founder of Sun-Ways, told Swissinfo. Why is it relevant? The main obstacle to renewables is no longer just technological, but also space. And it is necessary to find land to install panels without invading crop fieldsforests or protected landscapes begins to be a complicated task. Spain knows this debate well, with projects such as the Maestrazgo renewable macroparkwhich has generated friction due to its visual impact. This proposal presents an alternative taking advantage of an infrastructure that already exists and is hardly used for anything else. In detail. The energy generated is poured into the local electrical grid and, according to data provided by Sun-Ways, the installation has produced more than 16,000 kWh since May 2025, despite a one-month break due to snow and technical work. That figure is equivalent to the annual consumption of three or four households. Extrapolated to the nearly 5,320 kilometers of tracks that the country has, discounting tunnels and sections with little sun, Sun-Ways calculates that the entire Swiss railway network could generate up to 1,000 million kWh per year, around 2% of national electricity consumption. Between the lines. Two of the biggest fears surrounding this system have been dispelled during testing. The first, the accumulation of dirt on the panels. Scuderi had initially thought of cleaning them with a brush installed at the back of a train, but discovered that the very passage of the convoys, which travel up to 90 km/h on that section, generates a current of air that carries dust. The second, the possible dazzling of the train drivers, which has not materialized either. And TransN, the public operator that manages that line, has assured that it has not received any report from its staff in this regard. The company itself also confirms that there have been no conflicts with infrastructure, maintenance or train circulation. The other plus point: installation is quick. The panels, patented by Sun-Ways, are placed using a machine developed together with the railway company Scheuchzer, capable of laying up to 300 meters of panels per hour, according to collect Electrek. And when it is necessary to remove them to repair a track or change a sleeper, disassembling a module with three panels and six meters in length takes about ten minutes, according to reports. detailed Scuderi. The pending challenge. Julien Pouget, professor at the Valais University School of Applied Sciences (HES-SO), warns that transporting the electricity generated over long distances continues to be complicated, since current technology does not allow it to be done efficiently in sections greater than 500 meters, which is why a specific electrical architecture is needed to raise the voltage, as explained to the Swiss newspaper 24Heures. Together with other HES-SO researchers and Scuderi himself, Pouget intends to present a possible solution to this problem at a conference in Paris next August. And now what. The project has caused interest internationally. And the French railway company SNCF, which manages some 28,000 km of tracks and has set the goal of covering 20% ​​of its energy consumption with solar energy by 2030, signed in February a technical cooperation agreement with Sun-Ways. In Italy, the startup is in contact with Rete Ferroviaria Italiana to organize a pilot before the end of the year, while in South Korea already there is an approved government project near the Osong station, and in Indonesia a solar engineering company is closely following the results obtained in Switzerland. Scuderi, for his part, hopes to shorten the three-year trial period set by the Swiss Federal Transport Office and obtain final approval as soon as possible, allowing, he says, his partners abroad to also advance. Images | Jean-Christophe Bott and Sun-Ways In Xataka | Spain produces so much solar energy that it is the envy of Europe. And even so, 70% of what you consume matters

If the question is whether your neighbors can prohibit you from having a dog, the answer is not in the Animal Welfare Law: it is in Vigo

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Can the community of owners of your building prohibit you from having a pet? The answer, as is usual when it comes to legislation and clash of rights, is a huge ‘it depends’. The Horizontal Property Law (LHP) says little about it and the animal welfare standard It even remembers that owners are obliged to keep their dogs, cats and other animals “integrated into the family nucleus.” Now, a sentence dictated in Galicia reminds us that the subject is much more complex and has chiaroscuros. There, in fact, a man has lost the legal battle to live with his poodle. Legal pulse in Galicia. Coexistence in neighborhood communities is not always easy. even less when a dog, cat or any other pet that can cause noise or dirty common areas is added to the equation. In a building in Nigrán (province of Pontevedra) these frictions have led to a legal pulse between the owner of a flat and the rest of his neighbors that has had an unexpected outcome: justice has endorsed that the latter (the board of owners) have the right to prohibit the former from living with their dog. It matters when and how. The sentence Galician, yes, responds to a case with very specific particularities. To understand it, we have to go back to 2010, when the residents of the property unanimously approved, in an ordinary general meeting, to prohibit the presence of any animal on the floors and common areas of the building. They only left one exception: guide dogs. In 2011, that decision was ratified as an internal rule that was incorporated into the community’s statutes, where it remains today. In theory, the pet ban didn’t cause any more problems until a few years ago, when one of the families in the building acquired a poodle. This led to the rest of the neighbors holding an extraordinary general meeting at the end of 2023 to revalidate the 2010 rule and reiterate the veto on pets. The dog’s owner did not like the decision, who went to court in March 2024 for what he considered an “abusive” rule and contrary to the Animal Welfare Law. Crossover of arguments. The Nigrán lawsuit is interesting because it demonstrates the legal intricacies that these types of disputes can have, but it is equally important to understand that the ruling responds to a very specific case. To begin with, there is a key fact that is responsible for highlighting the magistrate herself in her order: the neighbor in disagreement knew “the existence, content and purpose” of the community rule long before acquiring the poodle. What’s more, if the pet ban was approved in 2010, it was partly at the request of his father, who already lived in the property. In short: the affected party was informed of the ban. What did he then claim before the judge? That, in his opinion, the legal context of 2010 is not the same as that of 2024, when he presented his complaint. And it is not, he insists, because in September 2023 The Animal Welfare Law (LBA) came into force, a rule that recognizes pets as “sentient” beings. Did you convince the magistrate? No. Perhaps the legislation on pets is different today than in 2010, but the Vigo judge in charge of the lawsuit has seen it clearly: The LBA does not overthrow the board’s agreement. “It does not establish an absolute and unlimited right to own pets nor does it automatically repeal any community provision that regulates or limits said tendency.” “It does not eliminate the possibility of establishing legitimate limitations when they respond to reasons of coexistence, health or general interest,” he emphasizes. What exactly does the LBA say? The rule, which came into force three years ago, points out that owners of pets must “keep them integrated into the family nucleus, whenever possible due to their species, in good health and hygiene”, although it also specifies that when this is not feasible (due to their size or species) their caregivers must find them “appropriate accommodation”. He same article of the LBA makes it clear in any case that pet owners are obliged to adopt “the necessary measures” so that they do not cause “annoyance, danger, threats or damage” to other people, animals or property, which includes, among other things, preventing them from soiling public spaces. And the Horizontal Property Law? When it comes to coexistence and blocks of neighbors, the reference Bible is another norm, something older: the Horizontal Property Law (LPH). It does not address the issue of pets directly, but it does provide a series of important guidelines. The main one appears in article 7.2, which reminds that neither the owner of an apartment nor its tenants, if any, can carry out “activities prohibited in the statutes, harmful to the property or that contravene the general provisions on annoying, unhealthy, harmful, dangerous or illicit activities.” In cases like this it can end in trial. The value of the statutes. The ruling of the Vigo court recalls the weight of the decisions adopted in neighborhood associations, the statutes and the importance of the rules of coexistence being duly registered in the Property Registry. Also the nuance of whether the veto on pets is before or after a neighbor gets one and whether or not he knows this in advance. In any case the Galician magistrate slide An important fact: the LBA “does not establish an unrestricted right to the presence of animals anywhere.” Images | Charles Puaud (Unsplash) and Zhen Yao (Unsplash) In Xataka | Your cat asks you to cuddle and then bites you. It’s not evil, it’s that you don’t understand its signs

the initiative of a town in Huesca to make neighbors look each other in the eyes. “We’ll put the cell phone in a bag”

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The United Kingdom announced a few hours ago that is going to ban social networksamong other things, to those under 16 years of age. In a much more diplomatic line, the Aragonese people of Alcalá de Gurrea will soon celebrate a day without screens to enjoy the best social network: eye contact. This is an experiment that will put the entire town in “airplane mode” and, as you know, people are quite dependentthey will ensure that it is fulfilled in a very curious way. Putting cell phones in a bag with a sheriff patrolling the town. It’s much nicer than it sounds. Town in airplane mode. It will be next June 28 when, for a few hours, the Aragonese municipality will implement this measure. They will invite neighbors who want to join in to leave their cell phones aside to interact with the rest of the town and, as detailed in Chain Beingduring those hours there will only be one cell phone: the one owned by one of those responsible for the activity. “The sheriff will go throughout the town in case something happens and will call the right person if necessary,” the organizers point out. The objective is clear: to make people look each other in the eyes. “The plan is for people to do all kinds of activities but, above all, to interact with each other during those nine hours,” they say. To do this, there will be a group meal, activities such as a kayak experience and common spaces in which various types of activities and creative workshops will take place. What if you’re embarrassed? Well, they have it covered: “the organizers will be waiting for people to break the ice,” they say. The typical “do you know my friend?” of all life. to the bag. And the way to make sure people put their phones aside is to do it…literally. The event, as those responsible in Ser comment, will take place on the outskirts of the town and will be where participants will be given a bag to store their devices. “When you cross the border of airplane mode, there is no turning back: no one will be able to locate you,” they point out. “Since people are so dependent, we will put it in a sealed bag that they will not be able to open for nine hours.” As we read in Zaragoza-Citythe capacity will be very limited in this first edition, of just 200 people and the organizations defend that it is not about giving up technology, but about realizing that we can not be constantly glued to the screens. Not so original. If you are unable to put your phone down for a second (which is not the user’s fault either because applications use sophisticated tactics to ‘tickle’ our brains and that are very addictive), is a good solution. However, you should know that Alcalá de Gurrea is not the only place where this is done. On April 18, Euskadi celebrated the first ‘Family Cell Phone Free Day’ which, basically, was the same: the cell phone was left in a safe and guarded bag to experience a fun day without screens. There is an association called EsMontañas that has also driven a similar initiative in almost 60 Alto Aragonese towns and there are private initiatives such as ‘Offline Club’ that organizes meetings of the style in some cities. Others do it out of obligation. The truth is that the absence of the sound of notifications and not having the phone at hand to pick it up, unlock it and look into space simply on impulse does not seem like a bad idea to ‘detoxify’ the device. Now, it is fine as long as it is voluntary and not an imposition. In Vadgaon, India, every day at 7:00 p.m. a siren sounds which urges citizens to turn off televisions and cell phones with the aim of recovering face-to-face dialogue. And Green Bank, a city in the United States, is a municipality without mobile phones by obligation. Due to the presence of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory implies a radio-silent zone in which mobile phones and Wi-Fi devices are very restricted. Curiously, this situation is a claim for people who want a life without smartphones. In Xataka | The science of “doomscrolling”: how technology hacked psychology so we can’t let go of our phones

León wants to start a biomass macroplant to heat 28,000 homes. The neighbors are afraid of something: the wind

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“Mayor! Where are you?” The cry echoed this Wednesday in the central Plaza de San Marcelo. According to local chronicleshundreds of people responded to the call of the Barrio de la Lastra Neighborhood Association to try to stop the construction of the gigantic biomass plant planned in the south of the city. The point is that this is not an isolated march: the residents of La Lastra and Puente Castro have joined forces in a joint mobilization that reflects the fatigue of the southern neighborhoods in the face of an imminent environmental impact. But beyond the noise of the banners, there is a very specific fear. As Ruth Sanz explainsneighborhood spokesperson for La Lastra, the big hidden problem will come “when the wind changes direction.” The citizen warning is blunt: if the plant comes into operation, not only will the smell reach other neighborhoods in the capital, but the air will carry harmful substances. For this reason, with the motto of “our health is not for sale”, the neighbors demand that the excavators be stopped. The beginning of the indignation. To understand this social outbreak you have to look at the offices. As detailed in the specialized magazine Rethemethe project promoted by the Junta de Castilla y León and the City Council aims to create a “Sustainable Heat Network”. Through Somacyl, the regional administration seeks to build a thermal power plant that supplies heating and hot water to more than 28,000 homes and 150 buildings in the capital. However, the outrage also has a political component. As emphasized by Herald of Leonresidents directly accuse the socialist mayor, José Antonio Diez, of serious inconsistency: they remember that, when he was in the opposition, he led protests against a similar biomass plant in Cantamilanos, and now allows an installation that is seven times larger. Furthermore, the neighborhood anger lies in how it has been created. As revealed elDiario.esthe Board has processed this immense 22-hectare complex – located at the foot of the city, next to the municipal cemetery and the Torío and Bernesga rivers – under the controversial figure of ‘Regional Project’. This administrative movement serves, as this medium explains, to “shield” the complex, unify contracts through urgency, accelerate expropriations and avoid local urban planning obstacles. Green energy or environmental risk? Green energy or environmental risk? The project stages a head-on clash of realities. In the official discourse, it is the definitive ecological initiative since the administrations They defend that the infrastructure It is key to decarbonization. They promise that it will allow more than 1,200 fossil fuel boilers to be progressively turned off, will prevent the emission of 35,000 tons of CO₂ annually and will allow neighboring communities to save between 20% and 30% on their bills. The dark side of this “green promise” is provided by environmental defenders. As argued Ecologists in Action in their allegationsinstallation of these dimensions near inhabited areas is environmentally unsustainable. The entity warns that combustion at an industrial level will cause highly dangerous emissions, releasing “benzopyrene, heavy metals and particles” into the air. Furthermore, environmentalists throw down the argument of resource sustainability. The complex will swallow up to 128,000 tons of forest chips annually – a volume that threatens to overexploit the forests – and will consume a whopping 35,000 cubic meters of water from the urban network, without the City Council having issued technical reports that guarantee that this will not affect the population’s supply. Pharaonic figures and legal mud. The size of the project is difficult to assimilate without looking at the pure data. According to the technical data provided by Leon News, The horizon of southern Leon will be modified by the installation of four enormous chimneys 35 meters high (a level equivalent to an eleven-story residential block). At a logistical level, the activity of the furnaces will generate 4,480 tons of ash, slag and dust each year, and will cause an incessant daily movement of up to 20 heavy trucks through the neighborhood. With such an impact on the horizon, the battle is no longer only in the street, but in the courts. As reported Herald of Leonthe project is deeply judicialized. Neighbors and environmentalists are waiting for the Court to resolve a contentious-administrative appeal filed against the municipal licenses granted for the pipeline network. The opacity of the process has fanned the flame of suspicion. The neighborhood spokesperson denounced in the Plaza de San Marcelo that the works began “without the relevant licenses,” calling the operation a “business of two.” The indignation and distrust reach such a point that the neighbors have come to predict that in the future this case will “blow through the air” just as the well-known ‘Wind Plot’ did, demonstrating that everything responds to “the interests of certain people and not to a common good. León’s countdown. While the judges deliberate and the mobilizations do not stop, the clock is ticking. An unappealable countdown has begun: there is a legal limit of five years for the infrastructure to take shape or, on the contrary, the project to decline definitively. The city of León thus appears at a historical crossroads. On one side of the balance, the institutional dream of establishing itself as a pioneering city in Europe in energy transition and thermal independence. On the other, the terror of thousands of families who see an industrial monster installed at the door of their homes. In the coming years the outcome will be decided; Meanwhile, the southern neighborhoods will continue taking to the streets, looking askance at the sky and hoping that justice will act before the wind changes. Image | Wikieditorarigurosa and La Lastra Neighborhood Association Xataka | Europe’s secret weapon to win the electric battery war is not in the mines: it is in the garbage

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

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