Norway

Tourism has turned Norway into the latest theme park. And the business of hunting the northern lights in a risky sport

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It happened a few years ago in Icelandwhen the authorities saw forced to close temporarily access to a natural canyon after thousands of visitors hiked it off marked trails, damaging vegetation and eroding the terrain in a matter of weeks. What had been an almost unknown corner for years suddenly became in a viral phenomenonleaving an unexpected impression: a remote landscape transformed into an overflowing place in a very short time. Now it’s your turn to Norway. From quiet city to saturated destination. What was for years a peaceful northern town has transformed into a global phenomenon: Tromsø has gone from a medium-sized university town to receive massive waves of visitors attracted by this new hype in the form of northern lights. The growth, driven largely by social media, has local capacity overwhelmed to the point that, in high season, tourists far exceed to residents. We are talking about collapsed streets, strained services and constant pressure on infrastructure that reflect how tourism has turned the environment into something very different from what it was. The rise of a business without control. The problem arises because, at the same time, it has emerged a parallel industry of unregulated guides that operate outside the law, taking advantage of the low barrier to entry and high demand. With a car, a mobile phone and access to aurora tracking apps, these operators offer improvised routes that compete with legal services, eroding both the local economy and the quality of the experience. In fact, they counted in the New York Times that the authorities estimate that a significant part of these activities escapes official control, generating income that does not revert to the community and multiplying the problems. Mass tourism turned into operational chaos. The result is a scenario where the search for auroras has become unpredictablewith convoys of vehicles traveling on roads, constant route changes and a general feeling of disorder. Specialized police teams patrol the city and its accesses looking for these activities illegal, but clandestine operators adapt quickly, sharing information and using tactics to avoid controls. This constant game between surveillance and evasion has turned the activity into something much more complex than a simple tourist excursion. Failed experiences and feeling of being scammed. As a result, for many visitors, the promise of a unique experience is has translated into frustrationdeceptions or unexpected situations, with stories of tours that are not completed, guides who disappear and keep the money or even police interventions in the middle of the tour. The contrast between the idyllic image of the destination and the reality experienced by some tourists has begun to leave its mark in reputation of the place. What should be a memorable natural experience sometimes becomes a chaotic and unreliable process. A destination converted into an extreme theme park. All of this has led to a deeper transformation: one where the northern lights are no longer just a natural phenomenon, but the center of an intensive industry which works almost like an outdoor theme park. The pressure to capture that perfect moment has turned the activity into a constant race against time, weather and competition, raising the risk and tension with each outing. Thus, what was once pure contemplation now comes closer and closer to an experience extreme where improvisation and business weigh as much as nature itself. The impact on those who live from the phenomenon. They remembered in the Times that for legal and experienced operators, the situation has changed radically, facing unfair competition that reduces prices and deteriorates standards. What should be a season of celebration has turned into a struggle to maintain viability of the business in a saturated environment. Another one, as already it happened in iceland and its volcanoes or more recently on Everesta change that reflects a broader reality: when tourism grows out of control, even the most spectacular destinations can end up trapped in your own success. Image | PXHere In Xataka | Touristification has made Mercadona find itself with a rival in Barcelona: 24-hour supermarkets In Xataka | There is something worse than Everest turning into a mountain literally full of shit: scam rescues

In Norway they have asked themselves which are the best electric cars at -30ºC. And the answer is clear: Chinese cars

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A test that has already become indispensable for the industry. The Norwegian Automobile Club has been carrying out a simple test since 2020: they take the most representative electric cars on the market, fully recharge them and put them to the test. All at the same time and along the same route. Objective: discover if someone is lying. A simple test in theory. But it provides a lot of information for the buyer of an electric car. And although the WLTP cycles have been improved and now they show consumption in urban cycles and outside of it, the truth is that the buyer of the electric car needs one piece of information: the consumption on the road at the maximum legal speed allowed. And in the city, the consumption of electric cars is usually very low. Furthermore, the impact of total autonomy is less relevant because either the car is charged at night or access to the chargers is easier than in the middle of a road. That’s why he test carried out by the Norwegian Automobile Clubthe NAF for its acronym in the local language, is so important because they get the cars moving and take them on the road on a route that begins in Oslo and extends for more than 400 kilometers. The final intention is to glimpse what real autonomy these cars have and its difference with the figure recorded by the WLTP cycle. “They lie”. We will put it in quotes. And when companies design their cars, they obviously think about the consumption that a car will have in real situations but, of course, They take into account how the approval tests are carried out to get the best possible result. He Dieselgatewhere Volkswagen and other brands in the group used specific software when homologating their cars to achieve better consumption figures on paper that were then not met in practice, is the best-known case. But without cheating, it may pay off for a manufacturer to prioritize the lowest possible consumption in the city even if it later suffers from a slightly higher consumption on the highway. Or that the car behaves worse in extreme cold conditions, as is usually found in these tests. This very low urban consumption can lower the final average figure and distort the car’s real mileage, which is why these real road tests are interesting. How are they tested? In the test, the Norwegians examine the car’s behavior on a route that starts from Oslo towards the north of the country and which almost always runs on national roads. On the route, which you can see in this linkstarts at sea level and ends at about 750 meters above sea level. Along the way there are two large studs. In the first one you exceed 500 meters in height, then you descend slightly and climb again until you exceed 1,000 meters in height. Subsequently, you descend until you stay at the aforementioned 750 meters high. The test is also done in winter and summer conditions to get even more information from the cars. The driver stops when it detects a loss of power in the car but it doesn’t drain the battery all the way. This seeks to know to what extent the car is capable of moving at full capacity. In a year like this with very low temperatures, the first driver who abandoned noticed a loss of power when the car still had 11% autonomy left. And among the data published, the association also includes the weather along the route, specifying the minimum and maximum temperature or whether the sky remained clear or it snowed. This time record temperatures were reached, the warmest occurred in Oslo where the thermometer read -8ºC and the coldest was recorded while passing through Høyeste with -32ºC. The best. With this way of working, this Norwegian association has published its data. They take into account the deviation from the declared WLTP figure but also the percentage (doing 500 kilometers and deviating by 100 km from the expected range is not the same as doing 300 kilometers and deviating those same 100 km). Taking this into account, their data says that the best cars were the Hyundai Inster and the MG IM6, which performed 29% less than the expected range. The cars that deviated the least from the expected figure were the following: Hyundai Inster: distance traveled 256 km, WLTP distance 360 ​​km, difference 104 km KGM Musso EV: distance traveled 263 km, WLTP distance 379 km, difference 116 km Voyah Courage: distance traveled 300 km, WLTP distance 440 km, difference 140 km Changan Deepal S05: traveled distance 293 km, WLTP distance 445 km, difference 152 km MG IM6: traveled distance 352 km, WLTP distance 505 km, difference 153 km The worst. The data tells us one thing but it is also important to contextualize it. For example, they point out that the Lucid Air was the electric car that deviated the most from its expected autonomy (49%) but it was also the one that traveled the most kilometers (520 kilometers) so it was exposed the longest to temperatures below -30ºC. In fact, This same car was one of those that obtained the best figures in the last summer test. Last year, the organizers point out, the Polestar 3 broke the record in a winter test, stopping at 537 kilometers. However, they point out that in that same mountain pass where freezing temperatures have been reached this year, the thermometer that time marked a much more pleasant temperature of 8ºC. With all this, the cars that deviated the most from the expected figure were the following: BMW iX: distance traveled 388 km, WLTP distance 641 km, difference 253 km Tesla Model Y: distance traveled 359 km, WLTP distance 629 km, difference 270 km Volvo EX90: distance traveled 339 km, WLTP distance 611 km, difference 272 km Mercedes CLA: distance traveled 421 km, WLTP distance 709 km, difference 288 km Lucid Air: distance traveled … Read more

Norway debuts its first bus without supervision on board

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Mobility is undergoing a brutal transformation and it is not just due to electrification: total automation is just around the corner. We have seen it in tests, but Norway has just taken a step forward: It is the first time in its history and a pioneering case in Europe in which a bus goes from pilot tests with a human driver on board to real autonomous commercial operation. In a nutshell: a fully autonomous bus, without a driver just in case The new Norwegian autonomous bus. A few days ago the General Directorate of Highways of Norway gave the green light to the operators Vy and Kolumbus to eliminate that driver in case the flies from the testing area in Stavenger, present since 2022. This authorization allows operating on public transport routes without supervision since it reaches a high autonomy, Level 4 according to the SAE scale. That is, it does not require human intervention: if it detects an error that it cannot resolve, the vehicle looks for a safe place to stop. The vehicle is the Karsan e-ATAK, equipped with ADASTEC autonomous driving software and managed through the xFlow fleet management system, developed by Applied Autonomy. It can travel up to 50 km/h day or night and in any weather condition. It is capable of autonomously managing stops, loading and unloading of passengers, intersections and traffic lights. Why is it important. Although SAE Level 4 autonomous buses can now drive themselves under certain conditions, until now they still required a safety operator on board for legal or technical reasons. And although we have been hearing about completely autonomous vehicles for years, in practice in real environments they are rare and even more so in bus format. Stavenger breaks the pattern in urban public transportation with a system designed for a single remote operator to supervise several vehicles at the same time, which opens the door to scale autonomous transportation in areas where hiring human drivers is not viable. This advance has its relevance in terms of costs, which can translate into being able to operate routes during low demand times or in peripheral areas where there is no rental. On the other hand, automation eliminates human error, responsible for the vast majority of traffic accidents. This system does not get tired and is also optimized to optimize consumption. Context. It all started with a specific problem: Forus is one of the most important industrial areas in Norway (there are 3,000 companies and 40,000 people working there), but public transportation was scarce and insufficient. So in 2018 Kolumbus deployed there its first autonomous vehicle, an EasyMile EZ10 electric minibus as a last mile solution: transported people from the main stop to the offices using laser sensors to map the environment in 3D and connected to a remote control center. It was small, slow and operated in a closed area, but it planted the seed. Since that pilot project, the evolution has been progressive, slowly but surely: in 2022 a full-size bus was already deployed in open traffic and from 2023 opera on a more demanding line that involves lane changes when there is traffic, higher speeds or tunnels. Leaving the Nordic countrythere are tests in Germany or Finland, in American cities such as Detroit and Jacksonville and if we go to Asia, since June 2024 China is already testing the first tests of autonomous driving on public roads and Singapore also has a pilot program. How have they done it. The project is a consortium: Karsan manufactures the bus, ADASTEC provides the autonomous driving software, Applied Autonomy supplies the xFlow control center for remote monitoring and assistance, Vy Buss operates the service, and Kolumbus is the public transport authority. The Rogaland County Council and the Municipality of Stavanger are the owners of the road and approved the route, while the Highway Directorate authorized driving in autonomous mode. The project has been gaining trust step by step. The video of 2018 It already shows the basics of operation: LiDAR sensors to see the environment, high-precision 3D maps to know the exact position, and a remote control center that supervises the operation. The consortium applied this same logic but on a real urban scale. On the other hand, Stavanger also has exclusive bus lanes, which considerably simplifies the operation. Yes, but. The road from Forus to the center of Stavanger has taken eight years. Scaling this to the rest of the world will also be slow. A paper from 2025 published in Future Transportation identifies cybersecurity, sensor technology and shared lane management among the critical barriers. On a global scale, the industry must overcome everything from legislation to high costs to cybersecurity risks and public trust before eventual deployment. On the other hand, the Norwegian project itself, although it has taken a giant step, recognize which is a trickle: it is in a controlled environment, not a generalized deployment. In Xataka | I have boarded the first autonomous bus that operates in Barcelona. I haven’t noticed any difference with a normal one In Xataka | Madrid has big plans for autonomous buses within the city. And it has started in Mercamadrid Cover | kolumbus and Majestic Lukas

Iceland, Norway and Switzerland have been boasting independence from the EU for decades. Global chaos is about to change everything

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The war between the United States, Israel and Iran is shaking the foundations of the historic independence of the nations that make up the European Free Trade Association (EFTA or EFTA). Faced with an increasingly volatile geopolitical panorama, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland find themselves at a crossroads and look, each at their own pace, towards the European Union in search of refuge. The question that now haunts European parliaments is no longer just political, but purely industrial: are they willing to sacrifice parts of their sovereignty in exchange for the protection and stability that Brussels offers? As explained to the newspaper Five Days Sophie Altermatt, economist at Julius Baer, ​​these countries face external pressures from increasingly interventionist superpowers. The United States has become a much less predictable ally on trade and security, while China’s growing ambitions endanger European industrial competitiveness and create vulnerabilities in supply chains. The rhetoric of US President Donald Trump, who has even suggested his intention to annex Greenland, has acted as a powerful catalyst for this change in mentality. As the magazine warns The Spectatorquoting a maxim from Mark Carney: “If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.” The return of hard power politics is forcing middle powers to reevaluate their place in the world. From the European side, the door is open. As detailed by the Icelandic public broadcaster RÚVEU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos has stressed that the current geopolitical context is fundamentally different from the past and that EU membership offers “an anchor in a bloc based on values, prosperity and security.” Are we facing a real approach? Moving towards greater integration implies sitting at the table where decisions are made, but also assuming a clash of sovereignties. Ine Marie Eriksen Søreide, leader of the Norwegian Conservative Party, acknowledged in a parliamentary debate collected by Five Days that remaining outside the Union generates enormous vulnerabilities, since their country remains “on the margins of everything we want to enter into.” However, the price of admission is high. Political analyst Thomas Vermes explains in the Norwegian middle ABC Nyheter that the EU is transforming towards a federation where supranational organizations assume more and more authority. Entering means submitting to decisions by qualified majority – where large countries have more demographic weight – and growing pressure to eliminate the right to veto on key issues. In addition, it would imply assuming joint economic burdens, such as the common debt of 90 billion euros contracted to help Ukraine. In fact, the possible entry of Ukraine would radically transform the bloc’s economy. According to the same Norwegian mediathe incorporation of the 41 million hectares of Ukrainian agricultural land would flood the markets and force rural aid to be restructured. Three countries, three different rhythms The answer to this dilemma varies drastically depending on the resources each nation brings to the table. Iceland: The direct path and the referendum in sight The Icelandic government has stepped on the accelerator and passed a resolution to hold a referendum on August 29, 2026 on resuming EU membership, a measure supported by 57% of the population. Iceland would provide the EU with a vital logistics position in the emerging Arctic trade routes and strategic supply: already is the fourth largest supplier of aluminum of the block, material that accounts for more than half of its exports to Europe. Nevertheless, as reported RÚVthe Minister of Foreign Affairs, Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir, has drawn a non-negotiable red line: she will not sign any agreement that involves ceding control over the island’s precious natural resources to the EU. Norway: The fractured debate Although the country rejected joining the EU in 1972 and 1994, the debate has been resurrected. According to The Spectatorthe conservative party (Høyre), now led by the determinedly pro-European Ine Eriksen Søreide, is “clearly a yes party.” Polls show an increase in support for accession, rising from 27% in 2023 to 41% in 2025. However, the current Labor government of Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre is strongly opposed. Despite not being a member, Norway is Europe’s absolute energy guarantor after the invasion of Ukraine: it supplies 51.8% of the pipeline gas and 14.6% of the crude oil consumed by the EU. Precisely for this, the internal opposition is fierce. Columnist Hans Christian Hansen warns in the financial journal Finansavisen that the EU is losing technological ground to the US and Asia. According to Hansen, while the US uses energy to attract industry, the EU uses it to “self-regulate with increasing rigor” and promote projects of uncertain profitability such as offshore wind. The question he asks his compatriots is brutal: “Do we want to link our energy policy, our industry and our future to a team that is already losing?” Switzerland: The pragmatic path and bilateral agreements Unlike the Nordics, Switzerland does not contemplate full accession so as not to compromise its historical neutrality, but it is making progress in its economic and technological integration. President Ursula von der Leyen and Swiss President Guy Parmelin They signed the “Bilateral III” package. This framework modernizes agreements on transport and free movement, and adds crucial pacts on health, food security and Swiss participation in the European space agency and the Horizon Europe and Erasmus+ programmes. In addition, it will allow it to fully enter the internal electricity market in the EU. The objective of the Federal Council is “stabilize and future-proof the proven bilateral track“. The Federal Council approved the sending of this package to the Parliamentor, proposing to subject it to an optional referendum to guarantee its democratic legitimacy on sensitive issues such as salary protection. Switzerland’s weight is undeniable: in 2023, bilateral trade in services reached €245 billion, representing almost 9% of the EU’s total services trade. Forecasts in sight? The geopolitical board will continue to move. If Iceland eventually joins the EU, the pressure on Norway will be immense. As conservative leader Søreide arguesNorway would be in a “completely different situation” if its EFTA partner makes the leap. For its part, Switzerland … Read more

The “shitification” of the internet is everywhere and seems inexorable and inevitable. Norway does not agree

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When we say that any time in the past was better, perhaps we are erring on the side of idealizing the past, but when it comes to the Internet the phrase becomes more relevant. We have normalized online experiences to degrade with fewer features, more ads, new subscriptions… The only thing missing was the AI ​​garbage to finish finishing it off. It seems like nothing can stop the shittification of the internet. Nothing less Norway. A day in the life of a “shitter”. This is how it is titled the video that the Norwegian Consumer Council has published to report a situation. It shows a man who makes holes in his socks, saws the leg of the table so that it is limp, dries some markers with a hairdryer… He defines himself as a shitter: “What I do is take things that are perfectly fine and make them worse,” he says. The video is very funny and is part of a campaign against a not so funny problem: the degradation of digital services. The organization has developed a complete report in which they describe the problem and propose a plan to address it. Shitification. It is a term coined by writer Cory Doctorow and declared word of the year by Macquarie Dictionary in 2024. The definition is as follows: The progressive deterioration of a service or product caused by a decrease in the quality of the service provided, especially in the case of an online platform, and as a consequence of the search for profits We are not talking about natural degradation, but something deliberate that responds to an economic objective. A clear case has been that of Netflix, which not only chased shared accountsbut eliminated functions such as the possibility of casting from the mobile phone to the television. Not to mention the ads on payment planssomething that has spread to practically all streaming services. Theard everywhere at once. But this phenomenon reaches all types of services, not just streaming. We see it in the form of more ads on apps like Instagram (many of them of scamsby the way), It happened to me with the security camera app I had at home and there are even those who bought a connected refrigerator for thousands of euros so that they could start ads appear on the screen. Of course, companies offer you a solution to remove annoying ads: ✨pay a subscription✨. The phases of shitification. It is not something that happens overnight, but first they attract you with an attractive service, that works well and offers advantages. Once they have a solid user base – when they have caught us – the party begins. A good example was Uber, which in its beginnings offered very low prices to present itself as a more attractive alternative to taxis and now it’s more expensive. Generative AI makes it worse. According to the Norwegian report, far from solving the problem, AI is making it even worse. He junk content made with AI It is the most visible face, but they cite many more examples, such as Google AI Summarieswhich are often inaccurate and weaken the information ecosystem. There are also the AI-based advertising algorithms that make more ads reach us, platforms that are forcefully integrating AI everywhere, sometimes taking advantage of it to raise prices. Norway’s proposal. The use of this type of practices is widespread and its advance seems unstoppable, but Norway proposes three lines of action to reverse it: Give power back to users: that we can decide which operating system to install on our devices, that interoperability is mandatory, protect “de-shit” tools such as ad blockers and alternative recommendation algorithms. Stop depending on big technology: force them to “open the doors” and use open standards, finance and promote free software, using public administration as a lever. Apply the law: Norway proposes raising sanctions even further and tightening controls. The European Digital Markets Act has already taken steps in this direction, such as USB-C on iPhone or the sideloading on iOS. However, managing to end this degradation completely seems like a titanic task. Norway has sent letters to fourteen countries, including the United States, asking them to take action. Image | YouTube In Xataka | Thanks to AI we can now stop reading and writing as much as we used to. According to science, it is the worst for Alzheimer’s

We believed that polar bears were doomed to disappear. In Norway they are getting fatter and healthier

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For decades, the polar bear has become in the indisputable symbol of the climate crisis that we are living. The equation seemed quite simple and devastating: if there is less sea ice, they will be able to hunt less and, therefore, the bears will be more malnourished and may disappear. But what we are seeing has broken this logic, at least in one specific region of the Arctic. The paradigm shift. Against all odds, the polar bears of the Savalbard Archipelago, Norwayhave presented a better body condition than 25 years agoeven though their habitat is melting at a fast pace. And this has generated many questions. In order to answer this, the study led by Jon Aars of the Norwegian Polar Institutehas provided conclusive data after decades of monitoring these animals. all this thanks to 770 polar bears that have been in the focus of the study during the years 1995 and 2019 in the Barents region. They are getting fat. After analyzing all the measurement results, it was found that an ecological paradox existed: although the ice-free season in the area has lengthened significantly, these bears are increasing their weight significantly since 2005. The big question here is… How possible? The answer. The key to this unexpected resilience seems to lie in the unique biological productivity of the Barents Sea and in the adaptation capacity of these predators. According to the study, several simultaneous factors have occurred, such as prey density. This means that the loss of ice has concentrated these bears’ prey in smaller, coastal areas, paradoxically making them more accessible at certain times. But it does not stop there, since an increase in the number of seals has also been seen, and especially in bearded seals which is a much larger prey and rich in fat. A change of diet. This is where the flexibility of the predator comes in, since Svalbard’s eyes have begun to supplement their diet with terrestrial resources, including reindeer and bird eggstaking advantage of what the land offers when the sea fails. In short, Svalbard’s bears live in a “bubble” of ecological abundance that has cushioned, for now, the physical impact of ice loss due to global warming. There is no need to celebrate it. It is easy to fall into the temptation of using this study to minimize the impact of climate change because the fact that ice is becoming less and less has not affected the species. But the authors of the study point out that this is an anomaly that occurs in this specific area of ​​the Arctic but is not a global trend. In this way, while the bears of Svalbard enjoy this temporary respite, their relatives in Hudson Bay (Canada) and other regions of the Arctic show severe signs of malnutrition and above all a decrease in the number of animals. And the difference is that not all Arctic ecosystems are as rich as the Barents Sea. A mirage. This is what the study warns that we may have in front of us, since now the bear has been able to adapt to the situation, but the sea ice continues to retreat, we do not know what will happen. What is expected is that a tipping point may be reached where not even the richness of prey or reindeer eggs will be enough to sustain the current population, starting a new ecological crisis here. Images | Hans-Jurgen Mager In Xataka | They’re not kissing, they’re scanning: the complex science behind nose-to-nose contact in the animal kingdom

This is one of the most extreme northern lights hunts in Norway

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There are nights when northern Norway does not promise anything, and that is precisely why it is so attractive. Close darkness, sustained cold and a landscape that, for hours, barely offers references beyond mountains, snow and silence. In this context, the idea of ​​going out to search northern lights It stops looking like a conventional tourist plan and becomes something else, a conscious wait in a unique environment with epicenter in Narvik. What is offered here is not a themed train or a rolling observation deck, but rather a nighttime experience organized around a real railway journey. The call Northern Lights Train It uses an existing line to get away from the city and take travelers to areas with very little light pollution, where waiting is a central part of the plan. The train is the means, not the end, and the proposal is structured around moving, getting off, waiting and returning. Everything is designed to increase the chances of seeing auroras. A trip designed to pursue something unique Traveling on the Ofoten line means crossing one of the most unique railway corridors in northern Norway. In the context of this experience, the journey functions as a process of gradual disconnection, Narvik is left behind and, with it, artificial lighting and the feeling of an inhabited environment. The train enters a mountainous landscape where the sky begins to take over. The itinerary has two proper names that organize the experience. The first is Bjørnfjella station located next to the border with Sweden, where the train makes a brief stop before continuing its ascent. The final destination is Katteratabout 374 meters above sea level, a former railway enclave with no road access. That detail is not minor, getting there is only possible by train, and it turns the place into a particularly secluded point. Once in Katterat, the experience shifts from journey to waiting. Travelers get off the train and move on foot through the immediate surroundings, where a meeting point is organized around a bonfire. There is a hot drink and some simple food, not as a gastronomic attraction, but as support against the cold and the waiting time. The pace consciously slows down and the night takes over as the group remains attentive to the sky. Here the guides fulfill a more strategic than spectacular function. They are the ones who interpret forecasts, explain why it is expected at a specific point and adjust the plan if conditions change. They are also those who lower expectations, remembering that the dawn does not light up on demand and that the night can be resolved without major apparitions. This balance between information, prudence and support is an essential part of the product offered. Auroras are not a local or spontaneous phenomenon, but the visible consequence of processes that begin much further away. The origin is in the solar wind, a flow of charged particles ejected by the Sun constantly and It takes around 40 hours to reach Earth. When this material interacts with the Earth’s magnetic field, it is deflected towards the poles and collides with oxygen and nitrogen at high altitudes. If we talk about the price, the train trip, the organization of the wait, the hot drinks, the snack and the guide’s explanations are part of the same package, whose cost starts at 1495 Norwegian crowns (about 127 euros). The model is clear, to shape an unpredictable night within an organized experience, where the value is not in the result, but in the set of elements that make the attempt possible. The journey ends as it began, on rails, with the train returning to Narvik as the group leaves Katerat behind and the mountain once again closes in darkness. Heaven may or may not have answeredbut the experience has already been completed on another level. What remains is the feeling of having participated in something that cannot be forced, where the journey, the wait and the context weigh as much as the result. It should be noted that an image that does not correspond to reality has been built on these types of experiences lately. On social networks and some media circulate images and videospossibly generated or altered with artificial intelligence, showing supposed luxury Norwegian trains with wrap-around glass roofs and perfect views of the sky. Those trains do not exist. The real experience, as we have seen, is very different from those recreations. Images | Norwegian Travel | Visit Narvik | Arctic Train In Xataka | Marbella is no longer the favorite destination of Russian millionaires: it is now a paradise island in China where they are not held accountable

The European Space Agency has always launched rockets from South America. Norway is very close to changing that

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The Arctic is no longer just that vast ice desert at the end of the world, but it has become a strategic point for many countries that they do not want to waste. And Europe does not want to let him escape, now opting to migrate the launch of part of your rockets from South America to this new location, something that has a great geopolitical strategy behind it. An agreement. The European Space Agency (ESA) and Norway recently signed an agreement to promote the creation of a new research center in the north of our planet: the ESA Arctic Space Center in Tromso. But it is not just another research center, but rather it is Europe’s response to ensure its autonomy in observation, navigation and communications in a region where it is already Russia and China is deploying its own infrastructure. The location. Choosing Tromsø as the city where to locate this new launch zone is not something chosen at random. If we go to a map, we can locate it far above the Arctic Circle, already being a city that has become a vibrant ecosystem of satellite data. Looking back, Tromsø already hosts mission control Arctic Weather Satellite, a satellite launched in 2024 that tried to demonstrate how a polar constellation can save lives through very accurate weather forecasts. But it also has a large number of institutions that make it a true Silicon Valley of the cold, housing the Secretariat of the Arctic Council and the Norwegian Polar Institute. A greater amount of data. The agreement signed between ESA and the Norwegian agency NOSA establishes a working group that will define the details before the end of 2026. This center is defined as an opportunity to monitor the melting of the Arctic, which warming four times faster than the global averagewhich gives us data on what will happen in the rest of the planet. It also entails an important national security reason, since today maritime traffic in the Northeast Passage does not stop increasing, and this means having signs of Galileo It allows you to have better control of everything that happens here. That is why, more than science, we are facing a critical center for civil security, search and rescue. The change of location. Until now, our gateway to space was French Guiana for a reason of basic physics: its proximity to the equator allows us to take advantage of the “impulse” of the Earth’s rotation to launch heavy satellites. However, the center of Tromsø and the new Nordic ports respond to a different need: polar orbit. That is why while from South America it is ideal to launch television satellites that remain “fixed” on the equator, the Arctic is the perfect balcony for satellites that must monitor melting ice or borders. Launching from the Pole, the satellite enters directly onto a North-South path that allows it to scan every corner of the planet as the Earth rotates below. In addition, being on the axis of rotation, rockets do not have to “fight” against the Earth’s lateral spin, which makes observation missions much more efficient and cheaper. Geopolitics. Beyond science, in this case there is a reading of territorial sovereigntysince while China invests in the “Polar Silk Road” and Russia increases its infrastructure in Siberia, Europe needs its own eyes in the north. In this way, while from South America it is ideal to launch television satellites that remain “fixed” on the equator, the Arctic is the perfect balcony for satellites that must monitor melting ice or borders. In this way, the Tromsø–Svalbard axis, added to the new spaceports of Andøya (Norway) and Kiruna (Sweden), consolidates northern Europe as the main gateway to space on the continent. This decision reduces dependence on external infrastructure as occurred in South America and obviously guarantees that all data remains in European territory. What’s next now. Norway, a member of ESA since 1987, brings its network of polar stations and its unique experience in polar orbit operations that are undoubtedly crucial in the current situation. From now on, the working group that has been formed has two years to design the governance and calendar of a center that promises to be “the control tower” of the European future in the Arctic. Images | riya rohewal In Xataka | In January a SpaceX rocket exploded. Today we know the danger that an Iberia plane was in with 450 passengers in the air

Norway promised them happiness with the world’s first megatunnel for ships. Until he saw how much it was going to cost him

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Thousands of kilometers of sinuous coasts, currents, storms and devilish geography. Norway does not make it easy for sailors who ply its coastline every day loaded with goods, fish or passengers. Hence, the country has been talking for some time about undertaking an ambitious work at one of its points more sensitive, the Stad peninsula. The idea is to cross the tongue of land with a tunnel almost two kilometers long, designed specifically for the passage of boats. The problem is that estimates of its cost have not stopped growing in recent years and that has led the Government to take a step back. His idea is to put the project in the drawer. Another thingOf course, Parliament is going to allow it. A boat tunnel? That’s how it is. It sounds strange, and it’s normal. After all the Stad tunnel It is an unusual infrastructure, the first underground road designed for boats. What Norway is proposing to do is open a large navigable canal of 1.7kmalmost 50 m high (the navigable space will be somewhat less) and more than 30 m wide to cross the Stad peninsula, in the province of vestlandwest of the country. Building it would require between four years of works. That they want to open right in Vestland is no coincidence. If the Stad peninsula stands out for something, it is because of its poor conditions for sailors: it is exposed to the inclemencies and gusts of wind of the Stadhavet Sea, with no nearby islands to cushion it, and the currents do not make it easy for sailors either. In the web of the project, it is recalled that the Kråkenes station, south of Stad, is the one that records the most stormy days: some years there are more than a hundred. And does a tunnel solve it? The same website Remember that in Stad there is intense maritime traffic, both Norwegian and foreign ships, dedicated to fishing, commerce, aquaculture, naval and tourism. With the underground canal, Norway wants to offer them several advantages: time savings and more security, with all the advantages that this can bring for anyone who depends on ships. Furthermore, supporters of the project defend that with “a safer and more efficient step” maritime transport will increase, removing trucks from the roads. Whether its promises are more or less convincing, the undeniable thing is that the Stad tunnel is nothing new. TO late 19th century There was already talk of crossing the peninsula with a subway, although the approach has not always been exactly the same. At one time they even opted for a railway pipeline. The idea has remained on the table with twists and turns in recent years until in 2013 It finally managed to sneak into the National Transportation Plan. In 2017 the tunnel seemed a little closer and in 2021 started to talk of the imminent start of the works. In fact, it is estimated that a little more than 30 million dollars in land purchases and feasibility studies to give it shape. Are you on track then? Not at all. If the work sounds ambitious it is because it really is. And that usually entails something more than technical complications: money. Big money. Millions and millions of Swedish crowns. An amount that has also increased with the passage of time, complicating its viability. Maritime Executive remember that at the time there was talk of 325 million dollars and in 2023 the figure had skyrocketed to 690 million. A few days ago NRK, the Norwegian public radio and television channel, I already needed that the estimated bill is around 9.4 billion crowns, about 780 million dollars. There are means, like one’s own Maritime Executivethat they even refer larger figures. Is that a problem? A few days ago NRK echoed some statements by the prime minister, Jonas Gahr Storewhich reveal that the Government wants to put the project in the drawer. At least for now. The reason has little mystery: its exorbitant cost at a time when the country prefers to invest in other areas. “In the budget proposal we will announce that we abandoned the Stad sea tunnel project,” the leader advanced Norwegian. “The cost will be so high that we feel it is not responsible to move forward with the project.” “We must prioritize and take care of every penny to use the money in the most efficient way possible. That is why we reject this project, we consider that it does not justify such a high expense,” insisted Støre, who cited other priorities, such as health, defense or municipal investment. “It will be so expensive that we consider it irresponsible to continue with the project.” With the option of lowering or renegotiating costs ruled out, the news soon spread to the local press and foreignerwith all kinds of reactions. What reactions? Days after the announcement the Norwegian Coastal Administration published a statement confirming that, within the framework of the 2026 national budget, the Government had decided to “suspend” the tunnel works pending Parliament’s ruling. The agency warned that, among other issues, this stoppage will also affect the bidding for works. An important notice considering that you had already received offers from three construction companies and expected to close the contract this year to start the works (five years) in 2026. The defenders of the tunnel have been more emphatic, speaking of “a hard blow” and an “irresponsible decision.” “More than 500 companies from the fishing industry and shipping to industry, tourism and aquaculture have signed the petition for the construction of the tunnel,” remember. “These represent thousands of jobs and billions in revenue.” What will happen now? Good question. Although it is not easy to answer it. Støre’s announcement was framed in the presentation of the 2026 state accounts, which left some questions raised. After all, as NRK herself recalled As the news progresses, the prime minister’s party, the Labor Party, does not have a majority in the Storting (Parliament of Norway), so … Read more

The first European attempt to launch a commercial rocket at orbit has ended up explosion to northern Norway

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First attempt. The inaugural launch of the Spectrum rocket, a test mission without payload called “Going Full Spectrum”took off at 12:30 CET on March 30 from the Andøya Space Puerto, in Norway. Originally scheduled for March 24, the flight was delayed several times due to bad weather conditions. After lighting their nine engines, the Spectrum He cleared the launch platform and rose without problems for 18 seconds. Then he began to lose control or overwhelming his orientation to the point of turning. In the second 30, all the engines went out and the rocket began to fall. The realization changed camera, but an explosion was heard shortly after. “A success!” The impact of the rocket near the platform and the fireball of the explosion They were captured by the Norwegian press. Despite the ruling, Isar Aerospace declared the launch A success. The CEO of the company, Daniel MetzlerHe added that the flight “has fulfilled all our expectations” with “an impeccable takeoff, 30 seconds of flight and we could even validate our flight termination system.” Although the rocket did not define, he turned off his engines not to deviate before falling. The launch platform is apparently intact. Flight launchers 2 and 3 are already in production. ISAR has compiled numerous data in this first test. Spectrum. What Isar Aerospace’s rocket has not been able to validate is the first orbital launching title of a European private company, since it has not reached orbit. Now the achievement is still open to other rockets such as RFA One of the German Rocket Factory Augsburg or Miura 5 of the Spanish Pld Space. Spectrum is a two -stage rocket and 28 meters high designed to transport up to 1000 kg to the low terrestrial orbit. The first stage has nine Aquila engines and the second one has one, optimized for space vacuum. All of their own design, with carbon fiber tanks without coating and 3D printed engines, fed with oxygen and liquid propane. Isar Aerospace. It was founded in 2018 in Germany with a Spacex -inspired approach: integrated production vertically and very automated, with the idea of ​​producing many prototypes, testing them and improving their design through multiple iterations. It is very well financed with a total investment of 400 million euros, which has taken the opportunity to build a new headquarters 40,000 square meters near Munich. According to Isar, it will have the capacity to produce 40 Spectrum rockets per year. Norway. Isar Aerospace has an exclusive platform in the Andøya Space Puerto in Norway, chosen for its ideal location to reach polar orbits and heliosíncronas and because the rocket takes off on the open ocean. It also has the meteorological problem that has been seen the days before the launch. Images | Isar Aerospace In Xataka | Europe’s access depends on the United States. ESA has presented a strategic plan to become independent

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