oil

Energy companies are switching from oil to MW. The new mine is the support for data centers

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Gluttonous artificial intelligence and its demanding data centers are reshaping the decarbonization plans. When the world had begun a journey towards renewableswith countries like Chinaand Europeans betting big, and even some US states getting on the traindata centers arrived with needs that were almost impossible to satisfy. At the end of December 2024 we already have that data center consumption had skyrocketedpushing big technology companies to bet so much on renewable as, above all, for immediate access energy such as gas and even coal. Some were even aiming for nuclear to be able to operate. Shortly after, in January 2025, a Reuters report noted that European energy companies, which had embarked on a path of commitment to renewables, were doubling down on oil and gas. Giants like BP and Shell slowed down their investments in clean energy to return to fossil fuel projects. But it’s not all about where data centers extract energy from, but rather who provides them infrastructure. And that, and not so much oil or gas, may be the next energy mine. The new oil mine In an article of Financial Times It is suggested that the fleeting growth of data centers is generating a market that energy companies do not want to miss. As demand for traditional drilling weakens (although it is something that goes by “neighborhoods”), energy sector groups such as Baker Hughes, Halliburton or SLB are taking advantage to pivot to the data center sector. Not building them, not just supplying energy: supporting logistics. Taking advantage of their knowledge of the energy sector, these large companies would be providing equipment such as turbines and power generation systems to those who own data centers, but they also provide generators, batteries, dissipation systems and all the necessary framework to maintain correct energy efficiency. They would also oversee the team. It is, in short, what they already know how to do, but applied to a new sector such as data centers. Because these three examples are not typical oil companies, but technology providers for other companies to extract gas or oil. All three provide services to companies with oil fields, but also supply technology such as gas turbines, compressors or systems. LNG and they were inside sectors such as new energywith carbon capture and storage systems. All of this resonates with the idea that ‘Big Tech’ had when they began to build huge data centers, until they saw that increasingly demanding equipment needed more immediate and stable sources of energy. Data centers = El Dorado It is estimated that US electricity demand will increase by 90 GW -a real nonsense- from now to 2030 only to power the data centers. Traditional electrical grids may not support this load, and it is at that point that these companies that provide energy services They seem like a key entity. Pivoting toward artificial intelligence infrastructure is “key to the evolution of oil and gas,” said Lorenzo Simonelli, CEO of Baker Hughes. And it makes sense when we see that the number of US oil rigs contracted 7% year-over-year in 2025, margins have contracted and demand for drilling services is in interdict. On a business level, it is a masterstroke. Hypothetically speaking, when the new oil crisis arrives and the fall of the market for both crude oil and gas, companies that have pivoted to data centers, going from being service providers for energy companies to being service providers for ‘Big Tech‘, they will not have to take a turn in their strategy because they will already be where the money will be. Because that’s another question: whether the new MW gold for AI will be a lasting business or a passing fever. Image | freepik and Harpagornis In Xataka | The problem with renewables is what to do when there is excess energy. China believes it has the answer with a unique turbine

The price of olive oil has begun to skyrocket at Christmas

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The price of olive oil sang “the wolf is coming” a few months ago. At the end of August, and after a few months of free fallwith prices very far of the peaks from a couple of years agothe “liquid gold” seemed to was picking up again. This has been the case, and a worse than expected harvest has negative consequences on the price of extra virgin oil. The good news is that it is not as alarming as it was a few years ago. In short. 2024 and 2025 have not been years of good harvests for some products. In South America it has spent with coffee (and we carry the consequences throughout the year). It has happened with the grapes (and we will notice it in the wine), and it seems that it has not been favorable for the olive either. As they point out from The Confidentialthe latest data from Department of agriculture (some great graphs for database lovers) indicate an average price at origin of 4.56 euros per liter of extra virgin. The data offered in Oleista (which shows both extra virgin and virgin through various market sources) are in the same line: 4.11 euros, which translates into 53% more in the last 10 days compared to the previous period. And you may think “it’s not that much”, but the problem is that a white label bottle (final product, not origin) is around 4.65 euros per liter. Margins. Those nine cents difference are few, but it means that the chains have fewer margins, which is why they raise the price of that final product. Some chains are already doing it. There are several ways to see the price history of some supermarkets to follow its evolution. An example is SuperSupersbut FACUA also offers a somewhat clearer service: less historical, but more short-term information that can help us see recent evolution. According to their information, a liter of Hacendado extra virgin olive oil cost 4.65 euros 30 days ago. Today it is for 4.95 euros after an increase of 6.45%. But you don’t have to go back a month: according to the ‘snitch’, a week ago the price was 6.45% lower. When will we notice it?. The answer is obvious: now. And, of course, the question that arises is why a few months ago it took us a while to see that oil prices in the supermarket were still high when originally they had fallen sharply… and now that the situation is the other way around, they are readjusting so quickly. Times depend on several factors, but above all on stock and supply contracts. In general, adjustment is usually seen after a few monthsbut when that applies to increases, the change is much more immediate. In the end, it is a tremendously volatile market and, although In March the rains invited optimism in the price of olive oil, if these last years have taught us anything it is that two weeks of heat are enough above normal so that an entire olive campaign goes to waste. Far from the peak. It is similar to egg pricewhich has had a negative streak, but when the stabilization was there, the outbreak of avian flu appeared, which has skyrocketed the price of eggs and has had other disastrous consequences: touch the price of nougat. It’s like a pyramid of cards. However, and despite those close to five euros per liter of white label extra virgin oil, the way to console ourselves is that we are far – very far – from what we experienced just two years agowhen going to the ‘supermarket’ was a pain because you knew you were going to pay about 10 euros per liter of oil. Preumification. But in the background there is another important issue – that house of cards that I was commenting on. A few prices is a sum and continues in a supermarket basket that is increasingly more expensive when salaries do not rise at the same rate. It is one more element that supports household income, especially in countries like Spain where olive oil is a basic product. And, although this is a much more personal note, it will be a sad day when olive oil in Spain is a premium product like in other countriesand we have to use other vegetable oils or even butter to cook. A cultural and even identity loss. Images | David Clode, Antonio Molin In Xataka | Mercadona has bought the company that has been supplying pallets and boxes for decades. And there is a very simple reason

Russia’s ghost fleet has changed its business model. Oil has given way to a much bigger target: Europe

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Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia has not only built a vast fleet of tankers to avoid Western sanctions and continue exporting crude oil from the Baltic and the Black Sea, but has turned that logistical infrastructure into something much more ambitious. How much? The size of an old continent. The fleet in the shadows. According to Western and Ukrainian intelligence sources cited by CNN, Part of this so-called shadow fleet is being used as a covert platform for espionage and hybrid operations in European waters. We are talking about hundreds of ships that routinely sail near the coasts of EU and NATO countries, generating income of hundreds of millions of dollars for Moscow while, at the same time, expanding the radius of action of its security services away from Russian territory. “Civilian” crews with a detail. The pattern detected by the intelligence services is revealing. Many of these tankers, registered under flags of convenience and with mostly Asian or African crews, incorporate just before setting sail to one or two Russian citizens additional. The crew lists show as simple “technicians”but his background tells another story: former police officers, members of special units of the Ministry of the Interior, veterans of the Russian army or former mercenaries linked to Wagner. They are often the only Russians on board and, according to testimonies of Danish maritime pilots and European observers, exercise an authority that goes beyond the civilian chain of command, even imposing itself over the ship’s captain. Moran Security and privatization. Many of these men would be linked to Moran Security Groupa private Russian company with deep ties to the FSB, GRU, and the Kremlin’s military contractor ecosystem. Moran was sanctioned by the United States Treasury in 2024 for providing armed security services to Russian state companies, and his history connects directly with Wagner and with operations in scenarios such as Syria or Somalia. Its corporate structure (with registrations in Moscow and in opaque jurisdictions such as Belize) and its professional profile, explicitly oriented to recruit veterans of special forces, fit perfectly into the logic of hybrid warfare: formally private actors that allow the Russian state to operate with a high degree of plausible deniability. Espionage and internal control. The functions of these “technicians” would not be limited to protecting the cargo. Ukrainian and Western sources maintain that also supervise captains non-Russian vessels to ensure that the ships are acting in the interests of the Kremlin and that, in at least one documented case, took photographs of European military installations from one of these tankers. Furthermore, although details are scarce, intelligence services suggest that some of these men have participated in acts of sabotage. These would not be direct confrontations, but rather low-profile actions designed to collect information, generate uncertainty and strain the limits of the Western response. The Boracay case. He Boracay tanker illustrates this dynamic well. Sanctioned, with frequent changes of name and flag, two Russian citizens embarked in September in the port of Primorsk, near Saint Petersburg. Both were listed as technicians and were the only Russians among a crew of Chinese, Burmese and Bangladeshis. Coincidence or not, his crossing through Danish waters overlapped with a wave of sightings of drones near the Copenhagen airport and Danish military bases. Days later, the ship was boarded by the French navy against Brittany for irregularities in their documentation. No drones were found on board, but the presence of the two Russians came to light and they were discreetly questioned. For some analyststemporal correlation proves nothing, but for others It fits too well with the pattern of trial and error in the “gray zone.” Drones, sensors and something new. Beyond Boracay, Swedish and Danish authorities have detected on other ships in the shadow fleet antennas and masts not usually found on civilian merchant ships, as well as hostile behavior towards inspectors and an obsession with photographing critical infrastructure. In an environment like the Baltic, a strategic bottleneck surrounded by NATO countries, any anomalous activity becomes a disproportionate weight. For European security services, these ships are ideal mobile platforms: seemingly legal, difficult to intercept without diplomatic escalation and capable of approaching ports, cables, bases and airports without raising immediate alarms. Hybrid warfare at sea. All this fits with a broader strategy that senior intelligence officials, such as the new head of British MI6describe as constant testing “below the threshold of war.” Drones near airports, aggressive activity at sea, discreet sabotage and covert espionage are part of the same repertoire. The shadow fleet is not only an economic instrument to circumvent sanctions, but an extension of the Russian security apparatus, capable of operating in a space where Western legal and military responses are slow and politically sensitive. The European dilemma. Europe thus faces an uncomfortable decision. Intercepting ships without insurance, with dubious documentation or with armed personnel on board could stop these practices, but it also carries the risk of a direct russian reaction. As summarized on CNN a veteran Danish maritime pilot, no small country wants to be the first to make the move. The answer, if it comes, will have to be collective. Meanwhile, the shadow fleet continues growing and sailingdemonstrating that for the Kremlin the war is not only being fought in Ukraine, but also in the seas surrounding Europe, silently and in civilian uniform. Image | kees torn, Greg Bishop In Xataka | For years Europe has wondered how to stop the Russian ghost fleet. Ukraine just showed you the way: with AI In Xataka | A ghost fleet has mapped the entire underwater structure of the EU. The question is what Moscow is going to do with that information.

Rome turned North Africa into its great oil fountain. And we have found the mega-oil mills of the Empire

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He Roman empire He founded the foundations of Western civilization both socially and in the most functional part: the infrastructure. Its roads are famousbut wherever they passed, They also founded industry. And an international group of archaeologists has found one of the most significant discoveries related to the roman industry. The second largest oil pressing complex in the entire Empire. Mega-oil mill. In the Tunisian region of Kasserine is the archaeological site identified as ‘Henchir el Begar’. Specifically, there are two settlements found to the north and west of Kasserine (the ancient Roman Cillium), and archaeologists are clear that they are part of the same industry dedicated to oil. They estimate that both were operational between the 3rd and 6th centuries AD, demonstrating that they were incredibly valuable to the Empire, and the data reflects the productive ambition of the area: The settlement has 33 hectares with two main sectors: Hr Begar 1 and Hr Begar 2. Hr Begar 1 has twelve beam presses, being the largest mill in Tunisia and the second largest in the entire Roman world. We are talking about beams and counterweights capable of exerting tons of pressure. It has cisterns and a water collection basin. HR Begar 2 has another eight presses of the same type, as well as another water collection basin and cisterns. Context. In addition to the two “oil mills”, georadar has identified a network of settling tanks for oil, warehouses, a dense fabric of housing for workers and the site’s population, and road tracks for the ‘trucks’ of the erato, trains that transported the amphoraethey will reach the coast and places of distribution. Apart from making it clear that the site was an oil megafactory, they have also found stone mills. They estimate that production was mixed: oil and also cereals, which points to the strategic importance of this region around Kasserine. Strategic good. In it releasearchaeologists highlight that the territory is characterized by high steppes and a continental climate with modest rainfall that would have been collected in wells, all of this favoring ideal conditions for the cultivation of olive trees. This border area of ​​Africa would have been a point of exchange between cultures, but a discovery of these dimensions shows that this Proconsular province of Africa would have been the great supplier of oil to the Roman Empire both for consumption (the highest quality oil) and for fuel and other consumables (oil for lighting, bases for medical ointments and cosmetics). Perspectives. That powerful Henchir el Begar oil industry is not the only thing the team has found. They have also found pieces such as a bracelet decorated in copper or brass, a stone projectile and some architectural elements that had later been reused in a Byzantine wall. The mission in Kasserine began in 2023 as a project co-led by the Ca’Foscari University of Venice, the University of La Manouba in Tunisia and the Complutense University of Madrid and, according to Professor Luigi Sperti, one of the project coordinators, it allows “an unprecedented perspective on the agrarian and socioeconomic organization of the border regions of Roman Africa.” We will see what they find in future prospecting, but the investigations of this third campaign have borne fruit in understanding the importance of the region in issues such as the production, marketing and transportation of oil on a scale not seen until now in that area. Images | UCM, Unive In Xataka | Modern tunnel boring machines are real monsters compared to those of 1950. The paradox is that they are just as slow

Russian oil never stopped arriving in Europe and this 30-year-old German knows it well because he has earned millions by supporting the system.

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JR Ewing, the oil magnate dallasused to repeat that “the essential thing in this business was to always be one step ahead.” If I lived in 2025, I probably wouldn’t be wearing a Texan hat: I’d be a trader in my late 30s with a laptop, a rented office in Dubai, and a German passport. And perhaps he would look a lot like Christopher Eppinger, the young man who, according to an extensive report in the Financial Timeshas managed to become a millionaire by speculating with sanctioned Russian oil while Europe proclaimed from the rooftops that it was breaking dependence on the Kremlin. Because while Brussels talked about “energy sovereignty” and announced price caps, a parallel ecosystem of nomadic traders, ghost fleets and opaque companies continued to move millions of barrels away from the official radar. In that underground of the global economy, Eppinger found his opportunity. The sanctioned oil never stopped flowing; It simply stopped being visible. And he knew how to make it profitable. When a door closes. Christopher Eppinger, marked since childhood by the chapters of dallas that he saw with his grandmother, he found in the war a window to get rich. The young German moved with the same logic that much more veteran intermediaries have used for decades: special purpose companies in the United Arab Emirates, triangulated operations with India or China, sales contracts for discounted crude oil and the logistics of a ghost fleet that operates on the margins of maritime law. While European governments presented sanctions in solemn press conferences, he took advantage of every crack in the system to buy low and resell high. He didn’t need his own ships, or infrastructure, or even physically touching a barrel: it was enough to know where the opportunities were and who didn’t want to look too closely. Showing an uncomfortable truth. The story of this young German is not an anecdote, but evidence that the sanctioning system never acted as intended. Organization reports like Public Eye show that, between 2023 and 2024 alone, newly created companies or companies relocated to Dubai accounted for more than half of the Russian oil exported by sea, displacing traditional centers such as Switzerland and Singapore. According to Bloombergkey figures in the energy trade, such as Murtaza Lakhani, helped Rosneft reconfigure its export chains through the Emirates to keep flows active despite sanctions. And while much of Europe tried to break ties with Moscow, some countries —like Hungary and Slovakia— took advantage of exceptions to continue receiving crude oil and gas through the Druzhba pipeline. Energy dependence, far from being broken, fragmented into a more chaotic, less transparent and more vulnerable system. In this environment, profiles like Eppinger’s are not only possible: they are almost inevitable. The recipe for enrichment. Eppinger’s method follows a clear logic that the Financial Times details precisely. The first step is to move to Dubai, which has become the “Desert Ireland”thanks to minimal taxation, thousands of special purpose companies created in record time and a confidentiality regime that allows operations without revealing the beneficial owner. The United Arab Emirates does not apply sanctions against Moscow and serves as a perfect platform to move cargo, contracts and dividends without European surveillance. The second pillar is the ghost fleet: hundreds of aging, poorly insured oil tankers, with registrations in opaque countries and with transponders that turn off just when the ship approaches a Russian cargo. These ships They are the heart of parallel trade which has kept Russia exporting above the $60 limit imposed by the G7. The third consists of the Offshore transfers and triangulations. The scheme is simple: buy cheap Russian crude, transfer it to another tanker in international waters, mix it or rename it “Malaysian” or “Indian”, and resell it at an international price. A digital business, fast and — above all — difficult to track. And the fourth element is the ambiguous tolerance of the West. As Bloomberg has detailedthe United States avoided acting harshly for months to avoid causing a global rise in the price of oil. In the EU, exceptions and loopholes allowed non-European companies, although controlled by Europeans, to operate without restrictions. Eppinger moved precisely in that gray space: a legally ambiguous but economically explosive territory. The great gray void where everything is possible. The short answer is: it depends. The long answer is more uncomfortable. According to regulators cited in the different sources, an operation can be technically legal if Russian oil is purchased below the price ceiling, transported to a country that does not apply sanctions and is executed from a legally established entity outside the EU. Switzerland even recognizedaccording to Public Eye— that subsidiaries of Swiss companies established in Dubai are not subject to Swiss sanctioning legislation, as long as they are formally “independent.” This legal architecture allows traders like Eppinger to act without violating the letter of the law, even if they clearly violate its spirit. The question is not so much whether what you do is legal, but why it is possible to do it. Will there be consequences? The cracks in the system are beginning to produce visible effects. On the military front, Ukraine has expanded the war towards Russian energy infrastructure: attacking refineries thousands of kilometers from the front and disabled tankers linked to sanctioned crude oil trading. Russia has lost around 13% of its refining capacity and several regions have suffered queues and gasoline rationing, according to the Financial Times. On the diplomatic and economic level, according to BloombergWashington is already studying specific sanctions against intermediaries in the Emirates, while the United Kingdom has begun to penalize marketing companies with opaque property registered in Dubai. In Europe, pressure is growing on countries that continue to receive Russian energy by land, such as Hungary and Slovakia, identified as leakage points in the system. Eppinger’s business, like that of many others, could have its days numbered if the regulatory fence tightens. For now, it is still profitable. Russia gets richer while Europe … Read more

Olive oil is following in the footsteps of wine. And that happens through the pre-umification of the oil mills

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There are few pleasures in this life that surpass that of dipping a good bread with plenty of crumbs in a bowl with quality olive oil. It depends on the time and the point of the roller coaster that is the olive oil priceit is something that we can do more or less frequently, and to weather the situation there are oil mills that are reimagining themselves. From simple industrial warehouses and cooperatives closed to the public, they are being transformed into living museums about oil, in the purest style of the wine cellars. It is the pre-umification of the industrial warehouse. roller coaster. Talking about olive oil is talking about Spain. We are the great engine on a global scale, contributing more than 40% of world olive oil. After some disastrous harvests24/25 has recovered, with a production of 1.4 million tons, and a similar production is expected for 25/26. Despite the good feelings, It is still a complicated segment because weather conditions can easily transform the scenario. Prices at the beginning of 2024 skyrocketed because the previous harvest was hit by drought, and oil mills have begun to take measures to protect themselves against price fluctuations and, above all, to have a stable income flow throughout the year. From wine tourism to oil tourism. If you’ve ever wondered why everything is now a subscription, even when it doesn’t make sense, it’s because companies are looking for a constant flow of money. A single large payment is no longer worth it: they want more distributed, but consistent income. There is one grape harvest a year and the wineries reacted by converting themselves into wine museums. In these visits to wineries we see how the product is made, but it is also a cultural and gustatory journey, with tastings of the product itself and others that “match” well, such as cheese. The oil mills are doing exactly the same. Of these cold and industrial facilities, some are moving to design buildings that combine the production of the oil, its culture and the tasting. It is the search for oleotourism through the pre-umification of the oil mill, and it is something that has drawn on this much more consolidated wine tourism. From the industrial warehouse to the museum. The idea is to offer a complete sensory experience in which there is a story about the territory in which it is located, the production of the oil, the local culture and, obviously, the tasting. At the same time, thematic routes can be developed with cheese factories or wineries, but also with agreements with rural accommodations and restaurants. These new oil mills also behave like a museum, since historical pieces and machinery are exhibited, as well as a review of the manufacturing tradition of the place. And, of course, there are direct sales stores that not only offer the main product, but any that may be related, such as cheese, oil, local sweets or even ceramic pieces in which to store that oil. Spanish tourism websites now stand out oil mills as exponents of modern tourism. There are oil mills that are converted and others that are more ’boutique’ that were born with the visitor in mind. LA Almazara. Jaen is a land of olive trees and there are several oil mills of this style, such as ‘EVOOland‘in Baeza or the Olive Culture Museum at Hacienda la Laguna. Ciudad Real is another important oil focus –with the healthiest oil in the world in 2024-, with examples like ‘Infanta Elena Museum of Contemporary Art‘ and more “at the foot of the olive tree” experiences that teach cultivation techniques, production, landscape and, for about 20 euros per person, of course, a tasting. Interior of LA Almazara But if there is a point worldwide that right now screams the terms “pre-umified oil mill” louder, that is ‘LA Almazara LA Organic’ in Ronda. It is the same concept that we have reviewed so far: a cultural center dedicated to olive oil that combines restoration, accommodation in a farmhouse and tasting, all around what they have called “the first signature oil mill”. The prices of this pre-umification? Specifically, those at LA Almazara are in line with others, between 10-30 euros, but with options to spend… whatever you want, with an “EXCLUSIVE visit” that closes the oil mill for you and takes you there by helicopter. I go to one and dip some good bread… so happy. Images | The Almazara, Wine tourismSpain In Xataka | China is devouring all technology sectors: the surprising thing is that it is also making good wine

Cheese and oil have skyrocketed so much in Türkiye that travel agencies have a star destination: a Lidl in Greece

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The cost of living has skyrocketed. Except the cocaine marketa multitude of basic products have risen in price when salaries have not grown at the same level. In Spain we have a year-on-year inflation of around 3%. In Türkiye, on the same date, it is 33%, and that is leading thousands of Turks to travel to Greece every week, and not for pleasure. But to Lidl for make the purchase. Supermarket migration. In the mid-2010s, the Greek economy was a drama. The purchasing power is collapsed and the country’s debt crisis forced many households to squeeze every euro. Neighboring countries that also used the euro were no consolation, so they looked east: to Türkiye. Within the economic context, the lira was cheap and the euro strong, so many Greeks, especially from the islands, went to Turkish bazaars and supermarkets to buy clothes, utensils and food. The ferries they were bursting. It is estimated that the cost per visit was about 120 euros and, since filling the shopping cart in Turkey was considerably cheaper, the Greeks bought large shipments of cheese, oil, meat and sausages. One of the “supermarket corridors” was Lesbos-Ayvalik, and in the middle of the decade spoke up to 100,000 visits annually. Now, the tables have turned. The tragedy of the lyre. More than two decades of controversial policiesamong other factors, have led to the collapse of the lira. The cost of imports has multiplied and the inflation rate does not reach 80% of a few years agobut it has stagnated at that more than 30% that is suffocating the population. It is something that is disproportionately affecting food, including basic necessities. Now it is the Turks who have enormous problems when buying fresh productsmeats, cheese and oil. The situation does not seem to be changing in the short term due to massive debt, default rates (with the penalty that entails) and that price increase in subsistence products. It is the “typical”: products that increase a lot and stagnant salaries, the perfect combination to ruin the purchasing power of families. To Lidl in the neighboring country. What is happening? That this dynamic of cross-border purchases has been completely reversed. If a decade ago it was the Greeks who crossed the border, now it is the Turks who, with a euro that is not so buoyant, but enough to make it worth it compared to the prices in their local markets, flock to Greece to make that weekly purchase. In a report by Bloomberg There are concrete figures that compare a Lidl in Alexandroupolis (about 40 kilometers from the Turkish border) and a Turkish Carrefour. For example, minced meat costs 9.36 euros per kilo in Greece, compared to 12.10 in Türkiye. Greek sausages cost half as much as Turkish ones, Gouda cheese costs a third and oil makes one of the biggest differences: 10 euros per liter in Greece compared to 20 in Turkey. Social networks. Social networks are a loudspeaker – let them tell it to the influencers from Australian mines-, and those who visit Greek cities to make purchases share their experience through networks such as TikTok. The word spreads and more citizens are encouraged to take the leap. For Alejandrópolis, it represents an injection of money for both food businesses and restaurants. Bloomberg details how, after a day of shopping, Turks have a drink in Greek restaurants while sharing the experience. and it esteem that there are 3,000 Turks who are making this weekly trip. travel agencies. Because if we have to define this it is as a need, yes, but also with that word: experience. Because although it may be something private for a family to do, travel agencies are organizing tours to Greek cities, with groups of supermarket tourists who do not want to visit the city, but rather the Lidl on duty. For about 50 euros, buses loads of Turkish shoppers leave on Friday afternoons and arrive in Greek cities on Saturday morning and spend three and a half hours in the supermarkets. Then they spend some free time around the citythey can go to eat and, in the afternoon, on the way home with a full cart. The biggest annoyance? Apart from having to go to another country to buy because in yours the cost of living is very expensive, of course, it is the line at border control. How long will this last? Türkiye trust to halve inflation by 2026, but it will still remain extremely high. We will see how long this situation lasts, which, from January to September of this year, has carried to the fact that 6% of the Turks who visited Greece did so only with the aim of filling the car. Images | Zoshua Colah, Aldin Nasrun In Xataka | Private labels are having an unexpected effect on the food industry: the biggest price drop since 2014

There are a lot of people replacing the oil on ham toast with coffee and orange. And oddly enough, it makes sense.

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“You insist on putting olive oil on our Iberian ham toast and this is like putting sugar on top of a chocolate cake.” Víctor Sanchego did not know it, but with those words was about to make thousands of people prepare the strangest breakfast we’ve seen in a long time. How come you don’t have to add oil to the ham? Sanchego’s argument is that “the fat of Iberian ham contains more than 60% oleic acid, the same component of extra virgin olive oil.” Therefore, as happens in a perfumery when we have already worn several colognes, when we mix oil and ham at the same time our taste buds become saturated. “Instead of helping it enhance the flavor, it is subtracting it,” says the ham man. The reality, of course, is more complex. The general idea is true for Iberian ham: adding oil (especially if it is an intense and complex one) blurs the flavor profile and can actually oversaturate the bite. This, however, does not happen with the rest of the hams or with the rest of the oils. It is, so to speak, a borderline case. And a well-known one, at that. The normal thing when we talk about Iberian ham, in fact, is that it is recommended to enjoy it alone or with an accompaniment that cleanses the palate, such as a piece of neutral bread. Nobody usually proposes eating a plate of ham with a glass of EVOO on the side. The striking thing about all this is not that. The striking thing is the coffee with orange zest. Because Víctor Sanchego does not propose to eat ham with white bread, nothing like that. He suggests smearing the bread in a mixture of black coffee and orange peel, toasting it and, now, putting the Iberian ham on top. It’s a strange thing, yes; but we cannot define it as madness either. We said before that the ideal thing is to eat Iberian ham with something that ‘cleanses the palate’ and Sanchego’s idea goes directly there: coffee, due to its dry and intense qualities, allows us to enhance the organoleptic properties of our ham. Is it the most interesting decision? Well, the truth is that I couldn’t say. On a theoretical level, there could be dozens of similar combinations that fit better with our usual organoleptic repertoire; but without a doubt it is bold and many of those who try it (on social networks) They are delighted with the result. And that, without a doubt, is good news. Not because of the ham, not because of the coffee, not because of the orange zest. It’s good news because culinary Talibanism It is a practice that greatly impoverishes our understanding of food. And it limits us for no reason. Being open to ‘playing’ with products as iconic as Iberian ham is a symptom of a gastronomic maturity that, used well, can help us resolve problems in a much simpler way. big problems of the food security of the century. Image | Stephan Coudassot | Nathan Dumlao In Xataka | Why salads are the biggest source of food poisoning and what to do to avoid it

US soybean silos are bursting because China no longer buys them. The threat to the US is used oil

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The trade war and the exchange of tariffs between the US and China is having repercussions at many levels and agriculture is one of the sectors that is suffering the most from the consequences. Due to its size, China is one of the main importers of food products and is using this advantage to punish its rival. They are doing it with beef and also with soybeans. Now Trump has a threat to China. What has happened? China was the main US customer in the soybean business, but the trade war is reconfiguring the game board and soybeans are being one of China’s main weapons in this tug of war. The decision to stop buying soy is wreaking havoc in the US and now Trump pushes to stop buying another product from them: used cooking oil. The president has used your social network Thruth to describe China’s move with soybeans as “an act of economic hostility” and has assured that “we can easily produce cooking oil ourselves, we do not need to buy it from China.” Why it is important. The used cooking oil market moved 6.9 billion dollars in 2024. This oil is used to create biofuels, and with increased recycling and sustainability initiatives, the figure is expected to double by 2032. The United States is the world’s largest buyer of used oil and China is its largest supplier. According to data from the Department of Agriculture American, in 2024 the United States bought 43% of all the used oil produced by China. The soy problem. China was the US’s main customer in the soybean business. Until not long ago, they bought 40% of all production from them, a figure that was reduced to 20% in 2024. Despite the reduction, it was still a lot: 27 million tons and a value of 12.8 billion dollars. In 2025 only about 16 million tons have been imported until July, but this was just the beginning. Currently, China has further reduced imports of US soybeans, which aim to be practically zero in the last quarter of the year. Instead, China is doing business with other countries: Brazil and Argentina. Consequences. American farmers’ silos are bursting with soybeans. They count in the New York Times that states like North Dakota sold more than 70% of their production to China and now find that their best customer no longer buys from them. It is an enormous amount to be able to place before production goes to waste. The damage to the agriculture sector is enormous, with farms projecting losses of up to $400,000 this year. Tensions. A few days ago we learned of Beijing’s decision to consolidate its dominance over rare earthsa strategic sector in which they are the key player. The United States responded with a 100% tariff which is accumulated to those already imposed previously. Trump exploded on social Thruth against the measure, but in one of his usual changes of position, days later posted another message in which he lowered his tone: “Don’t worry about China, everything will be fine. The highly respected President Xi has only had a bad time.” The threat to stop buying used oil represents a new escalation of tension, although there are voices like that of Rush Doshi, Biden’s former security adviser, They believe that it will not have great consequences and in Beijing it will be seen as a sign of weakness. Image | Pexels 1, 2In Xataka | Holland has just declared war on China in the most important battle of the century: control of semiconductors

95% of plastics are manufactured with oil and gas. Japan has gotten a bacterium in place

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The world is flooded with plastic. There are microplastics even in our testicles. And the vast majority of them are manufactured from fossil fuels, which aggravates our dependence on these non -renewable resources. In Japan, a bioingenier team from the University of Kobe has found a promising solution. From Pet to PDCA. 95% of the plastics that we use in our day to day are manufactured from oil and gas (98%, if we add coal). In containers, textiles and to the interior of the cars we find a plastic known as polyethylene terephthalate or PET. The objective is to find a high performance alternative to the PET using renewable and biodegradable sources. Exists. It is called pyridineodycarboxylic acid (PDCA) and is a environment -respecting monomer that, when it is polymerized, has comparable physical properties or even superior to those of the PET. The problem, until now, had been to produce large -scale PDCA. Traditional methods to synthesize it are not very efficient and generate unwanted by -products. The solution: a bacterium. The novelty of Japanese research, published in the magazine Metabolic Engineeringis that it uses the cellular metabolism of the bacteria Escherichia coli To produce PDCA from glucose. Unlike the previous bioproduction methods, this makes the bacteria assimilate nitrogen and build the compound from beginning to end, eliminating the problem of by -products. While the existing bioproduction methods They had encountered limitations regarding the quantity and purity of the final compound, bioreactors based on this bacterium are capable of making a clean PDCA synthesis at more than seven times higher concentrations. And with abundant and cheap raw material. E. coli as factory operators. The process has not been exempt from difficulties. The largest bottleneck was to prevent one of the enzymes introduced into the bacteria to produce hydrogen peroxide, a highly reactive compound that deactivated the enzyme itself. The researchers managed to overcome this obstacle by refining the crops and adding a compound capable of eliminating hydrogen peroxide. Now they look for a more profitable solution for large -scale production. The future of bioplastic. Despite the pending challenge, this progress feels the foundations of large -scale plastic microbial synthesis. The practical implementation of bioreactors for the production of high performance PDCA is not only possible, but is a step closer to becoming a reality at an industrial scale. Image | USDA In Xataka | Scientists already investigate a solution to climate change and famines: eat us plastic

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