Palencia Archives - usatoday24

The emptied Spain seemed condemned to depopulation. Until a town in Palencia found a way to avoid it

February 22, 2026 by usatoday24

until recently Nava walls (Palencia) was a remote town known above all for its heritage and being the birthplace of the poet Jorge Manrique and the painters Peter and Alonso Berruguete. That was until not long ago, we say. In recent days the name of this town in Tierra de Campos has grabbed headlines throughout the country for another reason: against all odds, it has become proof that the ‘Spain emptied’ and the rural peninsula do not have to resign themselves to losing population. In Paredes they have certainly worked a miracle. The most curious thing is that he has done it with a recipe quite obvious. Looking at the INE. Although its tables are basically made up of figures, percentages and rates, from time to time the INE gives us the odd mystery. It happens in Paredes de Nava, Palencia. If we take a look at their census we observe a curious phenomenon: despite the fact that their region (Land of Fields) has spent the last decades losing density of population, in line with much of rural Spain, in recent years Paredes has gained neighbors. In 2023 they were registered in the town 1,985 peoplejust one year later there were 1,911 and in 2025 the observatory already counted 1,927. Is it that curious? Yes. It may not be spectacular growth, but it is striking if two factors are taken into account. First, it breaks the negative trend that Paredes had experienced in recent times, accustomed to losing a few 25 residents every year. Second, the town had not moved in its current population data for quite some time. We have to go back to 2018 to find a better result and the town hopes to reach the psychological barrier of the 2,000 registereda figure that has not been used since 2013. And how is it possible? If the case of Paredes has attracted attention beyond Palencia or Castilla y León, it is because this increase in population is neither coincidental nor the result of chance. On the contrary. Responds to a strategy that already has sparked interest from other towns and relies on two legs: immigration and affordable housing. To understand it, we have to go back to 2024, when the mayor of the town, Luis Calderón, contacted YourTechoa Spanish SOCIMI that seeks solutions to “homelessness and lack of housing.” The entity works in several fields at the same time, but in the rural Their bet basically consists of recovering empty houses to turn them into “accessible” homes for “vulnerable families.” Objective: home… and roots. In practice, this means that they acquire homes and then rent them to the City Council so that they end up being rented to new residents in an initiative with a marked social focus. On walls for example 75% of the beneficiaries are foreigners, especially Latinos. Since the idea is for newcomers to the town to take root, it is easier for them to take root. different shapes. As? Through contracts of leasing for those who need a vehicle or rentals with option to own. And the work? The councilor assures There are no shortage of vacancies in the province. In addition to the Renault factory, livestock and agriculture there are a project to open an olive oil refining factory. “There are plenty of jobs, there are more than 1,200 unfilled, that is without taking into account the social and health needs and those of Renault,” guarantees Calderón, who optimistically awaits the opening of the new oil refining factory: “We are going to need many more houses.” “The solution, in rural areas”. The demographic pulse of the town is not new. It started after the pandemic, when a special office focused on repopulation opened. Years ago he decided to welcome 200 Ukrainian mothers and their children, in 2024 he contacted TuTecho and today he boasts that the town has managed to attract 150 new inhabitants. Of them, a third (49) have arrived thanks to TuTecho, which has in turn acquired 11 homes in the Palencia municipality. Initially the company had acquired only four. “The solution to the country’s main problems, housing and immigration, is in rural areas,” he defended. a few days ago the councilor in statements collected by The Newspaper. The truth is that Paredes’ experience seems to have encouraged other people. Those responsible for TuTecho explain that they have already made the leap to a dozen towns, where they also collaborate with city councils to articulate a residential rental offer that makes possible what for a long time seemed like a pipe dream in emptied Spain: “Restock”. “A bridge between both”. The founder of Tutecho, Blanca Hernández, sums it up clearly: “Depopulation is a challenge, homelessness another. We realized that we can be a bridge between the two,” relates to The Confidential. “It’s about matching the profiles of inhabitants that the town needs with the families that meet those requirements and need a home.” In the case of Paredes, they have even managed to ensure that the school, which until not so long ago seemed on a tightrope, faces the future with some peace of mind. Not bad if you take into account that, as stated in a recent EY report, 48% of the territory Spanish does not reach the European density threshold (12.5 inhabitants per km2) and 80% of small rural municipalities are losing population. Images | Santiago López-Pastor (Flickr) and Wikipedia In Xataka | Empty Spain is now officially one of the quietest places on the planet. There is no risk that it will cease to be

If you don’t know what to visit when you go through Zamora, Palencia or Ciudad Real, this map is the solution to your problems

October 19, 2025 by usatoday24

More than half a century after mass tourism began in Spain, the country is among the most visited of the world. Around of 80 million people They arrive in Spain annually, a figure only surpassed by France (+89,000,000). The number is impressive, especially if we compare the scale of its two immediate pursuers, the United States and China. And the reason is simple: 8,000 kilometers of coastline, a wonderful climate and years and years of tourist tradition behind it, with all that this implies in terms of infrastructure. The international nature of the average tourist has caused numerous breakdowns of heads to the authorities during the last years. Spain has tried to attract as many European, Asian or American travelers as possible in a context of tourism recession. During the pandemic parenthesis this was a complicated mission. It was then time to raise the flag of “national tourism”, one that has been flying for two consecutive summers. But what to see in Spain beyond the beaches once crowded by Germans or English? The question has crossed the minds of millions of Spaniards in recent seasons. To answer it, Musement has elaborated this map in which it analyzes the number and quality of scores received by more than 4,500 “points of interest“, that is, attractions and monuments, spread throughout the country. And from this data they have chosen one for each province. An advantage and a problem of this approach: it is useful to know what image the average Spaniard produces when he thinks of places like Palencia or Jaén; but at the same time it summarizes the many positive attributes of each province in a popularity contest. The attractions or monuments numbered here are not necessarily the most interesting, satisfying or beautiful in each place. They are the most famous. It is a personal matter to assess its degree of recommendability. (Musement) If we look at the palette of colors and categories, the north stands out for its large volume of “cathedrals, churches and basilicas.” From the ubiquitous Sagrada Familia of Barcelona to the Santiago de Compostela Cathedralvisiting other highlights of the Camino, be it the Cathedral of León, the Sanctuary of Covadonga, the Cathedral of Burgos, the Co-Cathedral of Santa María de la Redonda or the Basilica del Pilar. Other unique architectural elements sneak in through there, such as Gaudí’s Capricho (Comillas), the Royal Palace of Olite or the Seu Vella. There are also outstanding landscapes: from the La Florida Park in Vitoria to the imposing Ordesa and Monte Perdido National Park, surrounding the Sil Canyons, the Sanabria Lake or the Palentina Mountain Natural Park in between (some of them in the center of what has come to be called Empty Spain). The natural or national parks are the protagonists of Andalusia, starting with Doñana, continuing through Sierra Nevada and ending with Sierra de Cazorla (in Jaén). Otherwise, a little of everything. From urban monuments of very historical rank (the main squares of Salamanca, Trujillo, Seville or Teruel, although in this case “del Torico”; the Hanging Houses of Cuenca) to heritages of civilizations that thousands of years ago forged the present character of Spain (the Roman theater of Mérida, the wall of Ávila, the Aqueduct of Segovia, the New Bridge of Ronda). Also, not surprisingly, there are a lot of fortresses and palaces fortified: from the Peñarroya Castle in Ciudad Real to the famous Alhambra in Granada, passing through the Alcázar of the Christian Monarchs, a surprising winner in the province of Córdoba, also home to the mosque. There is even room for modernity: whether in the form of the City of Arts and Sciences, Dalí’s Theatre-Museum, the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Portaventura or of Loro Parque in Tenerife. A little bit of everything. Not always the most notable thing about each province, but a good way to discover corners of the geography that are still hidden for the Spaniards themselves. In Xataka | The most beautiful towns in each province of Spain, gathered in this revealing map *An earlier version of this article was published in September 2021

Digi has installed its first 5G antenna in Palencia. It is a giant step to become a third operator in Spain

May 28, 2025 by usatoday24

Digi is not just a Giant in quality-quality. He is an aspiring to third operator from Spain and Your first 5G antennalocated in Palencia is the best proof of how it is heating the way to achieve its goal. Digi was born like A little OMV Romanian and has ended up being The fourth operator in Spain. The installation of This first antenna It is a milestone that goes beyond the technical. It is the sample of how it is becoming a giant capable of looking at the operators that, to date, seemed untouchable. The agreement with Telefónica. One of the keys to Digi finishes killing the perception of virtual mobile operator (OMV) that you could have about it has to do with its according to Telefónicaone that covers both national roaming services and Ran Sharing (radio access network). DIGI will continue to use coverage and infrastucure Shared with Movistar For another 16 years, although one of the keys is what this operator allows to access one of the fastest and most efficient 5G networks in the market. Mutualization of the spectrum. This strange term is understood so simple, based on the fact that the key to win in 5G is to have the best possible connectivity to networks 5G SA (The “real” 5g, the fastest and most latency). This 5G Eral works in the spectrum of 3.6 GHz. Digi had 20 MHz in this bandinsufficient to offer a competitive 5G, and Movistar with 100 MHz. Thanks to the mutualization of the spectrum, both Ópedoras have access to a total of 120 MHz shared, something that allows theoretical speeds of 2.2 Gbps and a reduced latency of 8 and 12 ms. Shared heart, own soul. Digi shares part of Movistar’s physical network, and has access to both its spectrum and its antennas. But the company completely manages its traffic, has its own infrastructure, and its first 5G antenna in Palencia is proof of this: there are areas in which it is capable of offering connectivity without intermediaries. The use of its own antennas allows Digi to release part of the traffic that depended on Movistar antennas, giving preference to its customers with their own antenna, and releasing Telefónica. Sweeping in Spain. Digi’s figures are applause. In 2022 he managed to with 60% of total portability In Spain, and at the end of 2024 it ended up winning almost one million lines. It is currently the fourth operator (CNMC itself catalogs it as such, outside the OMV), with a market share that touches 10%. It is still far from 19% of Vodafone, 26% of Movistar and 41% of Masorange, but the figure is spectacular for an operator who, until just a few days ago, did not have a single antenna of his own. The price strategy. Digi works what we like most in Spain: the quality-quality. Its product portfolio Fight for the most adjusted pricewith especially aggressive offers in unlimited lines. Do not neglect, despite this, additional services such as television centered on the LaLiga footballor cloud storage. Where does Digi look. Digi wants to enter the top 3 of operators in Spain. As you collect Xataka mobileif it maintains the current growth rate, it is an objective that will achieve in the short term: in 2026 it will become the third operator in terms of fiber lines. It is not such a simple challenge in regards to mobile lines, where distances regarding large operators remain broad. On the other hand, both Masorange and Vodafone are in loss of lines, with an especially unavailable situation for this last operator. Image | Digi In Xataka | Avoid surprises when hiring digi: advantages and disadvantages that should be known

What does a Mongolian horse in Palencia? The introduction of species in Spain has just achieved a new milestone

February 7, 2025 by usatoday24

The loss of global biodiversity is a fact against which they alert, day too, experts from around the world. At the same time, our globalized world is also winding the arrival of new animal species to ecosystems never before inhabited by their ancestors. And not, We are not talking of invasive exotic species. A very unique birth. The European Bisonte reserve located in San Cebrián de Mudá, on the Palencia mountain, has witnessed the first birth of a przewalski breeding according to advanced the Chain ser. The Przewalski horse. The Przewalski horse (Equus Ferus Przewalskii) It is a subspecies of the domestic introduced in various parts of Spain whose origin is not entirely clear. Its origin is in the steppes of Mongolia (although there are populations introduced in other parts of the globe) and is considered the last wild horse. Are relatively small horseswhich reach between 1.3 and 1.5 meters high, lengths between 2.2 and 2.6 m, and a mass of between 250 and 360 kg. They are, yes, resistant horses, capable of surviving in the harsh conditions of the Mongolian steppes or the Gobi desert. Endangered species. According to IUCN’s red list (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources), The group in charge of monitoring the state of conservation of the different species of animals, plants and fungi on our planet, the Przewalski horse is an endangered species. Estimates on the number of individuals vary, but the most optimistic They calculate that the total population does not reach 2,000 individuals. European bison reserve. The new copy was born in the European Bisonte reserve, where a population of Przewalski horses lives with one of European bison (Bison Bonasus) composed of specimens of two subspecies: Lowland and Lowland Caucasianexplains the reservation itself On its website. According to points out the BEthe father of the new foal belonged to the population of the reserve itself, while the mother was decide by the association Paleolithic alivean initiative focused “in promotion and conservation of nature.” This association manages a reserve located in Salguero de Juarros, Burgos. Uncertain origins. Przewalski horses are related to domestic horses, but it has only been during the last decade that we have been finding out little by little and studied this relationship. Genetic analyzes have estimated that domestic horses and przewalski are “distant cousins” that shared common ancestors about 500,000 years ago. In 2024, A job Posted in the magazine G3 Genes | Genomes | GeneticsHe studied in depth the genetics of this species reaching the conclusion, among others, that these animals share 99.63% of their mythogenoma with domestic horses. (Re) Introductions. Even when it is done with the aim of conserving a species, the introductions and reintroductions of animals usually come accompanied by important doubts To consider. The introduction of the European bison is an obvious example since there are serious doubts about whether this species inhabited the peninsula along with the native bison, the steppe bison (Bison Priscus). Another singular case is that of the Castores, who in recent years have thrown out in the basins of the Peninsula rivers. After this expansion, all An “bombing” initiative (Beaver Bombing). The controversy also usually accompanies the reintroduction of native species. This is a good example of the reintroductions of the wolf and the bear, protested by farmers from the areas where these animals have their new habitat. In Xataka | If the objective is to save a species in extinction, Brazil has a rupturist approach: that humans leave it alone Image | BS Thurner Hof

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