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Iryo arrived in Spain with a very ambitious plan to tighten the screws on Renfe. It has just asked its Italian parent company for a ransom

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Iryo has a problem in Spain: it can’t get clients. Or, we should say, it does not get enough clients to start making its railway project profitable in our country. Its occupancy rate in each and every one of the corridors is better than that of Renfe or Ouigo. In some cases it is certainly worrying. This is leading it to lose tens of millions of euros. And they have already asked Italy for help. 32 million euros. They are the ones that Iryo has lost in 2024. The losses are added to the 79 million euros that the company already lost in 2023 and the occupancy rates of 2025 are not inviting optimism. Although the company defends that They aim to be profitable this yearthe truth is that they had to pick up the phone and dial a number that begins with +39. Help. The call for help has reached Italy. In November 2024Trenitalia has already increased its participation in the company to go from 45% of the capital to 51%. The objective was clear: to provide the Italian parent company with full control of the company and, in this way, have greater room for maneuver to provide it with funds. However, the process to achieve profitability has become complicated. Air Nostrum and Globalia, which are part of the company’s shareholders, committed to putting up 15 million euros more to face possible losses this year. This economic push is just one more within a package that provides aid which has already had contributions of 44.7 million euros in April of last year and almost 35 million euros in the summer of 2024. The occupation. One of the problems that Iryo has encountered is that it cannot fill its trains. If we go to the CNMC datathe Italian company has the worst occupancy data of all Spanish high speed. Madrid-Barcelona: Occupancy of 96.4% (Renfe 112%, Ouigo 99%) Madrid-Seville: Occupancy of 83.2% (Renfe 93.3%, Ouigo 86.4%) Madrid Málaga-Granada: Occupancy of 82.2% (Renfe 93.3%, Ouigo 93.9%) Madrid-Valencia: Occupancy of 70.2% (Renfe 73.3%, Ouigo 88.8%) Madrid Alicante: Occupancy of 66.6% (Renfe 75.9%, Ouigo 87.8%) Added to this is that its power to attract customers by price is much smaller than that of Ouigo since only in Madrid-Alicante does it offer cheaper tickets than those of the French company and for just a few cents. In the rest of the corridors, Iryo is more expensive than the services of Ouigo and AVLO (Renfe). The plans. Yet, Iryo continues defending who aspire for 2025 to become their turning point. They plan to balance their accounts this year and make the jump to profits in 2026 and 2027. To do this, they trust in the arrival of new trains that will expand their capacity and allow them to play on price, first by lowering the price of the ticket and, second, by amortizing Adif fees more easily. In the words of its CEO, the company hopes that Galicia can be another beta where it can make money. However, it must be taken into account that the line moves between the Iberian width and the international width. S106 trains that can “jump” between both tracks are committed to Renfe and the only way to operate would be with a transshipment, which is more costly in time and less attractive to the customer. But it is not the only case. Perhaps the most worrying thing about Iryo’s situation is that, at the moment, Renfe and Ouigo are also losing money with high speed in our country. Since the market opened, the benefits have been exceptional. In 2024, Ouigo received an additional 25 million from SCNF, its French parent company, to cover losses. The initial investment of 200 million had to be expanded given that the company plost more than 40 million euros only in 2024. It is one of the reasons why the Government alleged that from France they were doping the company economically to weaken rivals. Despite everything, Renfe has also suffered heavy losses with high speed. In 2023 they exceeded 120 million euros in losses although in 2024 profitability has already been closelosing in this case about three million euros. Of course, Renfe Viajeros (the part of the company that competes with Ouigo and Iryo) did achieve just over five million euros in profits. Photo | Trenduck In Xataka | Spain wanted to turn the train into the great alternative for traveling in summer. Renfe has never had so many dissatisfied customers

The Chinese subsidiary of Nexperia has just broken ranks with its parent company in the Netherlands. And that takes the conflict to another level.

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Nexperia has gone from being unknown to becoming the new focus of tension in the technological war between the West and China. The company, with Chinese capital but based in the Netherlands, has been intervened by the Dutch Governmentwhich alleges national security reasons. And its impact could soon be felt in sectors as sensitive as automobiles and consumer electronics. The movement is not minor: Nexperia controls an extensive network of factories and assembly centers in Germany, the United Kingdom, the Philippines, Malaysia and China, all important for the global semiconductor chain. Since the Netherlands took over governance of the company at the beginning of the month, a key question has arisen: how far does its control over those international operations really extend? Different laws, one company: Nexperia, caught between Europe and China The answer, at least in part, we already have. Nexperia operations in China have recalled that They work “independently” from the Dutch headquarters. A gesture that not only challenges this European authority, but adds a new layer of uncertainty to an industry that continues to suffer the consequences of the chip crisis. The statement released by Nexperia China on October 17 through its official channel WeChat marks a turning point in the dispute. In the text, signed by all the group’s operating entities in the country, the company reaffirms its autonomy from the headquarters in the Netherlands and remembers that its activity is governed exclusively by Chinese legislation. The document clearly establishes that the legal representative has exclusive authority to make decisions and approve any instructions from abroad: “Nexperia companies in China are independent companies that operate in accordance with national laws. The legal representative has exclusive authority to make decisions and approve any external instructions. No employee is obliged to follow orders coming from outside without their express consent.” The Dutch headquarters, for its part, has denied that “independence” and has attributed it to unauthorized information and actions, which adds another chapter to the internal clash. A ban on exporting its products from China has put European manufacturers on alert, especially the automotive industry, which depends on Nexperia chips for the operation of numerous electronic components. The European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) warned last week that the situation could cause production stops if supply is not restored in the coming weeks. According to the organization, current stocks would barely cover a few assembly cycles and approving new suppliers would take months, a period incompatible with market demand. One of Nexperia’s facilities in Guangdong Nexperia’s weight in the semiconductor chain is best understood by looking at how its production is organized. Although the headquarters and operational management are located in the Netherlands, much of the group’s added value comes from Asia. Its assembly and test plants in China, the Philippines and Malaysia manage enormous production volumes that supply both the Asian market and Europe. The coming weeks will be marked by the search for a fragile balance between regulators and governments. Nexperia has confirmed that it is in talks with China’s Ministry of Commerce to reverse the export blockade, while the Netherlands retains control of its governance. The question is whether the company will be able to operate normally. without violating either of the two legal frameworks. For now, the signals are mixed: production continues, but under an environment of uncertainty that leaves manufacturers waiting for a quick outcome. Images | Nexperia In Xataka | The problem is not that Europe has “expropriated” Nexperia from a Chinese company: it is that it approved its sale just a year ago

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