peninsula

a scar that “splits” the peninsula with water

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We have had 2026 going through water. Christina It brought strong winds and covered the central part of the peninsula with snow. Then, the storm Leonardo left torrential rains and strong winds in Andalusia and we didn’t finish saying goodbye to Marta and Nils is here. So much water has fallen that the state’s reservoirs store 117% more hydroelectric energy that a year ago, classes have been suspended in almost all of Andalusia and municipalities such as Grazalema have been evicted in the face of the threat of almost 600 liters of water per square meter, a figure that beats any previous record. Not only Spain has suffered the intense rain, Portugal has also taken its share: affected areas include Alcácer do Sal and the Tagus River basin, in the southern part of the country. Luis Montenegro, Prime Minister of Portugal, has declared the state of calamity in 68 municipalities until mid-February due to unprecedented rains and floods. Visually we have seen how rivers and reservoirs reached unusual heights, but from space the image of the trail left by the train of storms in the southwest of the peninsula it is also impressive. Below these lines, the radar image of the European Space Station based on data captured by Copernicus Sentinel-1 with the extension of the floods around the Tagus River and its basin. The extent of flooding around the Tagus River and its basin. THAT To create this composition, ESA has superimposed an image taken on February 7, 2026 over one taken on December 27, 2025. The area marked in red indicates how far the water level has risen in the Tagus basin and surrounding areas. This synthetic aperture radar is capable of operating even in unfavorable conditions, such as low sunlight and dense cloud cover, allowing continuous monitoring. The map that we see below shows the accumulation of rain in the Iberian Peninsula in a few days: from February 1 to February 7, 2026. For this, the European Space Station has taken the data of the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) missionan international network of satellites that provides global observations of rain and snow. Those areas in red indicate a record of more than 250 millimeters of rain in just one week. Accumulated rain from February 1 to 7. THAT As can be seen, North Africa, southwest Portugal, Galicia and the provinces of Málaga and Cádiz bore the brunt, which explains the situation of saturation of the land and why several hydrographic basins increased their flow significantly. By combining both systems it is possible to relate how intense the precipitation is with its physical impact and its real extension. In Xataka | Google flood risk map: so you can see if you live in an area that is at risk In Xataka | Map with the level of reservoirs: how to check their status and the dangers of river overflowing with infoAGUA Cover | European Space Agency

The first cable that connects it to the peninsula is already in the sea

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Giulio Verne, a cable vessel from the company Prysmian, crossed the Strait on September 15 to dock in Ceuta. In his winery he brought more than copper and steel: the first underwater cable that connects to the autonomous city with the peninsular electrical system. With this, Ceuta leaves decades of energy isolation behind. And Spain, when looking in that mirror, is reflected the challenges that still Drag in your own networks. Weaving networks. According to the Red Eléctrica press release from Spainon August 26, the line began from the Line of La Concepción, in Cádiz. The cable toured 58 kilometers under the sea until reaching the Ceutí coast, with maneuvers almost 900 meters deep and special measures to protect the biodiversity of the Strait. The boat chosen for this operation, Giulio Verne, is one of the few of the world prepared for this type of missions: it can load up to 7,000 tons of cable and place it more than 1,600 meters underwater. Leaving behind the “energy island.” Until now, Ceuta’s electrical demand was covered with diesel and gas turbines. The result were high costs for the system, dependence on fossil fuels and polluting emissions in an especially sensitive enclave such as narrow. Thanks to the interconnection, Ceuta will stop depending completely on fossil fuels. As we point out in Xatakaup to 87% of the electrical demand can be covered with clean energy. That will be a respite for the environment – about 300,000 tons of co₂ will be avoided – and also for the system invoice, with a saving of about 30 million euros per year. From Ree summarize it with a clear image: This “umbilical cord” will give Ceuta a supply as stable and safe as that of the Peninsula, but also cheaper and sustainable. The challenge is even greater. Yes, Ceuta has ceased to be an “energy island”, but Spain continues to be in more than one sense. The Iberian Peninsula maintains an interconnection level With France of just 2.8%far from 15% marked by the European Union by 2030. In addition, they are still waiting for reach concrete plans To create electric interconnection runners, while they continue to suffer an electric “bottleneck. However, the problem is also internal. Within Spain, at noon there is cheap renewable spare in rural Spain, but at the afternoon, electricity is fallen in urban areas. According to the employer Aelēc83.4% of distribution knots are already saturated, which blocks the connection of new industrial or digital consumption and forces to waste up to 30% of clean energy at some points. Rather than directly relieve these knots – Ceuta’s link responds to another logic – the project demonstrates that Spain has the technical capacity to undertake large interconnections, just what you need to reinforce its internal network and stop losing clean energy along the way. More networks. In Ceuta, the road map is clear and will benefit the electrical system. The second submarine circuit will tend along autumn. On land, the new virgin substation of Africa (132 kV) should be ready in September, and in October the new Algeciras transformation park will be put into service, connected to the existing 220 kV substation. With the Soterrado terrestrial sections almost finished, the official forecast is that all the infrastructure is running before the end of this year. You have to get muscle. The Ceuta cable shows that Spain has technical muscle to undertake complex and sustainable projects, with underground, directed drilling and compact substations. But it also launches a warning: it is not enough to celebrate a new link. The energy transition requires more internal network, more distribution capacity in demand poles, more storage and more international interconnections. Other countries have already advanced. The United Kingdom and Denmark Viking Link premiered in 2023a 765 kilometers cable that crosses the North Sea to import or export electricity according to the wind. Spain, which beats cheap renewable generation records at noon, needs something similar not to run out at night. The Strait already has its “umbilical cord.” The question is whether Spain will know how to weave the network that connects it, really, with itself and with Europe. Image | Freepik and Ree Xataka | Emptied Spain has been filled with solar mills and panels, but waste energy for a simple reason: there are no cables

This map distributes the “heart” of Europe over the Iberian Peninsula. And reveals the key to the success of the region

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Maps are useful, fascinating and sometimes almost almost An art form. However, they do not always allow us to understand real dimensions and distances well. Especially when we talk about broad territories. A map published in Urbanity.one (and shared by Madrid projects) With a peculiar approach: its author has taken some of the main cities of Central Europe, the metropolis of the one known as “Blue Banana”and has distributed them on a plane of the Iberian Peninsula respecting The real distances. The result reminds us of two things. The first, the considerable size That has Spain. The second, how close the cities of Central Europe, a crucial factor to understand the history and economic development of the region. As a picture is worth more than a thousand words, at the end of the 1980s the Geographer Roger Brunet decided to invent A visual metaphor to refer to the most populous and urbanized region in Europe. He called her The “Blue Banana”. Maybe it sounds strange, but it makes enough sense when a map is taken. If the cities of the European industrial axis are connected, covering from England to the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and northern Italy, that is: the drawing of A huge banana Located more or less between Manchester, Munich, Zurich and Rome. How big is that “Banana” imaginary? The first response to mind is obvious: very much, right? In Madrid it projects They have shared However, a map that helps to understand that this abstract axis is actually much smaller than what intuition suggests. At least if we compare it with Spain. The reason is very simple. Its author has selected the metropolis that are distributed by that theoretical axis that structures Europe Central and has arranged them on a map of the Iberian Peninsula respecting the real distances between them. The result It shows that Cambridge would be more or less where Vigo is, Rotterdam would stay up to Valladolid, Bremen in Pamplona, ​​Stuttgart almost where Alicante is and Paris would more or less occupy the place of Badajoz. In the center of the Peninsula, in Madrid, it would be located (kilometer up, kilometer down) Düsseldorf and the Barcelona space would occupy by Linz, an Austrian city. The cast may be striking, but it arrives with pulling Google Maps and its measurement tool for Check the distances. Between London and Paris there are about 340 km in a straight line, just under those that separate Madrid and Granada. If we pull a straight line from Rome to Munich would measure approximately 700 kilometers, a little less than Barcelona to Córdoba. Comparisons are interesting for several reasons. The main one is that they remind us The great size of Spain. The Iberian Peninsula measures just over 583,000 km2 and Spain occupies approximately 505,000taking into account the 12,500 km2 of island surface. That makes our country one of the most extensive of the community club, together with France and Sweden and Germany. A wide disposition of land is both an opportunity and a challenge in aspects as a distribution of the population or provision of services. The other great conclusion left by the map Shared by Madrid projects It is the close thing that are actually the Central European metropolis and their main industrial poles, population centers and strategic axes of political decision -making, a proximity that has influenced the development and integration of Europe. Images | Urbanity.one and Madrid projects (x) In Xataka | The demographic debacle in Europe, exposed on this map with a misleading guest: Monaco

Not the entire peninsula was left without stable access to the Internet, there was an exception: "Starlink was better than usual"

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When the light left yesterday I did not alarmed. Then I realized that I did not have data, nor could I make calls, and I knew something fat It had passed. Starlink was the exception. Without wifi, or mobile connection, many are completely incommunicado. And although some operators they managed to partially restore the service With the generators of their cell towers, only users of Starlink They had means to feed the router and the antenna enjoyed a stable and fast connection throughout the day. With more than 7,000 Starlink satellites in orbitthe constellation of Spacex worked in the Iberian Peninsula without major problem. Satellites have the capacity to communicate with each other and, although they depend on land stations to access the Internet, they have backup equipment in case of energy loss, such as generators, solar panels and batteries. Youtuber Redskull maintained its Internet connection with Starlink and a cargo station A youtuber in the Malaga axarchy. Known as Redskull On YouTube, Alex ran out of light in the province of Malaga between 12:30 and 17:45, but did not recover the mobile connection until the next day. However, he continued connected through Starlink. “It worked throughout the time that the light cut lasted,” he told Xataka. “The discharge and climb speeds were even better than usual: about 300 MB of discharge and 30 mb of climb.” The smallest number of customers using the service by the blackout explains the latter. “Normally, at night, Starlink’s speeds are lower because the network is more congested. Yesterday it was not so.” Alex solved the lack of light with a huge external battery, the Jackery Explorer 1000 V2 Energy Station, which gave him for 12 hours of use, including the feeding of a mesh network that has installed in his house to improve the Wi -Fi coverage. However, he did not need to consume the load during the day thanks to a solar panel of 100 W. The Graells family maintained its Internet connection with Starlink, Solar Energy and Batteries Teleworking in a town in Barcelona. The Graells family He has solar panels and batteries of Tesla in his house, a single -family house of L’Ametlla del Vallès where two people telework. They only found out of the blackout due to the notification of the Tesla app because they also have a Starlink connection. “The connection was the same as any day, very good for particular use,” Eduardo Graells told Xataka. “Ping of 22 ms. Download of about 150-200mbps. Upload of about 15mbps. It was used from the early morning without any interruption until 18:00. At 20:00 we used it for YouTube and some series. Electricity returned to our area at 2:30 in the morning.” In Xataka While almost all Spain immersed in chaos, a place continued to function normally: Mercadona Despite the 14 hours of the blackout, the Graells lived a normal day with an eye on the battery, which went from 70% at the time of light cut to 40% when the supply was recovered. “Starlink can have some disconnection of 1-2 seconds when it seems to change satellite, and very occasionally. You just notice if you are talking in a videoconference. Watching movies, football, formula 1, etc., do not notice, I imagine that for the buffer.” Five stations in Spain. Starlink ends Open two terrestrial stations of Starlink In the Iberian Peninsula, one in the province of Barcelona and another in Santa Olalla, province of Toledo. There are already five, added to the three in Madrid, Huelva and Alicante. And as we have seen, resistant to blackout. {“Videid”: “X86xfvs”, “Autoplay”: False, “Title”: “Starlink arrives in Spain! This is the satellite Internet of Elon Musk”, “Tag”: “Webedia-Prod”, “Duration”: “279” These stations are small, but recognizable by the numerous phase antennas, covered with white domes. They maintain the connection of the constellation with the control centers and serve as link doors for the traffic of Internet Starlink customers. Basically, they act as intermediaries, receiving data from satellites and sending them to Internet networks. Image | Starlink In Xataka | Starlink satellites have transformed war: China and Russia work on “Starlink Killers” to be able to disable them (Function () {Window._js_modules = Window._js_modules || {}; var headelement = document.getelegsbytagname (‘head’) (0); if (_js_modules.instagram) {var instagramscript = Document.Createlement (‘script’); }}) (); – The news Not the entire peninsula was left without stable Internet access, there was an exception: “Starlink was better than usual” It was originally posted in Xataka by Matías S. Zavia .

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