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A beach in Sardinia has banned umbrellas for people between 10 and 65 years old. The reason is simple: fire

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Summer yes, summer too, dermatologists they insist on the importance of protecting ourselves from the sun’s rays with creams, caps and umbrellas. In Molentis Pointone of the beaches most popular of Sardinia, the bathers they will have to conform however with the first two tools. If they want to plant an umbrella in the sand they will have to meet a series of requirements, beyond paying the 10 euros it costs to access the cove: the parasols will only be available to families with children or people who have already turned 65 years old. The rest have to burn. What has happened? Villasimìus is a commune of Cagliari, in the Italian region of Sardinia, where slightly less than 4,000 people. Despite this, it has been making headlines for days in the media throughout Italy and the rest of Europe, including headlines within the scope of Guardian, cnn either The Telegraph. The reason is not so much the spectacular nature of its beaches and its attractiveness at the gates of summer (which too), but rather the effects of that pull: faced with the avalanche of visitors, the local authorities have decided prohibit that the majority of bathers use umbrellas on the sandy beach. No umbrellas? More or less. Which have decided in Villasimìus is that the majority of the population cannot bring their own umbrellas to Punta Molentis. This privilege is restricted to only two groups: families with children under 10 years old and adults over 65. The large group between 10 and 65 years old that remains in the middle will have to make do with protecting themselves from the sun of the Sardinian coast with caps and a good sunscreen. Not only that. In a statement Posted on its official website, the commune of Villasimìus details other measures that bathers must take into account: the number of vehicles and people that can be simultaneously in the area is limited, as is the influx of bathers arriving by boat. The rules also include time guidelines and a warning: those who go to the beach should know that there is an “environmental ticket” of 10 euros for those who travel by car. If you go by boat the fee remains at 5 euros. But… Why? The authorities insist on the need to protect the natural environment and remember the serious forest fire that the region experienced last summer, when dozens of tourists had to flee in boats. The flames spread so quickly that they burned cars stationed in the area, they blocked land escape routes and caused serious environmental damage, environmentalists warn. “The Punta Molentis ecosystem is one of the most valuable in our territory, but also one of the most fragile. The forest fires of 2025 and exceptional weather phenomena have reduced the capacity of the dunes and put habitats and biodiversity to the test,” warns the commune. “It is necessary to limit the human impact and ensure the protection of heritage for future generations.” Part of the rules disclosed by the Villasimìus authorities. What do people think? The Government argues that it wants to protect the environment and preserve the natural wealth of the beach. Neither one nor the other seems to have convinced bathers, who were quick to use irony to question the ban on umbrellas. “How wonderful, a beautiful day at the beach and 20 hours in the emergency room for burns. I think they’ve tried this ordinance before and it went wrong,” comments sarcastically a user on networks. At stake would not only be the environmental wealth of the coast. A spokesperson for the Villasimìus town council assured this week to CNN that behind the veto of the parasols there are also security reasons: they want to reduce their number to prevent situations like those of 2025 from being repeated. “It is fundamentally because of that fire and the difficulties we had in evacuating the beach due to the large number of umbrellas installed that the city council has established this rule,” recognize from the Italian commune, who remember that in that area there are no paid ‘beach clubs’, so “people place umbrellas next to each other, blocking access, causing risks and obstructing the view of the sea.” The Telegraph precise that in the bathing area you can rent parasols. Does it only happen in Sardinia? Villasimìus’s decision has attracted attention because it is unorthodox, but the truth is that the use of umbrellas (and other beach equipment) on the sandy beaches has not only generated controversy there. In Italy the ‘beach clubs’ have generated debate after, according to Altronconsumo calculationsthe rental of sun loungers and umbrellas has skyrocketed by 24% in just five years. Beyond Italy, in Greece they have just expand your list of “virgin” sandbanks where the rental of umbrellas is prohibited. Here, in Spain, the use of furniture on the beaches (and that includes everything from parasols to tents and windbreaks) also has generated debate the last years. Images | Heather Cowper (Flickr) and Villasimius SRL In Xataka | It is increasingly common to find jellyfish on Mediterranean beaches before summer. And it’s a bad sign

“Do you see horses today? Remove all barriers and over time people will be convinced”

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Volkswagen needs to sell electric cars. Many. As many as I can. Next year, European Union emissions regulations threaten significant fines for the company if they do not lower their CO2 records. And that is leading the company to push hard for the client to adopt this new technology. With all kinds of strategies. The horses. This is what Martin Sander has compared, Head of Sales, Marketing and Aftersales at Volkswagen from 2024, the combustion car in an interview given to the British media Auto Express. He has done so to exemplify why he believes that bad decisions are being made when it comes to pressuring the adoption of electric cars. “Do you know when horses were banned? Since when has it been banned to buy horses? You can buy a horse today. But over time, more and more people realized that a vehicle was much better to get from A to B than a horse. Now I look out the window and I don’t see many horses, I mostly see cars.” With these words, Sander wanted to make it clear that he considers that electric cars are better than combustion cars, but that forcing the customer to switch to electric cars may not be the best option. Remove the barriers. In his interview, Sander is clear about what Europe should do: “How can you convince the customer of a new technology if you only talk about the date when it will no longer be allowed to use those vehicles – vehicles that you have been using for the last decades (referring to combustion cars) – anymore? Remove all barriers. Let’s talk about what we need to convince customers: charging infrastructure, talking positively about the advantages of electric cars and the price of energy… over time, more and more customers will be convinced.” That is to say, Volkswagen’s sales chief is committed to letting the product do the talking and rejects the idea of ​​putting a deadline on combustion engines because, according to him, it should be the market that chooses without political pressures involved. This position of Sander is not new. Last March he already made statements very similar to Autogazzetean Italian media outlet to which he stressed that prohibiting the technology already present does not help customers view electric cars favorably. A theory that is not new. How our colleagues collect L’AutomobileFor the German manager, the debate on whether or not brands should jump to electric cars is adulterated since the European Union forces them to change the roadmap they would have followed if the new emissions regulations did not exist. This position has been repeated by the industry on numerous occasions. Already in 2023, when it seemed that the European Union was moving towards a complete ban on combustion engines, Carlos Tavares, who then directed Stellantis, pointed out that “The electric car by law is not the solution”. Even within the Volkswagen Group itself, those who only sold electric cars have defended it. Mate Rimac, owner of the company that bears his name that sells electric supercars and that for a few weeks It is no longer under the German umbrellahe assured a long time ago that Their cars were not selling because their customers felt attacked due to the pressure to jump into the combustion car. Yes, but. Although Sander’s words suggest that the electric car should and can convince yourself to the customer of a combustion car without the political pressures, one would have to wonder if Volkswagen would have invested billions of euros in new platforms, electric cars and factories if the European Union had not previously proposed a ban on combustion engines. And in the automobile industry, technology has rarely been imposed without political pressure. The truth is that If today we use unleaded gasoline It is because the manufacturers were forced to use catalysts and it ended up being ban the sale of leaded fuel for being too harmful. The Clean Air Act in the United States is now more than 50 years old and if Tesla is still alive it is because there Manufacturers like Toyota were forced to register a minimum of electric cars more than 20 years ago. They need to sell. However, the fact that the head of Volkswagen sales compares the combustion vehicle with a horse to demonstrate how outdated the proposal is compared to the electric car is not coincidental either. Last year, the European Union delayed the fines to be applied to all manufacturers that exceeded the limit of 93.6 gr/km of CO2, taking into account the average number of cars sold. For every gram exceeded and car sold, 95 euros were added. This led to fines of around 1,500 million euros for the company.. With the flexibility of the normthe EU will take into account the average emissions per car sold in the 2025-2027 period. That is, the manufacturers were able to pass the first year but they need to compensate it between 2026 and 2027 if they do not want to pay the fines. This forces Volkswagen to sell many more electric vehicles in the remainder until December 2027, which explains its offensive with electric cars under 25,000 euros. Photo | Volkswagen In Xataka | European car manufacturers faced billion-dollar fines in 2025. They have postponed them thanks to fear

There are a lot of people who want to turn potato omelette into the “new pizza”

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The potato omelette is almost certainly the most ‘homemade’ dish in the Spanish recipe book. In fact, more than a ‘dish’ it is a ‘symbol’ of traditional cuisine, of all life. And yes, it’s true: it has always been available in bars, cafes and restaurants; but the queen of tortillas was (proudly) something that was made at home. But not anymore. When one stands in front of the Navarra factory of Natural Prepared (the manufacturer of the 60 million tortillas that Mercadona sells each year) it is inevitable to think that this train has already passed. As they say in DAP, the industrial process is fascinating (each tortilla is fried at a different temperature!) and, at the same time, it is a clear piece of how the industry is betting everything to ensure that Juan Roig’s vision comes true: let’s stop cooking. And the tortilla is the battlefield. We will return to the Mercadona tortilla, but it is not the only actor at play. Martinuca was born just after the pandemic and, with the impetus of Maria Pombohas achieved a turnover of more than seven million euros for its premium tortillas at home in 2025 alone – more than double that of the previous year. And that’s only with four locations in Madrid and Barcelona. Its objective is quite clear: “elevate the Spanish tortilla to a global icon, as the Italians did with pizza“. And the reference is interesting because, de facto, the tortilla is following a ‘pattern’ similar to the one that pizza followed 20 or 30 years ago: the sector is growing in the hypermassive industrial product and in the premium (with a huge step in delivery). And why now and not 20 years ago? First of all, for a technical issue. As our colleague Miguel Ayuso explainswe are talking about the first fresh tortillas that hit the shelves. “Until then there were only tortillas that were pasteurized in their own packaging and the juiciness was greatly compromised,” Sergio Beni told DAP. Since Palacios/Fuentetaja began to grow the market a decade ago, until Elaborados Naturales has managed to become the first player at a national level, the technical, logistical and distribution revolution has been enormous. But “being able to do it” has only been part of the process. The other is that we have stopped cooking. We are doing it, in fact. According to the report “Convenience, the super power that changes everything” that has just been published, the average daily time spent cooking has fallen to 24.5 minutes, 41% of consumers usually eat in a hurry and ready-to-eat dishes grew by 55% between 2022 and 2025. Mercadona takes a third of that pie. What’s interesting is that, for the first time, respondents say they go to these products for price. It is not clear that this is true because the prices are high compared to food prepared at home; but even if it were a simple rationalization, it is interesting. It is not in vain that the majority of Spaniards continue to say that they like to cook. But weren’t we wanting to stop cooking? In DAP, Beni explained that “people no longer want to cook at home. They want to cook as a hobby, but you want that time you use to cook for your things, to play paddle tennis, to go to the gym, to read a book, to study or to make your life. You don’t want to spend that time cooking. Before our mothers spent two hours cooking and we don’t want that anymore, we want to spend that time on other things and products that are good and that are good.” However, even though There is a lot of data that proves them right.this is still a business story. “Cooking” is becoming “plating things.” It is true that the 20th century has been a century in which more and more stages of food processing have been taken outside of domestic kitchens. Today, our country only 28% of Spaniards cook from fresh foods. In fact, if we go to the dataWe can see that millennials eat 30% more often in restaurants than any other generation; When they cook, they spend less time (one hour less per week than Generation It’s US data, but we can find a similar process in all Western countries. That is to say, the discourse that kitchens are going to disappear is the framework for the next step of integration between the agri-food industry and domestic kitchens. A regulative ideal, a scenario that helps normalize what we already do (but without feeling bad about it). Will they be successful? Nobody knows, but it is clear that they are going to try hard. The Spanish tortilla is the best example. Image | instagram / Miguel Ayuso In DAP | We visited the Navarra factory where Mercadona’s potato tortillas are made: they make one and a half per Spaniard per year

Self-employed people can collect two retirement pensions together. The fine print is that they must have paid for both

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There is one thing that any worker who contributes to Social Security expects: to receive a retirement pension. when your working life ends. What not many people know is that you can collect up to two retirement pensions: one if you have listed as self-employed and another if you have done it in the general regime as an employee. The fine print, of course, is that it is not enough to have contributed a couple of years in each regime. The conditions for both benefits to be recognized They are quite demanding. But yes, you can retire with two retirement pensions. What exactly does Social Security say?. The Social Security website has an answer Directly for that doubt, you may have the right to collect a retirement pension from the General Regime and another from the Special Regime for Self-Employed Workers (RETA) as long as the contribution requirements for each one are met separately. That is, having at least 15 years of contributions in each of the regimes. If at the time of retirement the requirements of any of them are not met, they are accumulated in the one that is. That is, they continue to count for the regime that does comply, although only one pension will be received, as established in article 205 of the General Law of Social Security. First requirement: meet the minimum contribution. The first requirement to receive two retirement pensions is the minimum required for any worker who wants to access a retirement benefit. That is, have the required age to retire and have contributed enough years to receive it. In 2026, that means have quoted at least 38 years and 3 months (to retire at age 65) or less time if you wait until age 66 years and 10 months, which is the ordinary age for this year. The second requirement: 15 years in each modality. The second requirement is a little less common, and that is why not many people can access this type of double pension: prove moonlighting simultaneous. In other words, to receive it, the worker must be registered in both the RETA and the General Regime. That is, be listed as an employee and an employee simultaneously, and prove a minimum of 15 years of contributions in each of the regimes. This contribution can be simultaneous (15 years registered in both) or overlapping (15 years as an employee and 15 more years as a self-employed worker). If the worker is not registered in the General Regime but is in the RETA at the time of retirement, he or she must prove that at least two of those years must have overlapped within the last 15 years prior to retirement. In other words, you may have been alternating periods of time as an employee and as a self-employed person throughout your working life until you add 15 years of each, but two of those years of change between one regime and another must occur during the last 15 years of your working life, as specified in the article 205.1b of the General Law of Social Security. There must be a coincidence of both in the years prior to retirement, it is not useful to have contributed 16 years as an employee at the beginning of your working career and then another 23 years only as a self-employed person. If not multiply, add. At this point, many of you will have had a question come to mind: if you don’t reach 15 years of contributions in one of the two, what happens to those contributions, are they lost? This is where the article 49 of the General Law of Social Security. If, for example, you have contributed for 10 years as a self-employed person, but you do not reach the minimum to collect a pension for the RETA, but you do for your work as an employee, the regulations contemplate that these contribution bases as a self-employed person can be accumulated to those you have generated as an employee (or vice versa), but only for calculate the regulatory base that determines How much will your pension be?not to add more years of contributions. This means that those years of self-employment do count, even if they do not generate a second pension. They raise the regulatory base and, with it, the amount of the pension that you do collect. Two pensions, but one pension capped. Collecting two pensions at the same time does not mean being able to add any amount. Although these are two benefits from different regimes, there is a maximum limit for pensions contributions that also apply in this case. In 2026, this ceiling is set at 3,359.60 euros per month, in 14 paymentswhich is equivalent to 47,034.40 euros per year. If the sum of the two pensions exceeds that figure, the cut will be applied up to that amount. This means that it only makes economic sense to collect two pensions if each of them, on its own, falls below the maximum. In most cases, people in this situation will have contributed fewer years for the RETA than for the General Regime, so their two pensions, added together, are usually well below the ceiling. In Xataka | In Spain, those over 65 years of age are working like never before. It’s not passion for work: it’s for retirement age Image | Unsplash (Matt Bennett)

A bank convinced people in a poor town in the US to spend their savings. Now it’s full of millionaires

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Stories of lucky breaks and millionaires there are manybut they almost always have a common denominator: we speak in singular. That is why what happened in a small town in Florida whose families were going through serious difficulties to get ahead is so special. Even today, the enclave continues to seem like a nondescript and inhospitable town. But don’t be fooled, a large number of millionaires still live there among the people. And all thanks to Coca-Cola. Quincy and the banker. This is the name of the town in one of the most fascinating stories of the United States economy. There, in the midst of the Great Depression of the 1920s and 1930s and with part of the census in serious difficulties, a figure appears who was going to change everyone’s lives. Your name: Pat Munroean astute banker, a businessman who focused on a key detail to convince all citizens. No matter how impoverished they were in Quincy or how dire the financial situation of the families, the man observed that almost religiously, people spent every penny on a nice ice-cold glass of Coca-Cola. What if that devotion turned it into a stroke of luck? Coca-Cola in a bag. The sugar giant It went public in 1919 at $40 a share.but a conflict with the sugar industry and its bottlers caused a 50% drop shortly after, when it reached $19 per share. Put another way, there was a time in history when Coca-Cola was trading for less than cash in the bank and its stock was extremely cheap. And among others, Munroe was at the right time. The bargain of the century. What did he do? Invest. The man began to acquire Coca-Cola shares as if there were no tomorrow. However, he did not do it alone. He encouraged all his acquaintances and friends of acquaintances in town to buy a stake in the company. Focusing on bottom line profits and brand power, Pat Munroe kept buying and buying. And as he did so he kept telling everyone in Quincy who would listen to him to buy too. He took advantage of the trust and respect the community had for him and went on a crusade to get anyone who could to get on the Coca-Cola train. Loans for shares. The man was so sure of his success that every time a person went to his bank to ask for a loan, encouraged him to accept another in exchange for shares. Farmers, shopkeepers, teachers: absolutely anyone who could spend money was tempted by Munroe. For the banker, the fact that Coca-Cola shares were at $19 each was an opportunity that no one in the city should escape. That is why he never tired of urging people to buy and, almost as important, to remain firm in the decision regardless of the market fluctuations that occurred in the short term. The ball Finally, the banker’s observations turned out to be a historic success. Quincy, an eminently agricultural city, not only stayed afloat in difficult times thanks to Coca-Cola dividends, brought a wealth that is still studied in universities. In fact, the enclave became the richest city per capita in the entire United States for a time, and dozens of its inhabitants were nicknamed “the secret Coca-Cola millionaires.” People who trusted Munroe’s good eye and invested all their money (and what they didn’t have), and who amassed enormous fortunes with those first shares, which they then passed down from generation to generation, turning them into the eponymous Coca-Cola millionaires, ones who, effectively, established entire dynasties of financial prosperity that transcended generations. How much are we talking about? It is difficult to speak in total terms, but to give us an idea of ​​the money, in 2013 it was made a study evaluating what happened in Quincy. The results showed that a single share with reinvested dividends was worth $10,000,000. $270,000 in pre-tax cash dividends would be sent to the owner by sending a check for approximately $67,500 in March, June, September and November of each year. Thus, if the great-grandmother and the great-grandfather on duty had acquired a round lot of 100 shares for between $1,900 and $4,000, depending on the purchase price, they would have more than a billion dollars, excluding the effects of estate taxes. By the way, the current value is considerably higher, since the stock has more than doubled its price since then and the quarterly dividend now exceeds $0.53 per share. Money for crisis. That investment has been a lifesaver every time a tough time approaches. When the local economy was supported by coca and the crisis arrived, tail dividends. In fact, these assets have supported the city through every recession since. When crops failed, it was Coca-Cola money that kept people employed. When the national economy collapsed, it was Coca-Cola’s cash that allowed people to stay in their homes. When times were good and Coca-Cola was cheap, they bought more shares. Quincy today. It is a unique story, because it is unusual. Every family that amassed a fortune then passed it on to their children and grandchildren, in some cases through direct donations and in others through the use of trust funds. Even the bank where it all started has a Coca-Cola on display and, according to data from the early 2010s, a staggering 65% of trust assets under management were still invested in Coca-Cola stock. Quincy’s appearance today is not much different from the Great Depression era. It remains a quiet and eminently agricultural city with a population around to 7,000 inhabitants. But don’t let your eyes fool you, some of the grandchildren whose families built an empire, that of the secret Coca-Cola millionaires, still walk through those streets. A version of this article was published in July 2025 Image | PXHere, Ebyabe, PXHere In Xataka | Jeff Bezos asked his parents for their life savings to found Amazon. They only asked him one question: “What is the Internet? In Xataka | Madrid may … Read more

drinking alcohol is for old people

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We knew that it takes years expanding strongly throughout Spain and which attracts more and more people, but the great proof that the ‘late’ has become a massive phenomenon just arrived now. And in the form of report. The trend has grown so much that the nightlife employers’ association has dedicated a study to it that analyzes its impact and clientele in detail. Among all his conclusions there is one eloquent one: he already moves 26.5% of the billing of leisure venues. And there are no signs that that will change. From the bars to the office. There are several signs that reveal to us that a trend has become a business with a future: people begin to talk about it on the street, it grabs headlines, it generates noise on the networks… All this ‘lateness’ been doing it for years. Now it adds a new clue that confirms that it has stopped being a passing fad and has become a real gold mine for the hospitality industry. The National Federation of Leisure and Entertainment Entrepreneurs (‘Spain at Night’) has just dedicated its first sector studya comprehensive report that answers some key questions about a trend that basically involves advancing a leisure offer that until recently was limited to nighttime hours: How and when did it emerge? What audience does it move? And how much money does it generate? The key data: 58.8%. There is who places the origins of ‘tardeo’ in Albacete at the beginning of the 2000s, from where it first made the leap to the Levantine coast and later (thanks to the changes in habits brought about by the pandemic) to the rest of the country. Whether or not this is the case, the undeniable thing is that the ‘lateness’ has had a deep impact on the sector. The study concludes that they have opted for it close to 58.8% of leisure and hospitality venues, which explains why it accounts for 26.5% of their turnover. They are not the only percentages that give an idea of ​​the extent to which hoteliers have been jumping on the bandwagon of evening leisure. The same report shows that 62.2% of the clubs hold afternoon sessions every weekend. If we talk about cocktail bars, they are 41.4%; and 24% among restaurants. Who late? That’s probably the most important question the study answers. The public that usually moves the ‘evening’ in Spain is on average 39.4 years old, significantly above the average nightlife clientele, which is around 29. It may seem like a minor or even obvious fact, but it is essential to understand other peculiarities of the trend. The increase in age is also accompanied by greater spending: if the average ticket for night owls is 20 euros, in the case of late-night regulars the average rises to 25. This is not bad at all if we take into account that for years bars have been dealing with another phenomenon: a generation Z that seems less interested in alcohol than his predecessors and is changing the way of drinking. New format, new offer? That profile millennial or generation the leisure offer of the afternoon sessions. Customers order mixed drinks with vodka, gin, rum or whiskey, although they also drink beer, soft drinks and glasses of wine. As for music, it is not strange that people look for songs that were played during their youth. “Until recently the favorite music was the so-called ‘remember’. Now we are in ‘afternoon 2.0’. We started to see afternoon ‘indie’ sessions for people who went out at night 10 years ago,” explains to The Newspaper Vicente Pizcueta, from Spain by Night. Partying yes, but conciliating. The success of ‘afternoon’ cannot be understood without taking into account the pandemic and how it altered our leisure habits, giving more relevance to the evening offering. However, there is another factor that explains why we are increasingly opting to go out in the afternoons: Spain gets older little by little. In 1975 the average age was 33 years, today it is over 44.5. This makes it clear that the weight of a more adult client profile who still wants to party, but who at the same time has other obligations, such as dependent children, has increased. The vast majority of the ‘afternoon’ offer continues to be concentrated on Saturdays (84.9%) and 63.4% of those surveyed recognize that what leads them to go out is to enjoy with their friends, but there is another data that is equally revealing: 38.9% look for options that are compatible with their family life. “It is true that the issue of conciliation is fundamental,” confirm Pizcueta. “You go out in the afternoon, leave the children with the grandparents, pick them up at dinner time, go to bed early and the next day you can get up early to go to the countryside.” Do we know anything else? Yeah. The reportin which Coca-Cola has also participated, leaves out some interesting ideas that help to better understand ‘lateness’. For example, although DJ sessions are the most common, there are also many celebrations that combine music with gastronomy, offer live music or even opt for themed and private parties. That the format has convinced so many businesses is not surprising either. Especially if we talk about bars and clubs. Although the public that attends afternoon and night parties is so different that sometimes businesses have to clearly divide both sessions, the ‘afternoon’ allows them to extend their hours of activity. They open earlier, bill earlier, earn more. According to the hoteliers’ study, on average the ‘afternoon’ sessions start around 5:30 p.m. Images | Marcel Strauss (Unsplash) and Artem Polezhaev (Unsplash) In Xataka | Madrid has been filled with “dopamine parties”: alcohol is gone, salads and ice baths are here

Young people are stopping drinking beer like crazy. That’s why Mahou wants to sell you water as cosmetics

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On May 28, social networks in Spain woke up flooded with pink, lychee and promises of beauty. That day YUZZ saw the lightthe new business adventure of the influencer María Pombo in alliance with the brewing giant Mahou San Miguel. Under the motto Here You Glowis presented not as a simple drink, but as a revolutionary concept of fun skincare: a soft drink that “takes care of you on the inside so that you shine on the outside”, formulated with hyaluronic acid and vitamin C. The deployment was massive: the strategy started with mystery videos, a WhatsApp channel that was fuming with thousands of followers looking for clues and culminated in an experience pop-up in the heart of Madrid. However, beyond the indisputable success of the call, the launch uncovers a striking contradiction: that of an industry traditionally linked to nightlife and beer trying to bottle the idyllic universe of health, cosmetics and well-being. Why does a brewery sell beauty? Beer is beer you might be thinking. However, the alcoholic beverages sector is going through a moment of profound transformation in the face of the decline in consumption among new generations. This is where they make the leap towards functional soft drinks, since it responds to an unstoppable global trend. In fact, the wellness market It already moves 480,000 million dollars in the United States, with annual growth of up to 10%. Europe follows in the same wake, and Mahou is looking for its piece of the pie. But to connect with Generation Z and millennials It is not enough to launch a product; a narrative is needed. This is where María Pombo comes in. The industry is witnessing an evolution of influencer marketing, it is no longer about paying a well-known face to hold a can, but rather a “shared business model” based on co-creation. Pombo has been involved from day one, sharing the development process organically with her more than four million followers. This drastically reduces the consumer’s natural resistance to conventional advertising. The label under the magnifying glass. While marketing works perfectly, the scientific community has raised eyebrows when analyzing the list of ingredients. Can you really drink cosmetics? According to Dr. Emiliano Grillo, specialist in Dermatology, is blunt in the magazine Cuore: “There is no way for you to eat the skincare“. The expert warns that, for oral hyaluronic acid to have a real impact, it would require much higher doses than those anticipated in this type of recreational formats. But the biggest problem with YUZZ is not what it promises, but what it hides: sugar. Although the brand prides itself on being a low-calorie drink without sweeteners, nutritionist Paola Sánchez explains in the same medium that each can contains about 10 grams of sugar, the equivalent of two cubes, from the concentrated apple juice that serves as a base. The pharmacist Mencía Hermosa goes one step further and points out the paradox of the product: the consumption of sugars is directly involved in the glycation process, a mechanism that damages collagen and “contributes to skin aging.” That is, the soft drink could be torpedoing the effect it promises to generate. For her part, the pharmacist and disseminator Lena de Pons dissects the formulation in Infobaedenouncing that “the narrative sells more than the evidence.” De Pons clarifies that YUZZ is governed by food regulations, not cosmetics. Legally, they can only claim that it helps collagen because it covers 15% of the Nutritional Reference Value (NRV) of vitamin C, a tiny amount. “A fruit salad has more antioxidants,” says the expert ironically, also regretting that the word “science” is used in the campaign without providing independent studies that support the bioavailability of its formula in the body. The undeniable triumph of narrative. At the end of the day, the reality of YUZZ depends on the lens through which you look. If we evaluate it under the rigor of dermatology, trying to replace a cream with a soft drink is nonsense. As a timely and recreational alternative to a mixed drink with alcohol or a traditional soft drink loaded with artificial additives, it is an option that the experts themselves consider acceptable. But in the corporate field, the move is masterful. How to conclude Article 14in a saturated market where attention is the rarest commodity, getting an entire country to debate about your brand is the greatest success. Mahou and María Pombo have made the initial impact. Now they face the real challenge: to demonstrate that this cross between a brewery and skincare It has enough commercial history to survive on the shelves once the noise of social networks has died down. Image | instagram Xataka | It’s cheaper and less anxiety-inducing: ‘solo-maxxing’ is Generation Z’s answer to the stifling dating industry

“People are not ready for this”

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There is a term that we have normalized in the world of technology and video games: “hype”. I don’t like this anglicism at all and prefer “engorile”. That enrogile is an essential part of today’s marketing because so many things are thrown It’s been so many years since we have to create expectations as soon as possible and it’s going to be amazing. There are games like ‘The Witcher 4’ that don’t need it, but even so it just received a portion of gorillaism from someone who knows something about RPGs. A veteran of Larian Studios, the geniuses behind the fantastic ‘Baldur’s Gate 3‘, which ensures that we are not prepared for what they are cooking with ‘The Witcher 4‘. The CD Projekt of the Galacticos. Video game studios have a high staff turnover. It doesn’t just have to do with layoffs, but something much more practical: some of them want the best to be on their ship. An example is Valvewhose employees can, from the first day in their new job, recommend developers from other studios. For developers, a project like ‘The Witcher 4’ is striking both because of the history of the saga (especially after the fantastic ‘The Witcher 3‘) as if it were a game of the minds after ‘Cyberpunk 2077‘. that game it came out how it came outbut the Polish studio has redeemed itself based on patches and content updates. For the new Witcher game, CD Projekt is reinforcing with developers from related studios like Warhorse (creators of ‘Kingdom Come: Deliverance‘) or Larian Studios (the ones from ‘Baldur’s Gate 3’ who are now with the new ‘Divinity‘). Things are coming. Working at Larian implies stability because the games they make are more or less the same. If in a Ubisoft you are either in an ‘Assassin’s Creed’ game or in a ‘Far Cry’ game, in Larian they do one thing, and they do it very well: CRPGs. And one of the Larian veterans who has unpacked his bags at CD Projekt RED is Felix Pedulla. Pedulla was the cinematics designer for ‘Baldur’s Gate 3’, this being an impressive section in the game and seems which will have the same role in the Polish study. After the first six months at CD Projekt RED, Pedulla has seen things and this week he made a decision: light the fuse of the engorile with a typical “things are coming” statement. After a long message on LinkedIn in which he looks back, the vertigo of change and reviews those first six months in his new home, Pedulla concludes with a “Do you know what we’re doing for ‘The Witcher 4’? People aren’t ready for this.” There is a lot left. Basically, Pedulla has not said anything at all (nor can he, since the confidentiality clauses in these works are extremely strict), but while these types of statements are not foreign to the world (we have seen them with many other games, with examples like the highly anticipated ‘GTA VI‘), they do not usually come from sources directly involved in development. At least, not in such a public way. But, although I don’t particularly like these practices, I understand that from time to time these messages are launched because we have to keep the enthusiasm and attention alive for a project that arrives at a time when everything competes for that attention. Because there is still a long time left to have ‘The Witcher 4’ in our hands and we have to warm up the atmosphere. This week the non-E3 is celebrated, a week full of video game conferences and who knows if in any of them we will see a real video of a ‘The Witcher 4’ of which we have only seen a cinematic (the Pedulla field, curiously) and a technical demo in Unreal Engine 5. Or maybe we won’t see anything because before the fourth installment of the Witcher there will arrive a new expansion of the veteran ‘The Witcher 3’. In Xataka | There are already video games so hyperrealistic that it is difficult to differentiate them from a video. ‘Unrecord’ is the best example

three million people have disappeared

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Three million people are (more or less) the population of Armenia, Puerto Rico either Mongolia. Also the hole that they just found each other Japanese authorities reviewing their national census, a task they carry out every five years to get a precise idea of ​​their demographics. The last time they had done this task, in 2020, there were 126.1 million residents, including the native and foreign population. Now the figure barely exceeds 123 million, which represents a 2.45% decrease in five years and (even worse) it takes the Japanese census back to the size it was approximately in 1989. The question that more and more people are asking is: Does this decline have a basis or will the projections that predict that the census will fall to 87 million of inhabitants in 2070? Getting deeper (and darker). That is the simplest and most graphic way to describe the demographic hole which Japan has been dealing with for decades. Although all your efforts To reverse the population drain (and there have been many), the Japanese census does not stop losing weight. The last alarm signal is left the five-year report on population and households from the Statistics Bureau of Japan (SBJ), which shows that in 2025, 123,049,524 people resided in the country, including both natives and settled foreigners. Is it bad data? Worse. It’s terrible. To begin with, there are 3,096,575 fewer people than those counted in the last census, in 2020. In case this drop of 2.45% was not enough, the review of the files of the SBJ leave an even more disastrous reading: it supposes the third consecutive fall and worsens the decline recorded between 2015 and 2020, when it had already been noted a ‘puncture’ of 0.7%. Since Japanese officials began taking the census in 1920, they have never documented a decline as pronounced as the one in 2025. 45 of 47. The problem also extends to the vast majority of the territory. The SBJ census shows that, of Japan’s 47 prefectures, 45 lost population in the last five years. In some cases with drops as pronounced as those of Hokkaido, which hosts 239,000 fewer residents than in 2020, Shizuoka (164,000) or Hyogo (141,000). Other territories that had gained population in 2020 have now joined the red list. At the opposite pole are Tokyo and Okinawawhich respectively gained 199,000 and 1,000 inhabitants. Moving away from 2008. The SBJ figures leave few positive readings. Not only do they move Japan further and further away from the data from 2008, when it reached its population peak with 128 million of inhabitants. The latest censuses (and especially their trend) show that the country is gradually meeting the worst forecasts of the National Population Research Institute (IPSS), which estimates that by 2070 the number of residents will have dropped to 87 million and the population over 65 years of age will represent almost 40% of the census. The problem is not the loss of inhabitants or aging itself, but the implications that this has for the economy, health, defense and (in general) the Japanese welfare state. There are those who warn that the loss of residents is already it’s taking its toll to the country’s economy, which among other things has encountered millions of empty housesschools no activity forced to convert into factories or the closure (and bankruptcy) of health centers. “It’s at the forefront”. The most serious thing is not that Japan is losing population, it is that it is doing so despite all the Government’s efforts to tackle the country’s real problem: alarming collapse of their birth rate. The latest official data on the subject, from just a few months agoshow that the number of births has fallen to reach minimums that the authorities did not expect to see until 2042. Against this backdrop, Japan seems to be left with only the resource of immigration, which clashes with the boom of political formations that advocate the opposite. Although its increase In recent years, it is estimated that foreigners represent less than 3% of the population. “Japan has reached a point where this type of decline is not reversible in the short or medium term,” warns in The New York Times James Raymo of Princeton University. “We just won’t see mass immigration.” The Japanese case is interesting because, remember, it does not reflect a trend exclusive to the country. “More and more nations in Asia and other parts of the world will experience similar levels of demographic decline. Japan is simply ahead of the curve and has been in this situation for much longer.” The exception: Tokyo. The most curious thing (or not) is that while most of the country is depopulated and aging, in the Tokyo area the trend is diametrically opposite. The SBJ census also shows that in the metropolitan area of Tokyo The resident population has increased to around 37 million of people, 30% of the entire country. In fact, in the capital the population density more than multiplies the Japanese average: about 6,400 people per square kilometer, while in Japan as a whole it barely exceeds 300. Images | Jezael Mendoza (Unsplash) 1 and 2 In Xataka | Japan no longer knows what to do to make Japanese people have children. So he’s putting free daycare all over the country

There are more and more people who accumulate and accumulate dogs and cats in their homes

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It happened in Madrid, end of 2024. The authorities entered the apartment of a woman from the Chamartín district who lived with 74 cats in such unsanitary conditions that, after the rescue and despite the shelter’s efforts, several of the cats died shortly after. Although that number (74) is shocking, Madrid is just one of the many (many) cases of ‘Noah syndrome’ that the police register every year, both in Spain and in other countries. The issue makes headlines only when events as bloody as the one in Chamartín are uncovered, but the truth is that every time there are more studies which suggest that animal hoarding is a serious problem and (the key) growing. What is Noah syndrome? a disorder similar to Diogenes syndrome (sometimes both overlap) which consists of the compulsive and disproportionate accumulation of animals, which in turn results in risk situations both for the latter and for those who suffer from the disorder and their immediate environment, especially if they live in a community. In general, beyond this hoarding, it is considered that the syndrome is accompanied by two other interrelated traits. The first is that those who suffer from the syndrome end up being unable to keep their animals in good condition. It is not just about living with a disproportionate number of dogs and cats in more or less small spaces. People with ‘Noe syndrome’ are unable to attend to their most basic needs. The second characteristic is that they also do not see the problem. Although sometimes they themselves ask for help (It happened in Chamartín) usually deny their disorder, minimize it or are suspicious of those who try to help them. @rspca_official Last week, we shared a photo on social media from a recent rescue with @Dogs Trust involving over 250 poodle-cross dogs… The scale was so shocking that it led to countless allegations of the image being AI-generated💔 For the teams who worked tirelessly on this rescue and those currently providing 24/7 care for these dogs, seeing the authenticity of their hard work questioned has been deeply upsetting. We don’t need to use AI, as we have thousands of real stories about helping animals in desperate need, just like this. Sadly, this is very much real, as much as we wish it wasn’t. This is the heartbreaking reality that our frontline teams are facing more and more, having seen a massive rise in multi-animal reports involving 10, 50, or even 100+ animals at a single address. You can be a vital part of a rescue animal’s journey, please adopt ❤️‍🩹 #AnimalRescue #AI #Dogs #Rescue #Poodle ♬ Moment Of Reflection – Jhonatan Rodrigues & Piano Sky & Dee Piano Why is it a problem? For many reasons. To begin with, because often behind each case of Noah’s syndrome there is a drama. Those who hoard animals usually start doing so out of “good intentions,” such as recognizes PETA. Over time, however, its purpose is diverted and its disorder ends up leading to the opposite: “Criminal behavior with horrible consequences for animals, their families and communities.” Cats and dogs end up living cramped, surrounded by feces, and malnourished, a situation that worsens as the colony increases. And that is not difficult if their owner does not take care of castrating them. A clear example of this dynamic was recorded not long ago in England, where 250 poodles that were living cramped in the same house were rescued. When it reported the case, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) published a photo in which you can see a room full of dirty and shaggy dogs. The image is so shocking that the RSPCA began to receive criticism from people convinced that it had been generated with AI. Those responsible had to come out to deny it categorically: “The image, shocking, reflects reality.” How many people does the syndrome affect? In the statement which launched to vindicate the authenticity of the photo, the RSPCA not only insists on the drama of cases of Noah syndrome. It also leaves behind a worrying idea: its staff encounters “more and more frequently” cases of abuse in which multiple animals are involved at the same time: 10, 20 or up to a hundred. Why is it important? Because it gives us a clue about the incidence (and evolution) of the episodes that may fit into Noah’s syndrome. To be precise, since 2021 RSPCA has confirmed a 70% increase in “multi-animal incidents” in England and Wales. Not everyone can relate to the syndrome, but the data is still eloquent. “Instances where large numbers of animals are kept in one home may be linked to mental health issues, the cost of living crisis or breeders operating with inappropriate practices,” precise the organization, which warns: “Even people who initially had good intentions often see the situation get out of hand.” Is there more data? Yes. The RSPCA assures that last year alone responded to 4,200 alerts related to cases of abuse involving (at least) a dozen animals, always in the same address. And that’s just in England and Wales. The organization warns of the impact of the rising cost of living, poor breeding practices and the increase in abandonments. Beyond the public health problem that they represent, cases like this directly affect the dogs and cats involved. Even if they are rescued, they often suffer consequences that make it difficult for them to find a new home. For example, they suffer stress when they are left alone, they have a hard time adjusting, or they urinate and defecate where they shouldn’t. And beyond England? There are not many statistical or incidence studies on episodes of animal accumulation, but there are clues that indicate that the United Kingdom is not an exceptional case. In April 2025 Korea Times pointed out that the problem seems to be increasing in South Korea as well and not long ago NBC pointed in the same direction talking about the US. The … Read more

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