population

Despite the fact that it has been losing population and readers for years, Japan does not stop opening new libraries. And it makes perfect sense

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Japan has increasingly less people (in general). And less fond of reading (in particular). Despite one or the other, for years the country has been experiencing a curious phenomenon: its library network does not stop expanding, with hundreds and hundreds of new reading positions. To be more precise, Nikkei estimates that in 2024 there will be around 3,400 libraries spread across Japan, which is equivalent to 800 more than those that operated in 1999. The big question is… Why? The great paradox. In a country with less and less people and in which the passion for reading is losing ground, the logical thing would be for libraries to close. In Japan the first and the second happen (fewer people, fewer readers), but not the third. The curious thing is that he is not only avoiding the closures of reading positions. It is increasing them. Anyone who wants to find a place to read books at no cost has it much easier today than it was 25 years ago. Reviewing the data. To understand the paradox, it is necessary to first review three pieces of information. The first is the evolution of the Japanese population. According to World Bank Group, in 2024 they will reside in the country 123.9 million peopleconsiderably less than the 128 million it reached in 2010. And the medium and long-term outlook is not much better. The latest statistics Officials reveal that, far from slowing down, the decline in the birth rate is reaching historic figures and is advancing faster than the authorities anticipated. If nothing changes, in 2050 the population will fall to about 100 million. Less people, fewer readers. That is the second key. If we talk about reading, the problem is not so much that there are fewer Japanese as that those who exist seem less and less interested in literature. In 2018 the Agency for Cultural Affairs launched a survey to find out how often their fellow citizens read. He discovered that among those over 16 years of age the percentage of those who read less than one book a month was around 40-49%. In 2023, this indicator had already risen to 62.6%. Another 27.6% said they read between one and two books a month. As if that clue wasn’t clear enough, the number of bookstores open in Japan fell about 30% in just a decade. And the surprise came. With these figures on the table, the fact that just disclosed Nikkei and with which we started this article: today in Japan there are 30% more libraries than in 2000. Of the 2,600 public centers (in the hands of municipalities and districts) in operation at the beginning of the century, there were 3,400 in 2024. In 1996 they did not even reach 2,500. Although Japan is not far from it the country with higher ratio of reading seats per inhabitant, the increase is considerable and some libraries can even boast of moving hundreds of thousands of users a year. The Tenmonkan one, inaugurated in 2022, is around 700,000 people annually, many of them young people under 30 years of age. How is it possible? The big question. And the answer is simple: in Japan the libraries are not only more numerous, they are also they are changing. They are still reading spaces where one goes in search of books or a quiet room in which to devour a novel or study, but they are also places of socialization. Something similar to community centers, only with shelves full of books. “Residents use libraries very often. Together with auditoriums and museums, they attract people and create a lively atmosphere,” points out Katsuyoshi Kinoshita, head of the Foundation for the Advancement of Libraries. The “third place”. “They are spaces where people not only read books, but can also enjoy story-telling and other events or relax in a cafe,” confirm to Nikkei Fumihiko Suzuki of the Daiwa Research Institute. This openness has turned libraries into a kind of “third place” for many Japanese, a reference space beyond their homes, jobs or schools. Access is free, you can stay there as long as you want, there are always people and they often offer alternative activities to reading: events in auditoriums or for children, historical materials, museums… They are, in short, “meeting places.” Is it something spontaneous? Not quite. As explains Sadao Uematsu, of the Japanese Library Association, the phenomenon is partly explained by the “mergers” promoted at the beginning of the century, when “many reading rooms in community centers were converted into municipal libraries.” The success achieved last decade by some projects focused precisely on reading spaces encouraged other municipalities to get on the bandwagon. In recent years the pace of library opening has slowed down, but even so the phenomenon has aroused the interest of international institutions such as the World Economic Forum, which in February dedicated it an extensive analysis that connects the ‘boom’ of libraries with another of the phenomena that mark Japanese society: aging. In a country in which those over 65 years of age represent more than 29% of the population, spaces with community activities have become a key element for the well-being of the elderly. Against this backdrop, libraries have become valuable allies. Images | Olegs Jonins (Unsplash) and Yanhao Fang (Unsplash) In Xataka | While Japan’s population is sinking irremediably, Tokyo is growing. There is an explanation: ikkyoku shūchū

3% of the world’s population sees the world with interference

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Imagine your life seeing the world as if you were constantly in the middle of a snowstorm. Open your eyes and let the landscape be filled with static points like when we watch television up close: a permanent spider web that always accompanies you. Many people experience this disease and are not aware of it. until they have spoken to doctors about this neurological condition. It’s what health experts have called “visual snow.” See the world with “interferences”. A study in the United Kingdom estimates that the condition of visual snow can affect up to 3% of the population. The US National Institutes of Health says there is currently no cure for this disease. The main symptom is small continuous spots in the patient’s vision.which differ in color and severity from one person to another. “It’s like a huge blanket of TV interference covering my entire vision 24/7,” patient Paris Haigh explained in this BBC article. “I can see them even when I close my eyes,” he commented. Other people have described it as a kind of pixelated vision. Others who can filter the points most of the time, but some days are harder than others. How does it work? “It consists of the constant vision of white and black dots throughout the entire visual field, which simulates vision through a grainy filter or, as many patients refer, simulates vision of the screen of a television that is turned on but not connected to the antenna, also known as white noise,” explained Dr. Enrique Santos Buesofrom the Research Institute of the San Carlos Clinical Hospital in Madrid. Certain things can make flashing spots more noticeable. For many, This is caused by fatigue, anxiety and headaches.or when they are in very bright or dark environments. The use of cosmetic products can also cause problems. Some wear glasses with orange lenses when they read. While they help with visual snow, they do not eliminate it. Digital artist Zytomania created this image to show what his own visual snow looks like. Why does it appear? The condition is caused by a problem in the way the brain handles visual information. Professor Jon Stone, professor of neurology at the University of Edinburgh, has seen several patients with visual snow: “Normally, our brains are good at filtering out visual experiences that we don’t want. This filtering system doesn’t work as well in people with visual snow, probably because parts of your brain’s visual system are overactive in a way that is not useful. It’s a bit like having tinnitus, but from your vision,” he explained. We are actually at a very early stage. 15 years ago we wouldn’t even be talking about this because no one agreed; visual snow had not even been universally accepted as a “disorder.” Some suspicions. Peter Goadsby, Professor of Neurology at the Wellcome Trust National Institute for Health Research at King’s College He says he has seen both a 7-year-old boy and 70-year-old men with this problem.. And from all countries. They all describe it the same way. That led Goadsby to conclude that, although it is activated in different ways, there must be a common underlying mechanism. There is still much to understand but something very important has already been achieved: recognition. “We found that in an area at the back of the brain, there is a particular structure that is more metabolically active and receives greater blood flow in those who suffer from visual snow. That could indicate that that part of the brain is not inhibited enough or too excited,” he detailed. difficult to detect. According to Visual Snow Initiativea US charity dedicated to visual snow research, approximately 56% of people with the condition are incorrectly diagnosed. For most, the process of obtaining a formal diagnosis was frustrating. Paris spoke to an ophthalmologist and a neurologist about the condition, but felt they didn’t know what it was. “It can feel like a made-up condition when the experts don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said. Some are shown a television with white noise and almost all exclaim, “Yes, that’s what it looks like!” And they have been like this all their lives. In Xataka | What a study that has restored life to the eyes tells us about death In Xataka | Something that until now was marginal is starting to happen to people under 30 around the world: hypertension.

Benidorm triples its population in summer and does not run out of water. The secret is a miracle of invisible engineering

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We assume that when we turn on the faucet water comes out. It is an almost automatic, everyday gesture that we rarely stop to think about. However, ensuring that this resource springs up clean and safe in Benidorm, a city that its population triples In the middle of the summer high season, it requires a true miracle of engineering and management. In the Marina Baixa, one of the regions of the Valencian Community with greater water stresscatering to millions of annual visitors is a colossal puzzle. As reported by local mediathe philosophy of those who operate this gear is perfectly summarized by Ciriaco Clemente, manager of Veolia in Benidorm: “In a territory where the pressure on water resources is structural and permanent, guaranteeing that the water reaches the tap in perfect sanitary conditions and that, once used, it returns to the environment without damaging it is not an option, it is an obligation.” The challenge of quantity and quality. The water challenge is not exclusive to the Alicante coast, it is a national problem. According to official data from the Ministry of Health (SINAC)the quality of water in Spain is increasingly threatened. The filtration of nitrates from industrial agricultural activity is saturating the self-cleaning capacity of many aquifers, putting local water treatment plants in hundreds of municipalities in check, especially in inland Spain. While much of inland Spain deals with nitrate pollution, Benidorm faces its own perfect storm: extreme seasonal demand and the threat of shortages. The city not only needs to ensure that there is enough water for everyone, but that its quality is impeccable under all circumstances, regardless of whether it comes from the Guadalest reservoir, the Amadorio reservoir or the Bajo del Algar Canal. To overcome this crisis, the tourist capital has shielded itself around two essential infrastructures managed by Veolia: the Drinking Water Treatment Station (ETAP) and the Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). Beyond thirst. Water quality is synonymous with public health and economic survival. In fact, consuming water with nitrate levels close to or higher The European legal limit of 50 mg/L carries serious risks, and recent medical studies suggest that even much lower thresholds could be linked to oncological problems. Treating water to the millimeter is, therefore, a matter of life or death. On the economic level, as the newspaper highlights Informationfor the enormous hotel plant in Benidorm, opening the tap and letting water flow with total health guarantees “is not a secondary detail: it is a basic requirement to operate and to maintain the trust of visitors.” In addition, the system must be able to withstand the onslaught of the weather. According to Alicante Plazathe ETAP faces extreme scenarios after episodes of torrential rains, when the water collected arrives with enormous turbidity due to the dragging of sediments. Given this, the plant adjusts its treatments in real time. “Our responsibility does not end with there being water; it ends when that water reaches the tap in perfect condition,” says Noelia Llinares, ETAP plant manager, in these media. Leaving behind traditional management. As detailed by Veoliathe answer is in technology. A digital ecosystem has been deployed in Benidorm that includes network-wide sensors, leak detection algorithms and remote control systems. This has allowed the milestone of reducing water losses in the network to minimum levels of 5%. To support this burden, ETAP itself already received a powerful injection of more than 9 million euros in its last major expansion in 2010. But the cycle does not end at the sink. The WWTP works under a strict circular economy philosophy: used water is not waste, it is a resource. Today, 35% of the water that reaches the treatment plant is already reused, mainly for agricultural irrigation. And there is an extra factor that adds complexity: wastewater treatment plants are electricity devourers. To counteract this, María José Martínez, head of the WWTP, details that the facility uses byproducts such as biogas or sludge to generate its own energy. “The objective is clear: for the plant to become increasingly self-sufficient and for its environmental footprint to be as small as possible,” says Martínez. The next challenge: squeeze regeneration. Behind all this there is an ambitious project underway: the Regenerated Water Master Plan. The short-term objective is to take advantage of up to 2 additional cubic hectometers of regenerated water for purely urban uses, alleviating the suffocation of conventional sources and reinforcing the network against drought. Benidorm has empirically demonstrated that the high numbers of mass tourism and water sustainability are not antagonistic concepts, but rather necessary allies. In a context marked by climate change, the experience of the city of Alicante provides an inescapable journalistic and vital lesson: intelligent water management is no longer a simple competitive advantage or a green slogan. It is, purely and simply, a question of survival. Every drop counts, from the moment it is dammed until, thanks to engineering, it is regenerated to start again. Image | Diego Delso Xataka | The future of 150,000 hectares of crops is decided today. We have been fighting for decades, but the wars over water have only just begun

The super Niño of 1877 wiped out 4% of the world’s population. The one that is already beginning to form promises to be worse, but what does that mean in 2027?

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In the last week, El Niño has become suddenly real. Media like Washington Post, BBC or countless media in Spanish have begun to compare what is coming to us with El superNiño of 1877, the event that “wiped out 4% of the world’s population.” And, stated this way, it is no wonder; The story is simple: “a Child Godzilla is coming and no one knows if we are ready.” That is why it is important to know what exactly we are talking about and if, in short, “we are all going to die.” How serious is the matter? As we said a few days ago, between March and May the reliability of ENSO forecasts is usually worse than normal (because the equatorial Pacific anomalies go through their transition phase). That makes everyone go with “lead feet”; but the data is worrying. Ben Noll of the Washington Post broadcast on May 8 that the North American Multi-Model Ensemble projected “the strongest El Niño on record” between October 2026 and January 2027, with a peak of +3.1 °C in November. They are big words. Above all, because the ECMWF is along the same lines. In the words of Diego Restrepo, “El Niño is rapidly intensifying, and now 8 out of 10 models point to a super event and four project the strongest one on record.” And this looks like 1877? That is Noll’s thesis and it has been repeated a lot in recent days. However, the comparison is misleading. First, because, although the models are pointing to a historical ENSO, they are still models. That is, we still have no idea what is going to happen. And, to be strict, until the models recover their full potential in June, we will not know well. Second because, as argued by Kimberley Reid, from the University of Melbournethe intensity measured in the central Pacific does not translate linearly into impacts. Taking into account everything that has changed in this century and a half at a climate level, the impacts may be completely different. And thirdly because El Niño of 1877 was not the cause of that catastrophe. Yes, it is true that he set the conditions for it to occur but, as noted Mike Davis in “Late Victorian Holocausts”what killed throughout that quarter of a century were colonial policies. And what happened in 1877? A strange combination between a superNiño, the Indian Dipole and a tremendously warm North Atlantic between the years 1876–78 caused a global drought. The problem is that, in a world governed by imperialism, grain exports did not stop and, as local resilience mechanisms had been dismantled, a famine occurred that killed some 50 million people. But the consensus is clear: no matter how intense El Niño was, it caused the problem of its management. And that, although it may not seem like it, is good news. A few years ago the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) published a report with a clear warning: “climate-related disasters” have increased since the 1970s. Specifically, they have multiplied by five over the last five decades. According to their calculations, in the 1980s, 1,400 incidents were recorded – their tables include extreme weather, climate and water phenomena – and in the 1990s, just over 2,200. In the first decade of the 21st century, 3,500 were reached and during the last decade, which spans from 2010 to 2019, it was close to 3,200. Curiously, this increase in the number of disasters has coincided with a decrease in the number of victims. The WMO data is clearalso: from more than 50,000 deaths in the 1970s (incidents basically related to climate and water are taken into account) it went to less than 20,000 in 2010. From an average of 170 a day in the 70s and 80s, it dropped in the 90s to less than a hundred a day and to 40 at the beginning of the 21st century. What will happen? As Restrepo also points out“despite having more information and knowledge, today we have warmer oceans, much more vulnerable ecosystems and collapsing biodiversity. This could generate impacts on health and risks for food, water and energy security.” However, we are more prepared and more importantly we have time to prepare. The ball is in our court. Image | Ben Noll In Xataka | There are more and more extreme weather events. In return, they are leaving fewer victims than ever

There are meteorologists who are already comparing El Niño of 2027 with that of 1877, a catastrophic event that wiped out 4% of the population

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We have been worried about El Niño for weeks and rightly so. One by one, the main weather forecasters have been warning us that curves are coming. It is true that on April 24, 2026, the World Meteorological Organization refused to call it “super”, but its refusal is purely terminological: what is clear is that everything indicates that “it could be strong or very strong.” Even Ryan Maue, one of the most controversial meteorologists of the moment (for his criticism of “climate alarmism”), has become nervous and has linked what is coming directly to the El Niño of 1877-78. That event wiped out 4% of the planet’s population. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves and remember what El Niño is. By ‘El Niño’ we refer to a cyclical (although very irregular) climate phenomenon that has great effects on the global climate. Huge, in fact. If we exclude the stations, it is the most important source of annual climate variability from all over the planet. During the warm phase (that is, during El Niño), the absence of strong trade winds that cool the surface of the equatorial Pacific causes the temperature of that area of ​​the ocean to skyrocket. It is this, through different atmospheric teleconnectionswhich disrupts all the weather systems in the world. The effects are varied and change depending on the region (“drier conditions than normal in certain parts of the world; while in others it causes more precipitation. Some countries have to deal with major droughts and others with torrential rains”, says AEMET); But when we talk about temperatures there is no doubt: El Niño is synonymous with heat and, in many places in the world, hunger. That’s what happened in 1877. According to modern reconstructionsEl Niño of 1877-78 was the most intense since 1850: sea surface temperatures remained high for 16 months and, as if that were not enough, that coincided with two warm phenomena (in the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic). That triggered a drought of unusual magnitude. However, the 4% figure is problematic. Not because it’s not realbut because (firstly) it corresponds to a longer period that begins in 1877, but lasts until 1902. And, secondly, because the demographic catastrophe was not a direct effect of the climate, but the result of colonial policies: in many areas of the world they were forced to export grain to the metropolises despite famines. In this sense, transferring the mortality figures from that year to today (even if El Niño reached a similar intensity) is not serious. Although it can be expensive. We must not forget that the super El Niño of 97-98, one of the strongest ENSOs in recent years, caused numerous consequences that lasted for years: the estimates say which caused damage to global economic growth of around 5.7 trillion dollars. That is, we are not talking about an episode from 100 years ago, but something that happened 30 years ago and that draws the framework in which state policies have to work. Above all, because although Spain is not in the first row, the consequences can be global. We are no longer talking about diffuse teleconnections (more rain in some areas), we are talking about enormous economic pressure in international markets that have been having a hard time for years. Nobody is very clear what is going to happen, but we do know that we have to prepare for it. Image | Xataka In Xataka | “It is so extreme that it is difficult to believe”: El Niño forecasts depict an event of unprecedented intensity.

Sleeping four hours a day and performing at your best is not a myth, it is a genetic rarity of 1% of the population

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There are people who boast of sleeping only four or five hours a day and claim to wake up fresh as a lettuce, something that can generate a lot of envy, but also skepticism, since it seems hardly credible being able to sleep little and be so active. And science has not stopped saying that sleeping little it is very bad for your healthalthough there is an exception to the rule (as we are used to seeing). What we knew. For decades, the unwavering recommendation of the World Health Organization and sleep medicine experts they have been clear: a healthy adult needs between 7 and 9 hours of sleep night so that your immune system, your metabolism and your mental health function properly. Getting out of there, below, is buying tickets for diseases such as, for example, Alzheimer’s to appear. The exception. Given this rule, there is 1% of the world’s population that has a true genetic superpower that allows them to bypass this rule without any consequences. And the culprit has been detected by researcher Ying-Hui Fu, who after tracking down these people has seen that it has an important genetic component. How it looked. To do this, the researcher decided to analyze entire families where several of their members ‘functioned’ perfectly with just six hours of sleep, without showing daytime sleepiness or cognitive deterioration, while the rest of their family members needed more than eight hours of sleep. And from here, the culprit had a first and last name: the mutation of the DEC2 gene, known as BHLHE41. Although this finding has been the tip of the iceberg, because subsequent studies in animal models and entire families of humans have found a real cocktail of mutations in other genes that seem to optimize sleep so that four hours is more than enough. And it even gave them a ‘protective shield’ against cognitive decline when they faced even shorter nights. In the end they are all benefits. Because you don’t have to try. Reading about these mutations can be tempting, since, after all, different very relevant figures have sold us the myth that we should sleep little because it is a waste of time, and we should get up early at five in the morning. But the truth is that it is vital to separate these people who have an alteration in their genetics from people who sleep little because they want to. If this is not the 1% of the population (which is most likely), science suggests that chronically sleeping six hours or less during middle age increases the risk of suffer from dementia by 30%and even the chances of suffering from diabetes or hypertension also increase. This means that the body should not be deprived of sleep when it is ‘asking for’ it. Something that is noticeable as soon as you wake up. Future views. The interest of the scientific community aims to perfectly understand how these genes can make sleep much more efficient, and above all how they protect against different diseases related to sleep deprivation. In this way, the long-term goal is not necessarily to create pills so that we all sleep four hours and work more, but rather to develop therapies for sleep disorders or prevent diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Images | user18526052 on Freepik In Xataka | Drink water right before going to sleep? Science has finally clarified whether it is a good idea or a terrible enemy of sleep

The countries with the highest number of billionaires among their population, brought together in a very revealing graph

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The great fortunes they are not distributed uniformly across the planet. A few countries concentrate the majority of the world’s billionaires, while others barely contribute names to that exclusive club. The geographical distribution of extreme wealth leaves us with a snapshot that gives clues about which countries or tax policies encourage capital accumulation and they are the perfect breeding ground for generating wealth. In 2025, the wealth gap between the average population and the great fortunes has skyrocketed, but it has also left evidence of this difference between countries. The comparative graph prepared by Visual Capitalist allows you to compare this distribution in a very visual and direct way. The graph is powered by data provided by the study’Billionaire Ambitions Report 2025‘ prepared by UBS and the consulting firm PwC, in which an annual record of the number of billionaires is maintained. That is, people with assets exceeding one billion dollars at the beginning of the year. A billionaire factory To no one’s surprise, the US dominates by a wide margin the world ranking of countries according to the number of billionaires. The country hosts 924 people with a net worth of over a billion dollars, a figure that practically doubles that of the second-ranked player. This concentration also translates into a increase in joint wealthsince the sum of the US fortunes reaches a total of about 6.9 trillion dollars. China is in second place with 470 billionaires among its population. However, despite accounting for almost 50% of the billionaires in the US, their combined wealth is much lower, being close to 1.8 trillion dollars. That is to say, we only have half as many millionaires as the US, their combined assets are almost four times less. Third place on the list of countries with the most billionaires is occupied by India with 188 people with assets exceeding one billion dollars. Again, the comparison between India and China reveals a asynchronous growth between the number of millionaires and their total assets, with a combined capital of 888,000 million dollars. That is, with one third of China’s millionaires, the sum of the assets of the Indian magnates It is half of its Chinese counterparts. This reveals that a good number of Chinese millionaires have managed to overcome the billion-dollar barrier, but the accumulation of wealth from these great fortunes is not as pronounced as in other countries such as the US or India. The European map of billionaires Europe presents a internal distribution marked by notable differences between countries. According to data from the UBS report, Germany tops the European list with 156 billionairesbeing the main country on the continent in this aspect. Their combined fortune amounts to 692 billion dollars, which places them in a position alienated from the proportions of the United States or India. Common names also appear in the list in the lists of countries with millionaire populations, What are the United Kingdom like?which occupies fifth place with 91 billionairesor Switzerland with 84 great fortunes. In the following ranks are countries like Italy, which with 61 billionaires occupies the eighth position in number of great fortunes. France is also among the countries with outstanding figures, although well below these three leaders as it occupies thirteenth position in the ranking. In these cases, the harsh sales crisis in the Chinese and Asian markets for luxury products have seriously affected the balance sheets of exclusive brands like LVMH or Ferrariwhose owners are located as standard bearers of those great fortunes. The distribution of fortunes makes it clear that, even within Europethe concentration of billionaires tends to cluster in industrialized economies or with fiscal policies very oriented to capital returns. Spain takes positions Spain is not among the European countries with more billionairesalthough it has experienced recent growth in that select group. According to UBS data for 2025, the total number of Spanish billionaires who exceed the billion-dollar threshold It is 32 people. This figure places Spain as the seventeenth country with the most billionaires behind countries such as Germany, the United Kingdom or Italy in the continental ranking. The total combined wealth of the Spanish billionaires reaches $213.1 billion (about 182,602 million euros) in 2025, with an increase of 21.5% compared to previous years. However, in the Spanish case, the concentration of assets is not uniform, there is one figure that monopolizes a good part of that total assets: Amancio Ortega. In Xataka | Seven of the ten largest fortunes in the world in 2026 are due to AI: this illustrative graph makes it very clear Image | Visual Capitalist

China has done everything to stop its population bleeding. The result is the lowest birth rate since 1949

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China has encountered an even more complex challenge than the real estate crisis, the trade war with the US or the future of Taiwan: the babies. As your birth rate deflates (leaving the number of newborns below the number of deaths) the Asian giant is becoming less and less “giant”, a trend that threatens to punish the nation’s economy. Beijing knows it and that is why it takes time deploying measures that seek to boost their demographics. The problem is that, despite his many efforts, he can’t hit the nail on the head. Your latest official data birth rates show a new setback. What has happened? That despite all its efforts, China has not been able to stop its demographic hemorrhage. This is how it reveals the last balance from the National Bureau of Statistics of China (NBS), which shows a scenario similar to that suffered by other nations (inside and outside Asia) shaken by demographic winter: fewer babies, more deaths and general population decline. In short: a country that continues to lose weight little by little and risks complying UN predictionswhich estimates that by 2100 China will have lost more than half of its population, remaining at the size it had in the late 1950s. What does the data say? That in 2025 the authorities counted 7.92 million of births, 17% less than the previous year. The data leaves two other negative readings: the first is that it suggests that the birth rate increase registered in 2024 was punctual and has not been consolidated over time. After that brief rebound (which some associate to the cultural influence of ‘Year of the Dragon’) the Chinese birth rate has resumed the negative curve that it has been drawing for years. The second negative reading is that the decrease in the number of births has in turn reduced the country’s birth rate, leaving it in 5.63 births per 1,000 people. This is a historic low. A fact that has not been seen since (at least) 1949, year of foundation of the People’s Republic of China. It is about the steepest drop birth rate for the last five years. As AP News recallsChinese authorities do not regularly publish their fertility rate, but their last estimate, from 2020, was 1.3 children per woman. Now that indicator would have dropped to 1. The data is far from the “replacement rate” (2.1), essential to keep a country’s population stable. Click on the image to go to the tweet. Are there more figures? Yes. And they are just as bad. Deaths increased, going from 10.93 million registered in 2024 to 11.31 in 2025. The result of this drop in birth rates and increase in deaths was a natural loss of population (the data does not allude to the migratory effect) that brings China even closer to the projections of the United Nations by the end of the century. The NBS balance sheet reflects the loss of some 3.39 million of Chinese, leaving the country’s total population at around 1,405 million. It is the fourth consecutive year in which the country sees its population reduced, which has caused China to no longer be the most populous nation on the planet: from 2023 that honor India boasts itwhich comfortably exceeds the 1.4 billion of people. Why is it important? Birth rate and census are more than just demographic variables. They also influence the future of the country. The size of the population is directly related, for example, to domestic consumption (key piece in the country’s economy) or the health of its workforce. The demographic winter threatens to subject China to the same social pressures as other countries in Asia and the West, only on a much larger scale. Right now the population over 60 years old represents 23%. If nothing changes, in 2035 that strip will add 400 million of people, just like the entire population of the US and Italy combined. The big question is how that will affect their pension system. At the moment the country already has increased the retirement age. How to change it? That is the other reason why the NBS data is so important and has probably fallen like a bucket of cold water on Beijing. It’s not just about fewer babies being born and population being lost, it’s that the Government has been looking for a way to avoid it for some time… without success, at least until now. As far as birth rates are concerned, it seems to have hit the same rock as other neighboring nations that face a similar challenge, like japan either South Korea. What have you tried? Of everything. And without much success. Despite the billions of dollars invested in child care programs, the facilities offered to those considering becoming parents (from subsidies to medical attention) and efforts to form new couplesthe birth rate continues without increasing. And the Chinese authorities have gone to the extreme of go door to door encouraging women to be mothers. The reason? Beyond the influence of ‘one child’ policy (abandoned a decade ago) there are those who point to cultural changes and the high cost that (despite everything) parenthood entails in China. A 2024 report from the YuWan Population Research Institute in fact concluded that China is one of the most expensive places to raise children (especially if we talk about cities), even more than in Japan or the United States in relative terms. The study addressed both direct and opportunity costs. Image | Peijia Li (Unsplash) In Xataka | China knows that its population is going to collapse but it already has a long-term plan to solve it. Of course, thanks to AI

A beetle is decimating the population of Salamanca. And the biggest problem is that it is protected

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The story is old, He is almost 20 years old: a protected beetle is destroying the Salamanca oak forests. It is a wood borer that digs galleries in the oaks and ends up weakening them to the point of death. The aggravation. And, although it is true that the dehesa is a very small and localized ecosystem, its economic, social and symbolic importance is enormous. Therefore, the idea of ​​a plague that is ‘drilling’ the productive infrastructure of western Spain and that cannot be controlled because it is “in danger of extinction” makes many people nervous. The problem, as always, is that the matter is a little more complicated. What is that Cerambyx pig? Also known as ‘greater capriconium of the oaks‘, it is one of the largest beetles left in Europe. It is relatively easy to recognize it because it has disproportionate, enormous antennae, longer than the body itself. And yes, indeed, the Habitats Directive protects it at European level. That is, member states have the obligation to establish special areas for their conservation. What happens is that in Spain, at least, this has generated problems: to what we have already mentioned about the oak forests of Castilla y León, we must add the case of the Balearic Islands where the authorities they dedicate million-dollar budgets to protect the Tramuntana Mountains from the overpopulation of these insects. So it is a problem, right? Yes of course. What happens is that a small detail is usually ignored: that, as technical studies have been saying for decadesthe most susceptible trees are usually old or in poor physiological condition. That is to say, historically the greater Capricorn had an almost symbiotic relationship with ecosystems: it helped ‘renew’ the forest, eliminating trees in poor condition. That is, the current problem it’s not just the beetle: it is the poor state of the mountains and pastures. Disrepair? a few weeks ago we were talking de la Seca, a serious disease caused by a pathogen (Phytophthora cinnamomi), linked directly to the decay and death of holm oaks and cork oaks. But, as we also said, despite the alarmism about pests, they are the consequence of decades of bad forestry practices that have undermined the ecosystem from within. The pasture, we already know, is not a ‘virgin natural environment’: it is a very complex agro-silvo-pastoral system the result of centuries of forest clearing, extensive grazing and human uses of all kinds. Practices that have disappeared and have been replaced by other industrial practices that applied little management and a lot of brute force. To that, we must also add climate change. Mytec What is in danger of extinction is the ecosystem. That is the real problem: the hundreds and thousands of trees in poor condition, with strong water stress and problems of all kinds. And that’s where pests grow. Let’s go back to the beetle. Because, of course, its special protection status makes managing it even more difficult than normal. That’s why, The normal complaint is that “you can’t fumigate”: but that doesn’t mean you can’t ‘fight’. Things like silvicultural prevention, surveillance and advanced technical means can help control populations. Furthermore, the same regulations that protect it allows more serious approaches when necessary. However, the problem is the same as always: the forest (even a forest as socio-economically important as the dehesa) is only profitable if the externalities generated by its exploitation are not considered. The best examplewe have been seeing in Murcia for years. Image | Mytec / Josh Hume In Xataka | In California, the funds discovered that there is no investment more profitable than farmland. Now it’s Spain’s turn

Madrid and Catalonia are losing national population while gaining foreign population

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The latest data of the INE on population flows show a curious phenomenon (almost contradictory) in two of the most populated regions of the country: Community of Madrid and Catalonia. Although both maintain their capacity to attract emigrants from other countries, they have been losing already resident populations for some time. in favor of other autonomieswhich translates into an “internal” migratory balance in the red. In short: your migratory motor has two speeds. The big question is to what extent it is the result of housing cost. What has happened? that the latest data from the INE confirm that Madrid and Catalonia remain the favorite destinations for immigrants who decide to move to Spain, but at the same time both communities see how many of their own neighbors pack their bags to move to other regions neighbors, such as Castilla-La Mancha (case of Madrid) or the Valencian Community (case of Catalonia). The data is especially interesting if we take into account that they arrive with a residential market with skyrocketing prices. Community Total immigration balance SM Exterior indoor SM Andalusia 61,912 67,770 -5,858 Aragon 18,024 17,048 976 Asturias 14,225 10,340 3,885 Balearics 17,118 15,735 1,383 Canary Islands 27,770 27,331 439 Cantabria 5,977 5,051 926 Castile and León 26,407 24,316 2,091 Castile-La Mancha 27,746 23,819 3,927 Catalonia 122,593 129,030 -6,437 Valencian Community 115,742 104,776 10,966 Estremadura 4,008 5,096 -1,088 Galicia 30,325 27,730 2,595 Community of Madrid 100,971 113,964 -12,993 Murcia region 17,531 18,704 -1,173 Navarre 6,976 7,264 -288 The Basque Country 24,190 23,420 770 Rioja 3,906 2,998 908 Ceuta 217 416 -199 Melilla 630 1,460 -830 Is the trend so clear? Yes. It comes with taking a look at the tables of INE immigration balances to verify it. If we look at the balance of foreign migration (the difference between the population from other countries that moved to Spain and the Spanish population that settled in other nations), in 2034 the Catalan community registered a clearly positive result: +129,030 people. Things change when we talk about “internal migration”, which reflects population movements between the different Spanish communities, always within the country. In that case the balance left a negative result: -6,437. That is, there were 53,585 people from other regions who settled in Catalonia, but 60,022 Catalans who packed their bags to go to other autonomies. And in Madrid? The ‘photo’ It’s not very different. Its external migration balance showed a positive result of 113,964 people, but that of “internal migration” left a negative balance, with the loss of 12,993 residents. In 2024 there were 100,342 people from other communities who registered in one of the municipalities of Madrid, but 113,335 did exactly the opposite: they decided to pack their bags and change the capital for other regions. In fact, the Community of Madrid shows the worst internal migration balance (at least in net terms) in the country. Only Catalonia (-6,437) and Andalusia, which showed a negative balance of -5,858, come close (and by far). It’s not really a surprise. In May we told you how there are people from Madrid moving to Valladolid and taking the AVE every day to continue working in the capital. Can it go further? Yes. The INE allows you to go beyond the autonomous communities and obtain data at the municipal or even submunicipal level, by neighborhood. It is an interesting tool because it confirms how this double phenomenon is exacerbated in the two main cities of the country: Madrid and Barcelona. In the first (Madrid) the external migration balance was 73,959 people and the internal one was -18,722. In Barcelona these indicators marked +46,974 and -17,020, respectively. Valencia also presents a positive external balance and a negative internal balance, despite the fact that the community as a whole gained migration. Why is it interesting? Because population flows are not isolated phenomena. They occur in a context marked by multiple factors, among which is (especially if we talk about recent years) the increase in price of housing and an increase in ‘overcrowded homes’those in which people reside in overcrowded conditions. There are also another clear trend: the increase in certain migratory flows, such as those of Venezuelan origin, a phenomenon that is being felt in neighborhoods of all types of income. A recent study from Idealista confirms that Madrid and Barcelona are two of the most expensive cities in Spain. And he is not the only one. Photohouse calculate that Madrid and Catalonia are two of the regions with the most expensive second-hand housing in Spain, only surpassed by the Balearic Islands and (in the case of Catalonia) the Canary Islands and Euskadi. Does housing have that much influence? The INE study suggests this, especially because it appreciates differences within the municipalities themselves. “In some of the main cities it is observed that the most central districts are losing population, while the most remote ones are gaining it,” comments the organizationwhich cites several specific cases already confirm the trend: “In 2024 in Madrid, the subdistricts on the southeastern periphery were the ones that had the highest balance. In Barcelona and Valencia, those in the south were the ones that gained the most.” Of course more factors come into play. The Canary Islands or Balearic Islands, two regions very marked by rising housing prices and tourism, closed 2024 with a positive balance in both external and internal migration, just like the Basque Country. Castilla-La Mancha and Castilla y León also grew, receivers of a good part of the population that decided to leave the capital, and the Valencian Community, also a destination for internal migration from Barcelona. Images | Joshua Aguilar (Unsplash) and INE In Xataka | The silent surprise of Venezuelans: the number of immigrants has skyrocketed in Madrid, eclipsing Romanians and Moroccans

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