Portugal

Mercadona wanted to find out in Portugal if its business formula works outside of Spain. You already have the answer

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Your bet on the white labelthe short assortment, ready-to-eat foods and territorial expansion has allowed Mercadona to gain almost 30% of the Spanish market, far surpassing its competitors in the retail. That’s nothing new. What is curious is that this same bet seems to be giving good results also in Portugal, a country in which the chain premiered in 2019 with a first store in Vila Nova de Gaia. Since then the Valencian company not only he got sixth in your expansion lusa, has also expanded its business quota. And it doesn’t seem to be going bad at all. Beyond Spain. The percentage may vary depending on the period or region being analyzed, but for some time now studies on retail show that Mercadona is (by far) the chain that takes the largest part of the distribution business in Spain. In January, the consulting firm Nielsen presented a report on “mass consumption” that it assigns to Juan Roig’s chain 29.5% of the marketwell above direct competitors such as Carrefour, Lidl or DIA. This footprint is explained by a strategy that dates back (at least) to the end of the 80s, when the Valencian company made the leap to Madrid. On the other side of ‘la Raya’, however, its history is much more recent. Mercadona did not put its head into the Portuguese market until 2016when it decided to bet on its internationalization, and its first store in the neighboring country is even more recent: a 18,000 m2 supermarket in Vila Nova de Gaia opened in 2019. Chain Distribution share in Portugal (2024) Distribution share in Portugal (2025) Continent 26.6% 27.5% Pingo Doce 21.7% 21.7% Lidl 13% 12.9% Mercadona 7.0% 7.2% Intermarché 6.6% 6.4% Auchan 4.4% 5.3% aldi 2.7% 2.9% Miniprice 23% 0.8% Leclerc 0.8% 0.8% And how is it going there? We knew that the company was expanding for Portugal, which in 2024 achieved a positive net result and that in 2025 its profit in the neighboring country amounted to 26 million of euros; What we have just discovered is that this data is largely explained by its share of business. The Economist just published a report from Worldpanel by Numerator (formerly Kantar) that shows that the Valencian chain has established itself in the ‘TOP 5’ of the most important firms in the Portuguese distribution sector. A percentage: 7.2%. To be more precise, in 2025 its quota rose to 7.2%two percentage points more than in 2024. It is a much lower percentage than in Spain, but it draws attention when analyzed in its context. First, because Mercadona has gained that 7.2% gap in just five years, a time in which it has overtaken firms such as Intermarché, Auchan or Aldi. Second, because it is already the fourth distribution chain in terms of business footprint. It is only surpassed by Lidl (12.9%) and above all Pingo Doce (21.7%) and Continente (27.5%), the undisputed leaders of the retail in the neighboring country. Gaining weight. Mercadona has not only increased its share of the pie in the Portuguese business. It has also expanded its territorial footprint. And clearly. When it opened its first store, in the summer of 2019, the firm has already advanced that its landing did not only include the supermarket in the Porto area, it also contemplated a logistics block, offices and plans to open nine other stores that year. In his last annual reportpresented just a few weeks ago, Mercadona specifies that it closed 2025 with 69 stores, 7,500 employees and a turnover of 2,092 million euros in Portugal, which contributed to closing the year in green. If nothing goes wrong, the company plans launch another five super soon. “Since 2019, the company has invested a cumulative total of 1,230 million euros and, in this second year in which it registered a positive result in the country, it achieved a net profit of 26 million,” explains. According to his calculations, he already monopolizes 3.5% share in total sales area in Portugal. Are they all advantages? Not at all. If Mercadona has managed to establish its business share in Portugal, it has been largely thanks to its investment, the opening of new stores and the creation of a ambitious logistics block in Santarém. However, the Worldpanel by Numerator data that confirms its growth also reflects that it will not be easy if it wants to continue growing. The Valencian firm has Lidl ahead of it, but above all Pingo Doce and Continenttwo chains with decades of history and a very wide presence in Portugal. Between them they add up hundreds and hundreds of points of sale spread across the country and a market share that the old Kantar figure at 49.2%. Images | Continent and Mercadona Via | elEconomista.es In Xataka | Mercadona and the rest of the supermarkets have realized something worrying: they spend a million dollars on printing paper

Until 1868, an “independent” microstate inhabited the Iberian Peninsula between Portugal and Galicia: Couto Mixto

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If you travel to Santiago de Rubiasa village in the municipality of Calvos de Randínin Ourense, you can enjoy a few things: good landscapes, good food, a Romanesque church with paintings dating from the 16th century and a bronze statueinstalled since April 2008 on one side of the atrium, which shows an old man with a mustache and shaggy sideburns, wearing a hat, cape and a cane. Next to it you will find a plaque that identifies it as Delfin Modesto Brandon. This Delfín Modesto was not an Indian who returned from the Americas with his pockets lined with money, nor a confused pilgrim on his route to Compostela. Nor a particularly popular neighbor or priest. If he is still remembered today in Calvos de Randín it is because he was the last of a long and interesting line of statesmen. Of course, of a different state to Spanish or Portuguese. In the 21st century we remember Delfín Modesto because he was the last judge with executive and judicial powers of Mixed Coutoa republic that for several centuries survived as an independent territory on the peninsula. Independent of the Spanish and Portuguese courts, with its own system of administration, rights and privileges. A true historical rarity, a political hiatus in the middle of Raya that managed to survive for nearly seven centuries and there are those who point out even as one of the first European democracies. Of Couto Mixto we know better its characteristics and how it was governed and ended than its origins. Its birth usually dates back to the 12th century, to the time of the Treaty of Zamorafor which Alfonso I of Portugal (Afonso Henriques) and Alfonso VII of León They achieved an agreement that is usually marked as the birth of the Portuguese kingdom. With this backdrop and taking advantage of the birth of a new and above all extensive border between both kingdoms, Couto Mixto was created, a small portion of territory located in the intermediate basin of the Salas River who managed to stay outside the designs of Spain and Portugal. That particular “microstate” was made up only three villas: Rubias dos Mixtos, Meaus and Santiago de Rubiás, where the locals decided to establish their capital and administrative center. Small but independent Couto Mixto was small, so much so that its extension barely reached the 27 square kilometers and it did not have more than a thousand inhabitants in its census. It was probably this peculiarity, added to the fact that the place was not especially prosperous or central, that allowed it to survive with its special status for several centuries without Spain or Portugal paying it much attention. And this despite the fact that the microstate was a real rarity on the peninsular map. Because of its characteristics. And for his government system. As remember Tourism of Galiciaan organization that today promotes the place precisely for its historical interest, functioned as a kind of “federal republic” with two great administrative figures: a representative of each of the three towns, which they called “home of agreement“, and a chief judge (“xuiz“) who was elected every three years and exercised the highest authority. Its inhabitants also enjoyed a series of rights that, at least in certain aspects, made them privileged. They could choose between receiving Spanish nationality, Portuguese nationality or renouncing both and remaining as a citizen of Couto Mixto. Furthermore, they were exempt from fulfill military service. The microstate I didn’t have to provide soldiersbenefited from an interesting tax exemption and boasted freedom of trade and cultivation. Another of its oddities is that the small “microstate” enjoyed the “right of asylum”, which was applied in all cases except those of blood crimes. If we add to that peculiarity that it welcomed the “Privileged Path”a road of about six kilometers that linked Couto with the neighboring Portuguese town of Tourem and it was exempt from military or fiscal control, it will be understood why over time it became an interesting point for smuggling and fugitives. No matter how small, cornered, and ancient Couto was, it was not destined to survive forever. A few centuries after being established, Spain and Portugal decided to shelve that territorial anomaly. The negotiations were fruitful in Lisbon Treatywhich in 1864 allowed both countries to definitively establish their common border. The pact defined the Raya from the mouth of the Miño River to the union of the Caia and the Guadiana. And it swept away the microstate, which was incorporated into Spain, deprived of its privileges. Perhaps the tiny republic no longer exists, but its memory remains. In the atrium of the church of Santiago de Rubiás, the nerve center of the old republic, where its inhabitants met to decide relevant issues for the microstate, it has been built since 2008. the statue of Delfín Modesto Brandonhis last judge. Inside the church there is also a replica of the ark that guarded the archive of the old republic, a chest that could only be opened with three keys, one for each “home of agreement“. Their neighbors continue to meet even today in the atrium to celebrate a symbolic act in which they name their honorary judges. In Xataka | When the USSR declared war, Finland decided to protect its roads in a peculiar way: with flying trees In Xataka | There was an advanced civilization high in the Andes that based its dominance on one thing: feces. In Xataka | In 1888 an English doctor dissected a corpse down to its nerves. And illuminated forensic science along the way Images| Wikimedia (map by José de Castro López (1863)), Portasxures and Wikipedia (Fabio Mendes)

Portugal had to choose where to take its AVE first. And between Madrid and Galicia, it is very clear

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It was October 2025 when the news broke. Then we learned that Madrid and Lisbon would be linked by a high-speed train in 2034. The objective set by Spain, Portugal and the European Commission is that both capitals are connected by a train that covers the journey in about three hours of travel. The first step to recover that connection is to have a line ready in 2030 with conventional trains that reopen traffic between both cities without having to change trains. The project rescues a line that It already existed in the 19th century but that time has erased. Furthermore, it follows the designs of a European Union that opts for the train over the plane and is that being able to cover this journey in 180 minutes would be a blow against air traffic, which is much more polluting. If the schedule is met, the AVE between both cities will be available almost three decades later than planned. The news, furthermore, seemed to indicate that Galicia was being relegated to the background. And the region has been fighting alongside Portugal for years to have a high-speed rail connection that structures the Atlantic axis. We now know that Portugal will prioritize Galicia over Madrid. First Galicia, then Madrid The confirmation came from the Portuguese Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, during the XXXVI Spanish-Portuguese Summit held in La Rábida (Huelva) who has indicated that he trusts that the Lisbon-Oporto-Vigo line will be completed in 2033 and, therefore, the deadlines prior to the agreement are met with Europe and Spain on Madrid-Lisbon. The words were collected in The Newspaper and it is confirmation that between Madrid and Galicia, The first place Portugal looks to is Galicia. The latest agreements to carry out trains between both cities seemed to put this connection between the Galician city and the two large Portuguese cities at risk. It must be taken into account that the first objective was for Madrid and Lisbon to already have a high-speed connection ready by 2030, the year in which Spain and Portugal (along with Morocco) will organize the Soccer World Cup. However, given the impossibility of meeting the deadlines, a delay until 2034 was agreed upon. This delay has not put at risk the Atlantic corridor in which The European Union has already invested 250 million euros (more than 750 million euros of European funds have already been spent on Madrid-Lisbon) and up to 3,000 million euros delivered by the European Investment Bank (EIB) in the form of soft loans. In Portugal they defend that the connection between their cities and the north of Spain is much more important than the link with Madrid. The high-speed project between Lisbon, Porto and Vigo had already consumed 11,000 million euros as of 2023 and, in the words of Carlos Fernandes, vice president of Infrastructure in Portugal, collected by The reason “develops our country and the centrality of our cities, and not the centrality of other Iberian cities (in relation to Madrid).” For the project to go ahead, it is necessary for Portugal to comply with the plans but also for Spain to have a high-speed exit between Vigo and Tui. From the Portuguese side, they have never denied that they prefer to prioritize the corridor towards Galicia. Pedro Nuno Santos, then Minister of Infrastructure, criticized Renfe in 2022 in an interview with The Countryensuring that they had maintained the night train between Vigo and Portugal but that on the Spanish side no one towed the trains. Right now, the trip between Vigo and Porto takes two hours and 20 minutes. That is, 140 minutes that would become only 50 minutes once the high-speed connection between both cities is consolidated. In fact, those 140 minutes are what is expected to take between Vigo and Lisbon, a huge leap by current standards. The big loser of the dispute is Extremadura. The region has been hearing for years about a Madrid-Lisbon connection that never seems to come. After years where trains have been a real headache, everything indicates that high speed should be completely ready in the region by 2030 but the delay to 2034 has been marked by the deadlines on the Portuguese side. The step forward in high speed is also key in Extremaduran mobility because, for example, it will allow connecting Madrid with Cáceres in one hour (right now it takes more than three hours) and Madrid with Mérida or Badajoz in just over an hour and a half when to reach the latter from Madrid you have to spend more than four and a half hours. Photo | Pedro Correia, Joaoalves0217 and Mstyslav Chernov In Xataka | Madrid and Lisbon will be linked by the AVE. It will only arrive (if it arrives) 24 years late

Europe is looking for a place to put its AI gigafactory. Spain and Portugal are showing all their renewable plumage

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There is a concept that should be familiar with: technological sovereignty. The United States is looking for her in terms of semiconductors so as not to depend on Taiwan. China wants her with the same goal and with the intention of strengthen your industry. And Europe is also pursuing it. Within this search is the idea of ​​strengthening European sovereignty in artificial intelligence by building AI gigafactories. And Spain and Portugal are clear about one thing: they want to be that node of European AI. InvestAI. Within this search for independence, the truth is that Europe has a long way to go. On the world stage, they depend on the Dutch ASML to create cutting-edge chipsbut Taiwan and China are the world’s factory and the United States has been a key partner both in software as in space matter. Seeing the recent course of the United StatesEurope has realized that it cannot depend so much on foreign alliances and that its key systems are not European, and it is going to dig deep into its pockets. 200 billion euros is what the European Commission’s InvestAI initiative has to invest in programs focused on the development of artificial intelligence. Within it, there are another 20,000 million saved to build gigafactories. GigafactorIA. Its name is quite revealing and it is about huge data centers with capacity for hundreds of thousands of chips with the objective of both training and inferring artificial intelligence models. The plan was launched a few months ago with the reconversion of seven European data centers in data centers for AI and with one objective: that European companies stop turning to foreign ones. For example, the French Mistral signed with Microsoft to be able to use its systems to train Le Chat. The idea is that this be done ‘at home’. It is estimated that one of these gigafactories may have more than 100,000 state-of-the-art AI processors and they are expected to be optimized to have low consumption, reuse of resources such as water and be a strategic node close to other companies, universities and serve to attract talent. Strategy. Spain has been for a few months tempting American companies to build their data centers in the national territory. Aragon has become one of those strategic pointsbut also Madrid either Tarragona. Now, there are other municipalities that oppose it (something that not only happens in Spain). Within this strategy of European technological sovereignty, Spain has two aces up your sleeve: Mora la Nova in Tarragona and San Fernando de Henares in Madrid. They are the two municipalities that could host one of these AI gigafactories and that would take advantage of the technological and energy infrastructure in the area to accelerate the projects. The information is not new, but now Portugal joins in. As detail From Moncloa, both countries are going to carry out a series of bilateral efforts to be at the energy and technological head of Europe, doing emphasis on the coordination of artificial intelligence projects. Because Spain wants the European gigafactory and Portugal too. The neighboring country is already developing a data center in Sines, and the two countries are playing their cards. Energy. Portugal plays the card that Sines has a good connection with the Atlantic submarine cables. Spain also has a powerful argument: if Europe wants AI gigafactories to be energy efficient, the country has a renewable infrastructure that can help make AI independent of gas or coal. Through the agreement between the two, the intention to collaborate to take advantage of the complementary capabilities and synergies between both countries is put on the table. Problem. There are several. On the one hand, the energy ones. Although Spain is one of the Europe’s powers in terms of renewable energyartificial intelligence demands a lot, a lot of energy at peak times. So much so that not only Big Tech have private projects to open nuclear power plantsbut it has been shown that it is necessary turn to coal to meet demand. Because AI needs sustained energy, but above all fast and immediately accessible in the most stressful moments. And there renewables only comply if there are huge batteries involved. On the other hand, Europe is now building its infrastructure… and it is the worst time. If you want gigafactories to have the latest generation chips, it means buying NVIDIA’s H200s. The problem is that these chips, which are currently leading the way, will be surpassed in the short term by a new generation. NVIDIA is already working at full capacity on Vera Rubinand it is not a more powerful chip, but a paradigm shift. This game of being at the cutting edge of AI is slow because the infrastructure has to be built. But, above all, it is expensive. In any case, the results on which countries will host the gigafactories are expected to be published this spring, and we will see if the Spain-Portugal candidacy convinces the Commission. Images | Moncloa, chaddavis In Xataka | Spain has a plan to capture more data centers than anyone else: “shield” them from energy costs

A municipality in Cáceres has waited more than 30 years for its bridge with Portugal. After moving wind and tide, it is already on its way

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Cedillo, the westernmost town in Extremadura, has been separated from its Portuguese neighbors for more than thirty years by a river that, paradoxically, has always united them. The solution is easy: build a bridge. The issue is that its approval and construction has been in the works for years. Now it seems that things are finally moving forward. The problem. Cedillo (Cáceres) and Montalvão-Nisa (Portugal) are separated by just 13 kilometers in a straight line. But by car, any trip between both towns requires a detour of between 100 and 120 kilometers. The reason: the dam that Iberdrola manages at the confluence of the Tagus and Sever rivers. Until 1995, residents on both sides could cross it freely. That year, with the entry into force of Schengen AgreementIberdrola closed access citing security reasons. Since then, it has only opened on weekends, with a security guard and at controlled hours. “We are brother peoples absurdly separated,” counted in 2021 to El País the mayor of Cedillo, Antonio González Riscado, who has been in office since 1987. How did it get here? The bridge project has been circulating through offices and negotiation tables for decades without finally coming to fruition. In 2011, the Provincial Council of Cáceres, then in the hands of the PP, renounced some European funds destined for the work, according to account The Country. When the PSOE recovered the institution in 2015 and requested them again, Europe had already denied them. The project became a political bargaining chip for years. The turning point came in March 2023, when the Ministries of Transport of Spain and of Territorial Cohesion of Portugal signed a joint declaration committing to promote the initiative. Just over a year later, in October 2024, both governments signed in Faro an international agreement which established the definitive legal framework to build the bridge. According to this agreement, Portugal assumes the design, construction and financing of the main structure, while Spain facilitates the permits and procedures in its territory. The works have already started. In October last year, the machines began to move on the Portuguese side with the first land preparation work. The award went to the company Alexandre Barbosa, according to counted The Extremadura Newspaper. The bridge will be about 160 meters long and 11.5 meters wide, with two twin concrete arches that avoid placing pillars in the riverbed. In fact, as the media reports, this last technical solution was key for the bridge to obtain the favorable Environmental Impact Declaration. The total cost exceeds 19 million euros. Spain does its part. In November of last year, the Ministry of Transport and the Government of Extremadura they signed an agreement to coordinate the work on the Spanish side. The Board assumes the bidding, construction and financing of the accesses to the bridge in Extremadura territory, with an estimated budget of just over 5.1 million euros distributed between 2025 and 2028. Once the work is completed, the infrastructure will become the property of the Board of Extremadura, which will also be responsible for its maintenance. What this means for the area. The bridge is going to solve a problem that has been on the lips of the surrounding towns for decades day after day. Just like counted El País, there are residents of Cedillo who have been hearing about the bridge all their lives and whose lives have been conditioned by that barrier. According to collect El Periódico, the bridge will also shorten the distance between Cáceres and Lisbon by about 70 kilometers and half an hour. “It is a bridge that we need no matter what,” the mayor of Cedillo told the media. What remains pending. On the Spanish side, the access to the bridge was still pending bidding when Portugal already had the machines running. Both countries will coordinate the work through a Joint Technical Commission. The agreement between the Ministry and the Board has a maximum validity of four years, extendable. If the deadlines are met, Cedillo could have his bridge before the end of the decade. Cover image | The Extremadura Newspaper and Google Maps In Xataka | Spain built its roads thinking about extreme heat: the rains are showing how vulnerable they are

Spain and Portugal have “free” energy right now. If we do not share it with Europe it is due to only one reason: France

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While the Iberian Peninsula registers a surplus of unprecedented renewable energy at bargain prices, the rest of the continent continues to be suffocated by triple-digit bills. In the middle of these two realities a wall rises, not of stone, but of political and nuclear interests: France. The northern neighbor acts as a plug that prevents cheap energy from the south from flowing north, protecting its atomic industry at the expense of European consumers’ pockets. Two Europes disconnected. The data from February 11 are a blow to the table of European integration. According to the records of OMIE and ESIOSthe average daily market price in Spain has plummeted to €4.23/MWh, with hours in which producers have had to pay for injecting energy (negative prices of -€0.42/MWh). The situation in Portugal is even more extreme: the megawatt hour is paid at €0.34, that is, practically free. However, it is enough to cross the Pyrenees for reality to change drastically. The price map ESIOS turns central and northern Europe red: Germany pays electricity at €100.62/MWh, Belgium at €72.04/MWh and the Netherlands at €88.70/MWh. France, strategically located in the middle, enjoys a comfortable price of €13.61/MWh, benefiting from buying cheaply from the south without missing out on the flow to its northern neighbors. This disparity perfectly visualizes the concept of “energy island”: a peninsula overflowing with resources that does not have enough bridges to share them. The great uncoupling of February. What we are experiencing these first two weeks of February is what experts call a “total decoupling.” According to the analysis of Aleasoft Energy Forecastingthe arrival of several Atlantic storms has triggered wind and hydroelectric generation on the peninsula. By adding the solar contribution, the supply has far exceeded the internal demand. The Iberian market (MIBEL) has seen how their prices They fell by 43% in Spain and a staggering 74% in Portugal in just one week, reaching daily averages of €0.54/MWh, values ​​that had not been seen since April 2024. Meanwhile, the Energy Charts graphs show that Germany has continued with prices oscillating above €100/MWh for much of January and early February, still depending on non-renewable sources. The drama of throwing away energy. Having cheap electricity seems like excellent news for the domestic consumer, but it hides a serious systemic inefficiency. As there are not enough cables to export this surplus to a Europe thirsty for cheap energy, Spain is forced to carry out curtailment (technical discharges). As we have already explained in Xatakawe are literally throwing away around 7% of clean energy because it “does not fit” into the grid and has no outlet. This scenario causes zero prices that, paradoxically, can ruin renewable investors, who need profitability to continue deploying parks. Furthermore, the situation has uncovered the seams of the Spanish internal network. The network is administratively “collapsed”: the CNMC has had to delay until May 2026 the publication of the capacity maps because, under the new security criteria, 90% of the network nodes appear saturated. Only 12% of connection requests are being approved, which means that we have the energy, but the cables are missing to bring it to new industries and homes. The French nuclear “bunker”. If there is excess energy in the south and lack in the north, why not build an electric highway? The answer has its own name: nuclear protectionism. President Emmanuel Macron has declared that interconnections They are a “false debate”arguing that Spain’s problem is a “100% renewable model that its own network does not support.” However, the data refute the Elysée story. As expert Joaquín Coronado explainsSpain is not 100% renewable (it closed 2025 at 55.5%) and, in fact, it was Spain that came to the rescue of France in 2022 and 2025, exporting electricity through its combined cycles when the French nuclear park failed due to corrosion and heat problems. The reality, according to the CEO of RedeiaRoberto García Merino, is that the blockade “is not technical, it is pure geostrategy.” France needs to make profitable a pharaonic investment of 300,000 million euros in its nuclear park and fears that the massive entry of Spanish solar energy, much cheaper, will sink the prices and competitiveness of its reactors. Therefore, Paris has explicitly excluded of its 2025-2035 network plan the key interconnection projects for Aragon and Navarra, keeping the Iberian Peninsula as an island with only 2.8% interconnection, very far from the European objective of 15%. Any solution on the table? Brussels’ patience is running out. The European Commission has already issued an ultimatum to Francegiving him a period of nine months to unblock the situation and present a political declaration of commitment. Meanwhile, the only project that advancesalthough slow, is the submarine cable through the Bay of Biscay. Redeia confirmed that the laying campaigns will begin this summer of 2026, with an eye on its entry into operation by 2028. An unsustainable contradiction. Within the European Union, it is happening that while one member country desperately seeks energy autonomy and competitive prices for its industry, it allows another of its key partners to keep the door to the south closed. Spain could be Europe’s green battery, but without export capacity, that wealth is diluted in negative prices and technical waste. Everything happens while France acts as a strict customs officer that protects its atoms, preventing the European Union from truly being an energy union. Image | freepik Xataka | The great electrical jam in Spain: we have plenty of electricity, but there are no cables to build houses and invest more

also controls that of Portugal

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Amancio Ortega has decided to get fully involved in the Portuguese energy business. His investment vehicle, Pontegadeahas just raised its stake in REN (National Energy Networks), the operator of Portugal’s electricity and gas networks. This new movement in renewable energy field and the distribution networks leaves the founder of Inditex as the second main shareholder of the Portuguese energy operator, just behind the Chinese State Grid and places him in a strategic position in renewables throughout the Iberian Peninsula. The second largest shareholder of the Portuguese company. Pontegadea entered REN for the first time in 2021, when it agreed to purchase 12% of the capital that until then was controlled by the Mazoon group, linked to Oman Oil. That operation placed Amancio Ortega as the second largest shareholder in the Portuguese company, which manages key electricity and gas infrastructure in the country. With the new investment, Pontegadea has taken another step in consolidating its position in the renewable sector by adding an additional 1.7%, according to sources of Europa Press. Thus, Ortega’s investor reaches 13.7% of the Portuguese company’s total share capital. Pontegadea’s investment. During the second half of 2025, REN shares were traded between 3 and 3.4 euros per share, which makes the value of the new package of shares that Pontegadea has purchased currently between 30 and 38.5 million euros. This, added to the original 12% (which was valued at around 190 million euros at the time), leaves a stake in REN dear at around 314 million euros, in a company with a market capitalization of 2,292 million euros. Second largest shareholder. With 13.7%, Pontegadea consolidates itself as the second largest shareholder of REN, only surpassed by State Grid Corporation of China, which maintains 25% of the capital. The rest of the energy company’s shareholding is distributed in a more fragmented way: Lazard has dropped to around 6.6% (from the 7.7% it had before), Corporación Masaveu has 5%, the insurer Fidelidade another 5.3% and the Spanish operator Redeia completes the group of large investors with its 5%. This position as the second largest shareholder gives Ortega relevant weight in the company that operates energy in Portugal, without the need for iintervene in its direct management. In this way, Ortega benefits from the dividends and long-term growth of REN, a key player in the energy transition in Portugal. This is a very typical Pontegadea strategy that we have already seen in group investments in port entities and logistics infrastructures in which it enters with force, receiving stable income, but without complicating itself with its operations. He does not invest in energy: he is the one who controls it. In 2019, Ortega’s investor It did not have any participation in the energy sector. Seven years later, Pontegadea already has solid holdings and a strategy that looks to the energy future of the entire peninsula. However, Ortega’s position in this sector is not oriented towards energy generation, without the operators that control distribution networks. Amancio Ortega owns 5% of Redeia, the parent company of Red Eléctrica, which in turn is an investor in the Portuguese company REN. As in its Portuguese counterpart, Ortega’s investor is positioned as the second shareholder only behind the Spanish State, which through SEPI controls 20% of the operator. In addition, it maintains 5% in Enagás, the gas network manager in Spain, and another 5% in Enagás Renovables, where collaborates with Repsol in clean energy projects such as wind and solar parks. Strategy on both sides of the border. These positions form a block in Spanish and Portuguese infrastructure that prepares the ground for more renewables, storage and green hydrogen, all financed with Inditex dividends. The new investment in REN is not an isolated movement, but rather connects directly with what Pontegadea already has in Spain. REN collaborates with Enagás in the corridor hydrogen H2Medwhich connects Celorico da Beira in Portugal with Zamora, forming part of the great European commitment to green hydrogen. With 13.7% in REN and his positions in Redeia and Enagás, Amancio Ortega is at the heart of the networks that will move renewable energy throughout the Iberian Peninsula. In Xataka | Sandra Ortega rents hotels to hotels. Amancio Ortega has copied the model with a luxury hotel in Paris Image | Unsplash (Brandon Griggs), GTRES

If you want to buy a very cheap bicycle, it’s easy: go to Portugal

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Spain and Portugal share just over 1,200 kilometers of border, an extensive permeable ‘strip’, full of history, economy and coexistence which in 2023 the bicycle sector began to view with some suspicion from this side of the peninsula. The Association of Brands and Bicycles of Spain warned about this three years ago (AMBE) in a statement resounding statement in which he stated that this proximity and extensive border could become a poisoned gift overnight. The reason: around that time Portugal gave a severe snip the VAT that applies to their bikes. From taxing them at 23%, they went on to apply 6%. The problem is that in Spain (and despite the requests of the sector) the same merchandise bears a VAT of 21%. The other ‘cycle tourism’. The controversy It’s not exactly newbut The Confidential has shaken it again with an interesting article in which he warns of an apparently increasing phenomenon: Spanish cyclists who suddenly decide to take the car, travel dozens or hundreds of kilometers until crossing the border and, once in Portugal, buy a good bicycle. The reason? The savings. Yes, they spend money on fuel and invest hours behind the wheel, but the tax differences on both sides of the border make all of that compensate. After all, in Spanish stores they pay a VAT of 21%, while in those in Portugal that rate is three times less: 6%. And that difference is more than considerable when we talk about models that cost hundreds or even several thousand euros. @kom_rivas How to buy Van Rysel at Decathlon Portugal and save 15% 🚴🏻‍♂️ John Ravine 🎥 Rodi #cycling #cycling #cyclingvideos ♬ original suono – UMC “I have saved 500 euros”. The Confidential echoes several testimonies of two-wheel lovers. And they all point in the same direction: depending on where you live, traveling to Portugal may take more or less time, but it is worth it. “I got up at 4:30 in the morning. I drove five hours and crossed the border to buy a bicycle in Portugal. I spent 70 euros on gasoline, but I saved 500 euros on the bike,” says one. Another fan, an 18-year-old Spaniard who trains at a cycling school, explains how he “tied” his father to cross the border just to get an RCR Pro, a road bike. “We saved almost a thousand euros,” he boasts on TikTok. On the table from 2022. A quick Google search shows that these are not isolated cases. In forums, specialized blogs and social networks there is a good handful of references to the topic: cyclists interested in knowing whether or not it really pays to buy a bicycle in Portugal or what directly counts what has been saved there thanks to the VAT difference between both countries. Not all are new comments. Some date back to the end of 2022, just when AMBE raised his voice and warned the Government of the risks of not following in Portugal’s footsteps: “We put the future of thousands of jobs, stores, brands and Spanish producers at risk,” emphasized. In his day Brussels decided give green light to countries that want to apply a reduced VAT in the sector, a measure that a priori had the endorsement of the PSOE, but which has not caught on in Spain. Is it that common? Good question. Difficult answer. If we search on TikTok we find videos which confirm that the ‘trick’ of buying bikes in Portugal to benefit from its taxation is well known among fans. However, a more diffuse message comes from the sector. In fact, there are those who say that today it is something anecdotal, although things can change in a short time. “We receive messages from cyclists who are going to Portugal to buy a bicycle, but the risk is that this will get worse and affect the industry,” they point out from AMBE. Stock earrings. There would be several factors at play. Not all brands are the same, but if there is something that the sector is waiting for, it is how the market will respond when the stock accumulated after the pandemic is released, when there were a spike in sales (2020 and 2021) that deflated during the following years. To dispose of this post-pandemic surplus, businesses in Spain have not hesitated to resort to discounts, a practice that has softened the blow of the VAT reduction in Portugal. At the end of the day, buying there involves the cost of travel, which is higher the more kilometers the buyer must travel. In the union there are those who believe that as this stock adjusts the shadow of the VAT to 21% will weigh more on sales. In your opinion we will begin to notice it in 2026. The example of Portugal. Portugal has not only managed to stand out at the community level for your VAT reduction to bicycles, which went from 23 to 6% years ago. It also stands out for its producing muscle. It shows it clearly Eurostat. Its latest available data dates from 2023, but does not leave room for many doubts: of the 9.7 million bicycles manufactured in the European Union in 2023, Portugal contributed 1.8 million. In second place is Romania (1.5 million), followed by Italy (1.2) and Poland (800,000). Spain occupies seventh place. In Spain the group has asked from the beginning the reduction of VAT on bicycles, a claim in which he is not alone. A recent report The Institute of Economics of Barcelona points out among its proposals to achieve more sustainable mobility, reducing VAT on the purchase, rental and repair of bicycles, as well as a 50% deduction for businessmen and professionals who integrate them. In April AMBE published a balance which shows that in 2024 the industry recorded a drop in turnover of 6.5%, which distances it from the data it reached in 2021. Images | Martin Magnemyr (Unsplash), Eurostat and AMBE In Xataka | Portugal’s radical proposal to stop touristification: an underwater … Read more

Vigo has shown that Christmas can be a million-dollar business. So northern Portugal has decided to take note

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Christmas is a time of peace, reunion, carols, sweets and a lot of other positive things, but also (and increasingly) of ‘pique’ between cities. As the holidays have gained appeal as an economic engine, especially for attract tourists In the middle of the low season, town councils throughout Spain have launched a race to show off the tree with the most meters, the largest display of LED lights or simply be the first to debut the ornament. Vigo is perhaps the greatest exponent of that fever, which in recent years has led him to cross challenges (more or less casual) with Madrid either Badalona. However, its true rival appears from another corner: on the other side of the Miño. Christmas in November? Christmas in November. It’s nothing new. In Vigo they began to install their lights already at the end of July, when they were missing almost 150 days for the start of the festivities. It may seem extravagant (maybe it is), but it certainly has its logic: the Galician city boasts to deploy millions and millions of LEDs along hundreds of streets (12 million in 460 neighborhoods this year), which requires a notable logistical effort. Also a substantial investment. Other cities like Madrid, Badalona, Malaga either Cadiz (to cite a few examples), determined to stand out on the map of national Christmas decorations. In fact, a quick review of the newspaper archive comes to find cross challenges between the mayors of Madrid, Badalona or Vigo on account of the festivities. The objective: to claim itself as the city with the brightest offer (literally). Why’s that? For various reasons ranging from pure economics to politics. After all, Christmas offers a showcase of brilliance barbaric for municipal administrations. If there is one reason that has become more evident over the years, however, it is tourism promotion. It is no longer just a matter of decorations encouraging purchases or more or less boosting commerce. No. Having many lights, large XXXL trees, Ferris wheels, markets… has become an effective hook to attract visitors in the middle of winter. Vigo once again leaves a good example. In December 2012, before the lighting boom, its hotels recorded just 33,600 overnight stays, far from the 100,000 in August. In 2022, already in the midst of the Christmas frenzy, this figure exceeded 101,500 overnight stays. And that’s not just visits, it’s also hard euros. In July the mayor of the town, Abel Caballero, spoke that Christmas attracts some 6.3 million visitors to Vigo and generates an economic return for the city of “more than 800 million euros”. May or may not be suspicious of those figures, but something is undeniable: the city fills every year between November and January and merchants and hoteliers already they have made it clear your support for Christmas. Which city is ahead? The battle between cities is not just about seeing which one achieves the most spectacular display of lights or raises the tallest tree. Another detail that generates expectation are the dates: Which city turns on its lights first? Which one comes forward, in an attempt to be the first to catch the eager Christmas visitors? It may sound strange again, but little by little this struggle has brought forward the festivities until placing its ‘start’ (at least unofficially) in the first half of November, almost immediately after Halloween. In Estepa, a town in the province of Seville, they debuted their lights last friday. Yes, November 7th. This urgency theoretically makes it the first municipality in Spain to activate the Christmas lighting. It won’t take long for other cities to follow in their wake. In Vigo (rain permitting) a ceremony will be held this Friday (November 15) to mark the beginning of the festivities. In other cities you will have to wait longer: Madrid either Barcelona They will press their ‘red button’ the 22ndin Badajoz it will be the 27th and in Malaga the traditional light and music show on Larios Street will also be at the end of the month, on Friday the 28th. What happens in Portugal? The most curious thing is that Vigo’s competition will probably not come from other Spanish cities, but from the other side of the Miño: from the north of Portugal. The neighboring country shares an extensive Christmas tradition and seems determined not to give up the tourist wealth that its Galician neighbor is fighting for. reveals it Vigo Lighthouse in an article in which he explains that near Raia there are towns that this year will surpass Vigo both in dates and in ‘meters’. In Valongo they opened their lights on Friday the 7th. And the next day Ermesinde, one of their parishesalso activated a Christmas tree 55 meters high, the largest in Portugal. With that data it even surpasses that of Vigo, which reaches 45 m. Another early riser town in northern Portugal is Viana do Castelowhich has a light show on one of its main avenues. Viana do Castelo and Valongo share an interesting characteristic, in addition to their Christmas zeal: they are close to Vigo. From Ermesinde it takes about an hour and a half by car. Something less if visitors travel from Viana. Simple coincidence? The commitment of northern Portugal is better understood if one knows a fundamental fact: a large part of the tourists that Vigo receives during Christmas come precisely from Portugal. In fact, in December it is not unusual to find buses in the center loaded with visitors from the neighboring country. So much so that Vigo presume of being the main Christmas destination for the Portuguese, which in turn acts as the main foreign market of the campaign. Although the Galician city has advertised your Christmas United Kingdom, Italy or France, the proximity makes Portugal its great fishing ground for visitors. “Portugal discovered Christmas in Vigo. The city was Portugal’s favorite destination at Christmas. More than Madrid and Barcelona. In 2019 we were eighth, now the first. It is a very important qualitative leap,” … Read more

Portugal and Spain have proposed that traveling between Lisbon and Madrid be as comfortable as in 1881. This is excellent news

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31 years after the first promise, we will have a high-speed train from Madrid to Lisbon passing through Extremadura. We will have it, of course, if the plans are fulfilled. And four years later we will be able to travel the space that separates both capitals at high speed. 2030 and 2034. At least that’s what they’ve committed to. Portugal, Spain and the European Commission, who have reached an agreement to bring the connection between Lisbon and Madrid back to life in 2030 with a conventional train and in 2034 with a high-speed line that should make the journey in three hours. The calendar. To launch the line between the capitals, the project requires various phases and actions. Poceirão-Bombel section: new line that will begin construction in 2026 and should be completed in 2029. Évora-Caia section: this high-speed section should be ready in 2026. Lisbon-Évora section: the project study should be completed in 2027. Plasencia-Talayuela section: should be operational in 2028. Madrid-Lisbon at high speed: the new lines should allow travel between the Spanish capital and Portugal in three hours from 2034. In addition, the possibility of opening a Caia-Badajoz-Elvas high-speed line has been raised to reduce times and reach three hours if the planned times are not being met. Target: airlines. One of the great objectives that the European Union has with this new high-speed line is to reduce the number of flights between both cities. They point out in elDiario.es There are currently about 40 daily flights between Madrid and Lisbon. For years, European institutions have been working to reduce the volume of air traffic by improving rail connections. Spain either France These are some of the countries that want to implement policies to reduce them. A 600 kilometer railway line to travel in three hours is exactly the type of trip that can do a lot of damage to airlines if it works correctly. A good example is the Galician runner which, despite requiring more travel time, has made passengers turn their backs on the plane. And Galicia? If travelers who aspire to take their trains from Madrid are the big beneficiaries, Galicia seems to be the big loser. In recent yearsPortugal had insisted that its true intention was to create a high-speed line between Lisbon and Vigo with an intermediate stop in Porto. The project now takes a back seat, however, since they will have to focus efforts on high speed between capitals. In Atlantic They highlight that the European Union has already dedicated more than 250 million euros to promoting high speed in Portugal and more than 750 million euros to do the same in the connection between Extremadura and Madrid, so it seems logical that the first corridor to support this. A continental network. The project to link Lisbon and Madrid on a high-speed line is part of the European Atlantic Transport Corridor. The project plans to link Portugal, Spain, France, Germany and Ireland with intermodal connections that include roads, airports, ports… and railway lines. Regarding the latter, the connection with Madrid would allow connecting Barcelona with Lisbon in less than six hours. It would be a key stage for unite Lisbon with the rest of the European Union by train since, at the moment, the Portuguese capital is isolated by rail. In addition, it would allow rapid connection with other hot spots on the Spanish high-speed rail network, such as Valencia and Alicante or connections with Asturias and Cantabria. The exit to Vigo with the high-speed network that was already planned is the other possibility to reach the north of the Peninsula. The eternal promise. The connection between Lisbon and Madrid is a promise that has been going on for more than 20 years. In The World Order They highlight that the railway connection between both cities is worse today than in 1881 when a train line was opened between both cities for the first time. Between Berlin and Warsaw, they point out, there is a similar distance traveled by seven trains a day. Despite the first promises of having a cross-border AVE ready in 2010the line is still not operational. With the latest advances in the high-speed line, already present between Plasencia and Badajoz, the travel time between Lisbon and Madrid has been reduced to just over eight hours, as explained in The World Order but you have to take three different trains. In 2022, the same trip exceeded 11 hours, collected in The Country. At least 144 years ago, travelers only had to take a train and wait for it to drop them off in one of the two cities. Photo | Phil Richards, Annie Sprat and 야스민 ㄹㅁㅅ In Xataka | A hydrogen train has crossed Spain and Portugal for the first time: 10,000 km of route, including the Pyrenees

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