price

Carrefour has this huge 98-inch Samsung TV at an outlet price with which you won’t miss going to the movies

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Nowadays, large TVs have prevailed. It is now rare to see living rooms with 32 or 43-inch televisions (which have been relegated to the bedroom or kitchen). If you have plenty of space in the living room and have thought about buying a large TV, now in Carrefour They have a very interesting offer. You can buy this Samsung TU98DU9005KXXC by 1,699 euros. In addition, you have the possibility of getting 200 euros refund with your purchase. And, if this were not enough, you get a coupon of 254.85 euros for future purchases at the supermarket. If you want, you can finance it in 10 installments of 169.90 euros. LED TV 98″ (248.92 cm) Samsung TU98DU9005K The price could vary. We earn commission from these links A gigantic TV with good features As we have already indicated, the most striking thing about this TV from the Korean firm is its huge 98 inch screen. This is LED type and offers 4K Ultra HD resolution and has a refresh rate of 100 Hz. In the image section it is compatible with HDR10+ and when it comes to audio, its speakers offer a 20W RMS power. Although it is true that for this large TV, this power may be insufficient, it is always something that you can improve by connecting a sound bar. The operating system under which it works is tizen (Samsung’s own) and has the mode Multi Viewwhich is very useful if you are watching a show and want to zap while there are ads. Finally, we can also highlight its connectivity section, since it has a port ethernettwo USB 3.2, optical digital audio output, three HDMI 1.4, Bluetooth and WiFi. Some accessories that may interest you for this TV Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max (Latest generation) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Samsung Sound Bar HW-Q600F/ZF The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | Webedia and Samsung In Xataka | Best home theater projectors. Which one to buy and five recommended models from 299 to 18,000 euros In Xataka | Mega-guide to set up a home theater: projector, screen, sound system and more

For centuries price has been a sign of quality. Generative AI is breaking that rule in dozens of sectors

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For centuries, price has served as a cognitive shortcut. If something costs a lot it is because, for one reason or another, it must be worth a lot. An Armani suit, Bang & Olufsen headphonesa McKinsey report. The number has always served to convey certain information to us before seeing the product. It was compressed reputation. With the arrival of generative AI, that is ending in many sectors. Today a logo can cost 15 euros or 15,000. And be the same logo. A market analysis can come from a consulting firm with offices on three continents or from a guy in pajamas who knows how to wear Deep Research. The report may be indistinguishable. In fact sometimes the second one will be betterbecause the guy in pajamas understands the sector and the consultant assigned the junior who was free. AI is breaking the link between production cost and final result. Something very similar to what Antonio Ortiz, AI popularizer and former final boss of this house, in “Artificial Intelligence and unlinking effort and result“. If anyone can generate in minutes what previously required teams, weeks, and invoices with many zeros, price no longer communicates much about quality. It’s starting to be noise. and this will force a signal migration. From ‘how much’ to ‘who’, to ‘how’ or ‘why’. The questions that will matter are going to be “who signed this?”, “what process followed?”, “what human decisions were behind it?” That is, the process will become the product. It is already beginning to be seen with design studios that They obsessively document any iterationor consultancies that not only sell you the deliverable but also also access to the reasoning of their partners. More and more we are digital artisans who charge for showing how we work and not only for what we deliver. AI has made production almost free, so we are being flooded with digital content of all kinds, so scarcity shifts to criteria. Knowing what to ask for, what to discard, what makes sense and what doesn’t. to good taste. AI can do almost anything, and what it can’t, it will learn next year. Deciding well what to do and what not to do is still expensive. There, for the moment and luckily, there is no shortcut. Featured image | Xataka In Xataka | The AI ​​of 2026 brings an uncomfortable truth: the most useful will be the one that watches us the most

This 65-inch TV drops (again) and reaches a historic low price with which you can set up your home theater without spending a lot

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For those who enjoy watching movies, series (or even football and other sports) at home and are thinking about taking the leap to do it in a big way, Hisense has a very interesting 65-inch TV. It is about the Hisense 65E63QT which stands out in features, but now also in price, since on Amazon, it has reached its all-time low: 359 euros. Hisense 65E63QT – UHD 4K, Smart TV 65 Inch The price could vary. We earn commission from these links A TV with which you can set up your own home theater will not be expensive For some time now, Hisense has been one of those firms that are surprising us with their smart TVs with a moderate price and good features and this model is a good example of this. For those looking to set up their own home theater, what is most striking is its panel 65 inch VA. This offers 4K UHD resolution and 178º viewing angles. Although it is also characterized by being compatible with image formats such as Dolby Vision and HDR10. In the audio section, on the other hand, its two speakers offer an RMS power of 14W and are compatible with DTS-X and Dolby Audio. Integrate the voice assistant Alexa and works under the operating system VIDAA (version 8.5). It also works for gaming, since it integrates a Game Plus mode and comes with a good connectivity section, since it has Bluetooth, WiFi, two USB-A ports, headphone output and three HDMI 2.1 ports. You may also be interested in these accessories for this TV PERLESMITH Tilting and Rotating Articulated Wall TV Stand The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Hisense HS3100 – Sound Bar 3.1 The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | Hisense In Xataka | Best home theater projectors. Which one to buy and five recommended models from 299 to 18,000 euros In Xataka | Mega-guide to set up a home theater: projector, screen, sound system and more

Airlines justify price increases with additional premium services. All except one: Ryanair

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The increase in operating costs It is making it increasingly difficult for airlines to offer low-priced flights. The low-cost They are becoming less and less, and with each passing year the prices of their tickets increase. Airlines have found a simple way to justify that increase: offer more comfort with wide seats and extra services that sound like luxury. Ryanair, however, does the opposite. Although the Irish company is forced to raise the price of its tickets, the company is reluctant to include any “luxury” options to justify the price increase. The boom in “premium” seats. As and how he published The New York Timestraditional airlines are dedicating more and more space on airplanes to seats for “premium” tourist class, with larger seats and improved services. This allows them to charge much more for those seats, while maintaining the number of passengers. The data they point because tickets for these “premium” tourist zones cost up to five times more than a normal one and represent close to 15% of revenue per passenger. According to data of Financial Timesuntil 2028, the number of seats of this type will grow by 11% each year, while the basic economy class stagnates in terms of sales. With this new “premium” tourist model, airlines earn more for each person who travels, without having to squeeze passengers into increasingly tight seats. The low-cost ones join the cart. Such is the success of this model, that even low-cost airlines have begun to offer packages with more services and, of course, with a higher price. Companies like EasyJet or Frontier Airlines They sell “premium” options with priority boarding, seat selection or even complete vacation packages. This adds extra costs to the way you work. The problem is that these added services make the ticket more expensive, so now they depend more on charging for the large baggage check-in or reservation changes. This makes them lose their price advantage and brings them closer to traditional airlines. Their response has been to stop competing for passenger volume at a low price, and now they seek to offer prices equivalent to a single ticket on a conventional airline, but with extra amenities. Ryanair does not take the bait. Ryanair has already announced that the price of your tickets will increase up to 9% in 2026. The company has achieved keep your costs very controlled placing its expenses per passenger and kilometer at only 4.5 euro cents, compared to more than 7 cents for rivals such as EasyJet or Eurowings, or 9 cents for British Airways. Keeping operating expenses low is what allows Ryanair to continue with its low pricing policy without having to offer “premium” features. Something in which its CEO seems not to give in one bit, judging by the clash in X between Elon Musk and Michael O’Leary for connectivity WiFi on airplanes. Musk claimed that more and more airlines were offering WiFi connection packages on their flights as a “premium” option, and criticized Ryanair for not including it. The response from the controversial CEO of Ryanair was immediate, ensuring that he was not going to offer anything that would increase the operating costs of his planes, and the installation of a Starlink antenna increased fuel consumption. That ignited the spark of a small brawl in which Musk threatened to buy the airline but O’Leary knew how to take to his field. Costs are the key. As demonstrated by the latest financial balance of the Irish airline, savings and containment of operating costs are the secret of Ryanair’s success which, with its refusal to pay the increase in Aena rates and at the price of fuel, it recorded profits of 2,540 million euros in the last half of 2025. While the rest of the airlines must resort to “premium” services to justify their price increases. Ryanair seems to be comfortable with its role as stingy in services to its passengers, and prefers to continue betting on a strategy of low prices and moving a highest percentage of passengers. For now, that model works for them. In Xataka | The CEO of Ryanair would govern a country like his airline: a “low cost” state with millionaire politicians and cuts in services Image | Ryanair

requirements, price, how often you have to renew it and how to make an appointment

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We are going to explain everything you need to know to renew your passport. Because just like your DNI, your passport has an expiration date, and when it expires you will have to renew it to travel outside the European Union. We are going to start this article by telling you what the renewal process is like and how often you have to renew your passport. Then, we will tell you the requirements you must meet and what you must bring, including the price of the renewal. And we will finish by telling you how to make an appointment. How to renew your passport You are going to renew your passport at the National Policein the same offices where DNIs are made and renewed. You will have to go in person, bring what we will tell you later in the minimum requirements, and the renewal will be carried out there. You can renew your passport 180 days before it expiresso you have your back covered in case you are planning a trip. And if you lose your passport, then you will have to make an appointment to issue a new one. How often do you have to renew your passport? How often you should renew your passport depends on your age. These are the age ranges and how often you have to renew it depending on them: If you are under 5 years old: The passport is renewed every 2 years. If you are under 30 years old: The passport is renewed every 5 years. From 30 years old: The passport is renewed every 10 years. In any case, in your passport You will be informed of the expiration date in addition to the issuance date, so that with just a glance you can know the exact day on which you are going to have to renew it. Requirements to renew your passport To renew your passport you have to comply with a series of requirements. These are documents that you must present and payments to make. You must have all this and take it to the police station to have your passport renewed. Valid ID: You will have to present it to identify it. Recent photography: A recent passport-type photograph, with a size of 32×26 millimeters. It must be in color, with a uniform white background, and taken from the front. Your face must be seen clearly, without wearing glasses and without hair covering your face. This will only not be necessary if you renew your ID on the same day. Current passport: If you are going to request the renewal or a duplicate of a passport that is still valid and that you have not lost, you must present it as well. Pay fee: Renewing the passport costs 30 euros. This is the same price for the first shipment, but also for renewals, losses or deterioration. It will only be free if you belong to a large family. You can pay the fees at the shipping office or on the website when making an appointment. How to make an appointment for renewal To renew your passport, you will have to make an appointment at the National Police. You can do this by calling 060 or through the web portal citapreviadnie.es. In it, you have to choose how you want to accessit could be with you electronic ID and a reader or adding your ID data by hand. The easiest thing is to choose to enter with the option Access with DNI/NIE data. In this case you will go to a screen where you must write the document number, shipping equipment and other information. To the right of the website you will have a section where you can see where each of the data is located. Now you will enter a web page where you can choose the procedure for which you want to make an appointment. In this case, within the section Renewal choose the option Passport. Now, you will go to a screen where you can choose your autonomous community on a map, and when you do you will have to choose where you want to carry out the renewal. Once you choose this, you will go to a screen where you can choose the month, day and time where you want to request your appointment. When you do, you will only have to pay the subscription if you want, something for which you will need to have installed Self-signature. Remember that if you do not want to make the payment, you can do it directly at the police office. In Xataka Basics | How to securely share your ID and other documents with the Safelayer online tool

Saudi Arabia already knows the real price of Neom and it is not measured in billions, but in barrels of oil at $90

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Saudi Arabia is mired in a paradox that revolves around barrels of oil. Years ago the kingdom launched an ambitious program to reduce its dependence on ‘black gold’, a key element in its accounts and public treasury. Under the name of ‘Vision 2030’ basically proposed to diversify its economy with a rosary of projects which included large urban developments such as Oxagon, Trojena or the famous The Line. The problem is that the swings in the price of crude oil (the same one from which he wants to get away) is complicating the things. So much so that the kingdom has already been forced to moderate its expectations. What has happened? We told you a few days ago: Saudi Arabia has had to rethink the Neom megaprojects, the program with which the kingdom wants to promote works such as Trojena or The Line, a futuristic city 170 km long, 500 m high and 200 meters wide built from scratch in the middle of the desert. According to Financial TimesNeom’s president, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is now considering a “much smaller” scale. In fact, there is already talk of a drastic cut in The Line and changes also in Trojena. Is it a novelty? Half. Despite the efforts of Saudi Arabia for showing how the works were progressing, the international press has been warning for some time the difficulties (technical, but especially financial) that the kingdom has encountered to carry out its projects. own FT posted a few months ago a report in which he talked about how Neom’s dream is “unraveling.” His last article It goes further however and helps to understand the context. The cuts come after Neom officials commissioned an audit of the project. And although its final conclusions are not yet known, they seem to be strong enough that there are already architects working on the redesign of The Line. Their goal: to turn it into a “modest” project that can take advantage of the infrastructure built in recent years. There is talk of a change in concept, of a Neom that (without giving up the diversification of the Saudi economy) stops focusing on the “cities of the future” to focus on something much more concrete: data centers. The kingdom insists in any case that Neom is a bet that “aims to span generations” and its discourse (at least the public) is far from being defeatist. What is the problem? Beyond the scale and enormous ambition of the projects (only The Line involves building a 170 km city), Riyadh has encountered a perfect storm. Not even her years of waste (or precisely because of them) have prevented her from being forced to rethink some milestones in her initial schedule. The clearest example Trojena leaves it. There, in its ambitious ski resort, the 2029 edition of the Winter Games was going to be held. A few days ago, however, the Asian Olympic Council and its Saudi counterpart announced that the appointment will have to be postponed indefinitely. Financial Times remember that in the medium term the kingdom also has important commitments that will require it to step on the accelerator. The first will arrive with the international fair Expo 2030. The second, with the 2034 World Cup. Click on the image to go to the tweet. And what does the oil look like? If something they usually repeat analysts trying to explain the development of Vision 2030 (and more specifically Neom) is how the price of crude oil is influencing it. The reason is very simple. Although the financing of Vision 2030 does not fall directly into the budget of Saudi Arabia, its implementation does depend on large projects funded by the State. And it receives a large part of its income through oil. Saudi Arabia is the main exporter of crude oil on the planet, which explains that in 2024 this will represent 60% of public income. In general, oil and natural gas accounted for more than 20% of its entire GDP that year. A few months ago Arab Gulg States Institute (AGSI) I remembered that the weight of the oil business in the Government’s tax revenue is today much lower than a decade ago, when it reached 88%, but it has still accounted for close to 63% in recent years. Not only that. Its technicians recognize that the health of Aramco (the Saudi national oil company) is “vital for the health” of the public coffers and the country. Why is it important? By a simple rule of three. The implementation of Vision 2030 depends largely on the Saudi kingdom and its PIF (the Public Investment Fund), sovereign in nature and chaired by Mohammed bin Salman. And the money they receive is closely linked to the progress of the global oil business. In April of last year, in a complicated context, marked by fear of the trade war and differences within OPEC, Reuters warned of how the fall in the price of crude oil would be reflected in Aramco’s dividends… and these, in turn, in the money that would enter the coffers of the Government and the PIF. “The Government and the PIF will receive 32 billion dollars and 6 billion dollars less, respectively,” collected the chronicle signed by Yousef Saba. Already at that time there were experts who pointed out that this snip would take its toll on some of the projects that the kingdom had in its hands. “Saudi Arabia is likely to depend on debt financing and will have to delay or reduce some planned contract awards,” insisted Karen Young of Columbia University, recalling the nation’s deficit. Is there more? Yes. A key fact that in recent months have slipped several analysts and in which affected these days Brad Setser, CFR researcher, following the latest news about Neom and The Line. It is not just a matter of the price of oil rising or falling in the market, it is that Saudi Arabia needs the barrel of Brent to remain at certain … Read more

I have tried Apple Creator Studio and it is clear to me that Adobe has a problem. The key: its price

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Prove Apple Creator Studio It is relatively simple because, in one way or another, the subscription includes applications already known in the creative world. Apple has been smart and has come up with a package that allows access to Final Cut Pro, Pixelmator Pro and Logic Pro. That’s for starters. And finally, more tools like Motion, Compressor, MainStage, and even AI tools in your office suite. In any case, the real value of the subscription is provided, at least for me, by Final Cut Pro and Pixelmator Pro. Although my time as a TikToker is now a thing of the past, I still use photo and video editors for my things and my daily life and, after having been playing around with the apps included in Apple Creator Studio, I can only conclude that Adobe has a problem. One that costs 12.99 euros and that expands throughout the Apple ecosystem. This is not about YoTO. As much as one of the interesting additions to Apple Creator Studio is AI, the truth is that the utilities based on it, which are useful in some cases, take a backseat in practice. The key to the subscription is the price and the comparison with its direct rivals. And for example, a button: monthly price apple creator studio (Includes Final Cut, Pixelmator Pro and Logic Pro, among other apps) 12.99 euros Creative Cloud Pro (includes entire adobe suite) 118.96 euros Adobe photography (includes photoshop and lightroom) 24.19 euros adobe photoshop 26.43 euros adobe premiere 26.43 euros adobe audition 26.43 euros capcut pro 29.99 euros canvas pro 12 euros The separate purchase of all the apps included in Apple Creator Studio would amount to around 800 euros, but it is possible to access them for 12.99 euros per month. Not one of the rival subscriptions, not a single one, is capable of matching what Apple offers in price, features and simplicity. Pixelmator Pro | Image: Xataka In few contexts something else comes to light. The Adobe subscription that includes all its tools costs 119 euros per month. Almost ten times what Apple’s costs. The problem is that this subscription contains apps that not everyone will take advantage of. Anyone who wants to access Photoshop and Premiere has no choice but to go through either Creative Cloud Pro (119 euros per month) or combine photography and video plans whose cost would amount to more than 50 euros. The question is whether the 119 euros per month subscription offers the user 119 euros in value, because probably not. Anyone who wants to edit photos and videos probably has no interest in Audition, InDesign, or Fresco, so by choosing Adobe you will be paying more for tools you don’t use. Apple goes simple. Because Apple knows that this is not about great creators with teams behind them, but from aspiring/small influencerscreators who cook it and eat it. If you already have an iPad (undisputed king of the tablet world) or a Mac (historical favorite in the world of creativity), the integration, familiarity and communication between apps achieved by Apple is unrivaled, and neither is the price. Some of the Apple Creator Studio apps | Image: Xataka The apple firm has not warmed up by offering very niche products, quite the opposite. You have taken the four key tools that you know work, some AI tools for office automation, you have put them in the blender and served them to the user. Will there be cases in which Adobe is more worth it? Possibly at the studio or company level (or if you have a Windows PC, of ​​course), but at the user level and in the Adobe environment, CapCut and Canva in particular are against a rock and a hard place. AI Utilities. At the office automation level, I consider that a lot and at a very extreme level you have to use Pages, Number and Slides for Apple Creator Studio to be worth it to you. Beyond certain utilities such as rescaling a photo, accessing premium templates and generating images (with OpenAI models in the background, by the way), office automation remains more or less the same. It is not the strong point, of course, and if you use these apps for university work you can survive without the subscription without any problem. Here you can see the search by transcript. When searching for “iPhone Air”, Final Cut Pro returns only the parts where that word is mentioned | Image: Xataka Little lifesavers. Where AI does play, or can play, an interesting role is in editing. Apple’s approach is not so much to have the app edit for you, but to assist in the process. There are a couple of features that have caught my attention and I find particularly useful. They are not even half of those included and that puts another reality on the table to which we will return shortly. Search by transcript: If you have followed a script and you are clear about the phrase you are looking for, you can reach the exact moment by simply entering that phrase in the search engine. For a TikTok maybe not, but for a half-hour YouTube video, an interview or a podcast I find it super useful. beat detection: One of the first things they teach you when you edit video is to change shots to the rhythm of the music so that there is coherence and dynamism. Until now, the best guide was the peaks in the audio track. At each peak, plane change. Final Cut Pro is now able to flag those changes to make docking faster and more intuitive. I like it. Montage Creator: I don’t edit on iPad because the day they distributed patience I fell asleep, but having the ability to make quick montages by importing several video clips and an audio track seems quite useful to me, especially for typical reels or TikTok which are just resourceful shots happening to the rhythm of the music. For typical b-roll … Read more

Your VPN is half price for a year

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One of the most useful tools we can have to browse the Internet safely is, without a doubt, a VPN. There are those that they are free and that, for specific use, they fulfill their function. Now, in the long run, They are not the best option: They are usually unsafe and its operation may involve slow Internet traffic. There are payment options that work very well and that we can purchase at very competitive prices, such as the Kaspersky VPN: right now it is on sale and a full year costs only 19.99 euros. Kaspersky VPN Secure Connection (1 year) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links A very configurable and easy-to-use VPN A VPN, regardless of whether we use it on a mobile phone, a tablet or any other compatible device, will allow us to pass all our Internet traffic through an encrypted and secure tunnel. In this way, no one will be able to see what we are doingso we will have a greater degree of privacy even if we browse a public WiFi network. In addition, of course, we will also protect our IP address. This Kaspersky VPN includes several interesting features. For example, it has what is called a kill switchso if the VPN disconnects, our Internet traffic will automatically be interrupted so that our data is not in danger. In addition, it can be configured to only work, automatically, with certain applications or with a specific browserFor example. Another interesting point is that it is compatible with both Windows and MacOS, Android or iOS, so we will be able to install it on almost any device. It also has more than 6,000 servers distributed in more than 85 locations, which means that we will always have a server available to connect to. As we said at the beginning, this usually has a price of 39.99 euros per year, so it is a quite interesting discount. This promo includes this tool for one device, although if we want to use it on more simultaneously, We also have a discounted plan that includes the VPN for 5 devices for one year for 26.99 euros (its normal price is 45.99 euros). Once the year ends, any of these plans will return to their usual price, but we can unsubscribe whenever we want, since there is no no type of permanence. It is also worth mentioning that it has a period of 30 days where we can test this VPN and, if it does not convince us, request a full refund. Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | Domenico Loia on Unsplash In Xataka | Why it is dangerous to connect to public Wi-Fi and what you should do to protect yourself In Xataka | Free VPN and security: what’s the problem, why you should be careful

The price of the best Google mobile phone plummets. It is big, beautiful and perfect if you prioritize the photographic section

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If there is something that has characterized Google mobile phones in recent months, it is the offers that all models have received. Although he Google Pixel 10 Pro XL It is the one that has had the least discounts, now, finally, it returns to its historical minimum price on Amazon. It can be found in the store by 899 euros in various colors. Google Pixel 10 Pro XL (256GB) The price could vary. We earn commission from these links An excellent photography section He Google Pixel 10 Pro XL is, together with the Pixel 10 Prothe best Google mobile. It is quite large because it has a 6.8 inch OLED screenso it also has a larger battery than its little brothers when reaching the 5,200 mAh. It also supports higher 45W fast charging and 25W wireless charging. As we usually find in the brand, the Google Pixel 10 Pro XL (and the other mobile phones of its generation) will receive software updates for six more years starting in 2025. It also comes with an excellent photographic section with a camera module composed of a 50 MP main sensor, a 48 MP wide angle and a 48 MP 5x telephoto. The processor of this mobile is the Google Tensor G5 which, without being the most powerful today, offers good performance. It is also worth mentioning that its design is exquisite and, in this case, it comes with a configuration of 256 GB internal storage. You may also be interested Google Pixel Buds 2a – Wireless earbuds with Active Noise Cancellation – Light and comfortable – Water resistant – Bluetooth compatible – Moss Green The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Google Pixel Watch 4 (41 mm) – Android Smartwatch with Fitness Tracking and Gemini Help – Matte Black Aluminum Case – Obsidian Sports Band – Wi-Fi The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | Google In Xataka | The best mobile phones, we have tested them and here are their analyzes In Xataka | The best quality-price mobiles. Their analyzes and videos are here

The price of electricity, the cold and the fear of a blackout have brought a 19th century job back to London: chimney sweeps

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When you hear about chimney sweeps, the image that comes to mind is that of men (or boys) from the late 19th century with smudged faces, shirts full of soot and a large broom on their shoulders. That’s the topic. The photographs that Google shows when we search for the word and the one it illustrates your entry on Wikipedia. Today the reality is very different. In the middle of 2026, not only are there still professionals dedicated to the trade, but they use cutting-edge technology and in cities like London they are experimenting a resurgence thanks to the price of energy. His appearance is nothing like that of the famous Bert de ‘Mary Poppins’but they continue to play a key role… and above all they are in demand. Chimney sweeps in 2026? Exact. And at least in London they are not an extemporaneous and decadent group, the memory of a bygone era. On the contrary. As I counted a few days ago The New York Times The profession is still very much alive there, it has been able to adapt to the needs (and resources) of the 21st century and above all it is experiencing a resurgence thanks to the cost of energy. The clearest proof is left by National Chimney Sweeps Association (NACS, for its acronym in English): in 2021 it had 590 members, today its membership base is already around 750. The union includes dozens of women and some businesses claim that in winter they receive between 70 and 80 calls a day. What do they do? Essentially the same as its predecessors from the 19th and 20th centuries, although in a very different context and with very different resources. To remove soot from chimneys they still use brushes that Bert from ‘Mary Popins’ would perfectly recognize, but that is only part of an arsenal that also includes digital cameras, industrial vacuum cleaners and smoke detection equipment. “Almost like chimney technicians,” points out Martin Glynnfrom NACS. Companies are even using drones to scan rooftops. Nothing to do with the habits that once made the profession infamous, such as employing orphans to climb chimneys and clean ducts. It sounds like terrifying science fiction, but this practice was common in the 18th and 19th centuries. In fact in 1875 the death of a child that got stuck in Fulbourn generated such a stir that the Government approved a law that banned “climbing children.” Are there still chimneys? Yes. British chimney sweeps were not immune to key changes, such as the popularization of central heating in the second half of the 20th century or the Clean Air Act (‘Clean Air Act‘) of 1956, but the union has been able to endure and today lives in a much kinder time, even one of vindication. I told it just a year ago in The Telegraph Steven Pearce, descendant of a long line of chimney sweeps who started in the trade decades ago, convinced that the profession’s days were numbered. “At first I only accepted it as a weekend job because we thought the trade would disappear with the 1956 law, when the Government gave local authorities the power to control the burning of coal and boiler fumes,” Pearce relates. “But that didn’t happen, in fact the last five years have been better than ever in business. It’s the busiest time I’ve seen in 45 years.” He is not the only one which confirms the rebirth of the profession. What is the reason? In 2026 English homes may not rely on coal and wood for heat, but they will still light their fireplaces. And not only because of the popularization of stoves. NACS itself admits that demand for its services has been driven by two factors: the increase in energy prices of recent years and a turbulent international context, in which the electricity supply seems a vulnerable flank to enemy attacks. The group also remembers that people simply “like to sit in front of a fireplace” to read, have a glass of wine, watch a movie and unwind. As if that were not enough, a good fire also helps reduce dependence and expense on central heating. What does the regulations say? Of course there are restrictions on the domestic use of coal, but The New York Times remember that even in areas like London the burning of authorized fuels They emit very little visible smoke. What they do generate is soot, which explains why the Government advises that chimneys be cleaned every year with professional help. “People think: ‘We’re going to have a plan B, a fireplace, a stove in case the power goes out,’” Glynn adds.president of NACS. “If you have the option of burning wood or smokeless fuel you can still cook and have some heating. There is a big increase in demand, people are lighting fireplaces again.” How does the future look? Steven Pearce assures that his clients continue buying stoves and admits that it is difficult for him to believe that people are going to do without the installations, even if they are prohibited. “I can’t imagine those who have spent £3,000 to £5,000 installing them not using them.” In fact, he maintains that in recent years he has seen “a great resurgence in the purchase of multi-fuel fireplaces and stoves, which burn wood, charcoal and smokeless materials.” It’s not all advantages: your ‘bill’ is PM2.5 emissionparticles invisible to the naked eye but which do represent a harmful “air pollutant”. Images | Wikipedia, Jorbasa Fotografie (Flickr) and NACS In Xataka | While the whole world looks at oil, Venezuela’s true treasure is hidden in the basements of London: its gold

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