protagonists

Huawei arrived at MWC as if the European blockade attempt had not happened. And he left as one of the great protagonists

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There are images that summarize geopolitical tension better than any official document. One of them occurred in Barcelona during the last Mobile World Congress. While several European capitals debate how to reduce the presence of suppliers considered high risk in telecommunications networks, Huawei appeared at the sector’s largest fair with a presence that is difficult to ignore. The Chinese company arrived at the event with one of the most visible spaces in the venue and left as one of the most notable presences at the congress, a scene that helps to understand the current relationship between Europe and the technology giant. The image. When touring the pavilions of the Barcelona exhibition center, it was quickly understood the weight that Huawei had decided to exhibit. As Politico tells itthe company installed one of the largest exhibition spaces at the event and located it in one of the busiest areas of the complex, a location usually reserved for the most powerful actors in the industry. During the days of the fair, that stand became a constant crossing point for executives, operators and analysts who toured the congress. Prominence also on the agenda. Beyond its deployment within the venue, Huawei also took up space in the official MWC programming. Company executives participated in different sessions of the congress and the company was among the actors present in the debates on network infrastructures and technological evolution of the sector. That role was reinforced with a recognition at the Global Mobile Awardsthe awards that are presented every year during the event. The award for one of its network infrastructure developments served as a reminder that, despite the political climate surrounding the company in part of Europe, its technological weight within the industry remains relevant. The European contrast. The scene left by the MWC contrasts with the political climate that has surrounded Huawei in part of Europe for several years. The European Commission has been toughening its discourse for some time on suppliers considered high risk in critical telecommunications infrastructure and has encouraged Member States to reduce their dependence on them. In parallel, several European countries have taken measures to limit or withdraw their technology from sensitive networks, especially in the deployment of 5G, with decisions in countries such as Germany, which has prompted the withdrawal of Chinese components in critical parts of the networkor Sweden, that banned Huawei from its 5G networks. The result is a fragmented map in which regulatory pressure coexists with a more complex industrial reality. Spain has not been immune to the European debate on Huawei either, although its evolution has followed a less abrupt path than in other countries. The Government has not decreed a formal ban, but the company’s role in critical infrastructure has been progressively decreasing. In the deployment of 5G, the large operators have been replacing their technology in the network corethe part that manages user communications and data. The result is an intermediate scenario: Huawei is still present in the technological ecosystem, but its weight in the most sensitive points of the networks has been significantly reduced. A resilience already known. The Barcelona scene fits a pattern that Huawei has been repeating for years. Following the sanctions imposed by the United States in 2019, many analysts assumed that the company would be relegated to a secondary role in the global technology industry. However, the company quickly refocused its strategy: strengthened its domestic market in China, developed its own chips and opted for an independent software ecosystem after losing access to Google services. This adaptation process allowed the company to remain present in numerous segments of the sector, even in markets where its position had been weakened. The image that Huawei left at the MWC. We can interpret it as a moment within a longer story. For years, different actors have tried to stop the advance of the Chinese giant in the global technology industry. However, the company has continued to reorganize its strategy and maintain a presence in the sector. What happened in Barcelona suggests that this process is far from over. Quite the opposite: we are watching a new stage unfold in real time. Images | Huawei In Xataka | The US has decided to shoot itself in the foot and destroy one of the best AI companies in the country

A Harry Potter fan fiction was so successful that it changed the names of its protagonists. And thanks to this he earned 3 million dollars

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A Harry Potter fanfic has just become one of the most successful publishing releases of the year. ‘Alchemised‘, SenLinYu’s debut novel, sold 300,000 copies during its first week in bookstores and reached number one on The New York Times bestseller list. But the real impact came days before its publication, when Legendary Entertainment paid more than $3 million for the film rights, setting a record for a debut novel. How it was done. The story behind the book is as notable as its figures: ‘Alchemised’ was originally titled ‘Manacled’, and was a fanfiction that mixed the universe of harry potter with ‘The Handmaid’s Tale‘ by Margaret Atwood, focusing on the relationship between Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy. Over 18 months, SenLinYu transformed his viral story (which racked up millions of reads on the fanfictions Archive of Our Own) in a completely original work, eliminating all traces of intellectual property of JK Rowling and Atwood of the text, but trying to preserve the core of the narrative. The result: Favorite Debut Novel of 2025 at the Goodreads Choice Awards. What is it about? Alchemised follows Helena Marino, an alchemist and healer who awakens after 14 months as a prisoner of war of the necromancers, the victorious side in a devastating civil war. Helena discovers that her mind has been magically altered, erasing crucial memories from a part of her life she doesn’t even remember owning. The book has a violent and dark approach, and that is why SenLinYu rejects the “romance” label despite the love component: “I didn’t write this book with the idea that it would be seen as aspirational.”he states. The author’s past. The appeal of the book lies precisely in that uncompromising darkness. SenLinYu, of Japanese descent, injects into her fantasy elements based on the real horrors of war (her maternal grandmother was in American concentration camps during World War II) and has sought to recover ignored historical perspectives, particularly the experiences of Soviet women on the Eastern Front. That combination of epic fantasy and anti-war criticism has connected with readers who seek more mature and disturbing narratives than those usual in the genre. The paradigmatic case. The path of fanfiction The publishing phenomenon has an inescapable antecedent: ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’. In 2009, EL James began publishing chapters of ‘Master of the Universe’ on Fanfiction.netreimagining the relationship between Edward Cullen and Bella Swan from ‘Twilight’, without vampires but with a domineering billionaire. Reader reaction was so positive that James self-published the story in 2011 after removing explicit references to Stephenie Meyer’s saga and renaming the protagonists Christian Gray and Anastasia Steele. The leap came in March 2012, when Random House acquired the rights of the novel in a seven-figure contract. The result was more than 150 million copies sold globally and a film trilogy that grossed $1.3 billion at the global box office. Even then Jennifer Bergstrom, executive at Simon & Schuster, declared that “the fanfiction It has definitely become part of what we publish. This is changing the industry at a time when traditional publishing needs it most.” For the first time, major publishers were publicly acknowledging that online communities of amateur writers were a legitimate talent pool. Other successes. The success of ‘Fifty Shades’ was not an isolated case. Anna Todd wrote a story about One Direction’s Harry Styles on Wattpad in 2013, publishing it in serial format under the title ‘After’. The story accumulated more than 1,000 million readings on the platform before Simon & Schuster offered him a contract with which sold more than 10 million copies and generated five movies. More recently, Ali Hazelwood transformed her fanfiction of Star Wars centered on Rey and Kylo Ren in ‘The Love Hypothesis’, which It will soon be adapted to film. The journey here. This transformation of fanfiction into a bestseller would not have been possible without the digital ecosystem that supports it. Archive of Our Own It houses more than 13 million works and has become the most important archive of transformative writing. ‘Manacled’ by SenLinYu It was the second most read story in the entire history of the web when it was removed in January 2025, having accumulated more than 10 million views and 84,000 kudos (the equivalent of “likes”). This phenomenon has forced the traditional publishing industry to rethink its methods of attracting talent. Literary agents and editors now systematically scour Wattpad, Archive of Our Own, and Fanfiction.net, identifying high-impact stories before offering contracts. Removing references to other people’s intellectual property is now a standardized process, and thanks to this, trends such as videos on ‘Manacled’ accumulated millions of views years before ‘Alchemised’ hit bookstores. A whole tide of public before the official publication of the book. In Xataka | JK Rowling against fandom: How the Harry Potter universe lost its magic

The best horror movie of this winter has been released. And the protagonists are the owners of a home in Spain

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The abrupt rise of the garbage rate that has exploded throughout Spain is not the result of a improvised decision of each town hall, but rather of the rush to have arrived at the last minute. Namely: of the obligatory application of Law 7/2022 (transposition of European directives) which orders that the waste service should no longer be partially financed by general taxes and be paid 100% by a specific rate based on the “polluter pays” principle, eliminating the structural deficit that many municipalities had been carrying. What has happened? That the “garbage” is more noticeable in some places than others. The normative origin. The norm established a maximum period until April to incorporate it into ordinances, which has meant that municipalities that delayed its application have communicated the charge practically at once, with increases that in some cases double or triple previous receipts and are already reflected in the CPI with an increase 30% year-on-year in the cost of the service, despite the fact that not all municipalities have implemented it yet, which anticipates additional increases when the deployment is full. In other words, curves are coming. Cangas de Morrazo as epicenter. As it is, the first public implosion has happened in Cangasin Pontevedra, where neighborhood anger became an episode of public order with councilors escorted by the Civil Guard and throwing objects after approving an ordinance that in bars went from 107 to 1,236 euros and in homes it practically doubled receipts, accumulating more than 8,000 signatures against an increase perceived as abrupt, without a transitional phase or prior dialogue. Hoteliers allege unviability when passing bills from 1,400 to more than 3,000 euroswhile regretting that the process was carried out without calling affected actors before approval, which has turned a legal requirement into a political trigger, in a framework where the service had 17 years without updating rates and was deficient in more than two million per year, compensated via general taxes that can no longer be used for this purpose. The inequalities. The law requires a rate, but does not dictate how to calculate itwhich has generated a mosaic of municipal models with disparate criteria: cadastral value, water consumption, number of registereduse of the premises, area or even flat rate per home. This diversity implies that citizens of adjacent municipalities pay very different amounts for an equivalent service, something already warned by the FEMP and by Treasury inspectors as a sure source of massive litigation. The recent annulment by the TSJ of Castilla y León, an ordinance from León opens a path that businesses, schools and sectors especially hit with receipts are already exploring up to 30,000 euros. Experts warn that the reference to the cadastral value may constitute a vice of illegality by disconnecting from the actual generation of waste and functioning de facto as an improper surcharge of the IBIwhich could reproduce a similar scenario to the municipal capital gains: imposed instrument, politically supported, challenged in a cascade and finally revoked, with an obligation to return it to whoever has resorted to it within the deadline. Europe: obligation and margin. Political tension is fueled by a deliberate misunderstanding: Brussels demands compliance with recycling, reuse and circular economy goals, but it does not force that the instrument is a rate nor does it mark the calculation formula. In fact, it was the Spanish legislator who chose this path and transferred the technical and political responsibility for executing it to the city councils, without defining a uniform standard cost methodology or setting national equity criteria. The result is a double cross reproach: The city councils accuse the Government of imposing an obligation without an application manual and the Government points to Europe to cover a decision of internal design with inevitability, while the citizen perceives that they are beginning to pay directly for a service that already existed and whose cost structure is not explained precisely, which erodes the social acceptance of the tax. Economic effect. The rate not only makes household and business bills more expensive, but reorder incentives: If the deficit can no longer be covered by taxes and must appear on the invoice, the system penalizes waste volumetrics and rewards separation and reduction practices where ordinances have introduced bonuses linked to the use of brown containers, composting, door-to-door or clean points. However, and very importantly, in large cities many current models do not reward individual behavior, proxy rules apply (cadastral, surface, neighborhood) and generate equal payment for neighbors with radically different behaviors, something criticized from environmentalism for diluting the environmental purpose of the norm. Meanwhile, the jump 30% in CPI and business cases with receipts multiplied by three have produced not only social irritation but fear of a massive wave of resources, in a context in which city councils acknowledge that they are already preparing legal defense anticipating that the rate could become a new fiscal front with a path to court. Conclusion: a sinvivir. The crisis of the “garbage” It is not born in the amount but in the combination of inexcusable legal obligation, abrupt transfer to the taxpayer without cushioning, disparate heterogeneity between municipalities, poor communication, absence of national guidance and a highly fragile legal system that opens the door to serial litigation. Cangas has been the first burst visible of a phenomenon that is structural: Spain has made it a norm to finance waste with taxes pass them on in full as a rateand this simultaneous redesign without homogeneity or pedagogy has coincided with inflationary cycles, accumulated business burdens and distrust of administrations, producing a perfect storm that mixes environmental compliance, fiscal shock and perceived legitimacy. Image | Daniel Capilla In Xataka | If you own a house, chances are you have a new problem on the horizon: the garbage rate. In Xataka | “Garbage tourism” arrives in Spain: when the next town is your landfill

The countries with more nuclear bombs in 2025, gathered in this graph with two protagonists: China and India

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In January 2007, the Watch of the Last Judgment remained at five minutes of the devastation. In January this year, I was barely 89 seconds of midnight. This clock represents, symbolically, if we are close to a nuclear devastation, and the data of 2025 was the most bleak in its 78 to those of history. Although the United States and Russia continue to dismantle nuclear arsenal, they are still the powers that more atomic bombs have. However, China is putting the batteries And another country wants to demonstrate that it has no qualms about arming: India. And this graph perfectly represents the situation of world nuclear arsenal in 2025. The photo in 2025. Prepared by Visual Capitalist From data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, or Sipriin the graph we can eloquently see the state of the nuclear arsenal until January this year. The United States and Russia evidently dominated The world nuclear arsenal during the Cold War and, although they are still the two nations that have the most ojas in their possession, that arsenal has been diminishing. During the last months, it is estimated that the United States would have discharged eight eyes while Russia would have ‘retired’ another 71. France and the United Kingdom, which recently confirmed actions to combine their arsenalThey are maintained, like Pakistan, Israel and a North Korea that has a secret arsenal, but with an estimated 50 heads. As can be seen in the image, the US and Russia continue to dominate the segment incontestable, but there is a third country that, also evident, is taking leaps and accelerated to get a good arsenal. China. About a year ago, A SIPRI report He surprised everyone by showing that China was increasing its nuclear arsenal at a stupid speed. Now is in a position that allows Ask for both the US and its allies With nuclear arsenal and that Chinese expansion has been the perfect excuse for the “Rearme” that the Pentagon has asked for. Of the 500 estimated heads of China in 2024, we went to 600, which represents 20% more in a few months that allows to see in an evident way that the Asian giant has taken the renewal of its forces seriously. Nuclear weapons investment is not the only thing we have witnessed, since China boasts electromagnetic catapults of his new warships, of latest generationof New combat fighters and Even a huge poaching plane. India puts the batteries. Despite those 600 heads, it is estimated that they have less than 30 strategically deployed (those that are ready to launch). The United States and Russia have less than 2,000 deployed, France has almost all lists to launch and the United Kingdom half, more or less. The one estimated that it has zero deployed bombs is India, but the new SIPRI report shows that the country’s nuclear investment is paying off. In fact, and without knowing really how things are going in North Koreait would be the only country that has increased its arsenal, adding another eight heads in recent months. They have reached 180 and arrive just at a time of high voltage in the Indo-Pacific region, with continuous demonstrations of force As the other big in the contest does, China. New generation of bombs. The current situation is … complex. With the invasion of Russia to Ukraine the Fear of nuclear war. With the recent conflict between Israel and its neighbors, Those drums have sounded again And, meanwhile, China promotes pacts not to attack first with nuclear arsenal while the treaty expiration is approaching START III which limited the amount of strategic weapons deployed by nuclear powers. Russia se He disconnected of that treaty, directly, in 2022. We will see in a few years how graphics of this type evolve, since France confirmed In 2024 a program to produce Nuclear bombs New generation and more recently they bet on new Actions to consolidate your role as one of the pillars of nuclear deterrence in the West, something that blocks with the Objectives of Rearme launched by Europe. In Xataka | In the Cold War, China feared a Soviet nuclear attack: its response was the largest underground nuclear base on the planet

Its protagonists are humanoid robots and goes for long

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China is openly promoting the development of humanoid robots as its next great technological revolution after its success with electric cars. A few days ago, according to NikkeiShenzen activated a plan that includes financing and political support to promote advances in components, AI chips and biomimetic technologies. Why is it important. It is a movement that coincides and much with Elon Musk’s plans with Tesla, whose Optimus robot It could begin its production at the end of this year, first for internal use and then to market from 2026. This convergence has a lot to do with the entrance of Tesla in China and the effect it had when transforming its electric car industry. In figures. 56% of the 100 traded companies dedicated to robotics are based in China, according to A Morgan Stanley report. In addition, 45% of companies that customize robots for the end user are Chinese. The context. This plan is accompanied by several similar initiatives since 2023. Shanghai wants to create a 1 billion yuan robotics industry (about 137,000 million dollars) this year. While, Beijing has announced a fund of 13,000 million dollars for robotics and a humanoid innovation center. Paul Gong, head of automotive research at UBS Investment Bank, Describe To Musk as the “spiritual leader” of the sector, a paper that also played with electric vehicles. “The introduction of the concept of humanoid robot has led many Chinese companies to explore this address,” he says. The threat. The intensification of geopolitical tensions could have consequences. Lu Hanchen, director of Shenzhen Gaogong Industry Research, warns that the United States could restrict the export of optimus robots to China and block the entry of Chinese humanoid robots into the US market, referring to concerns about data security and data management. And now what? According to Bernstein Research projectionshumanoid robots could reach: By 2025: less than 10 million units for entertainment, R&D and education. By 2028: tens of millions for specific tasks in general environments. By 2035: more than 100 million for general tasks in hospitals and restaurants. By 2050: more than 1,000 million performing most human work. The collaboration with Chinese suppliers will be basic for Tesla. At the same time, Chinese companies will move trying to reduce foreign component dependence. It is an interesting paradox: Washington and Beijing have an increasingly tense relationship, but at the same time their industrial ecosystems remain intertwined. The race for humanoid robots is intuited as another scenario in which mutual dependence and atrocious competition between both blocks will have to live together. And the figure of Musk will win integers in that clash. In Xataka | Unitree is one of the Chinese technological jewels. He wants to do with robots the same thing Xiaomi did with mobiles Outstanding image | UNITREE

Many changes in figures, but not in the protagonists

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According to data from report Global Wealth Report 2024 of UBS, the number of millionaires has not stopped growing Since 2020. Spain is no exception and, in the last year, the number of people in Spain have also increased with a heritage above the million euros available to invest. The world has elaborated his ‘XIX list of the richest of 2025 in Spain‘In which the country’s greatest fortunes are quantified. The newspaper uses the data of the Mercantile Registry and the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) to carry out a patrimonial estimate. Most of the names are common in this type of lists for decades, but the presence of the great families that add individual fortunes to adopt positions of power in the business field is highlighted. This family predominance is one of the main differences between Millionaires in Spain And, for example, Great American fortuneswith a more individualistic character. 1-Amancio Ortega To anyone’s surprise, the first list prepared by The worldIt occupies it Amancio Ortegaas the greatest fortune of Spain and The ninth of the world. The list estimates Ortega’s fortune in 2025 in about 118,945 million euros. The main origin of this fortune comes from the company that founded. According to Inditex dataAmancio Ortega controls 59.29% of the company’s shares through their societies Pontegadea Inversiones and Partler Participations. On the other hand, 100% of the dividends that Inditex obtains are reinvested in Pontegadea assets, which has allowed him to lift an empire of the brick positioning Pontegadea as one of the Real estate with greater muscle Financial of Spain. 2- Rafael del Pino Calvo-Sotelo and Family It is enough to reach the second position to find the first sample of the strength of the families of Millionaires in Spain, and does so by the five members of the Pino Calvo-Sotelo family. This family adds a joint fortune priced in More than 14,350 million euros. Its main representative is Rafael del Pino Calvo-Sotelo, with a personal fortune estimated at 7.1 billion euros, which plays the role of president of Ferrovial and main shareholder. Rafael happened in office to his father and founder of the company Rafael del Pino Moreno, which left a legacy of more than 6,500 million euros. In addition to the “family business” of construction, the family operates jointly through investment companies such as Rijn Capital and Capital BV. 3- Juan Roig Alfonso and Family If we think of A supermarket brandwith all probability Mercadona will be among the first positions. That has made the fortune of its founder and that of his family have grown like the foam in the last two decades. It is estimated that Juan Roig’s personal fortune is 6,100 million euros. According to estimates The worldthe family fortune of the Roig amounts to 12,245 million euros Thank you, in large part to control 80% of the participations of the supermarket chain, where Juan Roig Alfonso’s marriage and Hortensia Herrero controls almost 71% of Mercadona. Fernando Roig, Juan Roig’s brother controls 9% of the company. 4- Sandra Ortega Mera The fourth greatest fortune of Spain is also a usual of the lists of a millionaire in Spain and has as its origin the inditex shareholders: Sandra Ortega Mera. Sandra is the eldest daughter of Amancio Ortega’s first marriage, but is not actively linked to the direction of Inditexalthough he is the second largest shareholder of the company (behind his father) with 5.053% of the shares of the company that his father founded. The world values ​​Sandra Ortega’s fortune in about 9,375 million eurospositioning himself as the richest woman in Spain. Like his father, Sandra Ortega Mera redirects Inditex’s dividends to his Rosp Corunna company, dedicated to buying buildings and resorts and then rent them to large hotel chains. It is also part of the pharmaceutical shareholders Pharmamar, controlling 4.5% of its shares. 5- Sol Daurella Comadrán and Family After the last name Daurella is a family that has controlled the company for more than 60 years Coca-Cola Europacific Partnersthe largest independent coca-cool bottling. Sol Daurella is the daughter of Santiago Daurella Rull who in 1951 obtained the first license for bottling Coca-Cola in Spain, and today is its president since 2012. It is estimated that Sol Daurella’s personal fortune is about 3,000 million euros. Next to the Cobega Societywho direct his brothers, the family controls a huge and profitable Food distribution holding which provides the family with a estimated fortune at 9,375 million euros. 6- Marc Puig and Family The Catalan Cosmetic and perfumes Puig starred in one of the most agitated departures of 2024, with an output value of 14,000 million euros. Marc Puig is Puig’s third generation and is in charge of the company in 2004, and has been responsible for annexing the group perfume lines of such important designers such as Carolina Herrera or Jean Paul Gaultier. The joint fortune of the Puig family is calculated in about 9,050 million euros. It is estimated that the family still controls 71% of the capital of Puig, but they have also expanded to the real estate sector being part of the Colonial Board of Directors thanks to controlling 7.7% of its actions. 7- Juan March de la Lastra y Familia For many, Juan March Ordinas It is considered as the “Spanish Rockefeller” for its successful career in the Spanish business world. Founded the MARCHA BANCA And since then the family has maintained the total control of the entity, expanding and diversifying its investments thanks to the Alba Financial Corporation. Juan March de la Lastra He is now the executive president of the bank, replacing his father Carlos March Delgado. Through this entity, the investments of the four march brothers expanded, with an important presence in IBEX companies such as Acerinox (19.3%) or Ebro Foods (14%). The list of greatest fortunes in Spain assigns them a Set equity of 6,020 million euros. 8- Francisco and Jon Riberas Mera In 1950, Francisco Riberas Pampliega, founded a scrap business In Burgos that ended up … Read more

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