putting

The enormous Mayrit tunnel boring machine on Metro L11 is already in Madrid. Now comes the real challenge: putting it together piece by piece

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In Madrid there are already the pieces of one of the largest machines that will work in the city’s underground in the coming years. It is about Mayritthe EPB tunnel boring machine 98 meters long and 1,500 tons in weight whose transport started in Germany, continued along the Rhine to Rotterdam and continued by boat to the port of Santander. After that journey, a special convoy has completed more than 450 kilometers by road to take its modules to the future Comillas station, where it will prepare to excavate the new section of Line 11 between Plaza Elíptica and Conde de Casal. The work on which Mayrit will work is part of a broader intervention that the Community of Madrid describes in 2025 as the largest expansion of the Metro network in the last decade. Official data published in November put progress at 34% and maintain a budget of 518 million euros to complete the new section and the planned stations. The regional government maintains the year 2027 as a reference to close this phase of the project. Mayrit is already in Madrid: one hour left to convert its parts into a single operational machine When dealing with a machine of this size and complexity, each phase of the process requires precision that goes far beyond conventional engineering. Mayrit’s journey towards Spain began long before it appeared on the road: it started in Schwanau, the German town where Herrenknecht completed its manufacturing after about 20 months of work. There, more than a thousand kilometers from Madrid, the tunnel boring machine It was assembled for the first time in June 2025 to carry out initial verifications. This assembly showed the magnitude of the next step: converting the machine into a set of parts capable of traveling around Europe without risks. Disassembling it was not a quick procedure. For the next two months, Herrenknecht teams dedicated themselves to separating each module following a sequence calculated to the millimeter. The result was a set of sections ready to begin an international tour. The disembarkation in the port of Santander marked the beginning of the last stage of Mayrit’s journey, a phase that requires coordination very different from that of river and maritime transport. The pieces arrived distributed in separate shipments and were transferred to prepared platforms, a process that is carried out with specialized equipment to avoid any unexpected displacement. The organization of the road transfer incorporated common protocols in special transport, with large-tonnage vehicles escorted by technical teams in charge of checking clearances, turning radii and urban accesses. The authorities confirmed that the advance was carried out mainly at night to reduce interruptions and facilitate maneuvers in the most delicate sections of the route. The arrival in the Comillas area required a final deployment of personnel and machinery to accommodate each piece in the work area, where the assembly phase that will transform this set of modules into a single operational tunnel boring machine is already awaiting. The arrival of the pieces also marks the beginning of a phase that, according to forecasts distributed between June and November 2025, can extend until March 2026. Assembling a TBM requires joining modules in a strict order, connecting hydraulic and electrical systems, and performing tests that are concentrated between late January and February. It is a sequential process that is not resolved in a few days and that determines the date on which the machine will be able to start digging at the beginning of March. The official documentation describes Mayrit as an EPB machine adapted to the geotechnical characteristics of the layout. Its operation is based on maintaining a balance of pressures that prevents unwanted movements on the surface, especially relevant in urban environments. To sustain this process, shifts of specialists are involved who manage the control and evacuation systems of the excavated material. The expected performanceclose to 15 meters per day, will be decisive in setting the pace of mechanized advance. Comillas will be the point from which Mayrit will begin the mechanized sectionaccording to the forecasts that the Community of Madrid has been detailing since June 2025. From there it will advance to Conde de Casalwhile in parallel the manual excavation of about 700 meters towards Plaza Elíptica progresses, started in September with a performance of close to 50 meters per month. The beginning of the excavation will mark the jump between the preparatory work and the actual progress of the tunnel that will transform this section of Line 11. With each meter excavated, the planned layout will get closer to its final shape and will allow the progress of the project to be measured more clearly. It is a significant element within regional planning to reinforce mobility in one of the areas with the most demand on the network. Images | Community of Madrid In Xataka | Malaga has become a magnet for the most luxurious yachts in the world: the latest, that of the co-founder of Google

Insects have been traveling to space for decades. Now the ESA is studying putting them on the astronauts’ plates

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For years, many of us have thought of insects as something foreign to our table, but they have been part of space history for much longer than we imagine. Even before the first astronauts reached orbit, these small species they had already shown that could withstand the conditions of flight. Today, with long-duration missions on the horizon, the conversation has changed. Europe wonders if these animals, so nutritious and easy to maintain, could become a real option to feed those who live far from Earth. Why insects. Although they are still a culinary rarity in Spain, insects are part of the regular diet of billions of people. The FAO estimates more than 2,000 species consumed on different continents, valued for their contribution of protein, iron, zinc and beneficial fats. Their ability to develop with few resources and transform waste into useful biomass makes them an attractive candidate for controlled food systems. That is why several European teams are analyzing its nutritional potential and its viability in environments where every gram counts. What we know about microgravity. Research with insects in space has accumulated decades of datafrom early suborbital flights to tests at orbital stations. During this journey, different species have been tested, with very different results: some managed to complete essential phases of the life cycle in microgravity and others showed sensitivity to factors such as movement or radiation. This contrast has been useful to understand what biological mechanisms remain stable outside of Earth and what processes are altered even in very resistant organisms. What the ESA is looking for. The European team work with a specific idea: to know in detail how these organisms behave in key phases of their development when they spend prolonged time in orbit. The agency has brought together diverse profiles to study their ability to recycle nutrients and produce protein under controlled conditions, a line that already has candidate species such as the common cricket and the mealworm. This research aims to clarify what biological requirements should be met before considering its production in long-duration missions. Fruit fly habitat used for scientific research in space Although there is an extensive history of testing with insects, much of the results are scattered and come from short missions. The majority of experiments did not reach times that allow the complete life cycle of a species to be followed, an essential requirement to evaluate its use in long missions. Furthermore, many of these investigations are old and used different methodologies, making it difficult to compare them. That is why ESA is preparing new studies specifically aimed at measuring changes in reproduction, development and behavior in orbit. Drosophila model. NASA’s experience with Drosophila melanogaster has demonstrated its usefulness as a model organism to understand physiological changes in space. The agency highlights that it shares a good part of the genes related to human diseases and that its accelerated reproduction facilitates the analysis of several generations. He Fruit Fly Lab, installed on the International Space Station, it allows us to follow their behavior and freeze samples for study on the ground. It also incorporates a centrifuge that helps distinguish which effects depend on gravity and which are linked to space radiation. Astronaut James D. “Ox” Van Hoften examines a bee experiment From the laboratory to the menu. For now, the food use of insects in space missions continues to be a line of study and not an immediate application. Researchers need to check how they behave in prolonged phases and what it would mean to stably grow them in inhabited modules. Added to this is the challenge of transforming this biomass into safe, manageable and acceptable products from a nutritional and sensory point of view. Everything is moving in the direction of exploring options, not automatically incorporating them into the astronauts’ menu. Images | ESA | POT In Xataka | Astronauts’ food is not appetizing at first, especially in China

Alibaba is becoming the Ai Open Source sponator. Your family of Qwen models is putting the market above

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The Chinese giant Alibaba has launched Officially QWEN3-OMNI, an open source artificial intelligence model that can process text, images, audio and video simultaneously. In fact, it is the first model that unifies these four modalities natively and does it completely free, something that none of its US competitors offers. Bet on the Free Code. While Openai and Google charge for using their most advanced multimodal models, Alibaba gives theirs under Apache 2.0 license. This means that any company can download it, modify it and use it commercially without any cost. This open source approach It is the trend that multiple Asian giants are adopting to cause global interest in their language models and that multiple developers around the world want to contribute to their evolution. It is part of China’s strategy to remain relevant in the AI ​​career. Image: Alibaba What can you do exactly. As points The company, QWEN3-OMNI simultaneously processes text in 119 languages, recognizes voice in 19 languages ​​and can speak in 10 different languages. Its “thinker-speaker” architecture separates the reasoning of the audio generation, promising real-time responses with latencies of just 234 milliseconds for audio and 547 milliseconds for video. Benchmarks. In 36 reference tests, QWEN3-OMNI exceeds open source models in 32 of them and establishes new general records in 22. In advanced mathematics (Aime25) obtains 65 points compared to 26.7 of GPT-4O. In writing tasks (Writingbench) 82.6 points, exceeding 75.5 GPT-4O points. While it is true that it is not being compared to Openai’s most avant-garde model to date (GPT-5), it is a real achievement what giants like Alibaba are doing with their free and open source models. Strategy. Alibaba is running a risky but intelligent play: democratize the multimodal AI to gain market share. “This could bring some changes to the panorama of the OMNI open source models,” explained The Qwen team. The announcement occurs just when Nvidia announces Investments of 100,000 million dollars in data centers for OpenAI, while Alibaba and the rest of Asian giants prefer to dispute technological leadership in AI from another angle. What does it mean. Great American technology have opted for proprietary models that generate direct income. Alibaba wants to change the rules by giving instant access to its technology to millions of developers. Even if they offer it for free, they are building an ecosystem that gives them competitive advantage In the long term. And now what. China is not the only one that launches free code models. OpenAi has GPT-Oss And Google has Gemma. Two options that developers have on hand to deploy their ideas, modify them, contribute to their evolution and others, although they are not the main approach of both companies. In the case of Alibaba models, Deepseek either Tencentthe idea does revolve around the open source, and the pulse does not tremble when offering their most powerful models for free (despite the fact that some more complete and specific options are reserved for special agreements). QWEN models A great reputation have been carved Throughout these last years, and this new evolution in his family marks a new ribbon for the rest of the companies, not only in efficiency, but in the deployment of this business model. Cover image | Alibaba and Growika In Xataka | Eight people. An hour of work. A budget dollar. 5,000 new podcasts thanks to AI

Italian producers are fed up with the Parmesano stolen. So they are putting microchips

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Gouda, ManchegoCheddar, Roquefort and Parmesano, of course. All have in common that they are Cheese typesbut also that, together with many others, they represent something more important: culture, tradition and even a country. Such is the importance of certain foods that the European Union created the DOP seal, A quality system To protect them. But outside the EU, products are still confused under the DOP that have a lower quality. In Italy they have tired have decided to take action on the matter armoring the Parmesan cheese. As? Inserting microchips. Parmesan. Parmesan is one of the most ‘copied’ cheeses in the world. And it is not due to its flavor, but to something that interests the industry much more: its prestige and the high value of it. Parmesan is used in recipes as dear as Pizzas Or a certain type of pasta, and if you have ever bought a Parmesan, you will know that the price is very different from other wedges. Out of Europe is the jungle. It is one of those cheeses with the seal of Denomination of Protected Origin And, although the European Union prohibits the use of the name “Parmesan” for products that are not ‘Parmigiano Reggiano Dop’, the problem is that there are markets, such as the American, in which a cheese ‘parmesan’ is sold that nothing has to do with Parmesan. Apart from the United States or Latin America, there are versions of ‘ParmesanReggianito‘Argentine after World War Ithat it was consolidated so much that it caused the creation of the Reggiano Parmigian consortium. It is estimated that this imitations market moves around 2,000 million dollars annually. To put it in context, the authentic Parmesan moved 3.2 million in 2024. The bark is like a huge barcode And the detail of the QR where the microchip goes A Burrada. Estimates point to 90% of products labeled as “Parmesan” that are not really Parmesan. These are cheese made based on cheaper cheese mixtures, with extreme cases of some stuffed with wood fibers. And, as you can imagine, it is something that entails several inconveniences for the DOP, such as direct damage to the consumer being a lower quality product, but with a high price. And also affects Parmesan’s own industry, eroding its cultural value. The Italian consortium He has managed to block some attempts to parmesan cheesebut it has not been enough and manufacturers have gone to action. Microchips in food. For a few years, the Parmesan cortex (which is a part that is not usually consumed, although it is very good to make a cream or to some popcorn) incorporates QR codes. They allow a traceability of the product and are “printed” based on dairy proteins. If you want to eat the bark that carries that QR, there would be no problem. The wheel also has a system of points that act as a kind of identity document. However, the volume of fraud forced the sector to look for new solutions. There the microchips come into play. Developed By the American company P-chipthis microchip is somewhat larger than a salt grain and is inserted into the casein label. Each has A unique code that stores all cheese information: Origin. Production date. Place of production. Origin of milk. Protecting the denomination of protected origin. It is something that allows producers and distributors to verify the authenticity of that piece and, of course, gives a guarantee to the consumer, who knows that he is paying a high price for the product he wants to buy. According to security tests, and how we can read in The Guardianalthough the chip is in contact with the food, it does not leave toxic waste and can be easily removed at home because yes or yes it is in the QR code. This began to be implemented in 120,000 of the four million wheels annually in Parmesano, but the Reggian Parmigian consortium wants this technological solution to become a standard in its industry. Beyond Parmesan. In the end, it is a measure for Protect the economic value of the product And, if the DOP seal does not say – not protect – nothing outside the European Union (a seal that shares cheeses such as Manchego or Roquefort), which at least between QR and microchips There is a traceability and a fight against “falsifications”. The objective, according to account The president of the PRC, “is to transmit the value of our product globally and distinguish it from products with similar names in the market that do not meet our strict production and area of origin.” And, precisely, the Reggian Parmigian can teach the way to other products with denominations of origin such as the Padano Grana or the aforementioned Spanish and French protected cheeses. Images | Parmigianoreggiano, Udo Schröter, Morgan Cheeses In Xataka | Bodegas have been labeling their bottles with all kinds of animals for years. It turns out that they are key to choosing wine

The AI is putting the US power grid in trouble. And Google has already taken a measure that shows the magnitude of the problem

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Google data centers work 24/7, processing searches, videos and now also AI models. But not everything can grow at the same pace. In several areas of the United States, electricity begin to notice the pressure: Energy demand is accelerated and In some places already exceed capacity forecasts. Given that scenario, Google moves: It will reduce the consumption of your data centers when there are peaks, prioritizing the essential and postponing what you can expect. The novelty is the focus: Machine Learning charges. Artificial intelligence progresses. The electricity grid notice. The expansion of AI is going so fast that companies receive more connection requests than they can meet in certain areas. The consequence is no longer only technique: there is an energy restriction that conditions the deployment. It’s not about turning off machines, but moving loads. The “demand response“It consists of adapting consumption to what the network can supply at all times. In practice: displace or reduce non -urgent loads – like the processing of programmable videos or tasks – outside critical hours. It is a tool used in intensive industries and cryptocurrency mining, now applied to data centers with AI. The system has clear limits. This type of flexibility is not applicable in all centers or in all situations. Google recognizes it clearly: there are services that you just can’t expect. Platforms such as Search, Maps or the cloud for critical sectors – such as health or emergencies – require continuous availability, without margin for load settings. There are no “non -urgent” tasks that can be postponed. Therefore, although the response to demand is a valuable tool, its implementation will remain partial and selective. It requires planning, previous agreements and an infrastructure designed to absorb that type of reorganization. Not all centers can do it. But where it is possible, it becomes a real way to relieve pressure on the network without compromising the essential. There is already experience, and now. It is not theory. Google tested this flexibility With the public electric of Omaha and reduced demand associated with Machine Learning in three network events last year. The next step are formal agreements with Indiana Michigan Power (Fort Wayne) and with Tennessee Valley Authority: in Indiana it will be integrated from the beginning of the new center, and in Tennessee it will be applied coordinated with the operator. From experiment to strategy. What began as a pilot becomes operational policy: Managing demand flexible helps stabilize the network and accelerates the connection of large loads without waiting for new lines or centrals. It is not a magical solution, but it wins time while the infrastructure is reinforced. Images | Xataka with Gemini 2.5 Flash | Andrey Metelev In Xataka | Google has signed the largest hydroelectric agreement in history. You no longer know where to get more energy to feed your AI

Going to the hairdresser or putting bracelets is not enough for Mercadona to dismiss you

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An employee who had been working as a manager in Mercadona for more than twenty years had to face a complicated situation when, in August 2023, he began A medical leave For anxiety. While it is true that there are certain activities that a person on a medical leave should not do, the Superior Court of Justice of Castilla y León has had to remind Mercadona to go to the hairdresser or get bracelets is not sufficient reason for A disciplinary dismissal. Spied on the super. As detailed In the sentencethe farewell employee worked as a manager in a Mercadona de León supermarket since 2001. In 2023, she took a medical leave for anxiety. After a few months, Mercadona hired A private detective agency To monitor their daily activities while he was ongoing. In the report, the detectives recorded that the worker had gone to the hairdresser, wore bracelets and rings, spoke on the phone and had even made purchases in a Lidl supermarket of cleaning products and detergents. Farewell by allergic? At all times, the company had linked all these activities with an alleged allergyTo metals such as nickel and chromium, present on the bracelets, in smartphones, in elements of the hair washing area, etc., as well as chemicals present in cleaning products. According to the allegations of the company “it has superior respiratory tract hypersensitivity by general immune irritative reaction due to awareness of irritating agents present in the work environment.” The daily activities of the employee, so normal to anyone, were interpreted by the company as a “lack of will to take care” and a reason for Unjustified extension of its temporal disability. According to the company, the use of jewelry and contact with chrome surfaces were “behavior incompatible with their healing process.” So the company declared “that the employee was acting in bad faith” and that “she had lost her trust”, so he applied a disciplinary dismissal. At this point, it should be remembered that the reason for the medical leave It was for anxiety. The judicial reaction: it has anxiety, not allergy. The Social Court No. 1 of León initially gave the reason to Mercadona, but the employee appealed the sentence and raised it to the Superior Court of Justice of Castilla y León (TSJCyL), which corrected the company’s performance strongly. The court criticized that they were considered “activities that compromise the healing” completely everyday actions such as going to the hairdressing, carrying bracelets or making the purchase. In addition, the ruling highlighted the contradiction between the diagnosis of anxiety that justified the decrease and argumentation of the dismissal focused on reasons related to respiratory pathologies caused by supposed chemical sensitivity. TSJCyL: One More Thing. The TSJCyl judgment not only declared the disciplinary dismissal inadmissible, but declared it void, considering that it occurred in a clearly repressive context. The worker had denounced deficiencies in the prevention of occupational hazards before her medical decline. Therefore, a violation was evidenced to the right to non -discrimination due to disability and compensation guaranteethat is, the right not to suffer from Exercise labor rightsinterpreting the dismissal of the employee as a revenge that had nothing to do with her medical recovery. The sentence. The Superior Court has dismissed the decision of the Social Court No. 1 of León that in the first instance gave the reason to Mercadona, and goes on to condemn the company to readmit to the worker in your job and with the same conditions and pay for back salaries from the discharge of temporary disability after dismissal, at a rate of 2,089.58 euros per month. In addition, you must pay compensation of 7,500 euros for damages. In Xataka | 55,245 euros for eating a sandwich and a beer: Mercadona must compensate an employee for unfair dismissal Image | Wikimedia Commons (LBM1948), Unspash (Farhad Ibrahimzade)

Toledo promised them very happy putting music at their festivities. Until the SGAE arrived with pending invoices

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Who does not like a good verbena with his musicite and his dances. In Toledotodos the years celebrate the August Fair, the Corpus and other events and in all, of course, they put music. The problem is that between 2017 and 2021 the invoices were not paid to the General Society of Authors and Editors. Now they will have to pay more than 143,000 euros. Imposses. The Commercial Court No. 1 has issued a sentence and condemns the City Council of Toledo to pay the invoices not paid to the SGAE, which amount to 143,513.92 euros, plus 30,000 euros of coasts of the trial, as reported in Europa Press. Unpaid invoices correspond to the period between 2017 and 2021. Disproportionate. According to the City Council, the rates of these invoices were “arbitrary and disproportionate”, which is why they were not paid at the time. In addition, in the case of the Lux Toledo event they alleged that it was the company Actiona who should pay the copyright. In the case of this event, the judge cites in the sentence that if the company does not pay it, “the City Council would assume it subsidiaryly.” The City Council has already approved a credit modification to deal with payment. There have been more cases. Toledo’s is not the only case of a town hall to which the SGAE takes to court for non -payment. In September last year, Vigo had to pay more than half a million euros for not paying bills between 2018 and 2023. The list continues: Miranda del Ebro, Zalamea de la Serena, OBEJUNA SOURCE… Confusion. There are few municipalities that have left SGAE invoices without paying, it seems that they have agreed, but sometimes it is the result of ignorance. According to him Orb and Associated Lawyers Officewhen a City Council hires a band, it often occurs that “he has been hired as an interpreter, as a musician performer of his own repertoire and that the SGAE does not have the exclusive management of those works.” In addition, there is a lot of confusion around Who should pay when a public event is held. For example, although the City Council only gives the space and is a promoter who organizes the concert, corresponds to the City Council to pay the payment to the SGAE. Bad communication. There have also been cases such as Medina del Campo where the fault was the lack of communication. The SGAE did not communicate that they had to pay anything until 2007, when there were already 76,000 euros. Something similar happened in Miranda del Ebro When in 2018 the SGAE sent the invoices corresponding to 2014. Image | Pexels In Xataka | A town in Toledo has tired of the squatters. So you are offering a new service to your neighbors to put them

There are those who ask why airplanes have no parachute. This manufacturer decided to stop asking him and putting one

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It is one of those questions that seem taken from an impromptu talk between friends: “And why don’t they put A giant parachute In the airplanes in case something happens? The company that achieved it is called Cirrus Aircraft, and for decades it has designed light airplanes for general aviation. His proposal was as simple as revolutionary: incorporating a ballistic parachute directly into the fuselage, as part of the plane design. Not as an accessory, not as optional. Serial. The system is called Caps, acronym for Cirrus Airframe Parachute Systemand it is present so much In the SR series as in the vision jetan airplane with a turbophah engine for five passengers, plus the pilot. A parachute that is not an accessory, is part of the plane CAPS operation It is as direct as its objective: saving lives when everything else fails. In the upper part of the fuselage, just behind the cabin, a capsule sealed with a large parachute is hidden. If a serious emergency occurs, the pilot only has to pull a t -shaped leverlocated on the roof of the cabin. In a matter of seconds, a small rocket purses the parachute up and it unfolds, braking the fall of the plane until it touches earth. Of course, there are conditions. The system should not be activated below 600 feet of altitude (about 180 meters above the ground), and its effectiveness is much greater if it unfolds between 600 and 2,000 feet. Above that altitude, the pilot has more margin to evaluate and make decisions, but it is still a valid option if the situation demands it. The history of the CAPS was not built from one day to another. In the mid -1990s, the Cirrus engineering team, led by Paul Johnston began to work on an idea that, at that time, seemed crazy: adapt a system of Complete parachute to a light plane. They were inspired by a previous prototype developed by BRS (Ballistic Recovery Systems)a company specialized in ballistic parachutes, which had already tried similar solutions for aircraft such as Cessna 150. A cirrus sr20 displays a parachute in a test In 1998, Cirrus performed his first real testin the southern desert of California. The person in charge of activating the system was a military pilot. That test was key: it showed that the concept worked. From there, Cirrus integrated it as a central part of the design of his first major production model, SR20. Not as an addition, but as a structural element designed from the beginning. Since its certification, the CAPS system has activated more than a hundred times in emergency situations. According to cup datauntil June 2025 they had Registered 136 deployments. Among them there are stories of people who survived motor failures, control losses or extreme weather conditions. Graphical representation of CAPS deployment On its official website, Cirrus states that its system has returned more than 250 people home alive. And some of those stories are especially shocking. Like Greg Huntleypilot and owner of a Cirrus aircraft, which suffered a motor failure on October 22, 2014. Activated the CAPs and managed to land with the plane hanging from the parachute. It was unharmed. Graphic Representation of CAPS IN ACTION Huntley flew every week for work. He had his base in Charlotte, North Carolina, and although he was never passionate about aviation, he acknowledged that he saved him a long time. On October 22, 2014 he took off like any other day. A few minutes after flight, some 5,000 feet of altitudethe engine stopped dry. “Just before declaring the emergency I thought: I have five minutes of life,” I would remember later. One of the many airplanes that used the Caps He made a clear decision: if at 3,000 feet he still did not see the terrain, he would activate the parachute. And so it was. The sky remained completely black through the windshield, so he informed by radio that he was going to display the Caps. “I have taken many children already their parents on their first flights. I always explain that if something happens to me, pull the lever (…) that morning, putting hands on the shooter, I thought: now it is you who is going to check it.” The plane descended and in less than a minute touched land in a grass field. Caps lever The climax of this philosophy came with the Cirrus Vision Jet, a small monomotor reactor certified in 2016. It was the first Jet of the world equipped as standard with a ballistic parachute for the entire aircraft. But Cirrus went further: Safe Return was added to the CAPS system, a function that allows the plane to land only in case of emergency. Button ‘safe return’ The idea is simple. If the pilot suffers a sudden disability, any passenger can press a button. At that time, the Jet Vision takes care of everything: Calculate the routecommunicates the situation to the controllers and performs the descent autonomously to land on a safe track. Caps and Safe Return thus form a fairly complete security package. Cirrus’s parachute system is not designed for all types of aircraft. It does not intend to be. Its effectiveness has to do with the type of plane into which it integrates, with its weight, its structure and the situations for which it was thought. While it is not perfect, it has managed to open a door: demonstrate that there is room to think about security from another angle. Images | Cirrus | POT | CUP In Xataka | They are not fighters, they are planes of the Slovakia government: the day an Airbus A319 and a Fokker 100 stole the show

As the Puerta del Sol is a tree desert, Madrid has had an idea for this summer: putting awnings

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With the thermometer Nailing with the 40ºC of maximum and a sun of rigor, if there is something sued today in the streets of Madrid is shadow, a shelter in which to enjoy a refreshing truce before continuing on their way to the office, house or the institute. To create one of those ‘Climate shelters’ In the urban heart, a few weeks ago the City Council He started installing Toldos in the middle of the Puerta del Sol, 32 panels with which he wants the square to stop being a pan. The problem is that its installation has unleashed a considerable stirboth for the solution itself and its cost. Shadow, where is there a shadow? The Puerta del Sol is an emblematic, sculptural place, forced to Thousands of tourists Every year and central node of Madrid. The problem is that something key is missing, especially in summer: shadow. Your around 12,000 m2 They are a wasteland in which it is difficult to protect themselves from the sun, a problem when the city faces a heat wave like the one in these days. There are those pulling irony It refers to the square as ‘La Sartén del Sol’. Why is there no shadow? Because it was never considered necessary. The City Council argues that in its 163 years of history the square never had “elements of shadow”, although there are who holds that in his day he had some trees and more than a century ago he already incorporated awnings. Historical debates apart, the Consistory assures that today the configuration of the Plaza conditions what can be done or not in it: below, scarce 20 cm of the pavementrests a slab that separates the square from one of the largest subway stations in the city, in addition to galleries. And why is it important? Simple. Because what is done in the square should take into account the huge structure that opens below. Martínez-Almeida team remember That a few years ago it was studied to plant trees in the only area of ​​the square that does not have infrastructure under the pavement, but the Municipal Historical Heritage Commission ended up lying the initiative. The reason? The vegetation perhaps threw some shadow and refresh the environment, but the idea did not respond to historical or urban criteria. He simply proposed to plant trees where he could, without contributing more reasons. What if we put awnings? In the absence of trees, good are Quita and Pon, a solution that is already used in the street of other Spanish cities punished by the sun, such as The center of Seville either Malaga. That is the idea that the City Council was raised, which launched its administrative machinery to project, hire and install a system of panels that cover part of the square. They wait, but the fabrics began to settle Two weeks ago. The awnings, 32 in total, are manufactured with Microperforated PVC ivory and have been arranged in such a way that they offer shade to pedestrians that walk from Alcalá to Arenal. To hold them, anchors were installed on the facades, tensioners and stainless steel masts in some granite banks. The idea is to use a threaded tubes system to place and remove panels throughout the year, as is done in other cities in the south. Why is there debate? For several reasons. Input by the solution itself and its effectiveness. “They are not a simple ornament or a whim: they are a late and expensive response to an urban policy of the PP, which for years turned our public spaces into authentic cement plates,” criticism in The country Pedro Barrero, socialist spokesman in the Commission of Works and Equipment. To that debate contributes that the square was reformed Just a few years ago With one millionaire investment without those guaranteed works shadows in the environment. Another background debate is whether the square may or may not host trees, beyond the handicap that the subway station is underneath, or if there are better alternatives to the awnings. The City Council insists in which the configuration of Puerta del Sol dates back to the nineteenth century and this will be “the first time you have shadows in its 163 years of history.” The proposal also received the approval of the Historical Heritage Commission. The big question is … Is it used for the 12,000 m2 of the square a solution that has demonstrated useful for narrow streets? Are there more factors? Yes. The price. The installation of the awnings will require considerable investment, around 1.5 million of euros that add to the cost of the reform of a few years ago. In networks there are who questions That a million and a half are reversed to a work that, in the end, will mean the installation of about thirty PVC awnings. From the City Council they clarify that to carry out the project they have had to carry out studies and undertake works that are not appreciated with the naked eye, such as adapting the banks, emptying them and providing them with steel plates to ballast the anchor of the masts. The goal? Ensure that the canvases endure wind gusts without the foundation affecting the structures located under the square. Images | Madrid City Council In Xataka | People have started rowing to touch their ass to the statue of the bear in Madrid. Makes as little sense as it seems

There is already an autonomous community taking note of the blackout and putting measures to avoid it: Catalonia

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The electrical invoice It has risen After the blackout for the reinforcement system, but the real challenge is not only in reinforcing the system, but in transforming it. Catalonia has understood and got to work. Short. The Government of Catalonia has approved by urgent a new decree-law with the aim of increasing the resilience of the electrical system. The standard introduces reforms both in energy legislation and urban regulations to facilitate energy transition. Specifically, it modifies Decree Law 16/2019, oriented to climate emergency, and adapts the regulatory framework to accommodate energy storage through batteries. A double purpose. On the one hand, it streamlines the administrative process of renewable energy projects. On the other hand, and pioneer, regulates the installation of high -power batteries, both independent (Stand Alone) as hybridized with solar and wind farms. In addition, the Catalan Government has decided to grant these infrastructure the condition of higher public interest, which allows them to be installed even on non -urbanizable land, by legally equating them with technical services of public utility. This measure responds to an old demand for the energy storage sector in Spain, As it took place in the AEPIBAL Day. Treading the accelerator. The Generalitat has processed 94 Energy storage projects through batteries. Of these, 87 are independent and add up to 920 MW, while the other 7 are hybridized with renewable facilities and provide additional 22 MW. Catalonia thus becomes one of the first communities to create a specific regulatory framework for these technologies. The rest trapped in an obsolete framework. As experts in the energy sector pointed out To Xatakathe storage problem is not only technical, but also regulatory and economic. Today, batteries that are not linked to self -consumption cannot participate in balance markets, which hinders their profitability and slows its mass implementation. However, beyond the regulations, the future of storage will also depend on technological and economic evolution. Technologies like him Grid formingwhich allows batteries to stabilize the network imitating the inertia of traditional centrals, or the development of local micro -redes Able to operate autonomously, they are already being successfully tested. Criticisms have jumped. Battery deployment has also aroused social and critical resistance resistance. According to publicsome groups have warned of the risk that the energy transition becomes a new form of extractivism, without rethinking the consumption model. Specifically they have accused the project of the Korean company Lotte in Mont-Roig of the Camp. In addition, organizations such as the Observatori del Deute in Globalització (ODG) have remembered the same medium as the extraction of materials such as lithium, tungsten or sodium depends on mines in countries such as Chile or Australia, which reinforces the dependence of external resources and raises environmental and geopolitical dilemmas. A map yet to define. Catalonia wanted to advance with a strategy that seeks to combine energy resilience, administrative agility and technological impulse. Storage by batteries is not just a technical solution: it is an essential piece to balance an increasingly decentralized, renewable and exposed crisis system. The road is drawn. The question is whether the rest of Spain will know – and want – follow it on time. Image | Unspash and Unienergy technologies Xataka | The surprising thing is that the light is still on 99% of the time: the blackouts of Spain and London are a good example

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