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In 2021, Catalonia managed to get rid of the AP-7 tolls. Five years later he has an idea: recover them

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On October 6, 1998, 16 city councils, four regional councils, the two municipal associations of Catalonia, three chambers of commerce and other entities from different fields formed a common front to reduce and rationalize tolls, with the ultimate objective of bringing the situation in Catalonia – with many payment methods – into line with that of the rest of Spain (…). In a 10-point manifesto called the Gelida Declaration, the signatories constituted an anti-toll front and opposed the latest agreement then approved by the Spanish Ministry of Development, the Generalitat and the concessionaire Acesa, which saw exploitation concessions extended until 2021. In exchange, the concessionaire lowered the amount of the tolls. This is how he headed The Newspaper your article AP-7: history of a business and a claim in 2019. It reviewed the, at that time, 20 years that various city councils and associations had been demanding that the AP-7 lift its barriers. And drivers had been paying for the use of that highway since its opening in sections between the 70s and the first half of the 80s. The situation became even more tense when, as we read above, the concession was extended to 2021. It was then that the images of drivers who They refused to pay when passing through the AP-7. In 2021 things changed. The concession ended, it was not extended and the barriers were raised. From that moment on, cars no longer stopped at toll booths. But that had its consequences. Consequences that, once again, bring the shadow of the toll. Too much traffic And the fact that the highway was free brought with it an immediate increase in the volume of cars that traveled on it. Only in its first year free of tolls, the volume of cars grew by 40% and that of trucks by 80%, they pointed out in The Country. With Barcelona as one of the key steps in the entry and exit of vehicles and the passage through the French border, the road has been taken over by trucks. Traffic is now slower and more dangerous. In fact, that first year the highway concentrated 20% of accidents registered throughout the autonomous community. Since then, organizations have been looking for solutions. The last to leave his proposal was Manel Nadal, Secretary of Mobility and Infrastructure, in Chain Being where he has assured that if public entities agree, they could have tolls on this road again “in two or three years.” In his statement, Nadal even points out that not only the AP-7 would once again put barriers in the way of drivers. The proposal is to apply it to the rest of the high-capacity roads to diversify traffic and prevent a funnel effect from occurring as has happened with the free use of this road, which has now become the favorite route for transport companies that have a free passage to France. In the middle they rescue the words of Salvador Illa, president of Catalonia, who has already pointed out that “perhaps we were wrong when we all asked for them to disappear.” They rule out, according to Nadal, a possible Swiss-style Eurovignette (the driver pays a flat rate per year to drive on toll roads) because they assure that Europe would not accept it after 2032. And Europe has been putting pressure on Spain for a long time to turn your free roads into toll roads. For now, Governments have turned a deaf ear because the cost of implementing the measure is very high but we have been there for more than a decade with this possibility floating over our roads. Meanwhile, the authorities in charge of traffic control seem to be doing the best they can. In some sections speed limits have been drastically reduced and in the Servei Català de Trànsit (SCT) They have been working for some time to implement dynamic speed limits that reduce or increase speed depending on the volume of cars and trucks passing by at any given time. Photo | Pere Lopez Brosa and Wikimedia In Xataka | The Basque Country will add the second toll without windows in Spain: you register or pay the fine on the AP-68

Volkswagen needs money and getting rid of its Italian jewels is already on the table

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Ducati, for sale. Reason, here. Lamborghini, for sale. Reason, here. Those are the posters that could hang on the door of the Volkswagen group headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany. At least that’s what they claim Financial Timeswhere they claim that investment banks are pressuring the automobile conglomerate to get rid of two of its most glittering assets. The company announced a few days ago that plans to lay off 100,000 workers. The notice is the continuation of another threatthis time from December 2024. At that time, the company already claimed to be immersed in a huge restructuring process because, according to its directors, It was “essential to survive”. The result, as we say, was a first threat: 35,000 layoffs. That promotion of incentivized sick leave and layoffs (which later amounted to 50,000 employees) to avoid factory closures is forgotten. At least that’s what I anticipated Manager Magazine just a few days ago. And the fact is that the accounts, they say, do not add up and it will be necessary to raise the level of layoffs to 100,000 employees. In the conversations that revolve around that conversation, another idea has come up: sell. Sell ​​companies that are a flagship of quality and good work within the Volkswagen Group. They explain in Financial Times and collect other German media such as Auto Motor und Sport that investment banks are already putting pressure on Volkswagen’s management to slim down its portfolio. And those indicated are clear: Ducati and Lamborghini. Now that we can To understand why Lamborghini and Ducati would be in the spotlight, the British economic media and the German motor media point to one name: Everllence. Everllence is a company specialized in the production of large engines for very specific sectors such as maritime or energy production. A few days ago the sale of 51% of the company was confirmed in an agreement that was estimated at 7.4 billion euros. A maneuver that, apparently, has been received with very good words by the rest of the Volkswagen Group investors. And the idea, therefore, is to continue. Although they are two of the great jewels of the automobile conglomerate, Ducati and Lamborghini are also attractive in the eyes of a potential buyer. The main incentive for their purchase is that these are companies that obtain enormous economic performance from their products, which establishes part of the future success for whoever is willing to buy the company and, above all, increases the sales value that the German group can obtain. The possible sale of Ducati, in fact, It was already put on the table in 2017 but for now he is still part of the company. In this case, the colleagues explain Motorpassion Motorcycle It would be a sale of the company. In the case of Lamborghini, an IPO would be contemplated. The movement, evidently, would have the intention of raising funds to strengthen the restructuring that the company has advanced. A few weeks ago, the Volkswagen Group already divested itself of Bugatti, a company whose cars require a very high leverage of money since they are vehicles produced by hand in a large part of their process. The company still had a 45% stake in Bugatti through Porsche, after in 2021 it already sold the remaining 55% to the Rimac Group, owners of the car company. super luxury electric cars. In that sale the amount of the operation was not made public but our colleagues from Motorpassion They stated that the figure reached was estimated at around 500 million euros. That investment banks target Ducati and Lamborghini, as we say, is no coincidence. Stellantis, for example, has a problem with Maserati since it is having a very difficult time relaunching the brand but, above all, it is a firm with very little projection in case someone wants to buy it, as explained in the podcast Power Art. And for Volkswagen, getting rid of both companies totally or partially would mean an immediate injection of capital. The question is whether it is a good idea in the long term. In the case of Lamborghini, some models share research and development with Audi such as the Urus and the Q8 or the most recent Audi Nuvolaria spectacular supercar that It exists only because the Lamborghini Temerario already existed. That is to say, Lamborghini is intricate within the rest of the Volkswagen group, it is not like Bugatti which in many cases walked a path parallel to that of the rest of the company. For the Germans, the Italian firm is more than just very high profit margins, it is a test bed and a breath of fresh air for stagnant companies like Audi. Photo | Ducati and Audi In Xataka | You buy a “European car”, you receive Chinese technology: more and more brands from the old continent refit Asian vehicles

Argentina wants to get rid of parents who do not pay their children’s pensions. So he kicked them out of the football stadiums

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To enjoy a soccer match in an Argentine stadium it will no longer be enough to have a ticket. From now on, fans must comply another extra requirementequally or even more important: being up to date with your children’s pensions. In an attempt to hit where it hurts most, the football heart of the nation that gave birth to Maradona, Messi or Di Estéfano, the authorities have activated a system that prohibits access to the fields to parents who ignore the costs of feeding their children. The Government has 13,000 people in its sights, defaulters whom it just got complicated for them also the USA World Cup. “They don’t enter the fields anymore”. The phrase is from Alejandra Monteoliva, Minister of National Security, who recently announced, via Xthe decision to close the stadium doors to those who are not up to date with their pensions. “Delinquent food debtors no longer enter the fields. Starting today, together with the Government of the City of Buenos Aires, we incorporate debtors into the Safe Tribune program. And they will no longer be able to go in to watch a soccer game,” explains Monteoliva before underlining the basic idea: “He who does not comply with his children, off the courts.” Is it something new? Yes. And no. ‘Safe Tribunes’ It is not a new program. Carry years applying in Argentina and its objective is to reinforce access control to sports events, although until now the focus has been focused mainly on violent fans, accused, convicted or with arrest warrants. It is basically dedicated to checking the documentation of those who go to the camps to check their history or even if they are carrying drugs or knives. For a while now some jurisdictions of the country, as Buenos Airesalso decided to veto sporting events for those who do not comply with the alimony of their minor children. As a reference, the Buenos Aires authorities they assure that since March 2025, 173 controls have been carried out that have made it possible to identify 150 “delinquent food debtors”, fans who were prevented from accessing stadiums or concerts. “So far in 2026 alone, 84 have already been carried out with 75 offenders.” What’s new then? That Argentina has decided to go one step further, combining and reinforcing both initiatives: ‘Safe Grandstands’ and restrictions on access to stadiums for parents with debts. For this, the Ministry of National Security and the Government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Años have signed an agreement that “marks a qualitative leap” in field controls throughout the country. The key is in the exchange of information, which will allow thousands of new names to be included in the ‘Safe Tribune’ red list. To be more exact, we talk about 13,000 people, “delinquent obligors” registered in Buenos Aires and 13 other provinces spread across the country, such as Chaco, Entre Ríos, Formosa, Tierra de Fuego, Santa Cruz or Tucumán. From now on all of them will have a difficult time when they want to watch games in the stadiums, at least as long as they do not catch up with the food pensions they owe. Click on the image to go to the tweet. “Consequences”. Alejandra Monteoliva has not been the only one to insist on the advantages of the system. Something similar has been done, too. via Xthe head of Government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, Jorge Macri: “In the city a year ago we prohibited the entry of food debtors to stadiums and mass shows. Now, in joint work with the Government, we added our database to the Safe Tribune program to reinforce these controls throughout the country. Anyone who does not comply with an obligation as basic as feeding their children must have consequences.” Where it hurts the most. In his message, dated May 26, Macri left bouncing another fundamental idea: access controls with the debtor registry in hand will not only be done in the country’s stadiums; The idea is that they will also be applied during the World Cup. Milei’s team has sent a list to the US with more than 30,000 Argentine fans who have restricted access to the World Cup stadiums, which will start in a week in Mexico. And these include, confirms Monteolivathe 13,000 delinquent parents. It is not just another announcement or a declaration of intent. The new restrictions in Argentine stadiums have become official already in the Official Gazette and the Executive has also published a resolution (444/2026) announcing the sending to the US Embassy of information on people with restrictions to access sporting events. The measure is adopted based on the cooperation agreements signed between both Governments and its list would include the “alimony debtors”. Some sources they assure that the veto will extend to Canada and Mexico, the other hosts of the FIFA Cup. Is the problem so serious? In case the 13,000 registered in the system do not give a clue, in 2024 Unicef ​​provided another even more emphatic one: that year it published a report in which it warned that 56% of mothers living in Argentina do not receive child support when the father does not reside in the home, a percentage that rises to 68% if we include mothers who do not receive it regularly. Field access restrictions will only apply when there is a judicial or administrative resolution that demonstrates non-payment and the affected person appears in the official registry of defaulters. Images | Jimmy Baikovicius (Flickr) and Wikipedia In Xataka | The World Cup in the USA is making merit to be the most expensive in history: tickets are already reselling for 2.3 million dollars

Mercadona has gotten rid of its search engine and replaced it with its own. They did it in a month with Claude Code and saved 90%

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Mercadona’s online store processes 4.4 million searches a week. Until recently, that volume was managed Algoliaa well-established search service used by companies like Sephora or LVMH. They had been with him for eight years. Now They have replaced it with their own search enginebuilt largely by José Ramón Pérez Agüera, CTO of Mercadona Tech. He has done it largely by himself, from his home, over a long weekend. This is how he told it in a successful LinkedIn post which now extends us in a video call with Xataka. “I’m going to be very honest and I know that this is going to look tacky, but it’s the truth,” says Pérez Agüera. “70% of the work (implementing the search engine, improving search quality and laying the foundation) took three days. One weekend plus an extended Monday.” The result: an 85% improvement in the quality of the ranking, the complete elimination of searches without results (previously 4% of the total) and a reduction in the monthly cost of between 9,000 and 15,000 dollars with Algolia to less than 900. That is, a saving of between 90% and 94% depending on the month. A decision that had been on hold for years The idea of ​​abandoning Algolia is not new at Mercadona Tech, it had been ruminating for a long time. The reasons are not surprising either: the search engine directly moves between 30 and 35% of the products that end up in the cart, which makes it a critical piece of business. And Algolia, like most SaaS services, has a pricing model that scales with use: as the company grows, the cost grows, with no way to stabilize it. “In the end you end up in a vendor lock-in of very critical software that is then difficult to get rid of,” explains Pérez Agüera. But Every time the team considered building something of their own, the work estimate was pushed back.. “The most optimistic vision we had, and with a much more basic version than the one we are going to release now, was five months. And it already seemed fast to me.” Then came the era of AI agents in software development. Pérez Agüera used Claude Code as the main tool and began to experiment on his own, without a formal project or assigned team. More out of curiosity than anything else. For playing. What AI did and what it didn’t The technical process combines hybrid search (by keywords and semantics) with a machine learning system that optimizes the ranking of results. AI made it possible to iterate on dozens of experiments in hours, analyze 479 MB of catalog and analytics data in days, and explore different ranking configurations by chatting with the agent instead of manually implementing them one by one. “I easily did 40 or 50 experiments in a weekend. That would have traditionally taken me weeks,” he explains. But the speed has a precise limit: the 29 technical decisions that AI did not make. Documentation generated during the experimentation process with Claude Code: the 14 parameters that Mercadona’s search engine evaluates to order results (from the popularity of a product to how well it fits semantically with what the user is looking for), its relative weight in the final ranking (popularity and semantic similarity account for two thirds of the decision) and the configuration of the machine learning model used to train it, based on click and purchase data from the last four weeks. Each of those parameters was discussed and validated with the AI ​​agent, but the final selection was made by the human team. Image provided by Mercadona Tech. The most representative was the choice of the indexing engine. Most systems, and probably any AI agent consulted, would have recommended Elasticsearch, the most widespread solution. Pérez Agüera chose Tantivy, a much smaller library written in Rust that integrates as an embedded component, without the need for a separate Java virtual machine. An impossible decision without knowledge of the Mercadona ecosystem. “The AI ​​always recommends the most generic option,” he says. “I made that decision because I have the context and the knowledge to make it.” The transfer to the team When the core of the search engine was ready, the project passed to the engineering team. What they found was not bad code, but it was ccode that did not follow Mercadona Tech’s internal standards. The architecture was hexagonal, as is the company’s style, but it used a different approach than usual. The tests existed (Pérez Agüera applied TDD during development) but some did not make sense or were missing cases. The agent had written thousands of lines of code in a few hours and reviewing them all was unfeasible. “The team’s Tech Lead took two or three days to adapt the project to our good practices,” he summarizes. “Not because the code was wrong, but because it didn’t meet our standards as a company.” In total, adding the initial phase and the launch into production, which includes load testing, infrastructure adjustment and integration into the Mercadona Online architecture; The project has taken approximately a month of work. And “two and a half people” have been in charge of it: Pérez Agüera, the Tech Lead of the Shop team and a part-time Staff Engineer for infrastructure. The original five-month estimate required five or six people. “FWe have easily done a x5 to the speed of the projectand what we have now is much more advanced than what we would have had in five months,” he says. What changes for the teams For Pérez Agüera, the search engine is one more experiment within a larger transformation that Mercadona Tech continues to process internally. The question on the table is not whether to use AI in development, but how to redesign the entire development process based on it. His diagnosis of the profiles is forceful: “AI is going to mean that fewer developers are needed and more engineers are needed. Coding loses value per se; the … Read more

that an F-35 not only detects the enemy, but also gets rid of it on its own

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In 1991, during the Gulf War, a good part of the air missions depended on uploaded threat maps before takeoff and analyzes that could take hours to update after each departure. In the following years, the digital revolution allowed the integration of sensors, data links and information fusion systems that forever changed situational awareness in the cockpit. But even the most advanced fighters continue to carry a legacy from the past: they react to what they already know better than to what has just appeared. Until now. From advanced sensor to autonomous hunter. For years, the F-35 has been presented as a platform able to see everything thanks to its fusion of sensors and to your powerful suite of electronic warfare, but was still dependent on pre-loaded threat libraries and updates that could take days or weeks. The appearance of unknown emissions or radars operating in unforeseen modes required identifying the signal, downloading the data after the mission and reprogramming the system before the next flight. That logic, although effective, left a dangerous margin in scenarios saturated with changing air defenses. With Project Overwatchthe United States has taken a decisive step to close that gap and transform the role of the F-35 on the battlefield. AI enters the cabin. Lockheed Martin has tried successfully in flight a model AI integrated into the system of the F-35 combat identification, one capable of resolving ambiguities between emitters and generating an independent identification that appears directly in the viewfinder of the pilot’s helmet. During testing at Nellis, the algorithm not only distinguished dubious signals, but allowed label new emissionsretrain the model in a matter of minutes and load the updated version within the same planning cycle. The information from the classic system and that from the new model coexisted on the screen, reducing latency in decision-making and relieving the pilot of part of the cognitive load in an environment where every second counts. The big problem. It happens that modern air defense systems they no longer broadcast always the same signature. They can alter radar modes, frequencies and patterns to confuse enemy electronic warfare, as seen with variants of the S-300/SA-20 that operated in unforeseen configurations and generated doubts in identification. Until now, the plane pointed out the anomaly, but the in-depth analysis depended on a subsequent human cycle. Plus: in an environment where the proliferation of AI also accelerates the evolution of defenses, that dependency could become a vulnerability. And this is where cognitive electronic warfare appears, which seeks precisely to break that bottleneck and react to unprecedented signals. without waiting to the next mission. The “holy grail” of aerial combat. If you like, Lockheed Martin has achieved the “holy grail” of combat in tests: that an F-35 not only detects the enemy, but also how to get rid of it on your own. The ultimate goal of cognitive electronic warfare is to the system is not limited not only register an unknown threat, but analyze it, determine the best response and adjust its own parameters in near real time, even in the middle of combat. This involves detecting a new release, characterizing it, deciding whether to avoid it, interfere with it, or exploit a weakness, and update the threat library without immediate external intervention. In this scenario, the plane stops being a simple executor with predefined software and becomes a platform that learns and adapts your survival on the go. Towards mid-flight updates. It will be the next step. Previous experience with rapid updates of the Aegis system on US ships and the effort to shorten F-35 reprogramming times from months to days, and eventually hours, point to an architecture where data flows almost in real time between platforms. They count at Lockheed Martin that the ambition is for the improvements derived from a mission to be quickly integrated into other aircraft or even into compatible naval systems, creating a defense ecosystem that evolves in a distributed manner. While the Block 4 package promises a new generation of electronic capabilities, Project Overwatch It already anticipates a deeper transition: that of the fighter that not only sees and shoots first, but also learns before anyone else and survives on its own. Image | RawPixel In Xataka | Europe has asked its military experts how to become independent from the US for the next war. The answer is déjà vu: the F-35 In Xataka | The Netherlands has just activated panic in Spain and the US allies: the F-35 can be “released” like an iPhone

Some users will get rid of the increase of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, according to The Verge

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Last week the news jumped: Xbox Game Pass Ultimate rose price. And it was not a minor change, but orn 50% increase that placed the subscription at 26.99 euros per month in Spain. For some, it was an inevitable adjustment. For others, a jump too abrupt to justify it without further ado. But in the midst of the stir, there are important nuances. According to The VergeMicrosoft has begun to send emails to certain users of the European Union clarifying that this new price will not apply to all equally. At least, not for the moment. “At the moment, these increases will only affect the new purchases and not to your current subscription in the market where you reside, provided you have orn Automatic recurring plan“Says Microsoft.” If you decide to cancel your plan and buy it again, you will be charged the new current rate, “adds the company. The notice adds one more detail: if in your market there will be a price increase, these users will receive a notice at least 60 days in advance and may cancel or modify your plan. This condition, however, seems to be applied only to the markets where the people who received the message reside. For now there is no official confirmation about which countries are included in this exception, but The Verge mentions cases such as Ireland, Germany or Poland. In Xataka we have contacted Microsoft to know if Spain is part of that list and update as soon as we have an answer. In development. Images | Xbox | Capture (The Verge) In Xataka | Game Pass is already an unsustainable investment: more than 2,000 euros for each console generation and with nothing in property

The self -employed cars promised to get rid of paying attention to them. At the moment they only achieve it every 9 minutes

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The Advanced driving assistance systemsor Adas, they have become an argument of Key sale for many car manufacturers. Functions such as Adaptive Cruise Controlmaintenance within the lane and Assistants for traffic jams They promise to relieve driving load, especially in dense traffic situations. However, A recent study by the American Automobile Association (AAA) returns us to reality: technology is useful, but the attention of the duct remains indispensable. A test in extreme conditions. The AAA chose one of the worst possible scenarios: Los Angeles highways in rush hour. For more than 16 hours, over 550 kilometers, five vehicles equipped with different level 2 ADAS systems (Those who attend, but do not assume total control) face the real world. The cars were instrumented with cameras and GPS to record every detail of their behavior. Less than 10 minutes of tranquility. Although these systems promise us to have great tranquility at the wheel (even if they are not self -employed at all), the reality is very different. On average, in this study it has been seen that every 9.1 minutes (or every 5.1 kilometers) a notable event was recorded that requires driver’s intervention. There are situations that are very frequent. Among these events that require a person to take control of the vehicle, the lane invasion stands out above all. This happens when another car gets into the lane in front of the vehicle, forcing the driver to intervene to adjust the appropriate safety distance to avoid collision in the face of speed decrease. But they stay here. Secondly, there is the inability of the car to stay perfectly focused on the lane, needing driver intervention in 72% of the occasions. This is very typical, especially when it comes to curves. But in addition to these, 71 more cases have been recorded in which the car did not resume the march after a total stop or 43 moments in which the car did not stop enough, being able to have caused an accident. There are differences between proven systems. One of the most interesting comparisons that was carried out in this regard was among the systems that require the driver to keep his hands in the steering wheel and the most advanced that allow them to remove them. Surprisingly, systems that do not require having their hands on the steering wheel are more reliable when requiring a driver intervention every 20.1 minutes. Instead, the most basic systems need human help with a frequency three times higher: every 6.7 minutes. Of course, the “hands -free” systems also asked the driver to take control every 15 minutes for security. The best security recommendation: to have common sense. Given these results, the AAA has launched a series of recommendations in the face of the proliferation of these driving aid systems and trust that can be deposited in them. They point to that the alert must always be maintained, since ADAS does not replace the driverdistraction must be avoided and above all know the car and how each system works before starting it actively. Right now, the goal ahead is to press manufacturers to make driving aid systems that are more reliable. And although driving technology advances by leaps and bounds, the human factor is still essential to guarantee security. The ADAS are already mandatory. Little by little, these systems are increasingly present in our day to day and without having to pay an extra in the car settings. Since 2022 all new approved vehicles They must include Smart Speed Assistant, Integrated breathalyzer or lane involuntary change alert. Images | Charlie Deets In Xataka | The new Mazda CX-5 has taken the physical buttons ahead. According to Mazda, it’s what we want

Temu and Shein at the moment they get rid, the Big Tech breathe

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After the storm, some calm. At least, temporary. The feared tariffs from the United States to imports from China products They threatened The world economy, but in recent days we have seen the Government of Donald Trump has paused these measures. In fact, he has just done the same with the measures that especially affected Temu and Shein. What happened. Donald Trump has applied A remarkable cut to tariffs that apply to small value packages that arrive from China and Hong Kong to the United States. Thus, the new tariffs on those packages of up to $ 800 of value go from 120% to 54%. The reduction is important, but tariffs continue to impose remarkable rates for this type of products. Temu and Shein breathe (a little). Chinese online trade giants such as Temu or Shein have been benefiting from The exemption called “Minimis” To be able to send low -cost products directly to consumers in the United States without paying import rates. That rule It was canceled by the Trump administration a few days ago, and that caused A domino effect which affected the Big Tech of the US. WOMAN FOR META AND GOOGLE. The decision also relaxes the pressure on Meta and Google, which were great beneficiaries of this commercial exchange. Temu and Shein They sold big in the US Thanks to the exemption of Minimis, but to achieve it they spent true fortunes in advertising that hired giants such as Meta and Google. By deactivating that exemption, advertising income immediately They diverse. These ads are expected to reactivate that advertising expense in the Big Tech. But be careful. Although the situation improves for Temu and Shein, the pause has a small print. Trump changed the minimis rule for a flat rate of $ 100 per package with value of less than $ 800, and that flat rate would amount to $ 200 in June. These rates are maintained despite the 90 -day truce agreement for other tariffs and make it sell directly from China to consumers (very) expensive for Temu or Shein. Temu dodges the measures selling from the US. To avoid the application of these tariffs as far as possible, Temu began to fill gigantic warehouses in the United States of their products to be able to send their “locally” products before they were affected by tariffs. That measure is temporary, because those warehouses will end up needing to fill again and it will be then when they will face these new tariffs. Plan B: No direct sale. Precisely at that time is when Temu has an escape with this announcement of the Trump administration. With the direct sale of products to consumers punished for tariffs and flat rates, the solution is not to sell directly, but fill their warehouses with large orders (no packages below $ 800) and then serve consumers locally. In this way “only” the new reduced tariffs (30%) apply and not those of 54% that affect these value packages of less than $ 800. It is certainly a respite for businesses like Temu, which have the United States as their large sales market. Trump continues to back. The month of April we lived a unique burst of ads in which the US decided to raise their tariffs to China and the Asian giant responded with equivalent climbs. The situation on April 11 reached absurd ends: US tariffs to Chinese imports reached 145%, and China’s to US products to 125%. Neither seemed to move token, but Trump ended up yielding Any was he who started hostilities. Yesterday both countries announced a 115% reduction in these reciprocal tariffs, which has been a real relief for the world economy. Image | Alain G. Shumbusho In Xataka | Spain acts where Europe doubts: the strategy that is paying fruits in China

Spain has received more rain than ever this spring. And yet it is unable to get rid of the ghost of the drought

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Europe is not having a good time right now. Many weeks of warmer temperatures and rainfall in historical minimums, they are helping drought tentacles expand A wide strip that goes from the British islands to Crimea and the Anatolia. This is made clear by Copernicus’s latest report, the European land observation system. And yet, none of that has affected Spain. On the contrary, we have had months of unusual rains and whole weeks of temperatures below the average. The problem? In spite of everything, the vast majority of points in “alert” by drought They are on the peninsula. A ghost that comes to stay. If drought is a ghost (as we usually say, a little impossible, journalists), the southeast of the country is a delighted house. An Indian cemetery. With the exception of the coast of Malaga and Granada and the Catalan basins, the long Spanish Mediterranean arch is full of red dots (alert) and oranges (of concern for drought). But also of blue areas, of course. According to the report ‘Droough in EuropeApril 2025, the Tagus, Guadiana and Andalusian Mediterranean basins are the only ones in the entire continent that have had a positive rain anomaly. And there are the problem and the paradox. After all, this spring has become a perfect example to understand the problems that the country is going through: the problems to manage the hydrological reserves of the system in an integral way. Some problems that create distrust at all levels. Because, a few weeks ago, it was announced that the government changed the Tajo-Segura transfer game rules; But no special emphasis has been placed on the dirty war between both basins. In fact, no one is happy: while the Tagus Chair “See the proposal insufficient“Of the government, the Murcian irrigators They prepare mobilizations. All this while the Hydrological Confederation of the Safe It is immersed in controversies on manipulated data and lack of control. In what situation does all this leave us? As we commented a few weeks ago“After the rains of March and with the reservoirs of Half Spain to overflow” another battle began, who stays that water. It will not be an easy battle because, how has it been happening for 30 yearsIn the end we lose all. Image | Copernicus In Xataka | After the rains of March and with the reservoirs of Media Spain to overflow, another battle begins: who stays that water

In Alicante there is a city invaded by chickens. So you have prepared a plan of 26,000 euros to get rid of them

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In the middle of Alicante coast, Torrevieja is known for its beaches, heritage And above all The pink lagoonincreasingly crowded by visitors in search of sunsets Instagrameable of which to presume in networks. However, over the last days this town of 94,800 neighbors He has monopolized headlines for another very different reason: his chickens. Or rather, a curious Gallinacea invasion that has already forced his City Council to take action. Librating from it will not be cheap. An invasion of chickens? Exact. And it’s nothing new. In Torrevieja they have already A few years Seeing how chickens, roosters and chickens bell around the city, walking through parks, gardens, roundabouts, sidewalks and – –The Consistory is resigned– “Any other” bar see place that offers them shelter and food. Recently the municipal technicians began to tell them and they left that in the municipality there are around 700 birds In these circumstances, what is not bad if one takes into account that in Torrevieja they live 94,800 people. A problem with feathers. Seeing chickens walking through the parks and streets of Torrevieja or waking up with the song of the roosters in the city may sound bucolic, but the City Council warns that the gallinaceous invasion is a problem. And not less precisely. “It is a great risk for both animals and people themselves,” ditch. Click on the image to go to Tweet. “These birds today are temporarily forced to inhabit a hostile atmosphere towards them, shared with vehicles and people,” add from the City Council. “When moving and wandering along public roads, parks, green areas and roads in search of food, they suppose a danger to themselves, pedestrians and vehicles, being able to suffer or trigger accidents.” “Made a nursery”. There are more. Recently the sixth interviewed a neighbor From the town that complained about the footprint that chickens, roosters and chickens leave in Torrevieja, a well visible and not especially positive. “It is very unpleasant, everything is made,” regretted. Another of the residents confirmed that “there are many” birds and it is not strange to see them “in the midst of all cars.” In A statement On the subject, the City Council itself admits that the situation has come out of mother and the “wild or careless” birds occupy public places. On two different occasions it comes to speak directly of an “uncontrolled” increase and argues the need to take measures to “avoid possible damage and conflicts” with the neighbors. The figure: almost 30,000 euros. Faced with such a scenario, the town hall has decided to cut for the healthy and launch a campaign to capture and remove the gallináceas who have settled in Torrevieja. For that purpose it has just launched A public tender in which he is looking for companies interested in taking care of the campaign. The bidding base budget offered is 26,296 euros, VAT included. Taking into account that it aspires to ‘hunt’ up to 700 birds, that leaves an average of more than 30 euros for each chicken and caught. And what will they do with them? The city council is very clear. Speak at all times of “LIVE COLLECT” and then “move” to the chickens. Where to? So that? The municipal statement does not specify it, although the mayor He explained The sixth that the idea would consist of capturing birds with food and networks, “without causing any damage.” The same chain clarifies that the City Council plans that the captured specimens end up in a school farm. What the Councilor for Animal Welfare of Torrevieja, Concha Sala, has done is insist that society is increasingly sensitized “given the need to guarantee animal protection in general.” The contract offered by the City Council not only contemplates the capture and transfer of the 700 chickens loose by the town. It also includes monitoring and control work during the entire time that the service lasts, which will last about 12 months. With previous experience. It is not the first time that Torrevieja is forced to take measures to stop the “uncontrolled” population of gallináceas who camp in their parks. A few years ago, In 2022already planned a similar campaign to remove 500 roosters and chickens from the streets, roundabouts and parks of the municipality. The idea was then the same: act in a dozen points of the town and move the birds to farms schools and sanctuaries, without harming them. All to solve a peculiar poultry invasion that the City Council blames “Circumstances” that does not come to specify in its statement. What are they? There are those who point out that the expansion of the chickens is related to their sale in the markets of the municipality and who says that the birds arrived in Torrevieja for an initiative of the City Council itself. Whatever the exact cause, something is clear: birds seem to feel especially comfortable there. Images | Henrique S. Ruzzon (Unsplash) and Jesús Dehesa (Flickr) In Xataka | Half the Canary Islands created an artificial beach to attract tourism. Without knowing it, he set up a sanctuary for angel sharks

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