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Renfe has had a record summer of delays, and more than two million AVE travelers have run out of refund for changes

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Summer has been hard for rail transport in Spain. Four out of ten high speed trains They arrived late at their destinationbut only three out of 100 passengers were able to claim some kind of compensation, according to The world. The data comes after hardening Refund conditions of Renfe in 2024, the main reason why the figures contrast both with the data prior to the reform. Change of conditions. In July 2024, Renfe reformed Its ‘punctuality commitment’, multiplying the minimum delay time necessary to claim half of the ticket. If 15 minutes were enough to get 50% of the amount, now a full hour is needed. For total refund, the threshold went from 30 minutes to an hour and a half. The company justified this tightening as an “update” to continue being “the most advantageous for the traveler”, as the medium collects. Summer figures. As They point From the world, between June and August, 6,554 long -distance trains and AVE arrived with delays exceeding 15 minutes, affecting 2.5 million passengers. However, with the new rules, only 444,000 travelers were entitled to compensation. This means that more than 2 million users who would have received a refund with the previous criteria were left without it. This, according to the medium, would mean a saving of about 79 million euros only in these three months. Context. The reform is covered in the European Parliament Regulation of 2021, although at that time, Renfe offered much more generous compensations than the minimum required by European regulations. And while the EU forces to compensate with 25% of the ticket after 60 minutes late, the Spanish operator gave 50% with only 15 minutes. Now he has hardened his measures just when more delays are recorded. Problems that follow there. Minister Óscar Puente acknowledged in September that the rail system will continue to have incidents “at least two more years”, according to collect The world. The problems range from Fissures in Talgo S106 trains (which forced to withdraw the low cost services from AVLO on the Madrid-Barcelona route) up to infrastructure deficiencies caused by fireaccording to the medium. The alternative to service, the conventional bird, costs up to 34% more than the economic option eliminated. What comes now? Bridge has traveled to Germany To look for new trains in factories such as Siemens, recognizing that without renewing the fleet it will be impossible to improve the service, as collect The world. “We must not launch the bells on the fly, but if we do not renew the fleet, it is evident that we will not be able to improve in any case the service we are providing to the citizenship,” admits bridge. And in addition to having been a summer to forget in terms of ferroviar delays, it has also agreed that reimbursement conditions have also worsened. Cover image | Falk2 In Xataka | Renfe has a new and gigantic project in progress: a night train to connect Europe from this to west

Russia is beginning to run out of the weapons inherited from the USSR. So he is pulling those of North Korea

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The vast Soviet arsenals that Russia used at the beginning of her invasion of Ukraine They are running out. According to An analysis From the Institute of the kyiv Economy School, shipments from the main Russian military stores have plummeted: from 242,000 tons in 2022 to about 119,000 tons planned by 2025, practically the levels prior to the conflict. The context of the problem. For decades, Russia maintained huge armament deposits Inherited from the Soviet Union. At the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Moscow handed off these stocks to quickly equip their forces. T-72 and T-80 tanks of the 70s were reconditioned and sent to the front. Even some T-54, who entered production in the late 40s, have seen fight in Ukrainian territory. The current reality. He analysis It reveals that the best quality equipment and easier restoration was the first to be mobilized. Pavlo Shkurenko, an institute analyst, explains that now “Russia is sending less material for reconditioning and repair than we know they can handle repair stations.” This fall would suggest that the reserves have dropped the level significantly. The desperate solution. To compensate for this shortage, the Kremlin He has massively resorted to his Asian allies. The data show that 52% of the shipments marked as “explosive materials” towards the Russian arsenales in 2024 came from Nakhodka, a port in the sea of Japan used by North Korea. These shipments went from zero before the war to 250,000 tons in 2024. According to Ukrainian military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov, 40% of all Russian ammunition now comes from Pyongyang. Beyond North Korea. He analysis It also identifies about 13,000 tons of explosive material that, due to its entrance point near the Caspian Sea, probably come from Iran. Meanwhile, China has become the key supplier of the Russian defense industry, even if it does not send direct military aid. Shipments from the Eastern Border Regions of Russia towards military production centers have almost doubled since 2021, exceeding 3 million tons. The strategic dilemma. A priori, it seems a lie that Russia depends both on its external partners, especially considering that they want to breastfeed their self -sufficient image. Franz-Stefan Gady, Viennese military analyst, suggests that Moscow is using North Korean ammunition to maintain the rhythm of fire on the front while reserving higher quality Russian ammunition for possible future conflicts with NATO. What is coming. Russia plans to invest huge sums In rearme futurebut its current situation exposes the limitations of its local military capacity. The war that Putin imagined as a demonstration of force has become a resistance test in which he has ended up depending on allies and an increasing economic cost. Cover image | Kremlin In Xataka | We already know what Russia’s trick is to multiply its drones: it is called “cooling units” and comes direct from China

North Korea has run out of the Internet this weekend. The question is who uses the Internet in this country

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The Internet connection of all North Korea has fallen for several hours this weekend. At first it seemed reasonable to anticipate that the interruption of the connection could be caused by A cyber attack from the outside as response to attacks against foreign institutions and companies Orchestrated by Lazarusa group of hackers North Korean elite. However, according to ReutersSeveral experts defend that the origin of the problem lies in North Korea and not in an external cyber attack. Junade Ali, a United Kingdom researcher who monitors the behavior of the North Korean Net They hold which seems to be an internal problem and not an attack from abroad due mainly to the fact that connections through China and Russia were also affected. In any case, the main news services of the country, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Air Koryo airline were some of the web pages that remained inaccessible for several hours. North Korean citizens do not have free Internet access North Korea has one of the most restricted Internet connection infrastructure on the planet. The North Korean government controls it in a strong way with the purpose of preserving the isolation of the country against abroad and ensuring that the administration led by Kim Jong-un exercises absolute control over the information that citizens can access. In practice, the main consequence of this strategy is that North Koreans have a much more limited Internet vision than that we can form the users of other countries. Some north Korea institutions do have total access, or almost total, to the Internet Interestingly, some north Korea institutions do have total, or almost total access to the Internet. The hackers They work for the government, the political elite, the army, government agencies and scientists presumably access to many more resources on the Internet than citizens, although these groups also They are subject to strict supervision of the administration. An interesting note: North Korea is connected to the outside only through two fiber optic links. One of them links this country with China thanks to a connection managed by China Unicom, and the other unites Russia. Whatever the most shocking thing for people who live outside this enigmatic Asian country is that citizens only have access to a completely closed national intranet and controlled by the government known as Kwangmyong (in Spanish it means ‘bright light’). As we can intuit, this Intranet is isolated from the Internet and only brings together a few resources that the Kim Jong-un government considers appropriate so that they can be enjoyed by citizens, such as news and propaganda of the government itself, an internal email service, educational websites and several encyclopedias that, again, are controlled by the administration. This is all. Image | Lukas Kindl More information | Reuters In Xataka | North Korea has been sending armament for months to Russia. In return, Russia is giving him what longs for her: a functional army

Three watches for less than 200 euros to run. We face them on the ground and we already have a winner

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Going to run with a smartwatch sounds tempting. But when prices range from less than 200 euros up to about 900 euros, it is normal to ask if it is worth paying more. What do we lose when we opt for a cheaper model? And what do we continue to win? In our new video we face three affordable watches that seek to offer us several answers. That is why in Xataka We have prepared a new video For our YouTube channel With one of our favorite formats: the Versuswhere we compare face -to -face devices to discover which one deserves more. In this new comparison we face them Garmin Forerunner 55he Amazfit Active 2 and the newcomer Huawei Watch Fit 4. For several weeks, our partner Mario Arroyo has run about five times a week with each of them. “I have been testing what are the three best watchesTo start running and I’m going to tell you why this is the best ”, starts in the video. The goal is clear: check which best meets in key aspects such as comfort, drums, sports functions, experience of use and mobile applications. As for comfort, the three models fulfill well, although one of them feels “slightly thicker and heavier.” The biggest difference is in the way of interacting: Huawei and Amazfit bet on Amoled touch screens, while Garmin resorts to buttons. At first it may seem uninitive. “Uncle, it is very little intuitive,” said Mario, but soon found an unexpected advantage. After running, the analysis comes into play. The apps of the three offer data and statistics, But with clear differences. Garmin Connect is the most technical and deep, while Huawei Health and Zepp (Amazfit) are more visual and intuitive. In this Versus We will try to discover which one that can help us continue to progress. Mario also explores which proposals fall short as smartwatch, as well as related to autonomy. “I have trained a lot with them for a lot of time to be able to make the most precise possible comparison and having so many an hour training, I think they are very good data,” he summarizes. Will anyone stand out? You can discover all the details and the final conclusions In the new Versus On the Xataka YouTube channel. Images | Xataka In Xataka | iPhone 16E vs Samsung A56: the mid -range duel that many asked (and finally we have)

Japan does not want to run out of its abundant offer of cheap graphics cards. So they have been forbidden to tourists

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Time flies. PS5 and Xbox Series They already touch the five years in the market, and Nintendo Switch 2 It is at the corner. Meanwhile, the world of the PC follows another rhythm: every year New components arrive And, with them, increasingly exorbitant prices. An example is that of Nvidia graphics cards with some RTX 5000 that had risen in price (and They keep doing it). And it is not only a price problem, but also of scarcity. Because there are some markets in which the high demand for these high -end cards It has become a problem. But it is a market that goes to two speeds. In Japan the TEMPORARY OF THE SCARKbecoming an ideal country for foreigners to buy a GPU if they go on vacation. Your solution? Prohibit sale of graphics cards to tourists. But let’s see why you can find high -end graphics in Japan to prices that are not absurd And why these measures seem more deterrent than high feasible. Japan does not want to run out of graphics cards The reason for that scarcity has several explanations. The Last generation GPU They are ideal to enjoy the games, but also for setting up pointers for the Artificial Intelligence Training. It seems that the market does not give a respite to the GPUs, since a few years ago the shortage problem was due to the cryptocurrency mining and semiconductor crisis. There is Other factors that can alter the availability in the market, such as more recent tariffsbut the truth is that the problem of finding one in stores at a price without inflates due to that scarcity It is something that has dragged Nvidia for some time. But this, as we say, is something that does not affect everyone and it is a situation that is hittingabove all, to the United States. And, as we see in Redditwhen someone from a country in which prices are in the clouds or, directly, there are no units of certain models of graphics go to a country like Japan where there are, they wonder why. The answer is complex and I consider that it goes beyond the simple “because in other countries we are not willing to pay for a GPU which costs a second -hand car”, as has been given in the same Reddit thread. The first, some Japanese retailers know that there is a problem of scarcity in other territories and that tourists can take advantage of the trip to take a graphics card. That is why, in some stores, posters have been hung by warning that Only certain resident models in Japan are sold. The effectiveness of this measure has been discussed and it is said that there are stores that only show the poster as a deterrent, but also that others are Starting to ask that buyers demonstrate that they are residents in the country. Reddit image. Link by clicking on it The red poster says something as “the purchase of this product is limited to residents in Japan. The purchase for resale is strictly prohibited.” But this does not go so much against the tourist who takes the opportunity to take a GPU, but against which he buys units systematically for the resale, and here China is put in the spotlight. Due to the impossibility of buying the latest Nvidia graphics in the Asian giant for the Commercial War with the United States and the different vetoesand thanks to the proximity between China and Japan, a practice seems to be visiting and filling the suitcase with graphics that They are shown in the Asian giant. Question of cultural preferences That is one of the reasons why there are graphics in Japan, but another can directly be cultural and preferably of Japanese players. The size of the housing is a huge condition for certain hobbys, and playing on a PC is one of those affected. A laptop enters anywhere, but these graphs are used to mount towers and a space is needed for the entire Setup. It seems like a drawer, but we are talking about the average house size in Japan has reached its lowest level in 30 years. The average is 92 square meters and, in the cities where more population is concentrated, talk later of 50 square meters. It is a space incompatible with mounting a pC of desktop and, although it is a fact that the number of PC players has grown Significantly in the last decade, it is not known how many correspond to the match in laptop and how many atmosphere. In 2015 it is estimated that there were 11 million PC players, a figure that increase up to 16 million in 2023, and AMD is also contributing To this. It is a fact that is not bad, but the console market is still above, representing about 20% of the total video game market. Here has a lot to do with Nintendo Switch which has been sold as hot bread in Japan. Since its launch, of the total 152 million units worldwide, I know esteem that only in Japan more than 35 million have been sold. In fact, in 2021, of 100% of consoles sold in Japan, Calculate that Switch represented just over 78%, which clearly shows the preference for portable game. Now, the system that really dominates in the country is the mobile as a game device, with a My dear 66% of the total. Here, as we said, cultural preferences are mixed, that taste for portable platforms and the little space in the houses of the cities in which The bulk of the country accumulates. And all that can give us the answer of why there are high -end graphics cards available in Japan and why the price is not inflated. Or everything may be much simpler and, as they commented on Reddit, in many countries there is no shortage because they are not going to pay for a GPU the same as because … Read more

I have run, swim and worked with the Aqua Suunto. Under water I understood what these bone driving headphones propose

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A common problem of aquatic headphones is that, in addition to not being Bluetooth for physical reasons, they are usually specifically aquatic. That is, little or nothing appropriate to use them out of water. The rest of sports headphones usually also have something in common: they forget the water. I do not talk about enduring sweat or rain, but really swimming, throwing you into a pool and forgetting everything except to breeze. That’s where the Suunto Aquabone driving headphones that are not only designed to function under water, but They have water as their natural state, But they are still dry in dry. I have tried running, on long walks, even at home while working. But it wasn’t until I took them to swim when I understood what I was trying to do with them. Thus they look when they take them out of our head. Image: Xataka. Its strength is not the sound (because it should not be) The first thing to understand of the Aqua is that they are not headphones to use. They use bone driving, a technology that transmits sound through vibrations that travel through the bones of the skull, specifically the temporal bone, to the inner ear. The auditory channel is free: you don’t need to have anything inside the ear to listen to music or a podcast. That provides a double advantage. On the one hand, comfort and safety outdoors: you can run or bike listening to your content without isolating yourself from the environment. On the other, an even more overwhelming logic underwater: nothing gets into the ear, there is no distorted sound, there is no sense of tamponade. Everything happens in that little transducer that rests on the ear and that, against all prognosis, it manages to keep listening even. That little button that stands out from the transducer is the one that serves to stop or continue the music (a touch), pass from song (two touches) or backward (three touches). Image: Xataka. Pogo load pins that guarantee pond but require their own case. Image: Xataka. And here with the connected load case. This works as an external battery for a pair of complete loads. Connecting a USB-C cable we will move to the wall charger mode. Image: Xataka. The surprising thing is that, despite this different way of transmitting the sound, the experience works. There is no isolation, but it is not what you are looking for here. You can hear the music, the podcasts, whatever you want … and you are still connected to what surrounds you. In water, where any other system fails, they continue to comply. Suunto has adjusted the equalization thinking about that: in outdoor environments and, above all, in immersion. Dry, sound is enough; In pool, better than expected. There are no forceful serious study, but a solid, coherent and much more refined proposal than I imagined. Running and swimming with them Before trying them in the water, I’ve been running with them months. Literally. I immediately noticed that the important thing was not as much the sound quality and the feeling of freedom: nothing inside the ear, nothing that falls out when moving, and the music always present without disconnecting from the world. Ideal to go through the city or by roads without losing sight or hearing what surrounds you. You didn’t have to adjust them every little, or worry about whether they loosen up. They simply worked. Besides, Its three buttons (two on one side, one in the other) allow to change volume or pass song. All great. But although they had convinced me, the best was yet to come. The posterior strip. It is flexible but without applying pressure it remains rigid. I don’t feel that I bounce in my neck. Image: Xataka. The first time I used them in pool I felt a certain astonishment. Not long, but when I did it used to be without music because all the previous solutions had seemed a commitment: they were uncomfortable, unreliable, or directly fragile. In fact it came from using some Sony NW-WS413 –With its humble 4 GB– since 2022. Image: Xataka. With those two buttons under the pogo pins we can do almost any action, combining pulsations, pulsation time, etc. Turn them on, turn them off, adjust volume, enter and exit sports mode, etc. Image: Xataka. With the aqua you do not have to juggle: The placing, you start the session from the headphones themselves (without the mobile, thanks to the 32 GB of internal storage) and throw yourself into the water. From the first length, something changes. Music accompanies you. And you keep swimming the same, without worrying about anything. There are no cables, there are no rubber ones that come out. The band that surrounds the head does not move. It does not loosen. It does not bother. It is as if it were not. But the most interesting comes later. These headphones listen to you swim At the end of the session, the data appears in the Suunto app: Posture, head angle, respiratory frequency, sliding in stroke. Technique metrics that I had never seen in headphones. And that, at least in my case, they told me something I didn’t know: that I breathe badly. Image: Xataka. Or more exactly, that I do it asymmetrically, with my head turning more to one side than to the other. They had never told me in the training. Nor had he noticed it. But there was the graphic. Yes indeed: There is no real -time feedback. What you get is a later readingas if you had a silent coach who takes notes while you swim. It is true that the app could go further in its interpretation of the data – phalta context, lack of concrete orientation – but as a starting point, impresses. It is another way of seeing your body in motion. To listen to you from within. For a future version it would be great to be able to … Read more

Let us run out of mobile during the blackout was terrible. That will happen to the government is much more worrying

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The mass blackout suffered by Spain and Portugal on April 28 left us without light, but also without being able to communicate with our mobile phones. One would think that government members would have some type of auxiliary system, but the truth is that there seems to be no for these types of situations. “Blind”. Government sources pointed out In the world that during The blackout of April 28 They were “blind” and that “mobile phones did not work, we could not communicate (…) not even among us in the complex and in the ministries.” Not only citizens. During those hours millions of citizens suffered A very irregular service in their mobile communications, and except for some exceptionsthe operators had huge problems to continue serving. That is already worrying, but even more than our rulers suffered those same problems and there is no emergency plan for this type of event. It didn’t work either The alert system, Es-Alert. Mesh b. The Government does not have an auxiliary communications system, and for years the effort was in another direction: to protect the communications of government members in the face of possible spying acts. To do this exists The call Mesh bthe Safe Strategic Communications Support System of the National Crisis Management System and the Government Presidency. The system is used not only in government fields, but also in high state institutions. The government protects from espionage. As they point out In the countrythe government decided in early 2025 to renew its encryption systems to shield communications after espionage scandal made with pegasus. The first phase will be a modernization of technical infrastructure, of which will order The Spanish company Epicom. Together with this renewal, an update of the communications encryption system will also be updated, which until now was carried out with Comsec (Indra) but that will now compete with Secret T (Telefónica). Both are National Development Technologies, a primary condition for these services. Sirdee is not (for the moment) for that. Spain has The Sirdee program (Integral System of Digital Emergency Radiocommunications of the State), which was launched in 2000 and that served more than 150,000 users in Spain. Among them are the National Police, the Civil Guard and even the presidency of the Government. There are specific contingency plans and operational continuity in ministries and strategic bodies, but government members suffered the same problems as citizens. As they point out In networks & Telecomthe Sirdee system, which was based on tetra technology of UHF radio, It is now complementing With broadband systems through EMBM technology, based on LTE/5G connectivity. Sirdee base nodes are usually equipped with backup batteries and diesel generators that allow these equipment and communications to be kept while these active auxiliary solutions can be maintained. High frequency networks. In 1988 the United States created its high frequency communications Shares program (HF, 3 to 30 MHz) with the aim of having a support for the first fixed lines, and later for mobile lines. This system, now under the Department of National Security (DHS), is composed of thousands of HF stations distributed throughout the country and belonging to different federal and state agencies. The system It was used during the 11-S attacks, but also during natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico in 2005. Satellite communication is another option. During the blackout Starlink turned out to be an exceptional alternative During the blackout, and that shows that satellite communications systems can be very useful in this type of events. Europe has been trying to launch its satellite Internet system Through the Iris2 systemwhich is expected to begin to be operational in 2030. Images |Baatcheet Films | Pool Moncloa/Fernando Calvo In Xataka | The Catalan Sateliot company lifts 70 million euros with a clear objective: to display the “Spanish Starlink of the IoT”

We have been reading about the danger of arsenic in rice for years. So much that we run the risk of not believing it in the worst possible time

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Arsenic is one of the best known toxic elements. The fact that traces of this element can be found in the rice we consume sounds more alarming than it really is: today only very high consumption of this food could involve health risks. The problem is that this can change in the future. Growing concentrations. A new study has pointed out that the increase in temperatures and carbon dioxide concentrations (CO2) in the atmosphere can favor the absorption of arsenic in rice crops. This would translate into a greater presence of the element in the dishes elaborated from this cereal. A change whose impact could be significant around 2050. This increase in arsenic concentration could especially affect the population in Asia, where rice represents a higher portion of the food consumed. “Our results suggest that this increase in arsenic levels could significantly raise the incidence of heart disease, diabetes, and (cause) other non -carcinogenic effects,” he said In a press release Lewis Ziskka, co -author of the study. The risk of arsenic. Arsenic is considered a heavy metal despite chemically belonging to the semimetal group. He Risk level which implies its presence depends on several factors, for example on the fact of the molecular structure in which it occurs (its organic structures are less dangerous than the inorganic ones). And, of course, it depends on the dose. The risk posed by this element has to do with its accumulation in our body. Its presence can lead to problems in development among the youngest, and in adults it has been related to skin disorders, bladder and cancer of lung. 28 Rice varieties. The team responsible for the study analyzed the effects on the rice of an average increase of 2º Celsius at the temperature and the associated increase of atmospheric CO2. Did it in 28 varieties of this cereal, modeling the evolution of its inorganic arsenic content over 10 years. From there, the team estimated the health impacts that this accumulation could produce in the populations of seven Asian countries around 2050. The result: a drastic increase in cancer cases and especially the cases of bladder cancer. Among the countries studied, China would stand out, which could see more than 13 million new cases of cancer associated with arsenic exposure. The details of the study were published In an article In the magazine The Lancet Planetary Health. Not everything is lost. In its study, the team raises some possible adaptation measures dedicated to reducing the future impacts of this problem. The team suggests hybridar varieties of plants to favor those that absorb less, introduce improvements in soil management in rice fields, and improve food processing practices. They also propose consumer -centered measures: education and minitor, they explain, they could play an important role in reducing the impacts of this growing presence of arsenic. The occasional alerts we receive regarding arsenic levels in rice could make this more difficult, by turning this problem into a “Pedro and the Wolf story”: a non -existent problem that we pay attention today could become a real problem that we ignore in the future. In Xataka | What is really happening with white rice (and to what extent should we worry) Image | Shayan Ghiasvand

This offer leaves the PS5 Slim at an unbeatable price and will surely run out quickly

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Although Sony’s last launch of his star console was the PS5 Pro, it is true that the price can be abusive to many. If you don’t want to spend a pasture in a game console, now in Aliexpress you have PS5 Slim Digital by 349.99 eurosapplying the code ‘MES40‘. PlayStation 5 standard Slim model console * Some price may have changed from the last review A supervantant console at a price that you will not believe This PS5 Slim It is an still perfect purchase in full 2025 if you had not yet made the leap to the current generation of Sony consoles (which even exhausted itself in its launch). This is the standard PlayStation 5, The most economical What will you find. It comes with a Dualsense command And without a record reader, but don’t worry because you have Physical gamesyou can buy the reader apart, because there is already stock of this accessory in several stores. Regarding its original version, this PS5 Slim has reduced its volume by 30% and includes a black strip on the sides that confers a design somewhat different from its predecessor. Has a unit of 1TB SSD storage And it has Ray Tracing HDR technology and allows you to enjoy 4K at 120 fps graphics on screens HDMI 2.1. You may also interest these accessories for PS5 Disco Unit for PS5 Digital Edition (thin) * Some price may have changed from the last review WIGEARSS VERTICAL SUPPORT FOR PS5/PS5 SLIM/PS5 PRO * Some price may have changed from the last review Some of the links of this article are affiliated and can report a benefit to Xataka. In case of non -availability, offers may vary. Images | John Tones and Juan Carlos López (Xataka) and Sony In Xataka | PlayStation 5 Pro vs PlayStation 5: These are all the differences between the two Sony consoles In Xataka | Two years ago I bought a PS5. I wish someone would have told me that I also needed these accessories

In the emptied Galicia there are municipalities taking care of gas stations and shops. THE OBJECTIVE: Don’t run out of services

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The Emptied Spain It is depopulated Spain, but also the one that is emptied from companies and services. Both, the Lack of neighbors And the absence of businesses that cover their most basic needs, are part of the same vicious circle that in the long run the peoples to abandonment. In Galicia They have decided Breaking that loop with a curious movement. To avoid running out of supermarkets or gas stations there are municipalities that are taking care of their management. The objective: that the neighbors should not move kilometers for something as simple as buying the bread. Even at the cost of the City Council itself assume private services. The ghost of depopulation. The depopulation He is one of the great ghosts of the rural of Spain. And Galicia is no exception. A few months ago his Consello de Contas He issued A report in which he warned that in the community (especially in the provinces of Lugo and Ourense) there are almost a hundred towns in ‘danger of extinction’, a status that is explained by a combination of factors: a register below the 5,000 inhabitants, a low population density (less than 20%) and more deaths than births. INE himself calculates that in 2021 there were almost 25,700 Gallegos residing in municipalities that do not pass from the thousand registered. According to his nomenclator, in the community there are also around 1,900 depopulated villagesmany of them in Lugo. Only in 2023 it is estimated that the province lost about 40. Other populations are still alive but with a handful of hundreds of neighbors and having lost much in a short time. To name a case, Murasin the Terra Cha, I had 1,151 neighbors In 2000. In 2024 were 600. A vicious circle. We commented before. The localities of emptied Spain do not remain alone without neighbors. They often do it also without businesses that cover their needs. And one and the other, that of inhabitants and services, feed a vicious circle that ends up accelerating the emptying of the peoples. Although there is experts That they conclude that at general “accessibility to services” in Spain is good, especially if we talk about health and education, they also recognize that differences arise when the provincial scale is lowered. A quick search arrives on Google to find Complaints of populations about the public transport or lack of something as simple as bars and shops. And how to solve it? A question similar to that was asked a while ago in Pol and Ribeira de Piquíntwo localities of the rural of the province of Lugo that together barely go from the 2,000 residents. The first, Pol, has 1,542 registered, 27% less than in 2000. The second, Ribeira de Piquín, had about 500 residents, 80% less than at the beginning of this century. Both municipalities share Another featurein addition to the province and a diminishing census: given the loss of basic businesses their respective municipalities have decided to step forward and guarantee the continuity of private services. A kind of municipalization which aims to prevent your neighbors from having to look for life for issues as basic as buying bread. Their cases have attracted the interest of media such as The voice of Galicia either Eldiario. A “municipal” supermarket. In the case of Pol the Consistory he found the risk that The only supermarket From the town, located in the population of Mosterio, closed. Its owner retired and in the absence of relief or other shopkeepers that would like to transfer it, the panorama was complicated for the neighbors who reside there. “No one was interested in carrying it. It was deserted,” explained in December Its mayor, Lino Rodríguez, Progress. The City Council solution: Buy the super To keep it open. It is not yet known How will it manage, through a foundation, attracting a franchise or with an autonomous, but the goal is clear: to guarantee the continuity of the service. “We acquired the entire block, which has an area of ​​about 800 m2, for a total of 150,000 euros,” Rodríguez added In December. The project went ahead with the support of the Diputación and aspires to go beyond trade: Pol wants to recover an old sausage mark and create social housing at the top. At the end of last year the town had already paid 75,000 euros for the premises, it hoped to pay a similar sum of 2025 and already thought about furniture and facilities to serve customers. “We need to acquire the material goods of the interior, such as refrigerators, freezers and cold cameras. But throughout 2025 we will try to prepare the charcería,” He reported. OBJECTIVE: Refers in the town. In Ribeira de Piquín, the City Council has also moved to preserve a key service, although in this case the focus is on a gas station. At the end of 2024 the Consistory was in process for rent an already built service area but it carries more than a decade closed The idea is reopen it in 2025 and that the neighbors do not have to move to another town to replace or look for fuel. The project is carried out through the Terreo Foundationparticipated by the City Council, and with support of the Diputación de Lugo, which provides funds through an agreement. The rent will be done through a direct award procedure, Precise Progressand once completed the idea of ​​the City Council is to adapt the station to the regulations to register it. In the budget they also reserve funds to hire full -time personnel who can take care of the suppliers and serve users. Is it an isolated case? No. The gas station will not be the only (or first) project that is promoted with the terreo lever. Before it was launched A fish farma livestock exploitation and even a kiwi plantation. “The municipalities as small as we have many difficulties for the private initiative to come and invest. Hence we have no other option … Read more

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