Spain

While the heat ‘Spanishizes’ Europe at full speed, Spain begins to ask itself a key question: whether it will have to ‘saharize’ itself

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During recent summers, as heat waves have spread their tentacles across the continent, we Spaniards have seen ourselves vindicated. At last, Germany discovered the napFrance would fall in love with the blinds and England would have to admit that dining late has its benefits. It was seen, let’s face it, as a cultural victory. We did not have the other side of the coin: that climate change is a treacherous animal and, while Europe flirts with our habits, customs and solutions, we are being forced to abandon them. The question was not whether we will manage to ‘Spanishize’ Europe; It was whether we are going to have to ‘saharize’ Spain. What we are doing is not enough… In the midst of a heat wave, it becomes evident that many of the things we have been doing no longer work. But the truth is that the heat is no longer “an isolated episode.” According to the State of the Climate of Spain 2025 According to AEMET, the average temperature has risen 1.75 °C since 1961. In 2025, 25 records were broken for warm days and none for cold days (when one would expect five of each) and, as far as we know, summer lengthens by about nine days per decade. The consequences have changed radically and can be seen with a single piece of information: the The need for refrigeration in Spain has multiplied by 2.6 between 1982 and 2022. In this sense, Royal Decree-Law 4/2023 has already certified the obvious: the Spanish working day has to be legally subordinated to the thermometer and to the AEMET notices. In Xataka Experts agree that opening windows at night and closing them during the day is no longer the best strategy against heat. …and, in fact, we are stopping doing many things. The nap is a good example: only 16% do it daily and the 60% of Spaniards never sleep. It is due to the social evolution of the labor market, it is true; but also because at certain temperatures, the nap is no longer restorative and we can only turn on the air conditioning. When talking about ‘Saharanization’ there is a controversial component, of course; but there is also a grain of truth. There is extremely striking thingsfor an average Spaniard (like drinking hot drinks because they help regulate body temperature more efficiently than cold drinks) that make all the sense in the world in a very hot climate. And it is reasonable to think that there are many of those things that we will tend to adopt. It has always been said that Islamic culture tended to conceive houses ‘inwards’ and gave a lot of weight to internal domestic life, but do we really believe that it is a free decision and not a cultural adaptation to a very warm environment? {“videoId”:”x8006fc”,”autoplay”:false,”title”:”How to sleep when it’s very hot and you don’t have air conditioning”, “tag”:””, “duration”:”217″} There is more, much more. Because the signs are there. Cities are reacting: Barcelona has gone from 197 climate shelters in 2021 to more than 500 this summerwith coverage of 99% of the population within less than ten minutes walk; Bilbao, for its part, has around 131 spaces. Leisure also changes and Summer bookings to Norway up 37% while the north of the peninsula gains tourists. That is, it is no longer whether we change “habits, customs and solutions” but how we do it. We should talk more about this because that is where a good part of our near future lies. Image | Sam Williams In Xataka |ENT doctors agree: “Sleeping with air conditioning forces the nose to work excessively” (function() { window._JS_MODULES = window._JS_MODULES || {}; var headElement = document.getElementsByTagName(‘head’)(0); if (_JS_MODULES.instagram) { var instagramScript = document.createElement(‘script’); instagramScript.src=”https://platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js”; instagramScript.async = true; instagramScript.defer = true; headElement.appendChild(instagramScript); – The news While the heat ‘Spanishizes’ Europe at full speed, Spain begins to ask itself a key question: whether it will have to ‘saharize’ itself was originally published in Xataka by Javier Jimenez .

HBO Max brings to Spain an advertising system that identifies the clothes they are wearing on the screen to try to sell them to you

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You have already gotten used to paying a cheaper rate on your subscription in exchange for watching ads. That model is about to take a new turn: artificial intelligence to detect which objects are “saleable” from what appears in the series you watch, to try to sell it to you. Similar to Prime Video advertising that leads to the corresponding sale on Amazon, but a step further in terms of sophistication. What does it consist of? Warner Bros. Discovery announced on June 19 that HBO Max will launch in Spain and other European countries, such as the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and the Nordic countries (in addition to Brazil and Mexico in America), before the end of 2026, a new advertising format called Moments. The system uses artificial intelligence to detect the objects that appear on the screen during a series or movie and inserts advertisements linked to those objects in real time: if the protagonists use a bicycle, the advertisement can be for that bicycle, or an equivalent one. If the scene takes place on a flight, the following commercial break may carry an airline commercial. Those responsible. The system is developed by the American company KERV.aiwhose technology already works with different applications for Disney, Hulu, Paramount, NBCU, ESPN, Samsung Ads or Vevo. Its proposal is object-by-object analysis of audiovisual content: it not only identifies the general theme of a scene, but also the specific visual elements that appear in it, with sufficient precision to correlate them with specific advertiser products. 25,000 moments. According to Warner, the system has already identified 25,000 moments in the HBO Max catalog where these types of ads can be activated. Thematic categories available to advertisers include cooking, fashion, beauty, luxury goods, fitness or well-being. In the United States, where Moments is already active, Warner has recorded a 19% increase in viewer engagement and a 13% increase in purchase intent compared to conventional advertising formats. Juicier than product placement. The fact that a brand pays for its car to appear in a movie or its soft drink to be on the protagonists’ table requires a prior agreement between the brand and the production team, negotiated before filming. It is effective, but expensive (also at the organizational level). Moments, however, works on top of existing content. The AI ​​detects the item and makes it part of advertising inventory. It is very attractive for advertisers and the platform: content shot five years ago can generate advertising impacts today. All this theoretically, of course: no one has signed in blood that the series and films are not going to begin to modify their future content to try to get closer, precisely, to a 2.0 version of the product placement traditional, which worked with the same premise: what you see can be bought. Amazon arrived first. In May 2025, Amazon announced in its annual presentation to advertisers a format of pause ads contextual for Prime Video. Amazon’s AI analyze the scene at the exact moment the viewer presses pause and generates in real time an ad with dynamic copy adapted to what appears on the screen. The difference with HBO is obvious, and in favor of Prime Video’s business: jumping from an ad to Amazon does not pose any problem for the viewer: according to company data88% of Prime Video viewers in the United States have purchased from Amazon, allowing you to introduce purchasing habits data into the equation. No cookies. Warner, in fact, sells just the opposite. Moments’ press release highlights that the system uses “contextual signals instead of personal data”, meaning it uses a “privacy-first” design. Warner lacks the personal data that Amazon has, so it embraces this advantage for the user: it does not require tracking the user between sessions or building a profile. Moments doesn’t know who you are, only what you’re seeing at any given moment. Advertisements on platforms streaming It is, increasingly, a very juicy business. According to studies As of August 2025, 45% of Netflix’s consumption in its ad-supported markets was already occurring from the ad-supported plan, up from 34% a year earlier. HBO Max recorded an increase of ten percentage points in the same period. That is, the proportion of viewers who watch streaming with advertising it does not stop growing, and Moments arrives at a time when this advertising inventory is crying out for more sophisticated ways to cajole the viewer. In Xataka | All streaming platforms are including ads in their programming. And they reveal a great crisis in the sector

the AEMET rule to declare a heat wave in Spain

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We spent the summer talking about heat waves and extreme temperaturesbut sometimes it is difficult for us to differentiate exactly what they are. If we look back to the summer of 2025, we remember that there was constant talk of heat waves. We may have the feeling that July and August were a huge heat wave. However, if we look at the data from the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET)we will see that only 3 heat waves were recorded in the Peninsula and the Balearic Islands and 2 in the Canary Islands. The key is that they were long heat waves. Without going any further, the first of them extended from June 18 to July 4. The next one arrived on July 15, so we didn’t even have two weeks of respite. Be that as it may, the concept of a heat wave is somewhat diffuse. It is not described the same in some countries as in others, and even has variations in the same country. Of course, no matter what definition we stick to, it is clear that they are becoming more and more intense. That is why it is so important to take measures against global warming. What exactly is a heat wave: the scientific definition Actually, There is no single definition of what a heat wave is.. Broadly speaking, it can be considered a prolonged period of extreme temperatures for a specific region. As we have already seen, each country has its own definition, which usually follows historically selected criteria. Even institutions can have very specific definitions. For example, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) define a heat wave as an unusually hot and dry or hot and humid period in a specific place, with visible effects on nature and people’s health. Contrary to what usually happens with the definitions of different countries, these two institutions include the health of people and the effects on nature as important factors in the definition of a heat wave. The three requirements of the AEMET to declare a heat wave in Spain In the case of Spain, the criteria to describe a heat wave They are provided by the AEMET. According to this, three requirements must be met: Duration of at least 3 consecutive days Detection of extremely high temperatures in at least 10% of the reference observatories Maximums located above the 95th percentile of temperatures measured between July and August from 1971 to 2000. These criteria refer to mainland Spain and the Balearic Islands.. With the Canary Islands there is an exception, since they only have 6 observatories. If we obeyed the 10% rule, it would be enough to detect extreme temperatures above the guidelines in only one of them. It is too little, so there is a special requirement that at least two observatories detect temperatures above the 95th percentile. How long does a heat wave last? There is no defined duration for a heat wave. As we have seen, in Spain it must last at least 3 consecutive days to be considered as such. And from there to heaven. At the moment, the longest that has been recorded in Spain lasted 26 days and It was produced in 2015. It should be noted that in 2022 the heat waves were shorter, but it stands out for being the year with the most heat wave days added together. A total of 41, to which 2025 came dangerously close, with 33 days under a heat wave. Other countries, according to their criteria, have experienced heat waves that may be shorter, but very surprising due to their location. For example, in 2025, the subarctic regions of Norway, Sweden and Finland recorded their worst heat wave since records exist, with 21 consecutive days and temperatures that exceeded 30°C within the Arctic Circle itself. Why does the temperature threshold change depending on the province? As we have already seen, for the AEMET, one of its criteria when defining a heat wave is that the reference stations register temperatures above the 95th percentile measured in July and August from 1971 to 2000. Logically, each province will have different records. The records of Seville will not be the same as those of Oviedo. The 95th percentile temperature will be much higher in the Andalusian capital than in the Asturian capital. Be that as it may, it should be noted that there is no threshold per province, but rather per reference station. Each province may have several of these seasons, with slightly different temperatures. To give an example based on AEMET datain Jaén there are three seasons, whose thresholds are 39ºC, 40ºC and 42ºC. If we go to colder areas, in A Coruña there are three seasons and their thresholds are 29.2ºC, 30ºC and 31.6ºC. How to know if there is a heat wave alert in your autonomous community The best way to know if there is a heat wave in our autonomous community or an alert for intensely high temperatures is to stay up to date with AEMET updates. In any case, it should be noted that, individually, we are more interested in being up to date with the notices. We may not have a heat wave for a few days, because there are not enough stations in the region that meet the criteria, but there may be temperatures high enough in specific points to put people’s health at risk. Therefore, we must make a monitoring unusually high temperature alerts; which, as with rain or wind, follow a color code (green, yellow, orange or red) to indicate the level of risk and the measures to take. Real-time weather warning map: from yellow alert to red warning Unusually high temperature alerts are defined with three colors. Yellow refers to significant risk, orange to high risk and red to extreme risk.. If the area is colored green (or gray in the case of maps), there is no risk. Every day, the AEMET updates its color warning maps, so it is important … Read more

Spain has standardized a small trick to avoid rear-end accidents. The DGT is not very satisfied

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Emergency braking and emergency lights are words that, by pure common sense, we could understand that one always goes together with the other. So much so that not only in Spain have we assimilated that the way to act in a traffic jam is to activate them almost immediately, manufacturers have also been incorporating it into the latest models. However, the DGT through the General Traffic Regulations It continues to ask us to act in a slightly different way and that, directly, has become somewhat obsolete. better than the warning…with your hand? Rear-end accidents are one of the most common types of crashes on Spanish roads, especially now that summer is coming and trips are multiplying. Although there is no official data that segments this type of accident, claims and insurance experts estimate in 5% of total crashes those that occur by reach. These are usually accidents with low mortality rates but those who suffer them can be seriously injured. whiplash that usually causes problems over time if they do not heal well. Rear-end accidents are not usually a big problem in terms of mortality rates, but they can cause serious damage to our cars. And although without sufficient safety distance it is difficult to avoid them, drivers have assimilated a way of acting to reduce them. The most common thing in this type of situation in which we find a traffic jam in front of us is that we brake with a certain force and immediately the hand goes to the emergency button (a problem in cars where the emergency button warning is on the ceiling). That is, we activate the signal while braking. However, in the General Traffic Regulations, article 109 c) reads the following: “The intention to immobilize the vehicle or to brake its progress significantly, even when such events are imposed by traffic circumstances, must be warned, whenever possible, by repeatedly using the brake lights or by moving the arm alternately up and down with short and rapid movements.” And then it is pointed out that: When the immobilization takes place on a highway or highway, or in places or circumstances that significantly reduce visibility, the presence of the vehicle must be signaled by using the emergency light, if available, and, where appropriate, with the position lights. That is, according to the DGT we must issue warnings using the brake lights or by putting our hand out the window (less advisable if we have to make an unexpected dodging movement). And we will only turn on the emergency lights if we are immobilized. Colleagues explain Motorpassion that technically the DGT cannot fine us for using the emergency lights to signal a traffic jam before stopping and, in truth, it is difficult for us to think that a traffic officer would fine us for it in those circumstances. The wording made in the General Traffic Regulations is marked by the type of vehicle that was driven many years ago and it has no meaning since ABS (invented in 1978 by Mercedes and mandatory in every European car since 2004, although most already had it) is the norm. If a driver drives a car without ABS, the car will lock the wheels under heavy braking and it is easy to lose control. ABS prevents this from happening by relieving the brake pressure slightly even if we press it fully to allow the wheels to turn slightly and not lock. The only way to act emergency braking in a car without ABS is to do this same thing. You press the brake hard and then lift it very slightly and press it again. The action is repeated as many times as necessary, hence the wording of article 109 of the General Traffic Regulations. Since cars have this system, this way of acting is unnecessary and even dangerous because it will be the car that acts for us. But in addition, many of today’s cars already automatically activate the warning if we apply enough force on the brake pedal. This function is also deactivated if our intervention when the foot is lifted from the brake. Photo | Mark Stuckey and Samuel Girven In Xataka | There is no new rule that prevents driving in the left lane: the DGT already punishes it with a 200 euro fine

Spain had a master plan for the European fighter. The problem is that Germany just got a girlfriend with a lot of “money”

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In 1986, Spain, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom decided to join forces to build the Eurofighter Typhoon. It took almost two decades to turn it into realitybut that project left a key lesson: in Europe, fighters are not built with engineering alone, but with industrial and political balances that sometimes last longer than the technology itself. The collapse and plan B. It we count last week. He collapse of the Future Combat Air System has not only been the failure of a large European military program of 100,000 million euros, it has also been the moment in which Spain understood that he could not wait for France and Germany to resolve their industrial wars. For years, the FCAS It was sold as the large sixth-generation European fighter, but tensions between Airbus and Dassault Aviation they ended up blocking the distribution of work, leadership and technological architecture. When Berlin withdrew, Madrid lost more than just a partner: it lost the pillar that supported its own bet. FCAS concept The Spanish exit. Spain had been moving in silence for some time. With Indra gaining weight in defense and with growing conversations with Saab, the idea was clear: if FCAS sank, there was room to build an alternative axle with Germany and Sweden around satellite technologies such as sensors, combat cloud, accompanying drones and command systems. It was not yet a “new fighter” as such, but it was a survival platform industrial so as not to be tied to Paris. It was a lateral route to keep the Spanish option alive within the sixth European generation. Italy changes the board. And then Italy has appeared. Leonardo’s new management has made it clear that it would be delighted to open the door of the Global Combat Air Program to Germany. On paper, that is a logical invitation: Berlin brings money, industry and experience accumulated with the Eurofighter Typhoon. But strategically it is a bomb for Spain. Because the centerpiece of your plan B (Germany) could stop looking towards the Swedish axis and turn towards Rome, London and Tokyo. In a matter of weeks, the Spanish escape route could become a dead end. Germany is looking for a leading role. The German movement also has internal logic. Berlin does not want to be a secondary partner. He made it clear within the FCAS and he is repeating it now: if he enters another program, he wants a role proportional to your investment and its industrial weight. That sits poorly with France, where Dassault Aviation never wanted to let go control, but it fits much better with Italian flexibility. Furthermore, BAE Systems and the German branch of Airbus already they cooperated successfully on the Eurofighter. For Berlin, GCAP is starting to look less like an alternative and more like a logical continuation. The Spanish dilemma. And here is the big crack for Spain. If Germany joins GCAP, Madrid stays trapped between two worlds: a mortally wounded FCAS and an alternative plan that loses its most important partner before consolidating. Spain can try to continue punch to France, but that would mean accepting a (much) more subordinate role. You could also look for a direct approach to Italy or even Japan and the United Kingdom, but arriving late to an already structured program reduces a lot the negotiation margin. The risk is brutal: being left out of the table where the next great European air combat ecosystem is decided. Europe repeats its old problem. All this once again reveals the great industrial drama European: too many projects, too many egos and, above all, too much overlap. While the United States and China move forward with centralized programs, Europe continues to fragment its resources between rival blocs. In that sense, Spain believed it had found a safety net after the FCAS. The problem is that this network depended on Germany… and now Germany has a new dance couple. Image | Picryl In Xataka | Spain, France and Germany had joined together to illuminate the “European fighter” of the future: now that path is dead In Xataka | The European fighter has died, but Europe still has one last bullet to avoid the F-35: the alliance of Spain and Sweden

Spain has 15 million pets that cannot set foot on a good part of its beaches. That’s something that’s starting to change.

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It comes with going to a park or taking a walk through any city in the country, but in case there were still any doubts, the Government recently provided definitive proof that Spain is a land of pets. The first official census has counted neither more nor less than 15.2 millionof which 7.6 are dogs. With such figures it is better understood that, as summer approaches, more and more people are asking themselves a question: Can we go to the beach with our four-legged friends? The answer is: it depends. Reviewing the figures. We mentioned it before: in Spain there are many (many) pets. It is something that we intuited thanks to the censuses carried out by feed manufacturers, companies dedicated to the care of pets or the Companion Animal Identification Network (REIAC), but which has been confirmed by the first official study of the State. It details that in Spain there are 15,171,569 pets, of which 7,562,893 are dogs. They represent, respectively, 14.1 and 9.6% more than in 2021. Beyond the raw data, the census confirm that in Spain there are now more pets than people under 30 years of age or who live in the country almost double of dogs than small children. Hence the pet economy this awakening the appetite of more and more companies (from feed manufacturers to insurance companies and venture capital) or that, when planning their summer vacations, they have already many families looking for accommodation (or even destinations) pet friendly. To the beach with the dog. Proof of this enormous interest is that every year the blogs specialized in pets (and also some other generalist) publish maps and online guides to dog-friendly beaches during the bathing season, which usually runs from June to September. Their ‘photograph’ does not always coincide, but usually includes more than a hundred sandy beaches. Some place the total count around 130 beaches. Others raise it to more than 150. That disparity is not surprising because the list can change from one year to the next and not all sandy beaches that accept dogs do so in the same way. Fine spinning. Last year, in fact, RTVE published a map in which he differentiated between three main types of beach, depending on the freedom that the dogs had on each one. The most comfortable for pets would be the ‘complete’ beaches, those to which they can freely access all year round. In second place would be the ‘partial’ sandbanks, which tolerate pets, although with small print. For example, the presence of dogs can be restricted to only a defined stretch or a certain time slot, such as at night, when the number of bathers is reduced on the beaches. Finally there would be what RTVE calls ‘nearby’ beachesstretches of coast close to urban areas in which access is allowed in at least part of the sandy area. Why so much complication? Basically, because the Coastal Lawthe framework standard that regulates the maritime-terrestrial public domain, leaves a wide gap that have been covered by the regional and local administrations. And that challenge has not been faced in the same way everywhere. What’s more, sometimes the topic has generated intense social, political and institutional debates. One of the latest examples has been left by Gijón on account of his new ordinance municipal on animal welfare: in March, during the allegations phase, the Principality he was reluctant to the presence of dogs on the city’s beaches, although later nuanced that the decision depends on the City Council. From the beaches to Change.org. Another interesting case is found in A Coruña, where it has been activated a collection of signatures in Change so that the Consistory allows dogs on the beaches in summer in night timefrom 9:30 p.m. to 10:00 a.m. Right now the local ordinance prohibits pets on beaches between June 1 and September 30, with the only exception of the Bens sandy area, which is considered a “dog beach”. Along the Spanish coast there are many more With these characteristics, which are added to other sandy areas where dogs are allowed during the summer, although at night. One figure, two conclusions. let there be between 100 and 150 beaches that can be considered (to a greater or lesser extent) dog-friendly) leaves several conclusions. The first, as recently reported on the Sr.Perro blog, is that the number of sandy areas in which there is a clear regulation that allows enjoyment with dogs is very small. In general, it is estimated that Spain has somewhat more 3,500 beaches. That the proportion is so low is explained, in part, by the requirements that all those sandy areas must comply with opt for the badge of ‘Blue Flag’. The “Guide to Blue Flag criteria” of 2025 states that “the prohibition of domestic animals on the beach must cover the entire area of ​​the candidate beach, including the bathing area.” “Local regulations must prohibit the presence of domestic animals on the beach during bathing season, even outside bathing hours,” the document insistswhich cites WHO studies on “microbiological risks” associated with the presence of excrement on beaches. Gaining weight (little by little). That is the second conclusion that the sandbank map leaves. dog-friendly. Although they remain a minority, some sources they specify that their number has been increasing due to the increase in the pet census and citizen pressure, which sometimes results in campaigns like the one activated this year (also in 2025) in A Coruña. A quick check on Google shows that Sanlucar de Barrameda, Marin, Vila-seca, Cadiz, Punta Umbria either Almeriaamong other populations, have taken steps in recent years (or months) to make it easier for people to enjoy the places of a dip. Image | Nathalie Anfuso (Unsplash) In Xataka | Your cat asks you to cuddle and then bites you. It’s not evil, it’s that you don’t understand its signs

One would expect that finding a meteorite crater in Spain would be easy, but it has taken more than 20 years to confirm the first one. And it is in Almería

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It is estimated that on Earth About 17,000 meteorites fall a year. However, some break down into unrecoverable fragments and others are mistaken for ordinary rocks. Many may be abandoned at the back of some closet. In fact, to date, only 80,000 meteorites have been located worldwide. But if finding meteorites is complicated, finding their impact craters is much more difficult. The figures speak for themselves. Today, only 196 of these structures have been documented. In Spain, for example, none had been found until very recently. There were two footprints suspected of having been left by a meteorite, one in Azuaranear Zaragoza, and another in the Tabernas basin, between the Almeria towns of Alhama de Almería and Alhabia. The first has been deflating as it has been investigated, but the second has finally been recognized as such by the international scientific community. It’s now official: the first meteorite impact crater has been found in Spain. It wasn’t an earthquake, it was a meteorite. The discovery and description of this crater is the result of research carried out by the University of Almería, the Astrobiology Center and the National Institute of Aerospace Technology (INTA). It all started in 2005, when two scientists from the University of Almería, Juan Antonio Sánchez Garrido and Sebastián Sánchez, set out to study Fat Megabeda much studied rock, which for many years was considered to have seismic origin. However, they found some characteristics that did not fit with what is known as an earthquake. There was an anomaly with platinum group elements, such as iridium, which has been located in many impact craters of meteorites detected in other parts of the Earth and even on other planets. They also tried to search shocked quartz. That is, a form of quartz that, when observed under a microscope, shows a structure displaced along crystallographic planes. It is something that can only happen at exorbitantly high pressures, such as those generated by the impact of a meteorite. Suspicions were becoming clearer. The Gordo Megabed was formed by a seismic movement, it is true, but said movement was caused by a meteorite impacting our planet. The tests continue. Since that discovery was made, the area has been and continues to be excavated and this possible impact crater analyzed. Thus, they have also been found shatter conesknown in Spanish as splintered cones. These are striated and conical fracture surfaces found in rocks that have undergone very high pressure. This pressure is only related to the impact of a meteorite or a nuclear explosion. Since the calculations carried out indicate that this structure is 8 million years old, a nuclear explosion is ruled out. Rock cores extracted in the excavation But that’s not all. Magnetic evidence has also been detected. When a rock is subjected to very high temperatures, it acquires something known as a negative magnetic anomaly. With the impact of a large meteorite, great pressure is generated, which in turn gives rise to an enormous increase in temperature. They can reach more than 2,000ºC. Therefore, it is more than normal for these anomalies to be detected, the monitoring of which has allowed the crater to be delimited in the case of Almería. Or, at least, it allowed us to define where the crater was suspected to be. The Swedes enter the scene. The fact that an impact crater has never been detected in Spain means that Spanish scientists are logically not familiar with this type of anomaly in the rock. For this reason, these scientists from the University of Almería partnered with the rest of the aforementioned institutions, but they also consulted Swedish researchers. In Nordic countries, such as Sweden, Norway and Finland, there are older geological materials, in which several impact craters have been detected. When these scientists joined the investigation, they confirmed the suspicions that had gradually taken over Spanish scientists. They had found the impact crater of a meteorite. The first in Spain. The characteristics of the crater. When we think of a crater we imagine it as a hole clearly drilled into the Earth. Like the typical craters of the Moon. However, we must keep in mind that on Earth there are winds and geological movements, absent on our satellite, that do not leave the craters visible over the years. What these scientists have found is close to the surface in some points, but in others it is buried with a sediment pressure of 800, 900 and even 1,000 meters. Even so, with all of the above, we know that it is a crater with a radius of 5 kilometers, along with a fragmented area that reaches a radius of 24 kilometers. That is, in a way we have the “hole” left by the meteorite and, around it, all the ground that is fractured as a result of the impact. The very edges of the crater are what we see today as mountains. In the video below it can be seen perfectly. And what about the meteorite? There are very well-studied impact craters that have made it possible to calculate the relationship between the size of a meteorite and the radius of the crater it leaves. Taking this and some other factors into account, it is estimated that the meteorite must have measured around 800 meters. All this is what is known so far. The excavations are not over yet. Rock cores are being extracted with them. That is, cylinders of material excavated for subsequent analysis. With this they hope to find even more crushed quartz and new evidence that will allow them to describe more concisely what happened in that area of ​​the Tabernas desert, then submerged under the sea, when a huge meteorite hit it 8 million years ago. Images | SEA In Xataka | In 1724 a meteorite fell in Germany: we have just discovered that it contained a material ‘impossible’ for physics

the “secret” heat shield of the Ariane 6 parts that Airbus manufactures in Spain

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We are used to “aerospace” sounding like almost futuristic materials. Titanium, high-strength aluminum, carbon fiber, alloys designed to withstand extreme conditions. The technology industry itself has turned that idea into a sales argument: just remember how some laptops and cell phones They boast of using “aerospace grade” materials.“to convey lightness, resistance and precision. That is why what happened this week during a visit to the Airbus facilities in Getafe caught my attention. In front of one of the pieces, Veronica Villanuevaresponsible for Manufacturing, Assembly, Integration and Testing at Airbus Space Systems in Spain, pointed to a yellowish surface and said it bluntly: “What you see here is yellowish, this is corkit is the thermal insulator that is put on, it is super curious, right?” The phrase had some revelation, but it was not an anecdote for visitors. The cork was there for a very specific reason: a launcher must not only be able to take off, it also has to protect its structures in a very demanding physical environment. In this case, Villanueva was talking about pieces linked to the Ariane 6. We are not talking about an “Airbus rocket”, but rather a European launcher in which ArianeGroup occupies the central role and Airbus participates by manufacturing several structures and key elements. The cork we saw in Getafe shows that space engineering also has very everyday surprises To understand why this detail was so striking, it is worth taking a step back in manufacturing. Before reaching the cork, many of these structures go through a process based on composite materials, especially carbon fiber and fiberglass. Villanueva explained during the tour that the carbon fiber used in the plant arrives as a prepreg material, that is, already mixed with resin. From there, the machines place layers on a mold until the desired geometry is built. Then will come the curing, the inspection and everything necessary to turn that stack into a piece capable of being part of a launcher. The underlying reason is easy to understand: in a launch, every kilo counts long before reaching orbit. A launcher must lift its own structure, its systems and the load it carries, so any weight savings can have significant consequences. The manufacturing manager defended during the tour that composite materials are especially interesting due to their low mass, their tensile strength and their ability to adapt to changes in temperature. The downside is that they are not as simple or as cheap to manufacture as metal. View of the Airbus production area in Getafe, where some structures linked to Ariane 6 incorporate cork as part of their thermal protection That complexity appears as soon as the structure begins to take shape. After taping, the pieces go through an autoclavea type of large pressurized oven where temperature and pressure are controlled so that the resin solidifies and the whole is compacted. Villanueva explained that the process includes a vacuum bag to extract any air that may have remained between the layers, an important detail because possible defects are not always visible from the outside. In a composite structure, what happens on the inside can be as relevant as the exterior geometry. Verónica Villanueva, responsible for Manufacturing, Assembly, Integration and Testing at Airbus Space Systems in Spain And then, after all that chain of carbon fiber, resin, pressure, vacuum and inspection, the least expected material appears again. Cork is applied to certain areas of the structure as a layer of protection against heat, but not in any way. Raúl Medina, head of launchers at Airbus Space Systems Spain, pointed out the pieces during the visit and gave a very specific measurement: “We can go from 2 millimeters to 5 millimeters thick.” On the indicated pieces, that layer moved within a very specific margin. Detail of an Ariane 6 part manufactured by Airbus in Spain. The light areas show the cork applied as thermal protection; the dark ones, areas without that coating The decision is not made by eye either. Medina summed it up with a very graphic phrase: “This in the end is an art. There are thermal engineers who analyze that you will be exposed to more heat and then, depending on that, more thickness, less thickness or areas without cork“On the surface of the piece, this thermal reading translates into areas with more protection, others with less and others where the material from the cork oak is not directly applied. Raúl Medina, head of launchers at Airbus Space Systems Spain. The idea may sound strange, but it does not appear isolated in the European space industry. In another application, ESA explained it with the Qarman CubeSatdesigned to study atmospheric reentry: its nose was made of cork, although not the kind we find in a champagne bottle, but of an adapted aerospace variety. The difference is in the behavior of the material when heated. First it swells, then chars, and finally flakes off, taking some of the unwanted heat with it. Detail of an Ariane 6 part manufactured by Airbus in Spain. The light areas show the cork applied as thermal protection; the dark ones, areas without that coating The supplier’s lead pointed in the same direction. Villanueva pointed out during the visit that that cork came from Portugal, and Medina added that whoever supplies it to the aerospace industry belongs to the same industrial universe that we associate with the wine and champagne corks. In open sources, that description fits Amorim Cork Solutionspart of the Portuguese group Corticeira Amorim, one of the world’s greatest names in cork. The ESA, in fact, identified Amorim as a supplier of the aerospace variety used in Qarman, although Airbus did not detail there the specific supplier of the parts before us. One of the fascinating things about the space industry is that it always holds some surprises. We can imagine it as a territory dominated by advanced materials, highly controlled processes and pieces designed to the limit, and to a large extent it is. But it … Read more

Raquel González, director of Airbus Space in Spain, on the challenge of Spain as a space power: “We lack people”

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It is not usual to cross the doors of Airbus Space in Getafe and tour a facility where the space industry stops being a succession of proper names and becomes something physical. During the visit organized by the 60 years of Airbus Espacio in Spainthe tour revealed production areas, clean areas, parts linked to launchers and satellite technologies and components that will end up operating outside of Earth. The first impression was not of a corporate celebration, but of an industrial chain much broader than its separate programs suggest. Rachel Gonzalezdirector of Airbus Space in Spain, summed it up with a very direct phrase during the presentation: “Spain is a space power.” He did not present it as a pending aspiration, but as a reality that, in his opinion, is explained by the accumulation of capabilities developed in the country. Satellites appeared on the table like PEACE, PEACE-2, Wit, CHEOPS either LSTMsecure communications programs such as Spainsat NGparticipation in European launchers such as Ariane 6 and even antennas made in Spain to communicate with the rovers Curiosity and Perseverance on Mars. The statement had weight because it did not rest on a single project, but on a sustained presence in various layers of the space sector. The Spanish space muscle and its challenges With that statement on the table, the next question was almost obligatory: if Spain has reached that position, How do you maintain yourself in an industry as competitive as the space industry?. The pressure does not come only from access to space, although launching more frequently and at a lower cost has become one of the great battles in the sector. Also important is the ability to design, manufacture and prepare increasingly complex systems, to respond to strategic needs and to do so on a board where pace has accelerated. SpaceX is the most visible symbol of this change, but not the only one: the US maintains a very active commercial ecosystem, China accelerates its commercial and state capabilities, India opens more space for private participationand Europe tries to strengthen its autonomy. Structure manufacturing area for Ariane 6 at Airbus Espacio España, within the Getafe facilities That was the question I asked González: what challenges now appear to remain in that position and what the next step should be. The director of Airbus Space in Spain opened the focus to the entire European space industry, but the response immediately landed on the terrain she knows first-hand. “There’s a talent challenge now. Budgets are increasing, programs keep coming up. There’s a lot of ambition.” “Now there is a talent challenge. Budgets are increasing, programs continue to emerge. There is a lot of ambition” The idea became even clearer when he condensed it into two words: “people are missing” González then turned the diagnosis into a call to those who are still deciding their educational path. His message was aimed at university students, but also at younger students who are beginning to choose where to direct their studies: space needs scientific, technological and engineering profiles, but not only that. Professional training trajectories and profiles linked to production are also needed, because an industry like this is not sustained solely by design on paper. Between an approved mission and a technology ready to leave Earth there are years of specialized work, and that quarry does not appear from one day to the next. Raquel González, director of Airbus Space in Spain, during the meeting with the press at the Getafe facilities The dimension of the problem is better understood by looking at the figures that Airbus put on the table. According to the company, Airbus Espacio in Spain closed 2025 with 295 million euros in turnover and 530 direct employees, but its impact does not end with its own workforce. Around 30% of this turnover goes to subcontractors, a fact that helps measure the extent to which space activity is distributed across a broader ecosystem. That is why the lack of talent does not only affect a specific company: when programs grow, pressure also increases on suppliers, specialized technicians and teams capable of supporting high-value-added work. This activity is better understood when you go down from the figure to the type of work behind it. Airbus maintains that its space division in Spain is the only company in the country capable of designing, building, integrating and delivering complex satellites into orbit, a statement that places the focus on high-level industrial responsibilities. González took it to the field of accumulated capacity during the presentation: “Everything that is satellite construction, that is where we are as a leader in Espacio España.” PAZ appears as one of the examples already in service within that trajectory, while PAZ-2 and LSTM show where that capability is now moving. Another part of the journey led to a less visible, but equally important layer: the technology that allows a mission to observe, measure or transmit useful information from space. Airbus spoke of radars, microwave radiometers and active antennas as areas in which its Spanish division has been accumulating knowledge. They are not elements designed to attract attention outside the sector, but they can make the difference between a space platform and a mission with real service capacity. Airbus Espacio España personnel work in the Getafe clean room, where the company assembles highly complex space systems The map was completed with another sensitive piece for Europe: access to space. Airbus recalled during the presentation that its activity in Spain has been linked to the family for decades. Ariane already Vegawith structures and subsystems that are part of the European launchers. In the case of Ariane 6, the company also noted that it is increasing production to supply 27 complete setsknown as shipsetsincluding large lightweight carbon fiber structures for Ariane 6 in the coming years. It is not necessary to go into the detail of each component to understand the relevance of this line of work: without reliable launchers and with sufficient cadence, a good part of European … Read more

France and Spain this weekend

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Western Europe is about to become a pressure cooker. With the peak expected on Sunday the 21st and Monday the 22nd, the first major episode of extreme heat of the summer will not only be “one of the worst heat waves in modern history for this region“; it will be an unprecedented shock beyond the Pyrenees. Because we cannot measure the magnitude of the event only in terms of absolute temperatures, but in terms of the anomaly between the usual climate and the degree of adaptation of each population. Thus, in Spain we are going to have a bad time, but within the usual maximums in the middle of summer. In France, on the other hand, all forecasts give temperatures completely outside of any reference in modern history. What is happening? In general terms, we can say that a powerful blocking anticyclonic ridge over the Gulf of Genoa (combined with the descent of a DANA to the west of the Peninsula) has pushed a dry and very warm Saharan air mass towards the north. However, the key element of the “dome” or “heat dome” is the quasi-stationary stability. The temperature will begin to rise rapidly on the 20th and will reach “very high and persistent temperatures” that could last for a good part of the week. We are talking about 36-38 °C in inland valleys and up to 40 °C in the eastern area and in parts of the southwest quadrant. In some areas local peaks of 42-43 °C will be reached. Will there be very high temperatures? In a, let’s say, basal way, yes. They will be very high. However, it must be taken into account that between the descent of DANA to the west and the convection that may occur (there is still humidity in the environment) in many areas the wind could alleviate the maximums. The real problem. It will be, as I say, a little further north. Much of France is indistinguishable (in geographical terms) from the Guadalquivir or Guadiana valleys. What made the weather good is the absence of stationary ridges like the one they are going to suffer: it is not unusual for them to suffer temperatures of 40 degrees or more between Sunday and Monday. They are anomalies of up to 20 degrees above normal. And with an infrastructure not prepared for the heat. We must not forget that heat is, by far, the meteorological phenomenon that kills the most in Europe. To size it up: the wave of 2003 left more than 70,000 deaths on the continent (about 15,000 in France, about 13,000 in Spain and another 20,000 in Italy); that of 2022, around 61,000. It is true that There is discussion about whether there are more factors in playbut the figures are terrible. It’s time to get used to the idea… that this is the world we have to live in. Image | Meteociel In Xataka | Along with the heat wave, Spain has something to worry about: “The Mediterranean is already too hot in June”

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