Spain

The US has asked all its allies in Hormuz for help. The answer he received was anticipated by Spain before anyone else: “no”

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In 1988, during the call “tanker war” between Iran and Iraq, a single low-cost naval device managed to seriously damage to a state-of-the-art American frigate in the Persian Gulf. That crisis left an uncomfortable lesson for the great powers: in the busiest maritime straits on the planet, a handful of well-placed threats are enough to put entire fleets in check and alter the balance of the world economy. A global appeal. Two weeks after the start of the war against Iran, the United States finds itself facing a paradox most disturbing. Despite the massive bombings against Iranian military installations and the blows against its strategic infrastructure, the Strait of Hormuz (the energy artery through which a fifth of the world’s oil passes) still blocked for much of the maritime traffic. The White House has responded with a unusual request: ask other powers to send warships to escort trade and reopen the passage. In fact, Trump’s call has not only been directed at traditional allies such as the United Kingdom or France, but also at rival powers. like china. This movement reflects, once again, an increasingly evident reality: the war is much more difficult to end than Washington expected. Reluctant allies. The international response has been prudent when not directly evasive. Spain has been the clearestbut the United Kingdom has insisted that the priority should be reduce escalation military rather than expanding naval deployment. For its part, Japan has recalled that its pacifist constitution limits participation in armed conflicts. South Korea has limited itself to promise consultations with Washington, while France has suggested that could participate in naval escorts, but only if the conflict is stabilized first. In other words, the allies recognize the strategic problem of the strait, but none seems willing to assume the political and military cost of fully entering the war. A notice to NATO. The frustration of the White House has ended up translating into a very direct message through a interview in Financial Times. Trump has publicly warned that NATO could face to a “very bad future” if its allies do not help the United States reopen the strait. The president’s argument is simple: Europe depends on the oil that passes through Hormuz and should help protect that route. In its vision of things, Washington has supported its allies in crises such as the war in Ukraine and now expect reciprocity. The problem is that this pressure comes at a time when many European governments fear being dragged into a military escalation with unforeseeable consequences. Appeal to China. In the face of Western coldness, the American appeal surprisingly included also to Beijing. China buys large quantities of Iranian oil and depends largely on the energy flow that passes through Hormuz. For Washington, this dependence could turn China into an actor interested in stabilizing the area. However, the maneuver has a complex diplomatic background: The United States is asking for help to resolve a war that it itself has started, and it is doing so even from a power with which it maintains a global strategic rivalry. Support for Iran. And while Washington seeks support from the most unexpected places, Tehran has responded proving that it is not isolated. The Iranian government has confirmed that maintains political, economic and even military cooperation with Russia and China. The relationship with Moscow has narrowed especially since the Ukraine war, in which Russia has used Iranian drones as part of its arsenal. With Beijing, the link is supported above all in energy trade and in long-term economic agreements. For Iran, this support does not necessarily imply direct intervention, but it does reinforce its position in the face of Western pressure. The strategic letter. we have been counting. Control of the Strait of Hormuz has become the main instrument of Iranian pressure. Tehran maintains that the passage is not closed to world trade, but only to the ships of the United States, Israel and their direct allies. This narrative seeks to present the situation as a selective retaliation and not as a global blockade. At the same time, it allows Iran use the threat on energy trafficking as a tool to force other countries to become diplomatically involved in the conflict. Economic war underway. Meanwhile, the impact on energy markets is already visible. The price of oil has exceeded $100 per barrel and several countries fear that the rise in energy prices will cause new inflationary tensions. For Asian economies, especially dependent on Gulf crude oil, the blockade represents a direct risk to their growth. That economic pressure is part of the Iranian strategic calculation: turn the conflict into a global problem that forces other powers to pressure Washington to find a solution. Late help. In that context, the implicit response of Iran is quite clear. In his view, the war has entered a phase in which calls for international cooperation no longer change the balance of the conflict. US attacks on strategic targets like the oil island of Kharg They have raised the tension to a level that makes any rapid retreat difficult. In other words, if Washington now seeks external support to close the war, Tehran interprets that it does so when the opportunity to avoid that escalation it’s already happened. An unexpected script. The final paradox begins to become increasingly evident, because the United States insists that has seriously weakened to Iran and that it can reopen the strait “one way or another”, but at the same time it is requesting international help to do it. This contradiction reveals that keeping Hormuz open under constant threat of mines, drones and missiles requires military coordination much larger than expected. Thus, the war that began as an air campaign fast has become a strategic challenge that involves (or seeks to involve) the entire international system. An increasingly complex board. The result is a scenario in which traditional alliances are shown extremely cautiousthe rival powers support Iran and the world economy is beginning to feel the impact of the … Read more

Europe has just measured how much wind potential Spain has left. The answer is an overwhelming first place

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If we look at the sky and our plains, the country is an undisputed giant. According to official data from the Wind Business Association (AEE)wind energy is already the first source of electricity generation in our country, covering an impressive 24% of national demand. With more than 31,600 megawatts (MW) of accumulated power distributed in 1,412 wind farms, Spain has consolidated itself as the second country in Europe (only behind Germany) and the sixth in the world in installed power. However, behind this success of “emptied Spain” a broken bridge hides. The wind blows and the blades turn, but we lack the cables to bring that clean energy to the cities and factories where it is actually consumed. And right now, when bureaucracy threatens to suffocate the sector, Europe has just put on the table a report that shows that what we have built to date is just the tip of the iceberg: the margin for growth that Spain has left is not only large, it is overwhelmingly higher than that of the rest of the continent. An overwhelming first place. The confirmation has come directly from Brussels. The Joint Research Center (JRC) of the European Commission has just published the second edition of the report ENPRESSO 2. This scientific document does not make estimates on the fly: it measures the feasible technical potential of onshore wind energy in Europe with a very high geographical resolution of 1 square kilometer. The results position Spain as the leader of the entire EU by a very wide margin. As the expert Joaquín Coronado explains:the figures are stratospheric. In the reference scenario, Spain reaches a technical potential of 183.9 gigawatts (GW) of installable capacity and 415.4 TWh/year of generation. More than double that of Romania and Sweden, the next in the ranking. If we cross this with our current capacity, the conclusion is stunning: the ceiling is very far away. How do we lead with such advantage? The merit of this first place is even greater if we understand how it has been calculated. The European Commission report has applied very strict filters For an area to be considered suitable: the mills cannot be more than 5 kilometers from a road, nor more than 3 kilometers from the electrical grid, and must respect minimum distances from population centers (1 km) and protected areas such as Natura 2000. After passing all these demanding filters, 5.8% of the Spanish territory is available and suitable to house wind turbines. As Coronado explainsour low relative population density in those areas where it is windier gives us a brutal competitive advantage. We are much less sensitive to changes in separation distances (so-called “setbacks”) than densely populated countries such as Germany, France or Poland. Even if Europe forced us to move 2 kilometers away from towns (the most restrictive scenario), Spain would still retain 52.8 GW of potential. It’s not all lights. The energy expert warns of a purely internal problem: “regulatory heterogeneity.” While national regulations establish a separation distance of 500 meters for populations, there are autonomous communities such as the Balearic Islands, Navarra or Valencia that require 1,000 meters, and others such as the Basque Country or the Canary Islands that request 400. This regulatory fragmentation means that the real potential varies drastically depending on which side of the autonomous border the wind blows. The bureaucratic infarction of a “full” network. At this point in the x-ray, it is time to address the elephant in the room. As we have explained in Xatakathe Spanish electrical system suffers a serious administrative “thrombosis”. The network is not physically collapsed, but administratively “full” and underused. Panic broke out when the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) was forced to delay the capacity maps until May because 90% of the nodes appeared in red. Faced with this bottleneckthe CEO of Red Eléctrica, Roberto García Merino, defends himself by remembering that they have 1.5 billion ready to invest, but the paperwork delays works that barely require a year of physical work for up to a decade. As if the internal traffic jam were not enough, we come across France’s external plug, whose pyrrhic interconnection (2.8%) isolates us and forces us to throw away cheap energy to protect its nuclear industry. The risk of dying of success. Spain finds itself at a historical crossroads. We have the climate, the soil, the wind and the endorsement of the EU. If we add to this wind potential the 19 GW of reversible hydraulics already in the pipeline, Spain has in its power to develop the most competitive emissions-free electricity mix in all of Europe. But to achieve that future, heat maps and reports from Brussels are not enough. It is necessary, as experts point out, to homogenize legislation between communities, compensate local populations and, above all, urgently expedite permits to build the network. As a summary from the sector: “The plans are very nice, but they have to be built.” Image | Carlos Teixidor Cadenas Xataka | Macron believes that Spain has “a problem” with renewables. What it really means is that they are “competition”

Spain has not won any Oscar but it has won a beef between Oliver Laxe and Sorogoyen

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Spain arrived at the 2026 Oscars with two nominations for ‘Sirāt’, Óliver Laxe’s film about a father looking for his daughter at a rave in the Moroccan desert: Best International Film and Best Sound (which it did not win, by the way, in either case). It was, on paper, a milestone with all that milestones entail in terms of headlines and coverage. But the story that ended up circulating on social networks and in newsrooms around the world was none of those. It was that of an early morning fight at a karaoke bar. The anger. The New York Times published days before the ceremony an extensive report that used that incident as a common thread to explain the state of Spanish cinema. One night in September, Laxe confronted Rodrigo Sorogoyen (previously nominated for an Oscar) in a karaoke bar in northern Spain because he had learned that the latter had criticized ‘Sirāt’ at a private dinner. Sorogoyen admitted it bluntly: the film did not convince him, Laxe did not pay enough attention to his characters and he had made a wrong technical decision in a crucial scene. Laxe responded by calling these criticisms “the stupidest thing I have ever heard in my life” and jokingly said that his interlocutor was not a good director, or as has been said in other apocryphal versions of the anecdote, that he was “a great director.” Sorogoyen’s reply, brimming with venom: “Thank God I am sure of myself. Because if not, I would kill myself.” Gossip with subtitles. What’s notable is not the exchange itself, which both directors later downplayed as an informal disagreement. Sorogoyen laughed off rumors that they had come to blows, and Laxe said the two had joked about staging a fight. The artistic difference was “healthy,” said Laxe, because “the ecosystem of Spanish cinema is diverse,” he said in the ‘New York Times’, which curiously considered it the best possible hook to talk about the film industry. The two Spains. The report used the karaoke anecdote as a symptom of a theoretical division in Spanish cinema: Laxe defends a transcendental and sensorial cinema, and Sorogoyen, a more realistic drama. Their artistic differences, according to the directors and experts consulted for the article, are the sign of a sophisticated and mature Spanish cinema. How we got here. The article makes an interesting review of the trajectory of Spanish cinema in recent decades. For many years we have lived the legacy of the dictatorship, first as a visceral rupture, then as a processing of historical memory. When a new generation of filmmakers emerged twenty years ago with less debt to that part of our history, there was no industry to support them. In recent years, several currents have converged that have made things change: subsidies that have incorporated female or minority perspectives into the sector, European co-productions and streaming platforms that have financed more and more risky projects (like Movistar+ has done with Sorogoyen’s)… Names like those of Laxe or Sorogoyen themselves, Carla Simón (Golden Bear in Berlin in 2022) or Alauda Ruiz de Azúa (Golden Shell in San Sebastián in 2025) are some of its many representatives. In any case, the funny thing about the anecdote is not only that ‘The New York Times’ interprets it as a thermometer of the good industrial health of Spanish cinema, but that from Spain we have stayed with that part of the article. Because yes, Spanish cinema is very Spanish and a lot of Spanish, but not as much as a fight at dawn in a karaoke bar on the outskirts. In Xataka | The two faces of cinema: the director of ‘Sirat’ criticizes Netflix, but 40% of European directors do not make it to their second film

Something strange happens with recreational bluefin tuna fishing in Spain. And yes, ‘rare’ in this headline means (presumably) ‘fraud’

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In Spain, recreational bluefin tuna fishing has many rules and regulations, but there is something essential that starts from the same name: it is (and should be) ‘recreational’. That is, Spanish rules only allow the capture and release of Thunnus thynnus. And yet, the quota of accidental deaths (about 39.9 tons in 2025) is being exhausted very quickly (It lasted three days that same 2025). That is to say, (according to the available data) almost all the tunas that get hooked at the beginning of the closed season end up dead. Spanish fishermen They are unable to return almost any of them alive.. It’s already bad luck. On the other hand, in the United Kingdom, they return up to 99%. It’s not a fish story. Although it may seem like it, this is not about fish, no. It involves mandatory training, required equipment, handling protocols and, above all, effective control. Although it may not seem like it, this is about how it is possible for two European countries to produce such radically different results. And, above all, it is about how we can solve it. Because it is undeniable that we have a problem. It makes no sense that recreational fishing in Spain has become a race to go fishing first. In the last five years, the longest effective fishing season was seven days in 2021. That is to say, it took the fishermen a week to accidentally kill so many tuna that the fishery was over. In 2022 and 2023 there were five days and In the following years, three. 75% of last year’s accidents, by the way, took place in the Valencian Community. With tougher regulations, this does not happen. It is true, however, that the data is somewhat unfair. While Spain has 1,900 special licenses, the United Kingdom has with barely 81 boats with active permits. That, whether we like it or not, simplifies things. But it’s not just a question of size. It is, above all, a question of why The reason the British system is different is also interesting: until a handful of years ago (about 2017) there was no bluefin tuna in its waters. There was nothing to fish. Since then it has started to come back (as It has happened with many other species) and the authorities were able to create a more guaranteeing system without the pressure of an already consolidated industry. Hence a smaller number of boats, the specific training of skippers and, above all, the boats are obliged to have independent observers and cameras to record what happens inside (at least, with new skippers). So there is no hope? Something is being done and it is good to recognize it: this January it came into force a regulation that tries to digitize the capture record and close the “statistical black hole”. The experts are worse They are not very optimistic either.. They fear that in this context (three days of closure and an implicit mortality that is around 100%), it is clear that recreational pressure is only going to complicate things. And, in the end, the solution will only come when the current system bursts at the seams. It is not an anomaly: we are specialists in it. The good news and the bad news are the same: that this is going to happen soon. Image | Aristos Aristidou | Jordan Whitfield In Xataka | Spain is going to continue fishing for eels until we have no more eels to catch

The rarest chicken in Spain is blue and lives in Extremadura. What we don’t know is for how long

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Human beings are ungrateful animals. For decades, while we miserably worked the land, those blue chickens (rustic, tough and independent) were very good for us. The battered farmhouses of Extremadura, toasted by the sun, extractivism and simple life, were full of them. But then modernity, cities and supermarkets came… and they became a hindrance. Today, despite the fact that in recent years the institutions have stepped up, there will be about 2,000 chicken specimens Extremaduran blue. The Extremadura Blue Hen Breeders Association has 23 farms, but most people raise them for personal consumption or as a simple hobby. It is the rarest chicken in Spain and that, believe me, is saying a lot. A country without half measures. In Spain there are 21 poultry breeds in danger of extinction. This means that 95.4% of all registered native poultry breeds are threatened. In fact, 84% of all native breeds (whether they are birds or not) are in danger. And it is curious because, in short, we live in an unparalleled agricultural power. Spain is the second largest chicken producer of the European continent (only behind the United Kingdom), the third in beef and the first in pork (although swine fever can change this). Although, to tell the truth, it is not that curious. In fact, that is the problem. The emergence of industrial poultry farming since the 50s it was cornering local breeds for the benefit of commercial hybrids specialized in pure and simple production. Therefore, deep down, we are not talking about a problem of great economic magnitude. We are talking about two central issues in the present and the future of the ‘Spain emptied‘: the territorial management model and the question of what we do with genetic heritage. Since its recovery began in 1991 (when only specimens were found in five towns in the region), the situation has improved greatly. But not enough: all those questions are still on the table. And they are not easy questions to answer. Because, and in this case the blue Extremaduran hen, is a good example of the problems that arise as soon as we start working on the matter. because the underlying question is whether a livestock breed can be preserved if no one can make a living from it. And not only because the regulations They are designed for industrial poultry farming (and represents a very considerable obstacle), but for the paradox that hides in a simple Extremadura hen: the realization that not even at the time with greater institutional support (MAPA logo, breeding programs, germplasm banks, etc…) this breed can take its commercial leap. Is it a warning to sailors? Is it the future we have to live? Image | Mentxuwiki In Xataka | China is so clear that the future of pork lies in ‘skyscraper farms’ that it is doing something: taking them to other countries

This town in Spain went unnoticed until 1953. Then it decided to carry out the largest tourism experiment in the world

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In the middle of the 20th century the skyscrapers They were still a rarity outside of cities like New York or Chicago. In Europe they predominated the horizontal citieswith low-rise buildings and compact historic centers. However, in the middle of the 1950s, experimentation began with an urban idea that seemed almost futuristic for the time: concentrating thousands of homes and hotels in high towers to free up land, bring people closer to the sea and create cities capable of accommodating crowds without expanding uncontrollably throughout the territory. The town facing the sea. At that time Benidorm it was just a fishing village of the Alicante coast. Its economy revolved around the sea and, in particular, the tuna trap, while many families survived by combining fishing, agriculture and work in the merchant navy. That small town barely had more than a few thousand inhabitants and had the typical appearance of a mediterranean town: low houses, narrow streets and a life marked by the rhythm of the tides. However, the fishing crisis, the economic isolation of post-war Spain and the need to find new sources of income pushed the town to seek a different future. It was then that an almost unthinkable transformation began to take place: a humble enclave destined to become one of the most unique urban and tourist experiments in history. The vision that changed the destiny of the city. The great turning point came in the 1950s when Mayor Pedro Zaragoza perceived the potential tourist of that corner of the Costa Blanca. At a time when the Franco regime was trying to attract foreign currency and timidly open the country to the outside world, Benidorm opted for sun and beach tourism as an economic engine. The decision involved breaking with many conventions of the time, from allowing the use of bikini on the beaches (a scandal for conservative Spain) to designing an urban model specifically designed to accommodate thousands of foreign visitors. The municipality developed in 1956 one of the first general urban planning plans in the country, a tool more typical of large cities than a small coastal town. With that plan the metamorphosis began: the place that had lived off fishing for centuries began to be imagined as an international tourist city. Benidorm before the “plan” Grow towards the sky. The key to the urban model was an unusual decision on the Mediterranean coast: grow vertically. The 1963 planning practically eliminated height limits and allowed increasingly slender towers to be built on relatively small plots. The logic was simple and powerful. If the buildings rose towards the sky, the ground could be kept free for green areas, swimming pools, avenues and services. This approach turned Benidorm into a true laboratory of modern urban planning, indirectly inspired by the theories of architects. like Le Corbusier about vertical cities surrounded by open spaces. He first great symbol of that change came with buildings like the Frontalmar or the Coblanca 1 in the sixties, towers (or moles) that they broke completely the traditional scale of the town. Those constructions inaugurated a model that in a few decades would transform the city’s landscape. The hordes are coming. The airport opening of Alicante in 1967 and the expansion of European tour operators triggered the arrival of visitors. British tourism, especially, found Benidorm a cheap, sunny and accessible destination all year round. To accommodate this avalanche of tourists, dozens of increasingly taller hotels and apartment blocks were built. In a few decades, Benidorm’s skyline went from low houses to a forest of towers facing the sea. Today the city has more than a hundred of skyscrapers or, in other words, it is the second in the world with the highest density of tall buildings per inhabitant, only behind New York. Structures such as the Gran Hotel Bali, the Time or the future TM Tower (which will exceed 230 meters) symbolize that vertical race that turned the city into what many call the “Manhattan of the Mediterranean.” Criticized and admired. There is no doubt, the Benidorm model has been the subject of debate for decades. For some it is the perfect example of mass tourism and aggressive urbanization of the coastline. For others it is, paradoxically, one of the coastal developments more efficient of Europe. The concentration of high-rise buildings allows hundreds of thousands of visitors to be accommodated while occupying a relatively small area and reduces land consumption compared to extensive urbanization models with dispersed chalets and resorts. In addition, the city functions as a practically continuous destination throughout the year, with very high hotel occupancy levels even in winter. This spatial efficiency has led some architects and urban planners to consider Benidorm as an urban experiment so unique that, far from being a mistake, anticipated solutions that are discussed today in the debate on sustainability and urban density. From a town to a world tourist icon. The result of this entire process is a transformation that is difficult to imagine if you look at the starting point. In just a few decades Benidorm went from being a small fishing center to a city capable of receiving millions of visitors a year. Its stable population is around tens of thousands of inhabitants, but during the summer can multiply until approaching half a million people. He skyline of skyscrapersvisible from kilometers out to sea, has become an iconic image of Spanish tourism. What began as a risky bet in the 1950s ended up creating a urban and economic phenomenon unique: a place where an ancient Mediterranean town decided to reinvent itself looking up to the sky and ended up building his own Manhattan facing the sea. Perhaps that is why its story continues to provoke the same uncomfortable question: whether that was a brilliant urban planning intuition… or the experiment that forever changed the way of inhabiting the Mediterranean. Image | Javier Martin Espartosa, Double reed In Xataka | If the question is whether a skyscraper can be erased without demolishing it, … Read more

date, time and where you can see it on your mobile or television if you are in Spain

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Let’s tell you how you can watch the 2026 Oscars galaso you know the options available in case you want to see it. This is the 98th film awards ceremony, which will take place again at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles. We are going to start this article by telling you the exact date on which the gala begins, with the day and time it is in the Spanish time zone. And then, we will tell you the methods you have to be able to see it live if you want. When are the Oscars 2026 The 2026 Oscars gala will take place Sunday March 15. It is in the United States, and the start time will be 4:00 p.m. Pacific time and 7:00 p.m. Eastern time, and it will last approximately three and a half hours. But in Spain, the start time will be from 01:00 from Sunday to Monday00:00 hours in the Canary Islands. It will end around 04:30 or 05:00 in Spanish time. Regarding the schedules of the rest of the American countriesin Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico or Nicaragua will begin at 5 p.m. In Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Panama or Peru it will be at 6 p.m., in Bolivia, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic at 7 p.m., and in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay from 8 p.m. The red carpet It will start a couple of hours earlier. This means that starting at 11pm or midnight on Sunday you will be able to start watching all the Hollywood celebrities parade as they arrive at the gala. How to watch the Oscars in Spain In Spain, the Oscar ceremony will once again be broadcast exclusively by Movistar, specifically in Movistar Plus+ and his channel dedicated to the Oscars on dial 15. His special Oscar night It will begin at 10:30 p.m., and an hour later they will begin broadcasting the red carpet, and then move on to the live signal of the gala. Like every year, you will have all the information in in Espinof and Sensacineour half-brothers dedicated to cinema where you will have the information minute by minute. Also, on Monday morning you will have the summary with the winners in Xataka. In Xataka Basics | The 14 best services and apps to follow and control the series and movies you watch and have all their information

heat records in Spain have doubled

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Every summer in Spain seems to bring with it the same refrain and we repeat several times “this is the hottest day I can remember.” And although sometimes memory deceives us, statistics and mathematics have confirmed that It is not a subjective sensationbut breaking the thermometer year after year has become normal. And it is more common in some specific regions of our country, such as has collected El Confidencial in an interview with the researchers. The data. This has been determined by a team of researchers from the University of Zaragoza who has analyzed data from the State Meteorological Agency between 1960 and 2021. What they were able to observe is that the frequency of breaking a high temperature record has multiplied by two due to global warming. The interpretation. In the published article by these researchers, they are not limited only to counting hot days in a specific time range, but they developed a mathematical tool first level to have very reliable conclusions. And, instead of looking at weather stations in isolation, the team has created a Bayesian model using MCMC (Monte Carlo Markov Chains) methods. This means that they designed an algorithm that is capable of understanding how temperatures are related in space throughout the entire Spanish geography and in time during the period of more than sixty years that they have analyzed. An advantage. This system allowed them to filter out the statistical noise that exists when we interpret these data in a raw manner. In this way, they have processed data from more than 40 locations in mainland Spain and have found out not only how many records have been broken, but how many would have been broken if climate change did not exist. The result is that today we see twice as many records as would be expected in a stable climate. High heat areas. The spatio-temporal model has not only produced a national average, but has also made it possible to map extreme heat with astonishing precision, pointing out that the impact of climate change is more pronounced in specific areas of Spain. In this way, if we look at Spain in general, the frequency of thermal records in the last decade is almost double what is normal. But if we specify much moreareas such as the Northern Meseta, in the area of ​​Madrid and part of Castilla y León, and especially during the summer, have tripled the record data in their historical series, which is well above the national average. A prize model. The great work done by this group has not gone unnoticed, but has managed to win different awards, such as the award for the best applied contribution in statistics. But beyond recognition, the researchers have left a “gift” to the scientific community by leaving the model completely open in R. This means that climatologists and data analysts around the world can download their code and apply it to predict and model the breaking of thermal records in other regions of the planet. Images | Immo Wegmann In Xataka | Long periods of drought are going to become more and more normal. It’s time to get used to them

The ERE of 750 workers confirms the profitability crisis of delivery in Spain

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Glovo has opened the consultation period for an Employment Regulation File that will affect a maximum of 750 delivery workers in more than 60 locations throughout Spain: The official reason is that the distribution model with employees is not profitable in a large part of the territory. However, unions like CCOO had months denouncing that the company was already carrying out a “covert ERE” through a continuous trickle of disciplinary dismissals under questionable justifications. Why is it important. This decision comes just eight months after Glovo will complete its adaptation to the Rider Lawregularizing the delivery drivers who until then worked as self-employed. This adjustment shows the platform’s difficulties in sustaining a profitable logistics model once forced to abandon the self-employed scheme and assume the labor costs of the Workers’ Statute. The background. Glovo was the last major platform to comply with the Rider Law, which was approved in 2021, but its effective application was in fits and starts, between fines and institutional pressure. In July 2025, The company regularized its delivery drivers (more than 13,000 throughout Spain) in the face of the imminent threat of criminal proceedings, which opened the door to prison sentences for its leadership for widespread fraud. What Glovo had to give up then is cutting now. Between the lines. The company does not directly blame the Rider Law. It points out that its direct logistics management model, the so-called Gen2, “has proven to be inefficient” in small and medium-sized municipalities, and that it is necessary to move to the Gen1 model, in which Glovo does not assume the delivery operation. Translated: where the volume of orders is not sufficient to cover the costs of having permanent employees, the platform transitions to a model of marketplace (Gen1). That is, Glovo continues to operate the application and collect commissions, but the logistics of delivery are now assumed by the restaurants themselves or subcontracted companies. In figures: 750 delivery workers affected by the ERE. More than 60 locations where service will be reduced or eliminated. And more than 800 cities where Glovo operations continue normally. The big question. Now the underlying debate is not whether Glovo complies with the law or not (now, without a doubt, it complies with it), but whether the delivery whose model he proposes can be sustainable with a workforce of employees in markets where orders do not have the volume that exists in large cities. In addition, COVID triggered home delivery consumption to levels that have since normalized, and platforms have been searching for years for the balance point that allows them to make money without resorting to questionable working conditions. In many corners of Spain, that point has not yet appeared. Yes, but. Yolanda Díaz has responded to the announcement by rejecting any “blackmail” and promising that the Labor Inspection will ensure compliance with the law. You are right that the law must be followed. But the ERE that Glovo has announced does not breach it: reducing activity where there is no business is a legitimate decision. The underlying problem lies in the structural change of the sector: the delivery was born and based its profitability on a model of self-employed workers, a formula that Glovo defended to the end, arguing for the flexibility of the service. Now, the real challenge is to demonstrate whether the business remains economically viable when platforms must assume the structural costs of a salaried workforce, as required by current legislation. Featured image | Nursultan Abakirov In Xataka | The death of cooking at home: inviting to “dinner” is increasingly becoming inviting to order by Glovo

If the oil apocalypse becomes a reality, Spain has known for years how long it can last: 92 days

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Faced with the logistical blockage of Hormuz that threatens to drown the global economy, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has decided to press the red button. The organization has proposed the largest release of oil reserves in its history: about 400 million barrels. To put it in context, this figure is more than double the 182 million barrels that were injected into the market in 2022 after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Spain, as a member of the IEA, will not be left out. How to collect Europe Pressthe vice president and minister for the Ecological Transition, Sara Aagesen, has confirmed our country’s support for this plan. If the proposal is approved unanimously, Spain will contribute to the market the equivalent of about 12 or 12.5 days of its national consumption. The Spanish bunker. All this movement leads us to the big question: how much margin does Spain really have if the situation becomes entrenched? Legally, there is a global obligation to maintain minimum security stocks equivalent to 92 days of sales or computable consumption. According to calculations of The CountryAdding all the capacities, the country has about 105 days of autonomy. This safety mattress works through a mixed system: The Corporation of Strategic Reserves of Petroleum Products (CORES) must maintain 42 of those dayswhile the remaining 50 days are maintained directly by the industry. Currently, CORES custody more than 5.4 million cubic meters of stocks. It’s not just crude oil. To be truly useful in a crisis, CORES reserves are composed by 54.4% diesel, 29.2% crude oil and 6.0% kerosene. stocks They are strategically distributed by Spanish geography. The Levante area accounts for 44.8% of the total, followed by the central area with 19.2% and the northern area with 17.7%. The objective of these reserves is not to replace normal long-term supply, but to inject fuel into the market to stop sudden price increases and buy vital time to reorganize logistics and trade routes. We can’t relax. Just because we have a margin of three months does not mean that we are invulnerable. Spain is a country with almost absolute foreign energy dependence. In 2024, national oil consumption was 1,322,492 barrels per daybut own production barely reached 76,947 barrels. Our net crude oil imports represent more than 100% of our consumption. Furthermore, our economy she is addicted to black goldespecially to move. The transport sector is responsible for 71.1% of the final consumption of petroleum products in Spain, with diesel/diesel being the undisputed king, accounting for 61.1% of that consumption. The Iranian asphyxiation has a crack. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have activated a logistical “antidote” capable of rescuing up to 7 million barrels per day. The main asset is East-West Pipelinean oil pipeline connecting eastern Saudi fields with the Red Sea port of Yanbu. The machinery is already in motion, there is already an “army” of at least 25 supertankers sailing towards Yanbu to load this crude oil. Adding to this effort is the United Arab Emirates pipeline, which provides up to 2 million additional barrels directly to the Gulf of Oman. The refinery factor. But the macroeconomy hits a wall, Saudi oil pipelines transport crude oil, not diesel. As analyst Arne Lohmann Rasmussen warns, the real danger is the deficit of distillates. If Europe does not have enough refineries to process that oil in time, the desert pipelines are of no use. This is where the CORES bunker win the game. The 54.4% of already refined diesel that Spain stores is the only thing that guarantees that the trucks do not stop. In short, the Saudi “antidote” prevents total collapse, but our reserves buy the 100 days of peace necessary to avoid seeing the pump in the clouds. If diplomacy fails, not even the bunker will avoid the historic scare. Image | Volgotanker Xataka | The price of oil has plummeted overnight. The one at the gasoline pumps will remain the same

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