Spain

the intrahistory of the pact that isolates Spain from the global energy panic

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The world holds its breath in the face of what many already consider the Third Gulf War. According to ReutersEuropean gas prices have skyrocketed by more than 70%, dragged down by the Iranian attacks that 17% have been rendered useless of Qatar’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) export capacity, and by the almost total closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The situation is so critical that the European Commission has urgently urged member countries to replenish their reserves – currently at a meager 28% – for next winter. However, in the midst of this geopolitical chaos, Spain breathes with unusual tranquility. A resounding calm. During the recent shareholders meeting of Naturgy, its executive president, Francisco Reynés, sent the following message: “Our customers are assured of supply.” Reynés guaranteed that the company feels “more protected” by not depending “absolutely anything on any Middle Eastern country.” Also backed by a strong historical commitment for renewable energiesSpain seems to have its homework done. But, just in case, the Government of Spain has decided to activate a “Plan B” to shield the country and keep energy prices at bay. This plan has a geographical name and surname: Algeria. A lifesaver that not only ensures volume, but also guarantees an energy bill with a strategic ‘discount’ compared to the exorbitant prices of the rest of Europe. A strategic partner. To consolidate this energy shield, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, has met on his first official trip to Algiers not only with his counterpart, Ahmed Attaf, and the Minister of Hydrocarbons, Mohamed Arkab, but with the Algerian president himself, Abdelmayid Tebune. The primary objective of the meeting has been to strengthen the bilateral strategic partnership in energy matters in the face of fears of global shortages. but this trip certifies the definitive end of the deep diplomatic crisis unleashed in 2022, when Spain aligned itself with Morocco’s theses on Western Sahara. Despite that historic setback, Albares wanted to emphasize that “Algeria is a reliable, constant supplier, under any circumstances”, recalling that the flow of Algerian gas was never interrupted during the months of tension. How is this cheap shielding going to materialize? The negotiations are in an advanced phase to squeeze the most out of the Medgaz underwater gas pipeline. The intention is to increase the volume of supply up to 10%which would mean injecting around 1,000 million additional cubic meters per year. At the moment, according to data from Bloombergthe pipeline was operating at about 28 million cubic meters per day at the beginning of the year, compared to its nominal capacity of 32 million. This government movement walks hand in hand with corporate strategy. Naturgy seeks to give even greater stability to its historical relationship with Sonatrach, the Algerian state company, with which it maintains supply contracts for around 5,000 million cubic meters annually until 2030. The alliance is so close that Sonatrach owns 51% of Medgaz and 4.1% of Naturgy’s capital. It is precisely these long-term contracts that act as an “anti-inflation shield”, protecting Spanish consumers from the violent increases of the free market. Beyond gas. The recovered attunement is not limited to ensuring the most immediate fossil supply. According to Europa PressAlbares and his counterparts have agreed to explore greater cooperation at the infrastructure level, opening the door to “possible analyzes and joint work” between Spanish and Algerian companies throughout the hydrocarbon sector. Furthermore, the will of both governments is to go one step ahead and analyze another type of supply where there is “a shared interest and commitment”, putting on the table the development of solar energy and the promising green hydrogen. The Italy factor: copy or desperate competition? Spain’s movement is not an isolated event in the Mediterranean. Just one day before Albares’ arrival, the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, also landed in Algiers looking for exactly the same thing: gas. According to Financial TimesItaly is one of the European economies most exposed to this crisis, since 44% of its electricity is generated in gas plants. Its big problem is that Qatar, which supplied 33% of Italian LNG, has declared force majeure after the Iranian attacks on its Ras Laffan facilities. To patch this huge hole, Meloni has appealed to historical diplomacy recalling the “Mattei Plan”, the legendary founder of the Italian energy company ENI, which financed and supported Algerian independence in the 50s and 60s. Accompanied by the current CEO of ENI, Meloni has signed agreements with Sonatrach for the extraction of shale gas and offshore exploration, with the dream of turning Italy into the gas distribution “hub” for northern Europe, as pointed out Euronews. Does this pose a threat to Spanish supply? In the short term, it seems difficult. As detailed by the British media, the TransMed gas pipeline that connects Algeria with Italy is already operating at maximum capacity. Furthermore, Algerian domestic consumption has grown by 7% in the last year, limiting its physical margin to export additional gas. And there is another difference, while Spain has done its homework, Italy has stagnated. The installation of new renewable capacity in Italy fell 8.2% last year, leaving it at the mercy of the whims of a hydrocarbon market with skyrocketing prices. The Mediterranean as a refuge. Ultimately, the Third Gulf War has forced Spain to relocate its energy compass, moving it away from the turbulent waters of the Strait of Hormuz to dock in the safety of the Mediterranean. By strengthening its ties with Algeria and supported by the strength of key companies such as Naturgy, the country has managed to isolate itself from the panic that is currently devouring its European partners. Leaving complex geopolitical tensions aside, the triumph of this shielding is above all economic. While Europe looks in panic at next winter’s energy bill after suffering increases of 70%, Spain has managed to secure a stable supply, direct by tube and at protected prices. An Algerian “discount” that, today, is worth its weight in gold. Image | Photo by Helio Dilolwa on … Read more

NASA chose 34 points around the world to track its lunar mission and only one in Spain. It is in Seville, on a rooftop

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If the weather behaves well and no problemsnext April 1 (early morning on April 2 in Spain) NASA will launch Artemis II. It will be the first manned mission of the Artemis programand in it four astronauts will travel aboard the Orion capsule to orbit around the Moon. during the mission 34 locations spread around the world will track the spacecraft’s radio signals and send their data to NASA. One of these headquarters will be in a special location: the roof of the Higher Technical School of Engineering of the University of Seville. A NASA antenna in Seville. In August 2025, NASA published an open call for third-party organizations to demonstrate their tracking capabilities during an actual manned mission. All types of organizations, agencies and institutions showed up, and even private radio amateurs also did so. Of the 34 selected around the world, the ETSi is the only Spanish center that will participate in this monitoring. The Orbisat system in operation. Source: Integrasys. space roof. It will do so in collaboration with Integrasys, a Spanish company specialized in this field and which has installed its platform on the roof of the ETSi building. Orbisat. This 2.5 meter high system has been developed at its Luxembourg subsidiary and is designed to track space vehicles both during launch and during subsequent operations. Plan B. The ETSi and the Orbisat system will receive the radio signals that the Orion spacecraft emits during its trip, process them and send them in real time to NASA for analysis. The key data they will measure is the Doppler effect of the signal: the variation in frequency of the waves depending on the relative speed between the ship and the antenna. It is a key parameter to determine both the position of the ship and to calculate its trajectory. It should be noted here that this system will not be responsible for the main monitoring, which will be done from the network Deep Space Network from NASA. This monitoring will be complementary and will help the agency evaluate what monitoring capabilities it can use outside of its own infrastructure. It’s a plan B. Why 34 antennas?. This support program responds to a very clear strategy of the space agency: build a public-private space tracking ecosystem that does not depend on its own network. Kevin Coggins, deputy director of the NASA SCaN programhe explained in the official announcement that “it is not about tracking a mission, but rather about building a resilient ecosystem that supports future exploration.” The initiative is an evolution of what was already done in 2022 with Artemis I, when ten volunteers tracked the unmanned mission. On that occasion, data format and quality problems were detected, and for Artemis II, participants have been forced to meet certain standards. An opportunity for Seville and for Integrasys. The Orbisat platform will be installed in Seville permanently, which turns the ETSi into a real monitoring infrastructure and not a one-off collaboration. For the company Integrasys, based in Las Rozas (Madrid), this first direct collaboration with NASA adds to those it already had with the Space Force and the US Space Command. Now it remains to be seen if this serves as a gateway to its participation also in future space missions such as Artemis III, which will land on the lunar surface. The Aerospace Technology Group of the University of Vigo will also participate in monitoring the mission. The students are in luck. The Master in Space Systems Operation at the University of Seville is taught for the first time in this 2025-26 academic year. Students will have direct access to the data generated by Orbisat during the Artemis II missionand with them they will be able to apply orbital determination and trajectory analysis techniques in that real scenario. For them this occasion is special, since they will be able to go beyond the books and have access to the telemetry of a manned spacecraft orbiting the Moon. A much more powerful way to learn, without a doubt. Spain on space map. The network of the 34 selected includes organizations such as the Canadian Space Agency, the German DLR, companies such as Telespazio and universities from Switzerland, Japan and the United States. Seville is on that list along with individual radio amateurs from California or South Dakota, amateur radio organizations such as AMSAT in Argentina or Germany, research centers in Cameroon or New Zealand and professional stations in Norway and the United Kingdom. The conclusion is clear: NASA has here the beginning of what can be a heterogeneous and decentralized network with monitoring capabilities. The Spanish participation on the Artemis II mission, by the way, goes a little furtherbut could go much further even. Image | NASA | ETSi In Xataka | In 2018, Elon Musk put his own car into orbit. Eight years later it is still circling the Earth

Iran has turned Hormuz into the entrance to a VIP nightclub. And Spain enters the guest list and the US stays at the door

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Spain has never been a great military power, but it has been a key player in energy routes. In fact, more than 60% of the gas Its consumption arrives by ship and its refineries are among the most important in southern Europe. Furthermore, its geographical position makes it a natural bridge between Africa, America and the Mediterranean, which means that any change in global energy flows ends up impacting, directly or indirectly, its economy. Iran as oil watchdog. what is happening in Hormuz At this moment it breaks one of the great premises of the global order of recent decades. The naval superiority of the United States was assumed to be overwhelming, backed by a navy that far surpasses the rest of the world in capacity and deployment, and which guaranteed the security of the great sea routes. However, Iran has shown that it is not necessary to dominate the oceans to control a key point. It is enough to have the ability to deny access in a small space, combine asymmetric military pressure and assume the cost of the conflict. The result is that Washington, despite its power, is tied hand and foot and cannot reopen the strait without escalating the war to levels much more dangerous. This turns Iran into a kind of “watchdog” for world oil, capable of deciding who passes and who doesn’tand marks a paradigm shift where the control of strategic bottlenecks outweighs global military supremacy. A tight as a VIP nightclub. Yes, because Iran has transformed the Strait of Hormuz into something more than an energetic chokepoint: has converted it in a business which works in the same way as the door of an exclusive nightclub, that is, a space where not just anyone enters, but only those who are on the list. And there Spain appears among the guests (what have confirmed explicitly) and, of course, the “hostile ships” of the United States and Israel are clearly banned. In other words, they have established a system selective access that redefines control of one of the most critical routes on the planet and turns geopolitics into a direct filter on who can trade and who cannot. Spain and its no to war. Impossible to ignore the government statement Spanish with Iran’s latest move. Pedro Sánchez’s refusal to align with Donald Trump’s strategy broke the dynamic common in Europe. Spain blocked the use from its bases, refused to actively participate in the operation, and turned “no to war” into foreign policy. That movement, which seemed isolated, began to influence other countries. Germany and Italy, for their part, they took distance. And Europe stopped moving as a bloc, showing that there is room to challenge Washington without completely breaking the alliance. The “prize”. It remains to be seen if in the end it will be “poisoned”, but the truth is that this Spanish positioning has had immediate consequences. Iran has shown a special disposition towards Spain, facilitating ship transit linked to their country in a context in which the passage is practically closed for many others. This preferential treatment turns neutrality into an operational advantage tangible, but also introduces a delicate dimension. Spain gains room for maneuver in the short term, but at the cost of exposing itself to criticism and pressure from its allies, critics who may interpret such access as a dangerous concession in a highly polarized environment. The Iranian model that no one saw coming. I was counting this morning the financial times that Tehran is designing a maritime traffic control system much more structured than it might seem. Transit no longer depends solely on navigation, but of a process which combines diplomacy, supervision and, in some cases, high payments to guarantee passage. As? Apparently, the ships must coordinate with the Iranian authorities, undergo verifications and follow specific routes under surveillance. This “handmade” model that few saw coming in the middle of the war introduces a de facto “toll” that transforms the strait into an economic and political tool at the same time, reinforcing Iran’s ability to influence global trade. A global bottleneck. The impact of this change is enormous if we take into account the importance of the Strait of Hormuz. How have we been countingit passes approximately one fifth of world oil, as well as gas and essential raw materials for the global economy. The war has reduced traffic drastically, has increased attacks on ships and has generated a situation of great uncertainty for thousands of sailors. What was once a predictable route has become a high risk spacewith immediate consequences on energy prices and market stability. From highway to guarded corridor. They explained in The Guardian through a visual analysis that the functioning of the strait has also changed in operational terms. The usual routes have been replaced by controlled runners closer to the Iranian coast, where authorities can directly supervise transiting ships. This system allows almost individualized traffic management, reducing the volume of passage and increasing control on each vessel. The result is that Hormuz has stopped behaving as an international maritime highway and begins to function as a regulated access, where each movement depends on prior authorization. Consequences. In the long term, this model opens the door for Iran to obtain important income and consolidate a tool for strategic pressure on world trade. However, also raises legal issues and diplomatic tensions significant, since it questions basic principles of international maritime law. Given this scenario, other countries could accelerate the search for alternatives, such as new energy infrastructure or different trade routes (China and Russia they are already doing it). If this process is consolidated, the result could be a system fragmentation global, where access to key resources depends increasingly on political decisions and less on norms shared for years. Image | eutrophication&hypoxiaNARA, US Navy, اری In Xataka | Israel has found the secret route of the war in Ukraine: it has just bombed the “Uber of shahed drones” between Russia and Iran In Xataka | Iran is … Read more

Europe is within your reach, including Spain

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A ballistic missile can reach speeds greater than Mach 10 and travel thousands of kilometers in less than half an hour, even leaving the atmosphere before falling back towards its target. That combination of speed and height is what has made this type of weapon one of the pillars of military strategy since the mid-20th century. Europe enters the map. A few days ago, Iran crossed a line that had been theoretical for years. The launch of missiles towards Diego Garcíaabout 4,000 kilometers away, was not only a military movement, it was a full-fledged strategic message. This distance is approximately equivalent to that between Iran from many European capitals. For the first time, range has ceased to be a hypothesis and has become something demonstrated in combat. Because although the missiles failed, the gesture changes the board, and Europe is no longer out of reach conflict potential. What really happened. Iran fired two long range missiles towards a joint base of the United States and the United Kingdom in the Indian Ocean. One failed during flight and the other was intercepted by American defenses. The attack did not achieve the desired impact, but it did demonstrate a capacity that until now had not been shown clearly. It is not so much the result that matters in this case, but the fact that Iran decided to use that type of weapons. In other words, the step indicates a change in your strategy and your willingness to escalate the conflict. The jump to 4,000 km. Until now, Iran had defended that it limited the range of its missiles to about 2,000 kilometers, a range that covered the Middle East but left out Western Europe. However, the attempted attack suggests it can operate at much greater distances, close to 4,000 kilometers. That figure places cities within its potential radius, for example, like London or Paris. Also to a large extent from southern Europeincluding Spain in certain scenarios. The key is not whether you can do it accurately. The thing is that distance is no longer a clear limit. Diego Garcia How these missiles work. Ballistic missiles continue an arc path after being launched by a rocket. The larger the scope, the larger it should be rocket size and the technical problems are more complex. The reason: increased vibrations, heat on re-entry and navigation errors. There are “tricks”, for example, to gain distance weight can be reduced of the explosive charge, but that limits its destructive capacity. Additionally, accuracy worsens the longer the flight. Therefore, reaching a distant objective is not the same as doing so with real military effectiveness. More psychological than operational. The results of the attack itself they point to their limits. Only two missiles were launched, and one missed and the other was intercepted. This suggests, a priori, that Iran does not have of large quantities of this type of weaponry nor high reliability at these distances. Furthermore, Western defense systems are designed precisely to intercept this type of threats. In a real scenario, the missiles would be few, inaccurate and faced with advanced defenses. The military impact would be limited, while the political impact, on the other hand, would be much greater. Europe, with Spain, within the calculation. If you also want, the important change is not technical, but rather strategic. Until now, Europe viewed the conflict as something very distant. With this movement, enter of range calculationalthough the immediate risk is low, because being within the potential radius changes perception security. In that sense, Spain, due to its geographical position, is at the extreme of that theoretical scope. It is not an immediate objective, much less probable. But stop being off the map. And so, in strategic termsit is already a relevant change. The message in the middle of war. In short, everything indicates that the main objective of the launch It was not so much destroying the base, but send a signal. Demonstrate capacity, surprise your adversaries and increase international pressure. At a time when Iran is under severe military and economic pressure, showing that it can expand the conflict is a form of brutal deterrence. Also a message to the United States, to its allies and to all of Europe. And as in many phases of war, the psychological effect it may be even more important than the material result. Image | Ballistic Missile, Google Earth In Xataka | If the question is whether the US is going to invade Iran, the answer right now is 3,000 paratroopers on their way to the Gulf In Xataka | Iran has drones and ballistic missiles: Iran’s enemies apparently have the ability to steal its rains

Mercadona wanted to find out in Portugal if its business formula works outside of Spain. You already have the answer

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Your bet on the white labelthe short assortment, ready-to-eat foods and territorial expansion has allowed Mercadona to gain almost 30% of the Spanish market, far surpassing its competitors in the retail. That’s nothing new. What is curious is that this same bet seems to be giving good results also in Portugal, a country in which the chain premiered in 2019 with a first store in Vila Nova de Gaia. Since then the Valencian company not only he got sixth in your expansion lusa, has also expanded its business quota. And it doesn’t seem to be going bad at all. Beyond Spain. The percentage may vary depending on the period or region being analyzed, but for some time now studies on retail show that Mercadona is (by far) the chain that takes the largest part of the distribution business in Spain. In January, the consulting firm Nielsen presented a report on “mass consumption” that it assigns to Juan Roig’s chain 29.5% of the marketwell above direct competitors such as Carrefour, Lidl or DIA. This footprint is explained by a strategy that dates back (at least) to the end of the 80s, when the Valencian company made the leap to Madrid. On the other side of ‘la Raya’, however, its history is much more recent. Mercadona did not put its head into the Portuguese market until 2016when it decided to bet on its internationalization, and its first store in the neighboring country is even more recent: a 18,000 m2 supermarket in Vila Nova de Gaia opened in 2019. Chain Distribution share in Portugal (2024) Distribution share in Portugal (2025) Continent 26.6% 27.5% Pingo Doce 21.7% 21.7% Lidl 13% 12.9% Mercadona 7.0% 7.2% Intermarché 6.6% 6.4% Auchan 4.4% 5.3% aldi 2.7% 2.9% Miniprice 23% 0.8% Leclerc 0.8% 0.8% And how is it going there? We knew that the company was expanding for Portugal, which in 2024 achieved a positive net result and that in 2025 its profit in the neighboring country amounted to 26 million of euros; What we have just discovered is that this data is largely explained by its share of business. The Economist just published a report from Worldpanel by Numerator (formerly Kantar) that shows that the Valencian chain has established itself in the ‘TOP 5’ of the most important firms in the Portuguese distribution sector. A percentage: 7.2%. To be more precise, in 2025 its quota rose to 7.2%two percentage points more than in 2024. It is a much lower percentage than in Spain, but it draws attention when analyzed in its context. First, because Mercadona has gained that 7.2% gap in just five years, a time in which it has overtaken firms such as Intermarché, Auchan or Aldi. Second, because it is already the fourth distribution chain in terms of business footprint. It is only surpassed by Lidl (12.9%) and above all Pingo Doce (21.7%) and Continente (27.5%), the undisputed leaders of the retail in the neighboring country. Gaining weight. Mercadona has not only increased its share of the pie in the Portuguese business. It has also expanded its territorial footprint. And clearly. When it opened its first store, in the summer of 2019, the firm has already advanced that its landing did not only include the supermarket in the Porto area, it also contemplated a logistics block, offices and plans to open nine other stores that year. In his last annual reportpresented just a few weeks ago, Mercadona specifies that it closed 2025 with 69 stores, 7,500 employees and a turnover of 2,092 million euros in Portugal, which contributed to closing the year in green. If nothing goes wrong, the company plans launch another five super soon. “Since 2019, the company has invested a cumulative total of 1,230 million euros and, in this second year in which it registered a positive result in the country, it achieved a net profit of 26 million,” explains. According to his calculations, he already monopolizes 3.5% share in total sales area in Portugal. Are they all advantages? Not at all. If Mercadona has managed to establish its business share in Portugal, it has been largely thanks to its investment, the opening of new stores and the creation of a ambitious logistics block in Santarém. However, the Worldpanel by Numerator data that confirms its growth also reflects that it will not be easy if it wants to continue growing. The Valencian firm has Lidl ahead of it, but above all Pingo Doce and Continenttwo chains with decades of history and a very wide presence in Portugal. Between them they add up hundreds and hundreds of points of sale spread across the country and a market share that the old Kantar figure at 49.2%. Images | Continent and Mercadona Via | elEconomista.es In Xataka | Mercadona and the rest of the supermarkets have realized something worrying: they spend a million dollars on printing paper

Spain has been ignoring dozens of products that it sells daily in its supermarkets for decades. But that just ended

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You may have read or heard it somewhere: “goodbye to turkey ham and stuffed olives.” And what a joke, can you imagine a world without anchovy-flavored olives? Having to live only on ham or chicken breast? Luckily, you don’t have to imagine it. They don’t disappear. What the Royal Decree does has unleashed All this controversy is something a little more complicated: putting in order the enormous food mess that has been growing for decades in Spanish pantries. What food mess? On February 27 Royal Decree 142/2026 was published that seeks to modify (or repeal) more than a dozen food quality provisions. It seems somewhat minor, but some of which (such as the cookie regulations) are more than 40 years old. The interesting thing, however, is that this new legislation removes from legal limbo numerous products that have not been ‘thought of’ at a regulatory level for many years. In that sense, the decree affects dozens of daily consumer products, but it does not affect them in the sense that ‘they are going to change’: it affects them in the sense that now the rules are going to be clearer. The case of turkey ham and stuffed olives are paradigmatic: the former now has a clear definition and the latter will have the obligation to specify the characteristics of the filling. But what is interesting is not what is important. The important thing, clearly, is the inclusion of gluten-free bread in the bread quality standard. Not only is it a historic demand of the celiac community, but it closes a very tough debate at a regulatory and fiscal level. Until now, at a technical level, the standard did not contemplate that bread made with gluten-free flour could be called bread. This ‘nonsense’ made celiacs They will pay more VAT than they would pay on normal breadbut it’s already over. Something similar happened with horchata without added sugar, the clarification of cider, the types of sangria or the acidity of vinegars. What does disappear. The bologna mortadellawhich until now was a category and which will now have to be called something else to avoid confusion with the designation of origin of the true Bologna mortadella. The central issue is that the agri-food industry has changed a lot. And as usual, the legislation has been dragging its feet, generating piecemeal regulations and creating completely inexplicable holes. So yes, we have taken a step forward. And without having to give up even the turkey ham and stuffed olives. Image | Xavi Cabrera In Xataka | This is how ultra-processed foods have been invading our diet: the evolution of three decades in a single graph

A polar air mass will descend over Spain just before Easter. AEMET is already talking about polar cold and significant snowfall

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The key day will be Wednesday the 26th. It will be then when, at the gates of Holy Week, a mass of polar air will enter the national territory leaving cold and snow during the last week of march. And yes, that’s what matters to us right now; but the general context is much more complicated. But let’s talk about the cold. Starting on Wednesday, an undulation of the polar jet will push the anticyclonic ridge towards the north of the Atlantic and a very deep polar trough will descend over Europe. This will generate several storms. In Spain, the models they don’t agree. While the European model is committed to a colder and more intense scenario; The American believes that the irruption will be limited to the north, the east and the Balearic Islands. Be that as it may, we are talking about an isotherm of -4 degrees in the heart of the peninsula, more than significant snowfall in the Cantabrian Mountains, the Pyrenees and the Iberian system (at least in the north). This is just what we hope for. And skepticism is more than justified: the 2025-2026 storm season has broken all records totaling (to date) 19 named systems. Furthermore, this winter has been the third wettest of the 21st century and January was the wettest month since records began. The uncertainty is, understandably and unjustifiably, greater than normal. We must not forget that “Holy Week” is synonymous with millions of trips, thousands of outdoor activities throughout the country and hundreds of sectors that critically depend on it. But it’s not a surprise either. According to AEMET climate dataBetween the end of March and the beginning of April, it rains some day in 70-80% of recorded years. That is to say, the distinctive thing this year will not be the rain, but the cold. The good news. If we pay attention to the medium-term models, everything seems to indicate that the anticyclone It will recover ground around April 1 or 2. That is, we can expect the weather to be more stable in the second half of Holy Week. Of course, the uncertainties are great and, as the old saying goes, “you should not sell the bear’s skin before hunting it.” Interesting days are coming. Image | Tropical TidBits In Xataka | The snowiest ski resort in Europe right now is not in the Alps or the Pyrenees: it is in Granada

All about Lepas, the new Chery Group brand that arrives in Spain with Chinese cars designed specifically for Europe

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Spain is experiencing a flood of Chinese brands in the automobile market. Manufacturers from this country have considered that Spain is a perfect country for their entry into the European market. Their reasons: key ports to unload cars and a customer who values ​​the quality/price/equipment ratio above brand loyalty. This is candy for Chinese companies. These brands have the challenge of winning over the customer with new models whose added value is, as a general rule, a very attractive price compared to the offer of Western vehicles, always with the same size, equipment and/or technology. With all this in mind, the Chery Group has started in Spain with Omoda and Jaecooin addition to Ebro Although it is a brand with Spanish capital, it uses the models that arrive in kits to Barcelona to build its own cars in our country. To these companies is now added Lepas. Chery will have a third own brand in Spain as a first step in an expansion that should continue throughout Europe soon. The objective is to put on the market a car that begins to target the premium market. This is your plan. What is Lepas and where does it come from? Lepas will be the third brand of the Chery Group to arrive in our country and is the youngest company of the automobile conglomerate since it was created in 2024. It must be taken into account that Chery already sells the Omoda and Jaecoo brands in China but also Jetour, iCar or Exeed. The name, they point out, is the mixture of “Leopard” and “Passion” and aims to position itself as an alternative company created specifically for Europe. It must be taken into account that Chery Group was founded in 1997 and has been exporting cars outside of China for more than 20 years. Its main market, until its arrival in Europe, was South America, but the objective is to continue expanding its borders in the coming years. With this roadmap in mind, Lepas will position itself as a brand designed by and for Europe. Its cars will be Chinese but the brand assures that it is about “responding to new customer profiles in different markets”, so the differentiation with Omoda and Jaecoo should be evident in the next launches. Omoda is, right now, the most youthful brand in Chery’s catalog. The conglomerate has positioned this company as an attractive bet for the most urban client, with a striking aesthetic and somewhat more aggressive or sporty shapes. Jaecoo is committed to the more rural market, with more or less mild offroad ambitions and a somewhat more country aesthetic. Lepas will occupy a slightly more refined position. The shapes of their cars, we assume seeing their first launch, will be softer and less aggressive. Everything indicates that Chery wants to have in Lepas an alternative with a slightly more premium character than its two previous brands. We are not talking about fighting with Audi or Mercedes but we are talking about playing in a league superior to the general league, halfway between both worlds. Lepas L8 Lepas L8, his first car For now, the Lepas landing comes with the Lepas L8. This car is an SUV 4.68 meters long, 1.87 meters wide and 1.69 meters high with a clear family vocation thanks to a trunk capacity of 507 liters. As a plug-in hybrid, it promises a range of up to 1,300 kilometers following a scheme that is common in other models of the group: 1.5 TGDI engine with dedicated DHT hybrid transmission and offers 205 kW (279 HP) of power and 365 Nm of torque. The promised electric range is up to 100 kilometers supported by an 18.4 kWh battery. Interior of the Lepas L8 The car is built on a multi-energy platform that allows plug-in hybrid versions to be put on the market, like this case, and completely electric or extended-range electric options. The latter is a type of car that works the vast majority of the time as an electric car and has a small gasoline tank to generate electricity and support electrical technology in case of emergency. The interior of this Lepas L8 has a steering wheel similar to that of the Omoda 9 so we found soft plastics and attractive design of the steering wheel, with only two horizontal spokes. It has wireless charging for your mobile phone and a large vertical screen. It is a differentiation from the Omoda options, whose screen is horizontal. Some functions with physical buttons are also maintained, although the air conditioning is carried out on the screen. The company points out that the car will arrive with more than 20 ADAS driving assistance systems, including adaptive cruise control, parking assistant (with remote parking) or “540º panoramic camera.” In the future In addition to this Lepas L8, the company’s roadmap involves continuing to send cars to our market. We are talking about the Lepas L4 and L6. At the moment, we know very little about these two cars. Yes we have confirmed that the Lepas L4 is an urban SUVof about 4.30 meters that will help the company to lower the price of entry to the brand. We are not clear, however, what the technology will be and if it will be based on exclusively electric specifications or will add options with combustion engines. The little progress that the brand has made is that the car is already being manufactured in Wuhu, where the Chery Group headquarters is located. As for the Lepas L6 we find ourselves in the same situation but this time we are talking about a compact SUV. We will know the details throughout the year. If we talk about its launch. The company’s roadmap involves putting the first cars on the market at the end of this first half of 2026. Therefore, all the details of the Lepas L8 and the first contacts should arrive shortly before the summer. In the coming months we should know all the … Read more

Spain has the cheapest wholesale energy in Europe in the midst of the Hormuz crisis

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The outbreak of war in Iran on February 28 and the subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz have plunged the world, overnight, into an energy crisis of alarming proportions. In the midst of this global chaos, a European country is resisting the challenge much better than its neighbors: Spain. A shield in front of the market. To understand why electricity in Spain has not become more expensive at the same rate as in the rest of the continent, it is essential to look at how the electricity market works. The European system is “marginalist”meaning that the most expensive technology needed to meet the demand for a given day (usually gas) is what dictates the final price of all electricity. The day after the start of the conflict in the Middle East, the price of gas rose by 55%, according to Euronews. However, the impact on Spanish bills is being cushioned, thanks to the fact that the share of clean energy in the country’s generation mix already exceeds 60%. Since 2019, Spain has added more than 40 GW of renewable capacity, doubling its wind and solar farms. Added to this structural deployment is a key seasonal factor: a solid spring “hydraulic cushion”, with the reservoirs located at 82.6% of their capacity. The data of the Iberian exception. The x-ray of the European wholesale markets, reflected in the records of Energy-chartsconfirms this gap in a very visual way: The Spanish daytime miracle: Spain’s graphics during February and March They show almost absolute dominance of renewable generation and hydraulic pumping. This massive injection sinks prices from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., becoming free, or even registering negative prices, because many plants find it more profitable to bid at zero price than to assume the very high costs of stopping and restarting their machines. The fossil condemnation of Germany and Italy: The European contrast is devastating and explains the asymmetric impact of the war. German market data for the same period reveal a heavy dependence on non-renewable sources, illustrated by a thick gray strip of fossil generation that sustains their system. The case of Italy is even more illustrative about the dangers of depending on foreign gas: its graphs show a huge constant load of non-renewable generation, which condemns the transalpine country to maintain a systematically high and flat price curve throughout the day. The “green shield” night fissure: However, we are not invulnerable. As analyst Antonio Aceituno, from the consulting firm Tempos Energía, warns, in Europa Pressthe Spanish balance is broken when evening falls. When the sun disappears, gas combined cycles begin to cover demand, returning tension to prices. This explains why in March the monthly average It woke up abruptly to 64.05 euros/MWh, with nighttime peaks of up to 247.15 euros/MWh. It is empirical proof that, no massive batteries to save the sunat eight in the afternoon we are still at the mercy of what happens in the Strait of Hormuz. Furthermore, time is against us. Antonio The Tempos Energía analyst warns that our precious “hydraulic shield” could begin to give way at the beginning of summer if the conflict becomes entrenched. In the worst case scenario, the June bill could jump above 100 euros per MWh, reaching the feared 120 euros between July and August. A halfway transition. The current energy crisis has left an irrefutable lesson: renewables are our best social shield. The deployment of recent years has prevented Spain from suffering the same financial drowning as its neighbors. As energy financing expert Gerard Reid reflects, in Euronewsit is preferable to depend on China to import a solar panel once every 25 years, than to depend on oil and gas from the Persian Gulf every day. But the transition is painfully incomplete. As long as lack of storage forces us to turn on gas plants when the sun sets, our pockets will continue to be hostage to global volatility. Whether due to a military drone over the Strait of Hormuz or due to political retaliation in the Oval Office, Spain’s true energy independence will not come until we are able to massively save the sun and wind that we have left over. Image | Photo by Alexis Presa on Unsplash and Photo by Jakub Zerdzicki on Unsplash Xataka | Skyscrapers are full of glass, so some Spanish researchers have had an idea: let them serve as “solar panels”

the Transport plan so that the most used Cercanías line in Spain stops being chaos

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The Ministry of Transport has finally decided to transform line C-5 of Cercanías de Madrid, which is, with some 72 million annual travelersthe most used in Spain. Won’t do it until they finish the underground works of the A-5but we already know all the details. It is the largest renovation of the line in decades and the heart of the change are 35 giant trains that are already being manufactured in Valencia. ORa line to the limit. As we said, the C-5 moves about 72 million passengers a year and absorbs 29% of all Cercanías Madrid trips. It is the public transport line with the most users in the entire country, and today it operates with trains that do not exceed 150 meters in length, platforms that do not allow larger vehicles and an outdated signaling system. With a demand that has grown by 10% between 2022 and 2024the margin has narrowed so much that it is time for a change. The protagonist of change: the Stadler Series 453. On March 4, the Ministry of Transportation presented the modernization plan of the C-5, endowed with 1,350 million euros, and confirmed that Renfe will allocate 600 million to the purchase of the 35 Series 453 trains manufactured by Stadler at its plant in Albuixech, Valencia. The service promises, since we are talking about trains that will measure almost 200 meters (specifically 191.16 meters) and will combine single-decker cars at the ends with double-decker cars inside. QWhat changes for the traveler. Where today about 1,565 people fit in the current trains, the new ones will accommodate up to 1,884 people (524 seated and 1,360 standing) in a single composition. Double-decker cars are designed for longer journeys and with a seat; those with one floor, wider at the entrances, for quick ascents and descents. Two-story interior cars According to they count in Trenvista, they will include areas for wheelchairs, multifunctional spaces for bicycles and strollers, a fully accessible toilet, WiFi and USB sockets. In addition, the middle points to greater padding than in other Cercanías trains, but without armrests. Why haven’t they arrived yet. Renfe put out to tender these trains in 2019 and the contract was awarded to Stadler in 2021. The Swiss firm had to expand its Albuixech factory to meet the order, which in 2022 was expanded with 20 additional 200-meter units, and began manufacturing in rented warehouses while the new facilities were ready, according to detailed at that time the medium. The first tests on the Spanish railway network began in the summer of 2024. The arrival at C-5, however, will still take some time. And the Ministry’s plan places the entry into service of these trains with automatic driving in April 2030. The problem that had to be solved before. For a 200-meter train to circulate on C-5, the infrastructure has to be prepared. Today it is not. The current platforms are too short, the LZB signaling system that regulates circulation has reached the end of its useful life, and there are no maintenance facilities capable of accommodating trains of that length. The good news is that in the 1,350 million plan is included the extension of platforms between 40 and 50 meters, the construction of a new maintenance base in Móstoles, the replacement of the signaling system with the European ERTMS Level 2 standard and the construction of a new station in Móstoles-El Soto. What’s coming now. The schedule foresees two service cutsin the summers of 2027 and 2028, to get to work with the most complex parts, and with free replacement buses and reinforcement in the Metro. Testing of the new signaling system will begin in April 2029, the first high-capacity trains will enter service in April 2030, and the project is expected to be completed in October 2031. The objective declared by the Ministry is to go from 72 to 100 million travelers annually, with a capacity 60% greater than the current one. It remains to be seen if the deadlines are met. Images | Snooze123 (Wikipedia) and Stadler In Xataka | In a region addicted to burials, a municipality wants to bury another 2.5 kilometers: Rivas’ plan for the Metro

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