Spain

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”

Freepik became Magnific to embrace AI. Now it proposes an ERE for almost a third of its employees in Spain

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Generative artificial intelligence is not only changing the tools we use to create images, videos or designs. It is also forcing many companies to ask themselves what they want to be in a market that moves at an unusual speed. freepik It is one of those cases that we have seen up close: it was born associated with graphic resources and for years it was a reference for those looking for images, vectors or templates. Your conversion into Magnific He wanted to tell precisely another story, that of a company that embraced AI to leave its previous stage behind. We are faced with news that fell this Wednesday afternoon: Magnific has raised a ERE in Spain. According to the information collected by Xataka, the procedure is still in the negotiation phase and involves around 30% of the 350 employees that the company has in the country. The nuance is important because Magnific is today a company with an international presence and some 450 employees globally: the ERE, according to what we know so far, affects its Spanish organization, not the entire global workforce. An ERE in full transformation towards AI It is worth stopping for a moment on the term. An employment regulation file is not equivalent, in itself, to dismissals already carried out, but rather to the legal procedure provided in Spain to propose a collective dismissal for economic, technical, organizational or productive reasons. The Workers’ Statute establishes that a period of consultations must be opened with the legal representation of the workers, a phase designed to negotiate the scope of the processits conditions and possible measures to reduce or mitigate its impact. In other words: what is now open is a procedure with prior negotiation before an eventual final decision. After hearing the news, we have contacted Magnific to find out its position. The company confirms the procedure and refers to the following statement: “We are in an internal process that affects part of the organization in Spain and is subject to a period of negotiation with the workers’ representation. As long as this process remains open, we are not going to make public evaluations out of respect for the people involved and the process itself.” To understand the context it is advisable to return to the starting point. Freepik became known as a platform for graphic assets: images, vectors, icons, templates and other materials that designers, content creators and marketing teams could incorporate into their projects. Magnific represents another ambition. The company now presents itself as a creative platform based on generative AIwith tools to generate, edit and transform visual content, and integrating models and capabilities that no longer fully fit with that initial idea of ​​a large repository of digital assets. Images | Magnificent In Xataka | Meta laid off 8,000 people and relocated 7,000. The result: the work environment is unbreathable

Spain will take on the maintenance of 1,000 more km of roads: the end of "shadow tolls" comes at the worst time

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One thinks that there are roads in Spain that are free because you don’t pass a barrier and you don’t pay when you reach your destination. You may think that this is not entirely true, that it is our taxes that support these roads. And there is a true part of it. But not everything. Spain uses what is known as “shadow toll” on a good part of its “free” roads. It is a system by which the driver does not pay directly for the use of the highway but the State is doing it for him, since the vehicles that pass through said roads are counted. These shadow tolls have been used for a quarter of a century. Murcia was the first region to use this means of indirect management to getting your RM-15 “free” but the system was replicating. Right now, it is the means used on what are known as “first generation highways.” And those highways will become managed by the State next year. Unless otherwise chosen. In Xataka Until 2020, Spain had the most praised roads in Europe. Now it has something else: a hole of 13,000 million euros 1,000 more kilometers of public management The operation of a shadow toll is simple: the State pays for each and every one of the cars that use that road. That money goes to the company that manages the maintenance of the road, who must preserve its good condition. The Ministry of Transport indicates on its website that the State Highway Network extends 12,091 kilometers throughout the country. Of this figure, 10,656 are highways and multilane roads. Of them, “about 1000 km, the so-called First Generation Highwaysare managed indirectly through concession contracts using the shadow toll method, which is paid directly by the administration.” Those First Generation Highways They are A-1, A-2, A-3, A-31 and A-4whose major reforms in ten sections led the State to opt for the formula of this shadow toll in which the concessionaires assumed the cost of the work in exchange for managing its maintenance, charging for the volume of cars registered in them. In Xataka Spanish roads have a problem in 2026: repairing a kilometer of asphalt is more expensive than ever The contracts end in December 2026 and the intention is for the State to once again take care of the maintenance of these roads. With this reversal of tolls, almost 1,000 more kilometers will be added to the current management of the State Land Transport Infrastructure Society (SEITT). This state management will imply that the State will stop paying the concessionaire company but will have to disburse some 79.4 million euros to be collected in the General State Budgets, according to data from Seopan (Association of Infrastructure Construction Companies and Concessionaires) collected by 20Minutes. The Government’s calculations, on the contrary, indicate that the savings will be 200 million euros annually, they point out in The Economist. The plan to reverse these tolls comes from afar. In 2024Óscar Puente, Minister of Transport, has already started talks to assume the management of these ten sections. So, one of the critical points was whether the concessionaire companies had to make any more investment to deliver the road in perfect conditions and complying with the minimum requirements required when signing the contract. {“videoId”:”x9tnvi4″,”autoplay”:false,”title”:”Why YOUR NEXT CAR WILL SURELY BE CHINESE”, “tag”:”Webedia-prod”, “duration”:”614″} Now, one of the conflicting points is what will happen to the 500 employees who currently work for these companies. It has been valued, they count in 20 Minutes Let the State be the one to surrogate them and take charge of their payrolls. The maintenance of the roads and the involvement of the State has been one of the controversial topics of the last few months. Seopan has been ensuring for some time that there is a shortfall in money dedicated to maintaining roads. The opinion seems clearly influenced by their intention that we pay for roads that right now are “free” but the truth is that This winter’s torrential rains put the debate back on the table. In 2025 they have already dedicated 1,910 million euros to repair roads. This year it has been put on the table dedicate about 1,000 million euroswhich transport associations such as CETM and the Association of Infrastructure Conservation and Exploitation Companies (ACEX) consider insufficient, ensuring that spending should reach 2,000 million euros. In Xataka Spain has one road completely collapsed and another completely empty. They run parallel and arrive at the same place Various associations assure that Spain has a deficit in investment in its roads. According to ACEX, we drag a deficit of 5 billion euros In investment in Spanish asphalt, although not everything corresponds to state management, the money is also distributed among the autonomous communities. The Spanish Road Association (AEC), however, says that half of Spain’s asphalt is in poor condition and that the hole reaches 13,000 million euros (a figure provided before the February rains). Data that the DGT itself accepts as good, which was collected on its website. Starting in December, another 1,000 kilometers will be added to maintain. Just when repairing a kilometer of asphalt is more expensive than ever. Photo |Ministry of Transport In Xataka |Spain has dozens of unique abandoned roads. Now he wants to save them by turning them into “historic roads” (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 Spain will take on the maintenance of 1,000 more km of roads: the end of “shadow tolls” comes at the worst time was originally published in Xataka by Alberto de la Torre .

Spain has so many reservoirs that it practically cannot build more. So in Aragon they are expanding them

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The town hall of Fraga (Huesca) has started the necessary works to raise the dam of the 190,000 m³ reservoir that supplies the city by two meters. It may seem like a detail, something almost anecdotal in a country with 1,200 reservoirs and more than 56,000 hm³. And it is. However, it is also the perfect metaphor for the enormous problem that is brewing at the bottom of our swamps. The end of the Spanish miracle. For practical purposes, Spain does not build new dams because it already has 1,200. It is, in fact, one of the countries in the world with the most dams and, although there are some areas that could be ‘usable’, these are increasingly scarce, smaller and most unsustainable at an environmental level. That is to say, even if we wanted to, we could not grow our reservoir capacity much. And there is no shortage of examples of this: Mularroya, in Zaragoza, has the dam completed, but with a nullity sentence for failing to comply with the Water Framework Directive; Biscarrués, in Huesca, is still under studybut the controversy over its environmental impact is enormous; Almudévar, although it has been completed for years, cannot be filled due to lack of pumping capacity. Building a dam in the 80s was already almost impossible and the situation has only gotten worse. In fact, in the last 15 years, Only 20 reservoirs have been inaugurated, totaling 803.6 hm³ A problem that is little talked about. The country loses about 100 hm³/year due to clogging while the CEDEX projected falls runoff of -11%/-14% in the next 40 years. In other words, the real problem with Spanish reservoirs is not that we cannot build more, it is that the mud and sediments are robbing us of storage capacity. Mequinenza has already lost 10% of its capacity And what do we do? That is the big question and it is where the example of the Fraga town hall is most interesting. Because many engineers have been arguing for years that, if we cannot create new dams on virgin valleys, we can still grow existing dams. In Yesa, between Navarra and Aragón, the work (the most emblematic of this approach) would allow up to 1,079 hm³ to be added. More than the 803 of the other approach. Right now, as far as we know, the work is stopped due to some allegations. Where it has been carried out is in Santolea, Teruel, adding 81.75 hm³ to the original reservoir. And why isn’t the process accelerated? Largely because many people believe that the dam model has reached its peak and believe that we must kill the culture of the reservoir: The storage capacity already exceeds the available water and adding more empty glasses does not create the water on its own. The water war is one of the fiercest battles in the Spain of the future. And I don’t think anyone knows how to sign a peace treaty. Imagwn | Yoann Laheurte In Xataka | Our reservoirs have a serious structural problem. And experts have been warning us for years.

Spain will dedicate 719 million to build an “AI Gigafactory” between Madrid and Tarragona. It will have little giga

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While the world debate about control of models like Claude Fable 5the Government of Spain has moved to try to gain positions in the race for technological sovereignty. The Council of Ministers has authorized a public investment of 719 million euros with one objective: to create an “Artificial Intelligence Gigafactory”. The investment is notable for a country like Spain, but it is a drop in an ocean absolutely dominated by large US technology companies. The political signal here is strong. The European Commission wants to mobilize 20,000 million euros to develop AI projects. That money is reserved for gigafactories, and presents these data centers as a bet so that Europe does not depend only on external actors. Here Spain not late at allbecause it already has “AI Factories” linked to the EuroHPC consortium, and the MareNostrum 5 The BSC is precisely one of those reference centers. The Spanish project “will compete with a multi-site candidacy that includes the locations of Móra la Nova, in Tarragona, and San Fernando de Henares (Madrid), to house the gigafactory,” explains the official announcement. Many unknowns. The announcement mixes things like public investment with the promise of strategic infrastructure. The problem is that it is one thing to “approve” the plan and another to build those data centers. We still need to know the final composition of the consortium that will provide the funds, the deadlines, and above all the fine print that clarifies who will have access to these data centers and who will manage them. The description of its scope is also ambiguous. There is talk of a service to the “Spanish AI ecosystem”, but it is not clear if this infrastructure will be available to end users or will be exclusive to public organizations and large companies. Perspective puts everything in its place (for the worse). In the United States, private investment in data centers is skyrocketing. Only that belonging to venture capital companies reached 45.7 billion dollars in 2025. But as we know, the capex of large technology companies, dedicated almost entirely to AI, will reach 2026. the 673 billion dollars. In China the ambition is also colossal, and the country is already preparing an investment of about 295 billion dollars in the next five years to create data centers throughout the country. China-Spain, compared. There are several ways to compare this data, and China is a good way to size this news: China is 19 times larger than Spain in surface area In addition, it is about 29 times larger in population China will invest more than 400 times Spain’s nominal investment, although it is true that the Chinese plan is five-year. In China, about 195 euros per person are invested, while in Spain about 15 euros per inhabitant are invested. China invests about 14 times more for each citizen. Chinese investment (again, five years) represents 1.5% of its GDP (0.3% per year). In Spain the figure would be close to 0.05% of GDP. Chinese investment could be considered six times higher in terms of GDP. Who will have access. To understand who will have access to this gigafactory, the best mirror to look at is MareNostrum 5, which is not “public” in the sense of free use by any citizen. This, like other centers in the EuroHPC consortium, is supposed to be available to European researchers, industry, SMEs and startups. All of them can theoretically take advantage of this infrastructure with access requests to resources. This is not like someone who connects to chatgpt.com and starts working: whoever wants to use those resources must justify it and go through a bureaucratic process. The data center is from Spain, its chips are not. Although the Government’s message is that of avoid dependency of foreign technology, the reality is obvious: those data centers may be in Tarragona and Madrid, but the chips with which the data will be processed They will be from the American company Nvidia and will be manufactured by the Taiwanese company TSMC. Europe and Spain are making efforts to try to mitigate this dependence, yes, but the reality is overwhelming: We continue to depend on these and many other companiesand it is not likely that we will stop doing so in the short or medium term. Promises and realities. The approval of the project is undoubtedly good news, but once again this is at the moment more of a promise to act than an immediate initiative. There are no estimated dates or clear details about the execution of the project, and once again in both Europe and Spain It seems to be more important to say things than to do them.. Let’s hope that this investment soon crystallizes into a real project: the intention and purpose are good. Now it remains for them to come true. In Xataka | I have decided to become independent from all US technology and embrace European technology. This is how I’m getting it

Spain debuts in the World Cup with a match against Cape Verde. There is a remote town in Galicia where life is like a derby

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At this point in the film it is very difficult to predict what will happen in the remainder of the term, if the peace agreement between Washington and Tehran will come to fruition or how the war in Ukraine will be settled. What is easy to predict is that this afternoon, starting at 6:00 p.m., a large part of Spain will be glued to the TV to follow La Roja’s World Cup debut against Cape Verde. There is, however, a small town in Galicia where this match will be experienced with special intensity: Burela. There, in fact, it is proposed almost like a derby. In a place in Lugo… It may not be the most famous nor the most populous municipality in Galicia, but Burela is exceptional in many ways. To begin with, it is a relatively young town. Although its history may trace back centuriesuntil the mid-1990s was part of the Cervo town hall. But above all, if something defines Burela, it is its multiculturalism. According to the Galician Institute of Statistics (IGE), almost 20% of its population was born abroad, in countries in America, Asia, the rest of Europe or Africa, which has a large representation with various nationalities. A “Galician-style” Cape Verde. Among this range of homelands there is one that stands out for its weight, history and mark on Burelense society: Cape Verde. The Country precise That in the census of foreigners there are almost 500, but if we take into account their descendants the figure is closer to a thousand people. Not bad for a population that does not reach 10,000 residents. For reference, in 2022 the INE had registered In Spain as a whole, 2,600 people of Cape Verdean nationality, of which almost 600 resided in Galicia. In net terms, it is the second largest community, only surpassed for Madrid. Some media they need that Burela is the municipality in Spain with the highest concentration of population with roots in Cape Verde, at least if we take into account its weight in the local census. This fact is explained by a very simple reason: the flow of Cape Verdean immigrants began there several decades ago. In fact, there are families living in Burela who are already the fourth generation. “They were among the first”. The link between Burela and the African archipelago is best understood by reviewing the story by Manuel Mendes Pereira, athlete and one of the many residents of Burela with family roots in Cape Verde. “My father, originally from Porto Mosquito, on the island of Santiago, came in 1978 to work in the construction of Alumina. He came through a brother of his who was already here. He liked the sea and ended up involved in fishing,” relates to Sport. “My mother arrived later, in 1989. They were one of the first. He always told me that Burela was practically nothing compared to what it is today.” Is it a unique case? No. Villablino, in the Laciana region of León, also maintains a strong bond with emigration of Cape Verdean origin. In the case of the Mariña of Lugo, the connection is explained by the industry and especially the fishing sector. In Villablino, the link, which can be traced back decades and decades agopart of the mining activity. This relationship extends to Bierzo, where in the 90s the Embassy had registered about 3,000 citizens from Cape Verde. Community members are called “capebertians”. And FIFA arrived. The World Cup has served to give new prominence to those ties woven in Burela or Bierzo, in which today they will experience with special intensity the Atlanta match in which will be measured you love selections The event will be special for both of them, who are making their debut in the World Cup and aspire for this tournament to occupy a prominent place in their chronicles. The Red comes as a favorite and dreams of adding a second star to its shield, the African team aspires to leave a mark in his first World Cup. “We are going a bit with a divided heart, but this time perhaps I am going more with Cape Verde,” admits Manuel Mendes. He won’t be the only one. In the Bierzo region there will be fans in a similar situation. Whatever happens, party. Although not even Burela is free of the signs of racism, what the Galician municipality aspires to today is to enjoy a day of party and celebration. Whatever happens, whether there are goals or not, whether one team or the other wins, one thing is certain: in the town of Mariña in Lugo there will be parties, music and dancing. The match will coincide with Cape to Cape Festivalpromoted by the Lugo Provincial Council and the City Council, among other organizers, and which will feature music by DJs and various groups, including Batuko Tabankaa set created ago more than two decades and formed by women of Cape Verdean origin. Images | Municipality of Burela 1, 2 and FIFA In Xataka | For the first time, Curaçao will play in a soccer World Cup. And only one of their players was born in Curaçao

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