Spain

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

The European fighter may have died, but there is a plan B to avoid the F-35. One with Spain, Germany and an unexpected guest

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While Europe was still trying to convince itself that another great war was impossible, Germany blew up for the first time the Messerschmitt Bf 109 in 1935: the fighter that would become the backbone of the Luftwaffe. Ninety years later, the continent is once again debating the same underlying question: who will build its next air superiority. The death of the great European fighter. The great European dream of building a common sixth generation fighter has crashed. The manned core of the FCAS program, the so-called NGF, had been blocked for years by the industrial war between Airbus and Dassault Aviation, but now it’s official now: the Franco-German formula has collapsed. What was supposed to be the joint heir to the Eurofighter Typhoon and the Rafale has been broken by something very European: distribution of power, money and technological sovereignty. France wanted to lead it, and Germany did not agree to be a secondary partner. The danger of emptiness. When a program like this dies, the risk is not only industrial. It is also strategic. Europe need a substitute for its current fighters between 2040 and 2045, and the clock is ticking. The quickest way out would be to buy more Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning IIs, something that is already on the table in Berlin. But that would mean assuming that European air sovereignty has failed and that dependence on Washington is irreversible. At a time when America looks increasingly towards Asia and less towards Europe, that has much deeper implications than simply buying airplanes. Plan B exists. Here comes the real twist, because the great European fighter has died, but not the idea of ​​building one. Germany and Spain they have made a move with the so-called “Team Gen 6”a new industrial alliance led by Airbus that tries to rescue what is useful from FCAS and turn it into something else: a more agile, less political and more realistic project. It is not a restart from scratch, since the engines, combat networks, guided weapons and accompanying drones are still alive, and what has died is the original political architecture. Spain is no longer secondary. On this new board, there is no doubt, Spain I would gain weight. Until now it was the junior partner in a project dominated by Paris and Berlin, but the collapse has changed circumstances. Companies such as Indra Sistemas, GMV, ITP Aero or Sener become part of the hard core of the new design. For Spain, this is not just a matter of defense, It is also industrytechnology and presence in the value chain of future European air combat. In other words, if the plan succeeds, the Spanish nation will cease to be a companion and become a central actor. Sweden as an unexpected piece. The big problem by Team Gen 6 is the size. Germany and Spain together hardly economically justify a program worth hundreds of billions. That’s why the name that begins to sound strongly It’s Saab AB. Sweden fits better than the United Kingdom or Japan because its needs they are more similar: a more contained, cheaper and less gigantic plane than the Anglo-Japanese GCAP. If Berlin, Madrid and Stockholm converge, there could be a third way European very different from the French and the British. One bullet remains before the F-35. If you want too, that’s what’s really important. He collapse of the NGF It does not mean that Europe has lost its last chance. It means that the old formula has died and another is trying to be born from the rubble. In that sense, Germany, Spain and Airbus know it. That is why the real plan B is not to buy the American F-35, that is el emergency plan. The real plan B is to try to save a European industrial autonomy with another coalition, another logic and another calendar. And although it may seem like a desperate maneuver, it is actually the last attempt to prevent the future of European air combat from being designed (again) in Washington. Image | Robert Sullivan In Xataka | Spain refuses to buy the F-35 from the US, so it has gotten something in exchange: Harrier pieces as LEGO In Xataka | The US opted for the quality of the F-35 rather than quantity. China opted for the opposite and it is already a problem

If the question is how much money is necessary to be happy, we already have the answer for Spain: double

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We have all thought at some point that with a little more salary we would be happier. We wouldn’t have to worry about unforeseen events, vacations would have more “extras” and shopping wouldn’t be a constant search for the best price on meat or eggs. But to what extent is that true? How much money would it take to be happy? That’s precisely what they asked themselves. in a studio from Purdue University. Now, a report from Remitly has crossed the data obtained in that report with the real cost of living data and we can put concrete figures to happiness in Spain. Money doesn’t make you happy, does it? The Purdue University research analyzed data from more than one and a half million people in 164 countries and the conclusion they reached is similar to the one they reached other investigations: that happiness increases proportionally to the level of income. However, it only does so up to a certain income level. From this ceiling of happiness, what the authors of the study call “income satiation” occurs. That is, earning more money from a certain ceiling no longer improves how you evaluate the happiness in your life nor in your day-to-day emotions. However, the most interesting thing, and the part in which the Remitly payment platform has intervened, is that this economic ceiling for happiness is not the same everywhere. It depends on the cost of living, the culture and the purchasing power of each place. The key to understanding the figures: salaries adjusted to purchasing power. Before continuing, there is an important nuance. One of the key data in the study is the average salaries that people receive in different countries. That is why the income figures you are going to read do not correspond to real salaries as someone would see them on their payroll. These are adjusted figures for each country. according to your purchasing power (PPA). This means that a conversion has been made to compare very different economies with each other to more realistically represent each person’s ability to purchase products. A salary of 40,000 euros in Spain don’t buy the same than one of $40,000 in the United States, so these data seek to balance that difference. The Remitly team took the satiety points calculated by Purdue and adjusted them according to local purchasing powerusing International Monetary Fund ratios and updated inflation data. The result is a map that allows you to compare the “price of happiness” between countries in a realistic way. The global data: Iceland up, Ethiopia down. With this methodology, the country where it is most difficult to reach that happiness ceiling is Iceland, with $163,579 per year. However, their high salaries and the quality of life provided by the State position them as the second happiest country in 2025. Slovenia, with adjusted salaries of $42,800 per year, is the only country in the world in which, on average, the salary that its citizens would consider sufficient to be happy ($36,800) would be 16.3% higher. Luxembourg’s salaries ($109,900 per year) would cover 92.8% of that “happiness figure”, followed by Estonia and Singapore, whose salaries come close to covering 92.8% and 90.5% respectively of that happiness threshold. At the opposite extreme is Ecuador, whose adjusted annual salary of $6,500 per year would only cover 32.9% of the $19,700 per year that Ecuadorians consider an adequate figure to be happy. Spain: we need double. If we focus on Spain, the average salary adjusted for purchasing power is around $42,500 annually. However, the price of happiness is set at about $87,900 a year. That is, the salary would only cover 48.4% and it would be necessary to double salaries to reach the desirable threshold for money to bring happiness. Spain remains, once again, in the area where work does not translate into the economic tranquility that many seek and the concern to make ends meet It continues to be a brake on achieving full happiness. Happiness also depends on the zip code. The Remitly report goes a little further and analyzes the impact of salary on happiness even within each country, and has discovered that in Spain there are important differences between cities when establishing the amount of money they would be happy with. Madrid tops the list with a price of happiness of 89,759 euros per year, slightly above the happiness threshold established for the country as a whole. Barcelona (88,562 euros) and Palma de Mallorca (88,263 euros) follow very closely, three cities that also coincide among the cities with the most expensive housing prices in the country. At the opposite extreme we find Granada, with 73,153 euros per year. It is 18.5% less than in Madrid. The climate, architecture and a lower cost of living help lower the economic bar. That doesn’t mean that life is easier in Granada, but less money is needed to reach that ceiling of well-being and happiness that the study indicates. And now what? Beyond the numbers, what this report shows is that, in the majority of the planet, salaries are below what would be needed to feel fully satisfied. However, the authors of the Purdue study themselves warn that even if someone reaches that economic threshold for happiness, that does not mean they will suddenly be much happier. The researchers highlight that there is what they call “hedonic adaptation“, the tendency to always return to a similar level of spirit, readjusting our demand for well-being, no matter what happens and no matter what salary is earned. Money helps, a lot, to a certain point. But from there, it seems that happiness begins to also depend on other things. In Xataka | If the question is whether money brings happiness, a Harvard expert answers: it’s not having money, it’s what you do with it Image | Unsplash (Christian Dubovan), Remitly

ban them from social networks. Now it is a mirror for Spain

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After a not so long deliberation, the United Kingdom has just announce which prohibits minors under 16 years of age from accessing social networks. TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat are some of the networks that are banned for minors in a measure to tighten children’s online safety and make young people “happier.” according to Keir Starmer, British Prime Minister. This is a radical change that goes beyond child safety itself: it is a gesture of rejection of the power of large technology companies. And it is also a mirror in which France and Spain they have one eye on. “Designed to bedictative“. Last Monday, Starmer already advanced who would soon announce a ban so that younger people cannot access “harmful” social networks. In March, the Government launched a national consultation on the matter to see if they would join countries like Australia, which on December 10, 2025 became the first country to prohibit access to minors under 16 years of age to networks, which also included YouTube. “It will make our children safer, happier, and have more time and freedom to grow” – Keir Starmer A week after the notice, Starmer has reappeared to announce the measure and put forward a series of arguments that justify it. “Is there a situation in the world outside the networks where you would simply let your child pair up with a stranger, an adult stranger that you know nothing about? No, then we must take action on it,” commented the prime minister, who went on to affirm that the right choice is a complete ban on the networks. Not only networks. Thus, those under 16 will not be able to access the most well-known social networks, but they are not the only measures that Starmer has advanced. Although we will have all the details in a statement in July, the boss warns that there will be limits on the hours of use and another series of restrictions (which, again, we will learn about later). Networks like WhatsApp are left out of the list of prohibitions, where video games are not found either, but they will announce a series of measures and restrictions such as blocking conversations with strangers and live streaming. Regarding artificial intelligence, anyone under 18 years of age will not be able to legally access sexual conversations with chatbots. 90% support. As we say, after the application in Australia, other countries have been moving to see how they can limit the use of social networks among minors, with Great Britain being one of the most active. In March, a consultation began between teachers, parents and young people with a series of measures to adopt to restrict apps that, according to the Government, are designed with addictive characteristics. Reuters states that the survey received More than 116,000 responses from both parents, industry and youth and more than 83% of parents who responded stated that the risks of networking outweighed the benefits. But not only that: 90% supported the minimum age of 16 to access social networks. “This is about fighting for what we believe is right” – Keir Starmer What if Trump gets angry? In his speech, Starmer stated that the technology giants have had the opportunity to take measures to protect young people and help parents, but they have failed and that is why governments must come in to regulate. It is a direct blow to the big American technology companies and, as they point out in The Diarya journalist asked what she thinks about possible anger from Donald Trump, who has already been very vocal when a European country did something against American technology companies. Starmer’s response is that this “is about fighting for what we believe is right. I’m not going to accept that you can’t be in favor of artificial intelligence and technology and say that you want to protect our children.” The mirror of Spain. As we say, there are still details to know, such as seeing those time restrictions for other applications that have not been prohibited for minors and, also, seeing how they manage to apply the measures. But what is clear is that, if the world was already watching closely the measures taken by Australia, they will soon have the British example. Spain, France, Denmark and Poland are in that boat and Greece announced in April that it will prohibit access to networks for minors under 15 years of age starting in January 2027. A few months ago, Pedro Sánchez already detailed a package of measures that were going in this direction, drawing the ire of people like the CEO of Telegram, who broke into the mobile phones of all its users saying that Spain’s was a measure against privacy. Business for VPNs. In the background there is a very interesting conversation: whether prohibitions are useful for anything. It has happened with porn and with Australia and the United Kingdom itself with a previous measure seeing a VPN boom to bypass restrictions. Because it is difficult to put doors into the field and, although it is true that these applications have been designed with algorithms carefully controlled to retain the user, that underlying conversation is about whether what is really useful is awareness and education about the use of networks… and whether a ban will not encourage, precisely, the opposite: a greater desire to enter. But of course, there is also the fact that sexual predators They roam freely through some video gamessexualization on social networks with platforms like X and Grok giving wings to the almost unlimited creation of images and the use of images of young people by these sexual predators, who now they have more tools thanks to AI. In any case, there are many countries looking at this carefully, and if that 90% support that Starmer points out from parents corresponds to reality, it is evident that there is a desire there. Those who are not going to be so happy are the children. Image | Pexels (edited) In Xataka … Read more

The secret weapon to cool cities is exactly the one that Spain uses the least: trees

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Madrid is not only one of the five cities with the most trees and green areas in Europe according to the European Environment Agency, but the FAO has been doing it for six years recognizing it as “Tree City of the World”. And yet, it is at the bottom of the continent in ‘useful cup’ (with only 9.4%). It has many trees, but they are useless. And that, far from being a Madrid curiosity, is the best possible summary of the great Spanish problem with urban trees. What happens to the trees? The short explanation is that they are the cheapest cooling tool available. It’s not a secret. However, the lesson we need to learn is not a crude “we need more trees.” That is what explains the ‘contradiction’ of Madrid. We need more trees, yes. But we need trees of the right species, covering the right layers, planted where they are needed and provide more, and well watered. That is, we need a comprehensive plan that stops seeing trees as inconveniences and begins to see them as opportunities. How do we know all this? The work of Mohammad A. Rahman, Senior Lecturer in Urban Horticulture at the University of Melbourne It is very useful to study how they really work the trees. The results are contradictory, but very interesting. According to their work, for example, the trees in Melbourne (a city with a temperate climate) reduce the radiant heat absorbed by pedestrians by up to 18 degrees compared to an open street with the same characteristics. In the cold climate of Munich, layered vegetation (the combination of trees, shrubs and ground cover) reduces heat stress in summer by up to 8 degrees. In Hong Kong, on the other hand, where the climate is subtropical and humid, dense vegetation increases the humidity of the environment and limits cooling. That is why researchers are beginning to agree that, even maximizing the use of trees, it is difficult for trees cut more than 20% of future urban warming. But be careful, 20% is a lot. Above all, because Spain has a lot to do. According to ISGlobalthe Spanish cities are at the bottom in canopy coverage on urban land: 5.5% in Seville, 8.4% in Barcelona or 9.4% in Madrid compared to 33.3% in Berlin or 23.3% in Frankfurt. To give us an idea, the average of the 93 cities was 11% and only Athens (with 3%) was below Seville. We need to take this seriously. Historically, Spain has bad care of its urban trees. And that “evil” can be summarized in very few words (“few resources, bad management and political decisions isolated from any current technical knowledge”), but it has a very difficult solution. Fundamentally because all this evidence translates into “planting more trees is cheap and saves lives”; but its implementation systematically fails. Image | Ch Photography In Xataka | In Spain, cutting down urban trees seems like a national sport. These Swiss have just proven it wrong

Every time we have placed a GPS on wild boars they have surprised us. The last one in Spain has been no exception

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A team of researchers who followed wild boars with GPS in several European cities discovered something unexpected: Animals did not necessarily avoid human presence, but rather learned to live with it by modifying their schedules and behaviors until they became practically invisible. Scientists went so far as to describe this ability as one of the secrets to their success in environments where, in theory, they should feel more threatened. What each GPS reveals. The truth is that researchers have spent years placing GPS collars to wild boars to better understand how they live, move and survive in increasingly humanized landscapes. The striking thing is that each new follow-up seems to dismantle some preconceived idea. In some cases they have discovered unexpected routes, in others a constant presence near human activities and, recentlya behavior that perplexed even experts with decades of experience. Far from hiding in the most closed and dense shelters, some specimens have developed much more subtle strategies to go unnoticed: remaining motionless in places that are apparently not suitable for hiding and trusting in their ability to blend in with the environment. The wild boar that went viral. One of the most surprising cases was that of a young French wild boar named Phiphi. For almost two years, a GPS collar allowed us to follow each of its movements and revealed that the animal frequently used open areas to restsomething that contradicts the traditional image of the wild boar taking refuge in the densest vegetation. He often lay next to a few ferns or under the minimal protection of an isolated tree in the middle of a clearing. The strategy seemed simple but effective: stay completely still and take advantage of the natural camouflage to practically become part of the landscape. Even when her necklace disappeared for weeks and was later found by hunters, the discovery occurred again in an open area, reinforcing the idea that his success consisted precisely in hiding where no one expected to look for him. Movements of an adult wild boar marked with a GPS collar in the surroundings of a pig farm over the course of a week, evidencing the constant use of the immediate surroundings of the livestock facilities The invisible visitors. He latest scientific work By placing GPS on the animals, he has discovered something that not even the ranchers could have imagined. The studies carried out in Spain by IREC researchers They placed GPS on wild boars in Aragon, Catalonia and Murcia to analyze the risk of transmission of African Swine Fever. The results showed that these animals usually frequent the surroundings of intensive pig farms. without attracting attention of the ranchers. Signs of wild boar activity were detected in nearly half of the farms analyzed, even though many officials claimed not having seen any. The technology showed that the animals visited slurry ponds, feeding areas and other sensitive points discreetly and constantly, revealing a reality completely different from the perception of those who work daily in these facilities. A greater health risk than it seemed. The finding has important implications because the main danger does not lie in direct contact between wild boars and pigs, something relatively rare in intensive farms. The problem arises through indirect connections. Vehicles, clothing, tools or materials can act as a bridge between the environment used by wild boars and farms. The silent presence of these animals in the vicinity multiplies the opportunities for the transmission of diseases such as African swine fevera particularly worrying threat for a country that leads European pork production. The birth of a new tool. All this information has been used to develop the first scientific protocol specific external biosecurity against African Swine Fever in intensive pig farms. Unlike traditional approaches based on general recommendations, the new system analyzes each farm individually, studies its environment, evaluates its weak points and proposes measures adapted to the real risk. The objective is to move from theoretical protection to prevention based on specific data obtained in the field, incorporating for the first time the real behavior of wild boars into the health defense strategy. A species that continues to keep secrets. The common lesson that unites all these studies The fact is that the wild boar continues to surprise those who think they know it well. GPS has shown that it can be hidden in unexpected placesmove around livestock farms without being detected and exploit small vulnerabilities in the human landscape with remarkable effectiveness. Each new monitoring provides information that forces us to review what was taken for granted about the species. And if these works show anything, it is that a good part of the wild boar’s success lies precisely in its ability to be very close to us without us barely noticing its presence. Image | PXHere, A. Savin In Xataka | Neither drones nor snipers: wild boar hunters in Barcelona have a simpler natural and home remedy In Xataka | Putin has become obsessed with eternal life. And that’s why he has scientists experimenting with organs in pigs

Spain has 46 million cubic meters of unused biomass. They are a crucial shield against summer fires

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The summer of 2025 left us a scar of ash and a lesson that we continue refusing to learn. European forests are burning with unprecedented ferocity, but the answer is not to accumulate more firefighters in August, but to return to inhabit and manage the forest in January. The Copernicus satellite balance from the last summer campaign It was, simply, terrifying: more than 403,000 hectares burned in Spain and over a million in all of Europe. However, the truly disturbing information was provided by the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS): 217 fires were recorded in Spain, less than half of that in 2022 (493). The burned area, however, was dramatically larger. Fire has not become more frequent; He has become a much more ferocious monster. By the end of 2025, the Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service (CAMS) confirmed the disaster: Europe had recorded its highest fire emissions on record in 2003, releasing almost 13 megatonnes of carbon into the atmosphere. Faced with this scenario, the institutional response remains stuck in the same loop: more seaplanes, more retardation, more summer troops. An emergency strategy that ignores an incontestable reality: the problem does not begin when the spark ignites, but long before, in the silence of the mountains, throughout the year. The diagnosis that no one wants to hear. Every year, Spanish forests add 46 million new cubic meters of plant biomass. Of that amount, according to data from Expobiomassonly around 40% is used. The European average is between 65% and 70%. The rest stays on the ground: branches, bushes, dry leaves, weeds. Year after year. Decade after decade. The result is what foresters have long called “fuel loading.” It is not a literary metaphor, it is pure physics: in the face of a heat wave or a dry storm, this accumulation turns an attempt into an uncontrollable inferno. Galicia, Extremadura and Castilla y León already suffered it firsthand last year. As the Spanish Biomass Association (AVEBIOM) warnsthe origin of this powder magazine is historical. Decades of rural exodus and the abandonment of traditional uses – such as grazing, extensive livestock farming or firewood collection – have left the forests orphaned by the management that, for centuries, kept them safe. Nature didn’t do the dirty work, and we stopped doing it for her. A proposal that reaches the European Parliament. This week, that diagnosis landed in Brussels with its own name. Bioenergy Europe presented in the European Parliament the documentary Fuel the solution, not the fire —in Spanish, “Feed the solution, not the fire”— with a central message: preventing large forest fires involves acting long before the flames arrive. The initiative, supported in Spain by AVEBIOM, shows experiences developed in Greece, Italy and Spain that show how the sustainable use of forest biomass can simultaneously contribute to three objectives: reducing the fuel load on the mountains, generating local renewable energy and boosting rural economies. The proposal is not new in the sector. But that it reaches the European Parliament, at the start of a new high-risk season, gives it a political dimension that it did not have before. The model: from the mountain to the caldera. The idea is, in its structure, simple. When pruning, clearing or forestry treatment is carried out, the remaining plant remains – what was previously abandoned or burned in the forest itself – are collected, crushed and converted into chips or pellets. This material fuels boilers in municipalities, hospitals, sports centers or industries. The mountain is cleaner. The town, hotter. And the energy bill is lower. “Sustainable forest management is part of the response to fires. And bioenergy can help provide an outlet for part of the biomass that needs to be removed from the mountains,” explains Pablo Rodero, head of certifications at AVEBIOM, in statements collected by Energies Renewable. Rodero insists on an important nuance so as not to confuse the discourse: “It is not about ‘cleaning the forest’. It is about managing the territory better, with technical planning and sustainability. When the remains of pruning, clearing or preventive work are transformed into renewable energy, prevention stops being a cost to generate economic activity, employment and energy savings.” The specific actions defended by AVEBIOM range from forestry treatments and the maintenance of firebreaks to the recovery of extensive livestock farming and the promotion of sustainable forestry exploitation. Active management, all year round, that does not depend on the urgency of summer. Real numbers on the ground. Beyond the theory, there is concrete data that illustrates the potential. Veolia Biomass In 2024, it transformed more than 300,000 tons of forest biomass—material accumulated in the mountains—into 700 GWh of clean energy. To get an idea: that is equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of more than 200,000 homes. The company already operates in several Spanish provinces: it works in Moros (Zaragoza) and in the Sierra de la Culebra (Zamora) in the elimination of vegetation on 500 and 400 hectares respectively; carries out thinning and thinning in Mayorga (Valladolid), Barcial, Castropepe and La Hiniesta (Zamora) and Cilloruelo (Salamanca); and has restored 200 hectares in Andalusia affected by the fires of the previous year. He CRECEMOS report on Forest Fire Managementpublished in May 2025, adds another dimension to the equation: sustainably mobilizing one million tons of forest biomass per year would avoid the emission of 580,000 tons of CO₂. In regions such as the northwest of the peninsula, where biomass potential is still underutilized, this approach would combine fire risk reduction with economic reactivation of currently depopulated areas. The European lifeline. It is important to put into perspective what is at stake. Bioenergy is neither an experimental technology nor a niche bet: according to the GROW reportrepresents 60% of all renewable energy produced in the European Union. And 96% of this biomass is produced in European territory itself: it is not imported, it does not depend on foreign regimes, it is not exposed to the vagaries of the global gas market. It is, in other words, the most autonomous … Read more

We sensed that there were areas in Spain where longevity was greater. A map has just confirmed where the “Holy Land” is

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The year before the new millennium entered, the Belgian demographer Michel Poulain arrived in a small town in Sardinia looking for a statistical error: too many male centenarians to be credible. What he found there would end up giving rise to the concept of the “Blue Zones”the regions of the world where living for more than a hundred years is not a rarity, but almost a custom. Now, the same researcher claims to have found something similar much closer: in Spain. The map that confirms an old intuition. For years there was a suspicion almost intuitive in Spain: there were territories where people not only lived longer, but also aged better. Now a map has made it black on white. The demographer Michel Poulainwho, as we said, is one of the world’s great experts in longevity and creator of the modern concept of the Blue Zoneshas applied its extreme longevity index to the Spanish territory and the result draws a very clear pattern: The north and part of the interior have a probability of reaching 100 years that is up to three times higher than that of the south. It is not a cultural perception or a family anecdote. It’s demographic statistics. Where is the Spanish corridor. The map pinpoints a species privileged belt. Navarra, La Rioja, Soria, Guadalajara and Segovia top the classification, followed by other areas of Castilla y León, Catalonia, Álava and a good part of the northwest of the peninsula. In it opposite end appear Seville, Cádiz and Málaga, where the possibility of reaching a centenary falls very noticeably. The big surprise is not only the gap, but its magnitude: tripling the odds within the same country, with the same health system and political framework, forces us to look beyond genetics. We no longer talk about “blue zones.” The finding also changes the way we study aging. For years the dominant model was that of the Blue Zonesthose iconic places like Sardinia, Okinawa or Icaria where centenarians accumulate. But Poulain believes that model has fallen short. Now science speaks of “longevity corridors”: large areas where the combination of social, environmental, health and cultural factors generates a favorable ecosystem for living longer and better. Spain, and especially its northern halfone of those European corridors begins to emerge. It’s not magic, it’s lifestyle. The key, researchers insistit is not in a miracle recipe or a hidden superfood. Eating meaningfully, moving naturally, sleeping well, avoiding chronic stress, maintaining strong family ties, living connected to nature, and having purpose in life appear again and again as common patterns. They are simple habits, but sustained for decades. And therein lies the real lesson: longevity is not manufactured at 70, it is built from childhood. That is why experts insist so much on prevention and early education. The invisible factor. There is more, since one of the elements that is most repeated in these territories is something that rarely appears in an analysis: the social network. It talks about having support, not feeling alone, maintaining family and community ties, in short, continuing to be useful to others. That human tissue seems to act like silent protection against physical and mental deterioration. In many of these provinces, especially rural ones, there continues to be a denser social structure than in large cities. And that could be as important as diet or exercise. The great warning. Last but not least, there is a clear warning. The researchers they warn that these corridors are not eternal. Changes in diet, sedentary lifestyle, accelerated urbanization, loss of community and social isolation are eroding precisely the factors that made them possible. In other words, healthy longevity can be lost in a single generation if the environment changes. That is why the great objective now is not to admire centenarians as a rarity, but to study how they have gotten there to replicate those conditions. Because the map not only tells where you live most. It also points out perhaps something more important: where a way of living that the rest of the country is losing is still preserved. Image | Pexels,ELI, Adam Jones In Xataka | They don’t bring suitcases, they bring medical records: how Spain has become the new European mecca of longevity In Xataka | Putin has become obsessed with eternal life. And that’s why he has scientists experimenting with organs in pigs

In Spain, eating has become a procedure that must be quick and easy. And that is making gold for the supermarkets that prepare dishes

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When it comes to eating, we Spaniards no longer want only tasty dishes. We want time. We want flexibility. We want an assortment that allows us to choose. And if possible, we want all of the above at a good price. Whoever can square the circle will have the keys to a billion-dollar business. For now, the data from Worldpanel by Numerator reveal that more and more people are finding this offer in the prepared foods section of the supermarket, which in just four years has seen its sales increased by 55%. The curious thing is that this percentage reveals much more about us as consumers than about the business itself. The figure: 55%. The food sector has been around for a long time emitting signals about what the business of prepared food is growing in Spain, but few (or none) have been as clear as the one just shared by Worldpanel by Numerator. In your report ‘Convenience, the super power that changes everything’, the platform specialized in data and market analysis, has revealed that sales of ready-to-eat dishes have skyrocketed 55% from 2022. A name: Mercadona. Worldpanel has not provided more detailed data on demand, net consumption or per capita intake, but the percentage is still revealing. Above all because it helps us better understand how the demand for this type of product works, how the market behaves and who its protagonists are. As a reference, Worldpanel calculates that Mercadona monopolizes “one third” of the growth recorded in the category since 2020. It is not at all surprising if you take into account the commitment that the Valencian chain has made for its ‘Ready to eat’ section. Since its launch in 2018, it has been expanding it through its network of stores in Spain and Portugal until closing in 2025. almost 1,500 points selling and conquering much of it of the demand. If both prepared food and pre-cooked foods (creams, packaged chicken or refrigerated pizza, for example) are taken into account, last year Mercadona entered 3 billion of euros between both countries. Habit changes. That the prepared food business is growing so quickly is just a reflection of our own changes as consumers. We buy differently than our parents did because our priorities are also different. In the same study Worldpanel reveals two data that prove it. First, the time we spend cooking has been reducing until it remains at 24.5 minutes a day. Second, that 41% of consumers (5% more than in 2020) admits that he usually eats in a hurry, without time to relax. They are dynamics that fit well with what the prepared food sections of Mercadona or other chains offer, such as Alcampo, Carrefour or Lidland they give them a clear competitive advantage compared to traditional restaurants. As if that were not enough, our way of eating seems to be simplifying little by little: the occasions in which we have lunch with a single dish have increased about 5.5% since 2020. If we talk about dinners, that percentage is 3.3%. Is it that important? Yes a lot. So much so, in fact, that what is catapulting the sale of prepared dishes is not their greater or lesser attractiveness, the variety of the offering or their healthy appearance. When Worldpanel technicians asked customers what was the deciding factor that led them to buy convenience food instead of going to a bar or restaurant, about a third (28.4%) responded that the price. That is the factor that most often tips the balance on the side of Mercadona and other similar supermarket chains. The second is convenience. 13.4% stated that what they value most is speed, 10.4% the possibility of taking advantage of visits to the supermarket to make other purchases and 10.1% the flexibility of being able to consume food when and where it suits them best. That last piece of information is key. Although in recent years several chains of supermarkets have begun to enable spaces in their premises so that people can eat there, most of the customers take the dishes home. It occurs in 78% of cases. If we talk about large consumption in general (not just food) the percentage of intra-domestic spending is around 71%. Image | Carrefour In Xataka | Madrid is encountering a growing problem in its metro stations: the illegal sale of street food

Spain had been using the cutter in pharmacies for half a century. Until you decided to digitize it

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Entering the pharmacy in 2026 and that the method to mark the traceability of the medicine was to cut a small tape with a cutter did not seem like the most technological method in a European country. Finally, it is something that will change forever. what has happened. The Council of Ministers yesterday approved the modification of Royal Decree 1345/2007which updates the regulation of the Spanish Medicines Verification System. Until now, upon arriving at the pharmacy the pharmacist would peel off or cut the seal from the box, paste it on a sheet of paper and this documentation would demonstrate to the administration that a prescription medication had been dispensed and that it would be reimbursed. This is about to end. The new. The Minister of Health, Mónica García, has celebrated the modernization of the new identification system. This relies on the national drug repositoryin operation since 2019 and which allows each medication to be identified using a unique code. “We’re talking about the sealed coupon. That’s what pharmacists did when you came to the pharmacy to pick up a drug and they had to cut out a piece of cardboard and paste it on a sheet of paper. Well, we’re going to eliminate all of that.” Monica Garcia. The difficulty of the process is that it is not enough to make the first identification: it is necessary to justify that this container cannot be re-introduced onto the market. To solve this problem, as advanced by the pilot test that was carried out in the Valencian Communitythe medication will be linked to the prescription, the buyer’s data and registered in the system. Nothing prevents the medication from circulating again through unofficial channels, but it is impossible for it to go through official channels again as new. Now each box will have a unique identity. The batch, expiration date and route of the medication are known. If a problem appears with a batch, you can know: which patients received it, in which pharmacy, how many containers were dispensed. not so fast. Palace things are going slowlyand more in Spain. The full transition has not been marked, and what we know to date is that the new system will coexist with the old. Once the integration of the systems in all the autonomous communities is completed, the traditional sealed coupon will disappear forever, in favor of a 100% digitalized model. In Xataka | After years of debate and 1,000 “medicines” withdrawn, Spain finally has a verdict on homeopathy: it is useless

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