Spain

We have hundreds of abandoned silos in Spain. Extremadura has found the perfect technology to convert them into batteries

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There are industrial infrastructures that, when they stop being useful, end up blending into the landscape without making much noise, turned into concrete ghosts. The old grain silos, which for decades were the vibrant heart of the agricultural economy of many towns, are today the best example of this reality in rural Spain. However, the energy transition has brought them a destiny that is as unexpected as it is promising. The region of Extremadura has decided to give a second life to these abandoned giants next to roads and plains, transforming them into enormous facilities to store renewable energy. Silos in batteries. All of this materializes under the THESILO projecta cross-border initiative that has just been officially presented in the small town of Torremocha in Cáceres. There, the City Council has donated a disused silo to house the first experimental pilot that will test this technology in real conditions. The urgency of this essay is better understood when looking at the sector’s figures: over the last year, according to data from Red Eléctrica de España (REE)nearly 10,000 MW of new renewable power were installed in the country. The conflict arises when this enormous production is concentrated at specific times of the day, especially with photovoltaic technology. In very sunny regions like Extremadura, the electrical grid collapses as it cannot absorb all the available energy, causing the dreaded “dumps”: plants that must stop their production because there is nowhere to store the electricity and the energy is wasted. So the solution proposed by THESILO is brilliant in its simplicity: take advantage of these enormous concrete structures to store electrical surpluses in the form of heat. Nordic inspiration. Although visually it may seem like science fiction, this concept already has a solid precedent in northern Europe. In Finland already operates successfully the system Power to Heat (energy to heat) through gigantic “sand batteries”. In the town of Pornainen, a silo filled with 2,000 tonnes of crushed soapstone is capable of storing heat at temperatures of up to 500°C for months, achieving an efficiency of between 85% and 90%. The Extremaduran project It is based on the same principle: When renewable production skyrockets and electricity loses value in the market, that excess energy will be used to power high-efficiency resistors that will generate heat. This heat will be trapped inside the silo using very low-cost granular materials as a storage medium. There is no need to use construction sand; The use of recycled waste from quarries, industrial by-products and demolition materials that resist high temperatures in a stable and economical manner will be investigated. Once stored, the objective is that this heat can be distributed through thermal exchange systems to supply the local agri-food industry, public buildings or homes in the surrounding municipalities. The project, whose execution It is scheduled between January 1, 2026 and December 31, 2028, and is structured around four main axes, ranging from the adaptation of the silos to the analysis of their legal and environmental viability. X-ray of the project. To understand the magnitude of THESILO you have to look at its figures: framed in the European Interreg POCTEP programthe project manages a budget of more than 1.5 million euros, largely supported by FEDER funds. The cross-border consortium is led by the Iberian Center for Research in Energy Storage (CIIAE), which has built a strategic network with Spanish and Portuguese allies such as AGENEX, INTROMAC, ADAI, AreanaTejo, the Polytechnic of Portalegre and ITECONS. An essential union of forces to cover the EUROACE euroregion (Extremadura, Alentejo and Central Portugal), an extensive territory where today 1,050 disused silos await with the potential of becoming the thermal battery network of the future. An impact that crosses borders. Beyond the technological component, the socioeconomic impact is the true driving force of the initiative. The Secretary General of Science, Technology and Innovation, Javier de Francisco Morcillo, stressed during the presentation that the ultimate objective is the “boost of business growth and the revitalization of rural communities.” According to the secretary, Europe demands that the knowledge generated “leads to a transfer of results that results in immediate socioeconomic improvement.” Furthermore, he highlighted the capacity of Extremadura to lead these cross-border funds, recalling that the region has captured between 2021 and 2025 more than double the funds from the Horizon Europe program compared to the 2014-2020 period, according to data from the CDTI. The future involves recycling the past. There are still unknowns to clear up and regulatory procedures to overcome to demonstrate that this model works on a large scale. The Torremocha pilot will be the true test of fire to evaluate how the original structure of the silo responds to high temperatures and certify whether the investment makes sense compared to other solutions that are gaining ground, such as hydraulic pumping or chemical batteries. However, THESILO perfectly summarizes where the energy transition in Europe is headed. Decarbonization cannot depend solely on newly built pharaonic infrastructures; It also requires projects that embrace the circular economy. Reusing already built infrastructure not only reduces costs and avoids new construction, but also brings forgotten giants back to life, attracting investment and employment to areas that have been losing population for years. A demonstration that the solution to tomorrow’s energy challenges may be hidden in plain sight in the towns of rural Spain. Image | Xataka Xataka | Finland has found a cheap way to store energy all winter: a tower of 2,000 tons of sand

For centuries Spain shone for its castles. Today we do not know exactly how many there are and we have thousands that are increasingly dilapidated

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There are times when the best way to raise awareness is to take out a cell phone at the right time and place. Occurred a few weeks ago in Escalona, ​​Toledo, when one of the tourists waiting to enter the castle of the town observed that stones were beginning to fall from one of the towers. His impulse was record the scenewhich ended up immortalizing the mere five seconds in which the structure crumbles in a cloud of dust, taking with it centuries of history. The video ended up going viral and leading to another debate: the conservation of the castles of Spain. At the end of the day Escalona It is not a unique case. Two collapses in one year. Escalona Castle is a stately fortress whose history can be traced back to Roman times and covers a period that extends from the 1st century AD to the 12th century. Neither that, nor its status as BIC, nor the City Council’s plans to restore part of the structure prevented two months ago, March 14the albarrana tower will collapse in front of a tourist’s camera. the castle Almonacid of Toledo It is also another heritage jewel of Muslim origin whose chronicle dates back to at least 848. Again, neither that antiquity, nor its enormous historical wealth, nor its protection like BIC prevented one of its most emblematic towers from would fall apart after several weeks of heavy rain. “We have reached this situation because they (the Board and the owners) did not spend a euro on historical heritage. In the end what we feared has happened: it has fallen,” explained the councilor, Almudena González, to The Country. @latinus_us Tourists recorded the moment in which the tower of the Escalona Castle collapsed, in Toledo, Spain; there were no injuries. The site dates back to the 11th century and in 1922 it became a Site of Cultural Interest. #Latinus #InformationForYou ♬ original sound – Latinus – Latinus How is it possible? That’s it the debate that began to gain strength after both events, especially because both occurred in a surprisingly short period of time, not far away and affected fortresses with high historical value. Added to that is the viral video of Escalona. The truth, however, is that both news have stirred up a problem that is by no means new. Although the vast majority of castles in Spain enjoy heritage protection since 1949in practice the state of conservation of the thousands and thousands of fortresses that are distributed throughout the Spanish geography is very “unequal”, as explains Miguel Ángel Bru, member of the Spanish Association of Friends of Castles (AEAC), to the SER. Do we handle data? Some. And they paint a scenario that clearly could be improved. In the same interview in which he was asked about the heritage of Castilla-La Mancha (where Escalona and Almonacid de Toledo are located), Bru provided a revealing percentage: only 20% of the castles have been rehabilitated and are maintained in an acceptable state. The remaining 80% present more or less serious conservation problems. Another interesting approach is provided by Hispania Nostra, an association that is dedicated to the defense of Spanish heritage and is known above all for its “Red List”which includes those elements “threatened by a serious risk of destruction, disappearance or irreversible loss of their heritage values.” If we search for “Castles and fortified architectural complexes” we obtain dozens and dozens of results spread throughout the country. And the selection increases if we include other types of structures, such as “forts, military buildings, towers or walls.” The percentage: 60%. Probably the most shocking fact was shared a few days ago by Bru on a talk with The Country in which he warned precisely about the state of conservation of a large part of the heritage: “Six out of every ten castles in Spain are exposed to collapsing, but if we refer to smaller landslides, partial falls, we would already be talking about eight out of ten.” In reality, the problem is not only that it is estimated that 60% of the fortifications are in conditions very far from what would be ideal. The real challenge is that we don’t even have a complete, closed ‘photo’ of how many structures there are. “The first catalog there is is from 1968, it is the one recognized by the Ministry of Culture, but it is completely insufficient because the number of records is very low,” duck the director of the AEAC. To solve this, the association has been developing for decades a list of defensive structures that already exceeds 10,000, but that does not mean that the study has ended. If we want to protect the castles, the first stepEssentially, it is to have a precise idea of ​​how many fortifications exist. The other figure: 2,807. Right now the catalog of Castles of Spain includes a total of 10,362 registered properties. That is the global figure, the most updated photo that the association has achieved. When we go down to detail, however, we obtain other more worrying ones. Of those 10,362 castles, only 728 They are in “very good” condition. 2,209 They are considered to be in good condition and 1,037 They are in a situation that technicians consider “regular.” In 537 cases the collective speaks of “consolidated ruins” and in 2,087 of “progressive ruin.” The entity contemplates still other scenarios, such as fortifications that have already disappeared or that have been altered. The big question: Why? How is it possible that, despite their high heritage, historical and even tourist value, and that they are protected by state regulations, there are so many castles with poor conservation in Spain? There are several factors that come into play. One is that not all buildings play the same cards. There are large historical complexes located in populated areas that have become symbols ‘pampered’ by the administrations. And also isolated fortifications or in rural areas that have not suffered the same fate. If we talk about … Read more

The wealth gap between young and old in Spain is skyrocketing and we have a suspect: housing

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Just look at the list of greatest fortunes in Spain of the last two years to realize that not only have their assets grown, but even among the wealthiest a gap has been created increasing among the rich and ultra-rich. This wealth gap is not an isolated phenomenon among the richest 1%, but rather has permeated to the entire population, leaving a worrying generational scar to which they have already put a figure: 340,000 euros. That is the difference in assets that today separates a person under 35 years old from someone who is between 65 and 74, according to a report which has just been published by the Santalucía Institute. A generation that starts from scratch. The data from the report maintain that the median wealth of those under 35 years of age in Spain has plummeted by 76.7% in the last 18 years. Not only do they accumulate fewer assets than their parents at the same age, but a growing proportion of young people “lack significant assets, which limits their financial stability and their ability to undertake long-term vital projects,” the report notes. The participation of young people under 35 years of age in the country’s total net wealth went from representing around 8.2% of the national wealth in 2002 to just 2.1% in 2022. For their part, those over 75 years of age, in the same period, went from representing 8.3% of total wealth to 18.3% in 2022. wealth transfer that has been redesigning the economic map of the country. This means that, although the net wealth of Spanish households has grown by 80.9% in the last two decades, this growth has mainly benefited those who already had a certain initial wealth, making the balance of wealth growth lean more towards the older (and more wealthy) population. The brick that only rose for a few. The report from the Santalucía Institute assures that the heritage in Spain rests almost completely in the homethus explaining the origin of the wealth growth of the oldest segment of the population. More than 80% of household assets are real estate. That has favored those who bought properties when prices were affordable. Those that came laterToday’s young people have found a market where buying a home is little less than a utopia. The property rate among those under 35 years of age has fallen from 35% in 2023 to 30% in 2025, continuing with a clear downward trend. Without home ownership and with skyrocketing rents At historic highs, the assets of young people have no basis on which to grow. Added to this is the job insecurity that characterizes this age group, which further reduces their savings capacity, closing a circle of which it is increasingly difficult to escape. The generation gap in figures. According to data from the ‘Family Financial Survey‘ conducted by the Bank of Spain, the gap between generations reached its historical maximum in 2022 and rose an additional 3% in 2024, the last year for which the entity’s data is collected. People between 65 and 74 years old accumulate on average more than 425,000 euros in deposits, investments and real estate assets, compared to the 83,000 euros that, on average, those under 35 have available. The distance between generations, estimated at 340,000 euros, has never been so great. Beyond the gap between generations, a report Prepared by FEDEA economists based on data from the Bank of Spain, it confirms that wealth inequality in Spain has grown constantly in the last two decades. The richest 1% concentrates around 21% of the country’s total wealth, while the poorest half barely reaches 7%. The Gini index, which measures this inequality, has risen from 0.57 in 2002 to 0.69 in 2022. Income also distances. The problem for the youngest is not only the accumulated wealth, but also in the income they receive every month. The median income of households between 65 and 74 years old already reaches 34,700 euros per year, this is 2,700 euros above what households headed by those under 35 years of age earn. The most striking thing is the speed at which this change has occurred since, in 2022, that difference was just 500 euros per year, but in just four years that difference has multiplied by five. Young households already have 8% less income than older households. Less income, less savings, less assets. The Santalucia Institute report, just as the OECD for yearswarns that this model points to structural inequality that will have direct implications for housing, the ability to save (and consume), and the redistribution of wealth. In Xataka | How wealth inequality has changed in the world since 2008, explained with a simple graph Image | Unsplash (Towfiqu barbhuiya, Brayn Ramos)

Spain will have 27,000 new civil servants. The surprise is that experts in AI, cybersecurity and data science are now sought

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In recent years, Spain has promoted the public employment calls. This has managed to beat historical figures in the number of places and, although the OEP (Public Employment Offer) of 2025 took its foot off the accelerator, the Council of Ministers has just approved the OEP corresponding to 2026 with figures somewhat higher than those of the previous period. What draws attention is something else: the 1,700 positions for information technology specialists to achieve a ambitious goal. Transform Administration thanks to AI. 27,000 for the AGE. How has published The Government through the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Service, the OEP 2026 includes 27,232 places for the General Administration of the State. It represents a small increase compared to the 26,889 places last yearalthough it continues to show that there is a personnel problem. The breakdown is 26,886 ordinary places and 346 corresponding to an extraordinary offer linked to the climate emergency. The Government points out that this offer will generate 6,200 net jobs and ensures that, since 2021, the different public employment offers have met the objective of rejuvenating the public workforce, with an average age now at 49 years. New specialists. Now, the big news is that the Administration wants profiles that are much more specialized in technology. Of these positions, 1,700 will be for information technology specialists. It is estimated that it is 42% more than those called in the previous offer and it is not only the increase in places, but also the profiles they are looking for. Because what they are looking for are “specialists in Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Data Science” with the aim of, according to Minister Óscar López, “transforming the Administration.” López points out that we have to see what the administration’s priorities are, the needs of citizens and, thus, “have a more effective and efficient administration with the use of AI and the creation of quality public employment.” More digitization. This increase in digital profiles is supported by Government figures that indicate that the percentage of citizens who use official websites or applications is 83% while the European average is 75%. Furthermore, they point out that Spain is seven points above the average in digitalization of the Public Administration. The objective they aspire to is to increase digital administrative procedures by 25%, digitizing public administration. If this is going to be accompanied by the destruction of jobs, López affirms no and that what they are going to do is transform those jobs, not destroy them. They do not detail much else, other than that a series of digital training courses will be carried out with AI modules and “data tools” to strengthen the digital skills of all public employees. Exceeding 37,000. In total, counting the beaches already announced for the National Police, Civil Guard and Armed Forces, the OEP 2026 will exceed 37,000 places, slightly above the 36,588 last year. And, beyond the striking nature of these digital offers in AI and “data”, the Government intends to reinforce strategic areas such as the energy transition, the prevention of climate emergencies and the fight against climate change. The problem is that, according to the OECD, Spanish public employment remains below the international average. In the 2025 report, the OECD pointed out that Spanish public employment represented 15.25% of the total active population in 2023, with the average for all OECD countries being 18.41%. We will have to wait for more recent reports to see if the record rally of 2023 and 2024 has reversed the situation. Image | Treball Generalitat (edited) In Xataka | The easiest oppositions to pass in Spain following three criteria: by syllabus, by places and by requirements

Spain has broken records in youth employment. The bad news is that one in three unemployed people is already over 50 years old

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Unemployment in Spain has been chaining months of good news. In April, the number of unemployed fell to 2,357,044 people, falling below 2.4 million for the first time since June 2008. The story, seen from afar, is that of a labor market that has finally left its worst unemployment figures behind. However, that story has a blind spot. When the data is broken down by age, the initial optimism gives way to reality: the labor market is improving, yes, but not for everyone equally. The workers over 45 years they continue to fall behind, and the latest data of the State Public Employment Service (SEPE) confirm it. Senior unemployment is close to 60% of the total. Of the slightly less than 2.35 million unemployed counted in April 2026 in Spain, 1,376,550 unemployed were 45 years old. This represents 58.4% of all registered unemployment. In other words, six out of ten unemployed They are over 45 years old. The bad news doesn’t end there. Within this group of people over 45, one in three unemployed people is already over 50 years old. To put into perspective what that percentage implies, we must compare it with what happened in the same month among those under 25 years of age. Youth unemployment has improved its percentages with a drop of 10.2%, with 19,284 fewer young people on the SEPE lists. If we return to the data for those over 45 years of age, we find that only 19,990 people in this age group they found a job, but in this case the decrease has only meant a drop of 1.43%. That is, given the progressive aging of the active population in Spain, those over 45 years of age are the largest group, so although the number of people who have found employment are very similar, the weight as a whole is very different. Less unemployed, but more chronic unemployment. At the end of the first quarter of 2026, the segment of those over 55 years of age was close to 4.93 million employed people. This represents 22% of all workers in the country, with 242,500 more people than a year before. These are figures that reflect that, on the one hand, the active population is increasingly older and, on the other hand, he is retiring later and remains in the labor market for longer. The second bad news for those over 45 years of age is that those who lose their job at that age have enormous difficulties in recovering it. In March 2026, those under 25 years of age signed 308,094 contracts, compared to the 367,204 signed by the group over 45, which doubles the percentage of the active population in number. That leaves us with one conclusion: senior hiring is proportionally tiny. He Labor Market Report for People over 45 years of age 2026 prepared by the SEPE, indicates that this group will exceed 11 million employed during 2025, more than 50% of the total number of workers. Even so, this massive presence in existing employment does not translate into the same rate of access to new opportunities. This is an indicator that the barriers to the reintegration of those over 45 into the labor market continue to be insurmountable. once you lose your job. Proof of this is that 53% of the 755,500 unemployed people over 50 have been looking for a job for more than a year without finding it. Youth unemployment breaks its own record. The scenario for those under 25 years of age is diametrically opposite. unemployment among those under 25 years of age It closed April 2026 at 24.53% with a total of 169,693 people, the lowest figure in the entire SEPE historical series. In year-on-year terms, it represents a drop of 14.2% compared to April of last year, when there were 197,674 young people unemployed. A decade ago, in 2015, the youth unemployment rate in Spain stood at 44.4%. This sustained decline has no equivalent in any other age group, which makes youth employment one of the great successes of the Spanish labor market in recent years. In aging it is a determining factor. As the data show, age defines large differences in the impact of unemployment between the different segments of the active population, but this differentiation also means that unemployment punishes some communities more than others, with a special impact on emptied Spainwhere young people have moved to the large industrial hubs. By province, Zamora stands out strikingly because more than 62% of its unemployed are over 45 years old. Pontevedra and La Coruña also present very aging unemployment structures. In Xataka | There is a man who has been working for the same company for 85 years. And he has no plans to retire. Image | Unsplash (Hasan Mrad)

Nobody has yet been able to with Revolut in Spain. Monzo’s response: “yet”

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Spain has been a country of neobanks for some time. Its market share exceeds 25%and they are fully achieving their goal of stealing customers from traditional banking. With Revolut Leading the surprise and capturing more new accounts than banks like BBVA or Santander, there is a new actor with enough muscle to stand up to it. monzo. It may not sound familiar to you, but monzo It is the most used bank in the United Kingdom, with 13 million customers. In other words, more than 25% of English people have an account open at Monzo, and the entity has been working silently for months to obtain the green light from the Bank of Spain. The “OK”. The neobank has been registered with the Bank of Spain as a bank branchhaving formally authorized registration in the BOE. The first key regulatory step for Monzo to set foot in our country, although at the moment there is no set date for its landing. Why is it important. Monzo is not just another niche neobank looking to survive. It is an entity with millions of customers, profitable since 2023, and with a product proposal that has managed to take the UK by storm. If it plays its cards right, Monzo can become one of Revolut’s main players, and a major threat to other propositions such as N26 either Trade Republic. why now. Experts like Jose Luis Antúnez told us back in 2019 why Monzo did not seem to have any special interest in leaving the United Kingdom. The answer was clear: customer service. Regarding traditional banking, neobanks are failing in this aspect, while Monzo has been wanting to be more responsible in terms of experience and service for years. A conservative strategy. Monzo’s differential is not currently in its offer of financial products, it is that it is a simple Neobank. Allows you to use “Pots”, a tool to divide into subaccounts and save by objectives with automatic transfer. It allows you to automate the payroll so that a certain part goes to the savings pot, a certain part to the invoices (direct debits) and the rest is available for spending. Bill Splitting with Friends Remuneration higher than 3% in the United Kingdom. The numbers. Revolut closed 2025 with 6.3 million customers in Spain, its third global market by user volume, after gaining two million in the last year alone. Trade Republic, for its part, went from 1.2 to 2.4 million users between June 2025 and April 2026. Revolut is already the fifth bank in Spain, ahead of ING, Unicaja, Cajamar and Ibercaja. Only 200,000 clients from Sabadell, which has been building a network of offices throughout the country for decades. Traditional banking continues to dominate in volume—CaixaBank has almost 19 million customers—but the ranking is no longer just a matter of entities with branches on every corner. Three of the ten largest banks in Spain are neobanks, and Monzo wants to add a fourth. In Xataka | Revolut wants more than your savings: it’s going after Spanish millionaires

All experts agree that introducing bison into Spain is a bad idea. And yet we’re doing it

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Nine European bison have been grazing for four months in the Guadalajara municipality of El Recuenco, in the heart of the Alto Tajo. And the only really relevant question is why. I mean, we know why. They are there because the Rewilding Spain foundation and the town council itself have placed them in what has become the first case of bison in public forests in Spain. In fact, as long as we pay attention to what its promoters say, it is not only a renaturalization initiative, it is “a tool against forest fires.” The thing is, none of that explains why anyone thinks any of this makes sense. There have never (as far as we know) been European bison in Spain. Yes, yes. I know that one of the most iconic Spanish images is that of the painted bison of Altamira, but that animal was not a Bison bonasuswas a Bison priscus. A species that became extinct 9,000 years ago just when the habitat (the mammoth steppe) that welcomed it did. There is no conclusive paleontological evidence to say that there was ever a European bison on the peninsula. In fact, in 2020, MITECO commissioned a report that unanimously denied that this animal could be defined as an “extinct species in Spain”. Does that mean that it is proven that there was not? No, one thing does not imply the other. At any time we can find remote proof that there were. In fact, in February 2026 was announced that a skeleton about 4,000 years old had been found in Navarra that could be from a Bison bonasus. It is a matter of time before a genetic test confirms it (or not). Be that as it may, no one seems to care: the nine bison are in Guadalajara. And there are up to two doctoral theses that will examine fecal samples, stress levels and diet to study the adaptability of these animals and their effect on vegetation. The latter is interesting because, as I said, the second objective of all this has to do with vegetation. With its control and management. There it is, despite the skepticism of many expertswhere there may be a future. But it is not a simple future. To begin with, because the species cannot be the subject of an official reintroduction program. The nine specimens from El Recuenco (and the other 160 in the country) are not protected wildlife, but are classified as livestock or zoological nucleus. This requires them to be controlled, geolocated and monitored. But, above all, that forces us to ask ourselves many things and “do we have any capacity to control our country?” It is perhaps the most important. For years, people have been releasing beavers into the main Spanish rivers without anything happening. What’s more, in Spain have been detected more than 200 invasive species. The debate is not ‘bison yes or bison no’. Above all, because it is not a strictly Spanish debate. The United Kingdom reintroduced bison to Kent, the Netherlands did it decades ago… European rewilding is being done, to a large extent, outside the usual channels of conservation. And El Recuenco is just the local version of a deeper debate: that of what nature we want to exist in the future. Image | Oskar Jablonski In Xataka | We are reforesting Europe with trees that will not survive by 2100. If pests don’t kill them, climate change will.

Spain is going from pre-spring weather in one week to “African heat” in the next

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It’s been cold. The first half of May has been marked by negative thermal anomalies of up to 10 degrees below normal, but that is over. According to the modelsthe entry of an anticyclonic ridge of Saharan air is going to revolutionize the Spanish meteorological situation in a matter of days: on Friday the 22nd the forecasts indicate July highs. We are talking about 36-37 °C in the Guadalquivir and Guadiana valleys, more than 30 in the entire southern half of the peninsula and, keep an eye on the data, the first tropical nights of the year. I mean, things are getting serious. What is the news? The protagonist of this week’s story is once again the polar jet. However, instead of a cold air mass, the undulations of the jet will place a warm African ridge above our heads. The process It will begin on Tuesday the 19th and will last until at least the 22nd.. After Friday, the models mark the appearance of a DANA in the Cantabrian Sea; However, it is too early to say precisely. What is going to happen? Let’s go in parts: Between Monday the 18th and Tuesday the 19th It is going to recover progressively. 30 degrees will appear on Tuesday in the Ebro valley, the interior of Murcia and the southern half of the Valencian Community. He Wednesday 20 The 30 will arrive in Madrid, Extremadura, Castilla-La Mancha, the interior of Andalusia, the Region of Murcia, the Ebro valley and the interior of Catalonia. Sevilla will score 33-34 without problems. He Thursday 21 in the Guadiana and Guadalquivir valleys 34-36 °C will be reached. 36 are expected in Seville, 35 in Badajoz, 34 in Toledo and 32 in Madrid. He Friday the 22nd All of Spain will be above 30. Only the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Galicia and Asturias are spared. That day we will experience the first tropical nights of the year on the southern plateau and the Guadalquivir valley. That is, the thermometers will not drop below 20 degrees. Is it something strange? Yes and no. What’s interesting about this episode It’s not the heat itself.. We have already seen Mays like this recently. What is interesting is the magnitude of the swing: we are going from anomalies of -10 °C to anomalies of +10 °C in a single week. And this is something that neither the human body nor crops assimilate easily. Image | BenBaso In Xataka | The Gulf Stream is dying. Someone’s idea to solve it dates back to the 1950s: closing the Bering Strait

Europe throws away 16 billion a year in electronic waste. Spain has just turned on the first oven in Europe to recover them

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Those cell phones, computers and small devices that are gathering dust in a drawer and ending up in a landfill contain valuable minerals such as copper, silver and platinum inside, which also end up there. Every year in the Spanish state almost 930,000 tons of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) are thrown away, which makes Spain the sixth state on the continent in generation of this type of waste. according to data from the UN E-waste Monitor by 2024. Of these, less than half is documented and recycled waste. In a context in which rare earths and critical minerals are a strategic resource of which Europe wants to achieve sovereignty, Spain has taken a step forward with a CSIC pilot plant pioneer in the old continent: a furnace capable of melting that electronic waste to extract valuable metals from it. The pioneer oven. A few days ago the National Center for Metallurgical Research of the CSIC inaugurated in Madrid the first European pilot plant capable of recovering critical metals from electronic waste using a submerged lance furnace, which exceeds 1,200 °C to melt electronic waste. The milestone was formalized with the first experimental casting of metals obtained directly from electronic waste and obtained materials such as copper, gold, silver and platinum in a clean and efficient way. In conventional furnaces, the heat comes from the outside, but in this case a metal lance is introduced that injects oxygen and fuel directly into the molten bath, which generates intense turbulence that mixes and homogenizes the material, accelerates chemical reactions and improves energy efficiency. Why is it important. Because every year Europe generates millions of tons of electronic waste containing copper, gold, silver, platinum and strategic minerals necessary for the energy transition and digitalization. A part of them is not recovered: it is lost or used outside the continent. The facility in question is an advance in advanced pyrometallurgy and the management of waste from electrical and electronic equipment that shows that it is possible to treat this waste in Europe, thus preventing the associated economic value from leaving the continent, which allows the raw materials to be reincorporated into the European production chain itself. In addition, it connects directly with the Critical Raw Materials Law of the European Union, which fixed that at least 25% of the critical raw materials consumed by the EU by 2030 must come from recycling. The EU is currently heavily dependent on imports of critical raw materials, often from a single supplier, which poses a serious geopolitical risk in the form of dependence on strategic sectors such as renewable energy, digitalisation and defence. Context. The generation of WEEE is out of control and breaking records. According to the UN international waste observatoryin 2022 the world generated 62 million tons, 82% more than in 2010, but less than in 2030, when the estimated figure is 82 million tons. Europe takes the cake: in 2022 it was the region with the highest volume of WEEE per inhabitant with 17.6 kg per person, of which only 7.3 kg were recovered. But that garbage is money: the UN E-Waste quantifies the economic value of those 62 million tons at 91 billion dollars a year. If of this global total of WEEE, 13 million tons of garbage per year They belong to Europe. Calculated proportionally, it would be equivalent to losing about 19,000 million dollars annually due to poorly managing these materials (about 16,340 million euros at the exchange rate). While we search for deposits and accelerate their exploitation in a sector dominated by China, we have a deposit pending to be exploited: the “urban” mine with WEEE recycling. The situation regarding WEEE in Europe in 2022. UN E-Waste 2024 How it works. He submerged lance furnace is based on the ISASMELT processso that the raw materials only need to be pre-mixed, there is no need for fine grinding or drying, which simplifies the feeding with materials as heterogeneous as WEEE. The separation of materials is based on the difference in densities: once the waste is melted, copper and precious metals such as gold or silver tend to sink to the bottom of the reactor due to their greater density, while the slag (which is non-metallic) floats on the surface, which makes extraction simple. The project has been possible thanks to a public-private collaboration between CENIM-CSIC and two companies, the European copper smelting giant Atlantic Copper and the metallurgical company Glencore Technology. Yes, but. The CENIM facility is a pilot plant, not an industrial plant, and this leap in pyrometallurgy is not exactly small: engineering issues must be resolved such as the management of the gases emitted in the process or the useful life of the furnace’s refractory materials, among others. And this project may find its political framework in the Critical Raw Materials Act, but this It’s more of a statement of intent. than anything else: it does not have a roadmap nor has it made available new funds to accelerate these initiatives. However, the biggest problem is not in the oven, but in recycling or the absence of this: 46% of WEEE and the critical materials it contains are lost before reaching any recycling facility, simply because collection is poor. There is little point in developing highly efficient recovery technology if electronic waste ends up mixed with organic waste in the brown container. Or if it is exported outside of Europe. The real bottleneck remains collection. In Xataka | Mortadelo and Filemón work for the CSIC: TIA agents explain the history of science to us with their comics In Xataka | The CSIC wants to create quantum solar energy capable of self-regulating its temperature. His inspiration: painting Cover | yasin hemmati and Nathan Cima

While the international pork sector collapses, Spain breaks records

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The Spanish pig industry closed 2025 with a historical record and, a priori, that cannot be. Because, finally, we are talking about 5.27 million tons of meat just when the European pig has been in recession for four years. 6% year-on-year growth just as African swine fever reappears after 31 years of absence. To give us an idea: Spain already invoices 24.2% of all pork in the EU and is the third world producer behind the US and China. How is it possible? The question is timely. After all, the sector is growing against the tide. Not only because of the plague, nor because of the conflicts between Europe and China; but because the collapse in prices and the general retreat would have advised taking a more conservative line. However, the explanation is simpler than it seems: what is sold as an industrial success hides a history of extreme foreign dependence, health fragility and an environmental problem that the country refuses to solve. But let’s go in parts. December 16, 2025, China increased its final tariffs on European pork from 4.9% to 19.8% for five years. It is true that Iberian ham and sausages were left out and that for many Spanish companies the average tariff was 9.8%, but the blow was forceful. Above all, because (although apparently all this was part of the electric car wars) the problem is structural: China imports less and less because it produces more and more. To this we must add that a little earlier, on November 28, 2025, the Ministry of Agriculture had confirmed the first two positives for African swine fever in wild boars, unleashing a problem that made headlines for weeks (and has still not been resolved). And from this storm that threatened to break everything, the only thing that has reached the consumer is that pork is the animal protein that has become the least expensive during 2025. Because? Well, because the crisis has been metabolized, driving the concentration of the sector: today, the ten largest companies market today 65% of national meat (compared to 52% ten years ago). We have lost 32% of small farms; but the big ones have more and more power. Something that also explains why the country is about to a very serious European sanction for not complying with the nitrates directive. In the end the question is not “how is it possible that the most efficient and best armored sector in Europe is simultaneously on the verge of a collapse of margins and with major water pollution problems?”; The point is that Spain produces more pigs than ever precisely for those reasons. Image | Amber Kipp In Xataka | The gap between what pork costs on farms and in supermarkets does not stop growing. The ranchers have said enough

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