Spain

Spain has been without an essential weapon for war for years. Airbus has found the solution in Seville, and fires torpedoes and sonobuoys

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One of the most outlandish ideas of World War II was to convert old B-17 bombers into giant loaded drones. with almost ten tons of explosives. The pilots would take off, activate the remote control system and parachute before the plane continued toward its target without a crew. The project it was a failurebut it left a curious lesson: finding submarines and destroying hidden targets has always required the development of some of the strangest and most advanced technologies of each era. The capacity that Spain lost. Modern warfare still relies on highly sophisticated technologies, but some capabilities remain as essential as they were decades ago. One of them is the surveillance and pursuit of submarines. Spain lost that tool in December 2022 with the withdrawal of veterans P-3 Orionleaving a void that was especially striking for a country with thousands of kilometers of coastline, a strategic position between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean and intense naval activity in its waters. Since then, the Armed Forces have lacked an aircraft capable of locating, tracking and attacking enemy submarines, a situation that is now beginning to be resolved. thanks to a program developed entirely in Seville. Cockpit of the new maritime patrol C295 The answer comes from Andalusia. Airbus advances in the construction of the new C295 MPAa version specifically designed to return to the Air and Space Army a capability that had been missing for years. The program has already passed several important industrial milestones, including powering up systems and commissioning the engines of the first aircraft. The company ensures that the deadlines remain as planned and that flight tests will last for more than a year before the delivery of the first unit in 2028. Beyond a simple replacement, Airbus considers this development the most ambitious project carried out on the C295 platform and aspires to turn it into an international reference within maritime patrol. View of the interior of the warehouse from the airplane ramp The return of the submarine chaser. The characteristic that distinguishes this aircraft from the rest of the C295 versions is its ability to combat underwater threats. The device will be able to carry between two and four Mk46 or Mk54 torpedoes and deploy up to sixty sonobuoys, small floating sensors that listen to sounds underwater and allow hidden submarines to be located. The combination of both systems returns to Spain a fundamental tool for contemporary naval warfare. For years, the country has lacked a platform capable of searching for submarines at great distances, classifying them, tracking their movements and, if necessary, attacking them. The new plane recovers precisely that function, one of the more complex and strategic within any modern air force. An arsenal of sensors. Anti-submarine warfare depends on both sensors and weapons. Precisely for this reason, the C295 MPA will incorporate a very extensive set of specialized equipment. Among them are synthetic aperture radarselectro-optical systems, magnetic anomaly detectors capable of perceiving the presence of large metallic masses underwater, automatic vessel identification systems and an advanced acoustic system to process information collected by sonobuoys. Added to this are self-protection equipment against missiles, encrypted satellite communications and tactical data links that will allow information to be shared in real time with other naval and air units. An industrial project. Although Airbus leads the program, development has also become in a shop window of the Spanish defense industry. Companies such as Indra, SAES and Tecnobit participate by providing self-protection systems, acoustic sensors and encryption equipment. The contract also includes simulators, infrastructure, training and logistical support, consolidating a technological ecosystem that goes far beyond the manufacture of the aircraft itself and reinforces Seville’s role as one of the main military aeronautical centers in Europe. Much more than a new plane. The acquisition of eight devices of maritime surveillance and eight of maritime patrol is part of an investment greater than the 1.7 billion eurosto which other contracts for new versions of the C295 have been added. The program reflects the extent to which Spain is rebuilding capabilities considered essential in an international context where submarines once again play a leading role. In essence, the history of new C295 MPA It is not just about a plane that has just come off a Sevillian assembly line, but rather about how a country that had lost one of the most important tools to control its seas is recovering the ability to find invisible threats underwater and respond to them with its own means. Image | Airbus In Xataka | The S-82 is Spain’s second new generation submarine: it has just completed a critical test before delivery In Xataka | Spain is selling military technology for scrap: the latest was a Navy submarine for 130,000 euros

Spain already experienced it between 1900 and 1912

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Many people in the world have never seen a solar eclipsedespite There are usually between 2 and 5 in a year. The reason is that yes, they are relatively common; But, unlike the lunar eclipse, which is seen in all places where it is night at that time, the solar eclipse is seen in a very small strip of territory. In general, They usually spend between 300 and 400 years for an eclipse to repeat itself in the same place. Therefore, that In 2026, 2027 and 2028 there will be three solar eclipses visible from Spain is most peculiar. It is true that not all of them will be total, since the third will be annular, and that they will not be seen from the same points in the country, but, even so, it is something rare. Now, just because it is rare does not mean that it is impossible, since in mainland Spain we already had another trio of eclipses a little over a century ago. The first was in 1900, the second in 1905 and the third in 1912. They were not three consecutive years, as will happen with this Iberian trio, but they were very close dates for what is usually normal. May 28, 1900: a total solar eclipse that left the railway without tickets The first of these solar eclipses took place on May 28, 1900with the onset of totality at 14:53 UTC. The strip of totality, in which the complete occultation of the Sun could be seen, measured 70 kilometers wide and It extended from the north of Extremadura to Elche. Although there was still a lot of superstition surrounding eclipses, they were already beginning to be seen as something positive and, above all, as a spectacle worth experiencing. For this reason, thousands of people traveled to the locations of the strip of totality to witness it. The strip of totality was from the north of Extremadura to Elche Two of the most visited places were Plasencia and Navalmoral de la Matain Cáceres. This last town was the one that attracted the largest audience, with more than 4,000 railway tickets sold from Madrid. The influx was so great that when the tickets were sold out it was decided to release another edition, with a 25% increase in price. Still, many people bought them. Nobody wanted to miss this event that attracted scientists from Spain, England, France and Ireland. In Spain, the photographs taken by Manuel Gil, a science professor at the Central University of Madrid (the current Complutense University) stood out. There was great media coverage and many anecdoteslike those who said that the bees revolutionized, the sheep bleated uncontrollably and the storks returned to their nests. Night fell shortly after noon and this baffled the animals and fascinated the humans. August 30, 1905, the eclipse that ended religious prejudices Although in 1900 religious prejudices were slowly beginning to be put aside, they were still quite present. However, possibly the fact of seeing a solar eclipse and the world not ending led to the 1905 eclipse being received much more calmly among the general population. Totality, which began at 13:03 UTC on August 30, was observed in a strip from the north of Galicia to the north of the Valencian Community, passing through Castilla y León and Aragón. It lasted more than 3 minutes in some of these locations. Specifically, The center of the strip was in the town of Quintanillain Burgos, although the places where it was best seen were Burgos capital and the Leonese town of Cistierna. Unfortunately, the weather was not the best, so there were many places where the clouds They prevented the viewing of the eclipse. Despite that, this total solar eclipse had great media and scientific coverage, with astronomers from all over Europe meeting mostly in Burgos and León. April 17, 1912, a peculiar eclipse The solar eclipse of April 17, 1912 It was quite peculiarbecause it was a mixed annular-total eclipse. There was a very small strip of totality, just a few meters long, in northwest Spain. Furthermore, that totality lasted only a few seconds, so very few people were able to see it. On the other hand, annularity was seen in a larger area of ​​land, from Porto to Gijón. During an annular eclipse it is not night, but rather the Moon hides the center of the Sun, which is seen as a kind of bright disk. It attracted the attention of many astronomers, both Spanish and French, who gathered mostly in the Leonese town of Cacabelos. However, being so short, it did not attract as much of the general population and much less the press, which was busy with international news such as the sinking of the famous Titanic. October 2, 1959: the Canary Islands It is often said that 1912 was the last total solar eclipse in Spain. However, this is an unfair statement, since in 1959 one took place in the Canary Islandswhich also attracted a lot of national and international press and scientists. Totality occurred from 9:26 UTC and could be seen in La Orotava, Santa Úrsula, La Victoria, La Matanza, Tegueste, La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, el Rosario and Arafo in Tenerife, Las Palmas Santa Brígida, Ingenio, Telde and San Bartolomé de Tirajana in Gran Canaria and the Jandía area in Fuerteventura. That was the last total solar eclipse in Spain, but only until now. Soon we will be able to enjoy one more. And then another. And another one. How can we not be excited, releasing one news item after another? It is a very special period. Image | Wikimedia Commons colored with Gemini | Ministry of Defense In Xataka | A third of Spain will be completely dark for a minute or two. The astronomical event of the century is approaching

the shadow business that moves VTCs in Spain

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Before the boom of Uber and Cabify, the acronym VTC They were an enigma. Now they have become almost a popular nickname. In Madrid, it is enough to see the sticker of the red flag with stars of the autonomous community on a car to think “it is a VTC”. The urban center is littered with this type of vehicles. But the VTCs, which respond to “transport vehicles with driver“, existed for decades. They were cars intended for luxury transportation, the typical car that was rented with a driver. These actors are still in the market and operate in the tourism sector or as transportation for companies, but they are a minority. Apps changed everything. Cabify, Uber and Bolt have taken VTCs out of their niche to bring them to a mass audience. Thanks to the immediacy they allow, these cars with drivers have become so close to the taxi figure that they now constitute direct competition. But unlike taxi drivers, who tend to be small self-employed, a large part of the VTCs are in the hands of large companies. And they do not correspond exactly to the apps. “There are three large groups, which are Moove Cars, Auro and Vecttor,” says José María Cazallas, Secretary of Organization of the Free Transport Union, which represents around 80% of the workers in the VTC sector and also has significant representation in the taxi sector. “These three groups come together more or less around the 60% of licenses VTC in Madrid.” They are different entities from the applications that the user knows, although Cabify and Uber have participation in these companies. VTCs vs taxis The rise of VTCs in Spain cannot be understood without taxis and the framework in which they traditionally operated. “The model of one license for each taxi driver was followed. It was a very interventionist model. I’m talking about the beginning of the 20th century until the end of the 90s, in which they tried to distribute the business,” explains Alejandro Román, professor in the Department of Law at the University of Seville and author of the book The legal regime for the transport of passengers on demand in tourist vehicles (Taxis and VTC). Román affirms that for a long time the granting of licenses was contaminated by the clientelism. In times where well-paid work was scarce and there were many arduous jobs, a taxi license was a safe option. “These people had a guaranteed job, with a guaranteed profitability, because they had no competition,” says the professor from the University of Seville. “The number of operators in the market was calculated so that all license holders could live reasonably well.” (Unsplash) In a limited market, which barely issued new licenses, these became a scarce commodity. Their buying and selling occurred at astronomical prices. But the panorama changed completely with the arrival of Cabify and Uber. License prices fellalthough later it has come back. Now, in a look on Wallapop you can see taxi licenses for sale for between 180,000 and 210,000 euros for Madrid. In Barcelona they have a similar price, slightly less than 200,000, although some advertisements exceed them. It depends on the schedule for which the license is scheduled or if the car is included. The history of VTC licenses is different: their price has not stopped growing and they have reached almost the same level. Again taking Wallapop as a quick barometer, you can see that a VTC license in Madrid is available for around 180,000 euros. In Barcelona, ​​where the sector faces regulatory uncertainty, the price is much lower, around 75,000 euros. But the most important change that Cabify, Uber and Bolt have brought is technological mediation. “In the VTC the model is different. What happens is that over time it has become increasingly closer to the taxi model,” says Román. The VTCs could not take clients on the street or at taxi stops, while the contracting of their services had to be done in advance. This is established by law to guarantee a market reserve for taxis, which in return are obliged to perform certain public functions, such as not rejecting clients or providing transportation support in situations of health emergencies. “With the arrival of applications, this required pre-contracting is diluted. The technology itself makes it immediate. Because you open the application, you pre-contract the VTC, but you can start using it five minutes later,” concludes Román. In practice, the two models provide the same type of transportation service, although they have different regulations. A sector of large companies The similarity of the service they provide, however, differs in their back room. The exploitation of VTCs is dominated by large companies with hundreds or thousands of licenses in their name. These companies are intertwined with some of the platforms. “Cabify is the owner of Vecttor. And Moove Cars and the Auro Group are owned by Uber,” says Cazallas, from the Free Transport Union. “While the number of licenses that each taxi driver can have is limited, in the case of VTCs there is no limitation on the number of licenses per owner. That is why a market of large companies that request many licenses has emerged,” emphasizes Román. And the number continues to increase. Cabify has deployed in Madrid 800 new licensespart of a package of 8,500 requested in 2018 taking advantage of a legal loophole. (Unsplash) The Estonian platform Bolt, the only one of the three that does not have its own fleet and claims to work with freelancers and small businesses, criticized the granting of these licenses as a form of market concentration. According to their calculations, the addition of 8,500 licenses to the Cabify/Vecttor fleet would put 70% of the active VTCs in the autonomous community under the control of a single company. One of the main figures behind Vecttor has been the Sevillian businessman Rosauro Varofounder of PepePhone. He built a VTC company that accumulated 2,000 licenses for later sell it to Cabifybecoming part of its shareholders. … Read more

In 1910, a comet approached Earth. And half of Spain panicked when they believed that she would die from poisoning.

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In 1908, while reviewing the spectroscopic analysis of the tail of a comet, astronomer Daniel Walter Morehouse realized that it was full of toxic gases (such as cyanogen). The publication of the discovery made half of humanity’s hair stand on end. Above all, because there were just two years left until the Earth crossed paths with the largest known comet: the Halley. Plus, it was very close. Every year, between April 19 and May 28, our planet crosses the trail that Halley has left in its wake over the last few million years. This is what we know as the Eta Aquarids: a shower of very fast stars that peaks this year on the early mornings of May 5 and 6. In 1910, we encountered the comet on May 18. Our grandparents could almost touch it with the tips of their fingers. And that’s where the problems began. As explained Pedro Ruiz-Castell, Ignacio Suay-Matallana and Juan Marcos Bonet A few years ago, the vast majority of astronomers “seemed to be clear that this presence did not pose a danger to the visit of the comet. After all, “the tail of the comet was much less dense than the most perfect vacuum that could be produced in the laboratory”, what effect could such a tail have, no matter how many toxic gases it carried with it? However, the people she went crazy. Whether they were justified or not (which I already say they were not), the doubts about the extension of the comet’s tail and, “consequently, about the possibility that our planet could pass through it and be involved in it” became mainstream. So much so that José Comas i Solà In La Vanguardia on January 23 he even said that “we have been waiting for him (Halley) for 76 years to give us nothing but dislikes“. The confessionals filled to the brim In the end, as constantly happens today, “astronomers do not cease, even without intending to, to alarm the public with the statement that from May 18 to 19 we will have to pass through the tail of Halley’s Comet. On the one hand they assure that nothing bad will happen, and on the other they enumerate the dangers that await us on that day” said El Restaurador de Tortosa. But it was not something uniquely Spanish. Wherever there was a newspaper, there there was dozens of news stories dedicated to denying the hoaxes and prophecies that spread on the street. During those weeks, enormous sales were made. amounts of oxygen in pharmacies throughout Europe and thousands of wills were written before the imminent catastrophe.” In England, many citizens were convinced that “the comet is a chariot of fire, sent by the Supreme Being to take the soul of King Edward to heaven” who had just died on May 6. In Italy there were hundreds of psychotic outbreaks motivated by the comet and from the United States news came of “the strange rites celebrated in the countryside during the early mornings by African Americans in the south”. In Spain, the correspondent of The Impassionate in Bilbao, he wrote on May 18 that “the famous comet is the obligatory topic of all conversations. Many people see the critical moment arriving with real fear, and as proof of this, this morning an extraordinary number of faithful could be seen in the communion boxes in the churches. The priests, even trying to be brief and lenient in the court of penance, were not able to dispatch all those who requested confession, and tonight the churches were full. Tomorrow there will be a almost cometary queue before the sacred tables” Luckily, astronomers they were right and the passage of Halley did not end life on Earth. It did leave us priceless scenes of what would become, with the passage of time, hoaxes, collective hysteria and scientific journalism. Oh, and he “renewed” the material that we come across every year in the month of May: the wonderful Eta Aquarids. Image | Frank Cone In Xataka | Mysterious lights have been appearing in a remote valley in Norway since 1811. And we still don’t know what they are In Xataka | We had always believed that galaxies preceded black holes. James Webb has discovered something else

Quietly, a mobile phone manufacturer is skyrocketing in Spain. One that hits right in the nostalgia

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There was a time when it seemed that consumers only had eyes for Xiaomi when looking for an affordable mobile phone. Things are starting to change. The data of Omdia For the first quarter of 2026 they show a significant drop compared to 2025 for the Asian manufacturer, with Motorola taking center stage. The numbers. The European phone market grew 2% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, with Samsung as the big name. The company, according to data from the consulting firm, already has a 38% share, its best number in years with a growth of 3%. But Apple. The good global results of the iPhone 17 They already left us a clue about what could happen in Europe. Apple grew 9.9%, thanks to relatively affordable price models such as the iPhone 16e and the commercial success of its new models. Apple remains in second place, but with a striking fact: it sold 8.8 million iPhones compared to Samsung’s 12.6, and still grew at three times the rate of its rival. Samsung depended largely on the Galaxy A16 4G to sustain their numbers. Xiaomi. The Chinese company maintained third place, although its fall was the most pronounced. Xiaomi falls no less than 15% in Europe, although the numbers have fine print: the company sold fewer phones, but the ones it did sell were more expensive. Xiaomi’s average price (ASP, Average Selling Price) rose by 21%, mainly after the launches of the series Xiaomi 17 and the good sales of the Xiaomi 15T. It is a strategy that is working for them: although they sell fewer units, they sell much more expensively. Mainly, the markets in which these ranges worked the most were France, Germany and… Spain. And Motorola arrived. Motorola has been obsessed with the Spanish market for some time. It knows that we like quality-price phones, and that the buyer still has a certain nostalgia for a brand that always had a good product. Thanks to its expansion in Spain and Portugal, the company has grown 17% year-on-year, with almost two million units sold. A quick look on Amazon makes it easy to understand what’s going on. Motorola has a barrage of phones available at competitive prices, clean software that does not generate any type of friction, and an acceptable update policy. to stay. Motorola has a clear market strategy in which Spain is a fundamental market: affordable and accessible mobile phones. For its part, Xiaomi is turning towards Be increasingly premium to improve your margins. A golden opportunity for a manufacturer that once flooded Spain with Moto G, to once again travel the path of commercial success. In Xataka | Motorola Edge 70 Fusion, analysis: putting 7,000 mAh in such a thin mobile phone seemed like magic. The trick is under the hood

Alcasec managed to access hundreds of thousands of banking details in Spain: now it has accepted prison

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There are cybersecurity cases that seem distant until they force us to look inward. We are not talking about a large foreign technology company or a gap lost in some remote corner of the Internet, but rather about banking data of citizens in Spain, access linked to public infrastructure and a chain that, according to the Prosecutor’s Office, ended with hundreds of thousands of records entered into a portal for sale. What we have seen with Alcasec It matters not only because of the name itself, but because of what it reveals: personal information has become a very valuable commodity. The agreement. This part of the case has been settled in the National Court with an agreement between the accused and the Prosecutor’s Office. According to EFEJosé Luis Huertas, alias Alcasec, has accepted a sentence of two years and seven months in prison for the crimes of illegal access to computer systems and discovery and disclosure of secrets. The Prosecutor’s Office initially requested three years, but applied the mitigating circumstance of confession. Along with him, Daniel BE and Juan Carlos OG, thus identified in the judicial information, have also accepted a sentence: two years and two months for the first as a cooperator and one year and three months for the second for discovery of secrets. The access. The indictment describes an entry built in layers, not a simple stroke of luck. On October 19, 2021, Alcasec contracted two massive data storage systems with Cherry Servers, a company based in Lithuania, using an email account created when he was a minor to hide his identity. Later, Daniel BE, whom the Prosecutor’s Office links to Russian forums specialized in the unauthorized sale of passwords, provided him with a stolen digital certificate issued to the General Directorate of Traffic. With that certificate, always according to the accusation, he managed to navigate the SARA network, connect to the CGPJ Judicial Neutral Point website and obtain the credentials of an official from a Bilbao court. The impersonation. The next step, always according to the Prosecutor’s Office, was to convert that first access into a way to obtain more credentials. Alcasec and Daniel BE created a page that pretended to be the access website to the Judicial Neutral Point, and the former sent a text chain to different courts that redirected to that false page. Two officials mistakenly entered their passwords, which allowed the scope of the attack to expand. The mechanics are important because they show that the intrusion did not depend only on a technical vulnerability, but also on deception of real users. The scale. With these credentials, according to the indictment, Alcasec made 438,099 requests to the Tax Agency’s “extended bank accounts” web service and shortly after carried out a second attack. The data is not minor: we are not talking about an isolated query, but rather a massive volume of queries to sensitive information through a system connected to the Administration. For the sale of data, some of relevant people, the portal was available. The reduction. The accepted sentence does not come out of nowhere, but from an agreement in accordance with the Prosecutor’s Office. As we noted above, the initial request was for three years in prison, but it was reduced to two years and seven months when the mitigating circumstance of confession for the recognized crimes was applied. The prosecutor also valued the collaboration of the accused during the investigation, particularly in providing their codes and passwords. In addition, they accepted the confiscation of the effects and the physical and virtual money seized in the searches carried out in Madrid, Cartagena and Dos Hermanas. Another investigation. There is an important nuance to not mix planes. Alcasec has been in provisional prison for a year for a different reason, related to a network of cyberattacks that seized sensitive and private data of millions of citizens and that he allegedly led. In that investigation he was arrested along with former Secretary of State for Security Francisco Martínez, currently on trial for Operation Kitchen. The reading. What this case leaves behind is not only an accepted conviction, but a fairly clear photograph of where part of cybercrime has moved. We are no longer just talking about entering a system, but about chaining access, taking advantage of real credentials, consulting sensitive services and preparing information for sale. Images | Capture YouTube In Xataka | We have spoken with one of the leading cybersecurity companies in Spain. And his diagnosis is not encouraging

The European Commission wants to sweep Huawei off the map. Spain has told him not so quickly

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The European Commission lhas been trying to expel Huawei for years of their telecommunications networks. And that intention wants to become a binding law, one that would exclude all Chinese teams within a period of 36 months. But there are two countries acting as a retaining wall: Spain and Germany. what’s happening. The European Commission wants to veto Huawei and ZTE citing security reasons. Through a review of the Cybersecurity Regulation, it proposes mandatory elimination of high-risk suppliers. The current draft establishes the mandatory recall of equipment provided by “high-risk suppliers”, assuming a formal veto for Chinese telecommunications companies. The Spain case. In Spain we have a problem with this intention. Telefónica renewed its 5G core contract with Huawei in 2024 and valid until 2030. As relevant information, this 5G core was renewed with the Chinese manufacturer for private equipment, but the contracts for government institutions and business services were awarded to Nokia. In other words, the most sensitive infrastructure is already in European hands. Vodafone –now controlled by Zegona–, maintains the majority of its network with Huawei technology, and although MásOrange has been reducing the presence of the Chinese brand in its equipment for some time (less than 40% in 2027). In short, Large Spanish operators have been using Huawei equipment for years despite the EU’s warnings, and they do not seem willing to simply sweep it off the map. The German case. Something similar happens in Germany. Huawei is still present in more than 60% of the country’s antennas, and although progressive withdrawal plans are already underway, the schedule imposed by Brussels does not seem realistic. Fighting tooth and nail. Both countries have warned the Commission of their concerns in this regard: vetoing China from the European network infrastructure may provoke retaliation, in addition to making the deployment of the network significantly more expensive.to artificial intelligence infrastructure which Europe has been dreaming of for a year and a half. The EU Council requires a majority to approve this plan, so Spain and Germany can look for allies to try to stop it. This would allow the process to be delayed, require modifications and exceptions in the draft, or even end the proposal if it fails to move forward. The possible outcome. With such fierce opposition, the most likely outcome is that there will be no victory for anyone. Spain and Germany may knock down the proposal completely, but they do have enough muscle to deform it. It seems inevitable that, sooner or later, Huawei will disappear from European telecommunications, but the deadlines will not be as immediate as Europe intends, nor is it ruled out that there will be specific exceptions if countries demand it. In Xataka | I tested four Huawei devices at once to evaluate their ecosystem: great hardware, lacks glue

In 1982, Spain was so drunk on Naranjito that it dedicated an anime to him. And now it’s going to be re-released

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The linear channel of nostalgic series and movies VinTV has announced the re-release of ‘Football in Action’ on June 11, 2026. It is the day that the USA Soccer World Cup., and the recovery has something of an event: it is the first time that the series returns to a Spanish screen since TVE concluded its original broadcast on June 12, 1982, one day before the opening of the World Cup, without there having been reruns or a DVD edition. This curious darkness that surrounds one of our undisputed national icons is what has meant that few know that whoever directed the series would launch ‘Dragon Ball’ five years later. Spain did not encourage. In 1981, when production of the series began to commemorate the World Cup that would be played the following year, Spain did not have an animation series industry capable of undertaking such a project. The first serious attempts to build an industry They begin precisely in those years: There was, of course, Cruz Delgado’s ‘Don Quixote de la Mancha’, and also the studios that worked as subcontractors of Hanna-Barbera. The role of BRB International. It appears in the credits of ‘Football in Action’ as a co-producer, but it was not an animation studio. Founded in 1972 by Claudio Biern Boyd, the company was born as an agency merchandising. His leap into co-production was articulated by associating with studios that provided the technical means. BRB provided the concept, the relationship with TVE and the characters, and the animation was done by others. For ‘Football in Action’, those “others” were Nippon Animation. The Japanese studio, founded in June 1975had already done series like ‘Heidi’, ‘Marco’ and ‘The Dog of Flanders’. BRB and Nippon had already collaborated on ‘Ruy, little Cid’, and the same plan was followed with the Naranjito series. Spanish anime. It cannot be said that it is not noticeable that Soccer in Action is, essentially, an anime. At least aesthetically: hyper-expressive eyes, limited animation, slapstick and physical comedy. Its plots mixed documentary sports history, adventures against the villain Zruspa and visits to the World Cup host cities. Alfredo Di Stéfano participated as a sports advisor and Matías Prats provided the voice of the series commentator. And there was international projection: France 3 broadcast it with the title ‘Onze Une pour Coupe’, Canale 5 in Italy as ‘Naranjito’, and it also reached Portugal and Latin America. Only France published a DVD edition, in 2013, including four episodes in Spanish to replace chapters of the French version that had been lost. The responsible one. The director of ‘Football in Action’ was Minoru Okazaki. He debuted as an anime director in 1964, in the ‘Astro Boy’ series for Mushi Production, the studio that Osamu Tezuka had founded. That is to say, we are facing one of the builders of modern anime, since ‘Astro Boy’ would establish the visual and narrative language of the genre. When Okazaki came to ‘Football in Action’ he had already been in the industry for seventeen years. That same year he also worked on ‘Dr. Slump’ and five years later, in 1986, Okazaki was one of the original directors of ‘Dragon Ball’, produced by Toei Animation. Throughout his career he continued to be linked to other installments of the franchise. The prophecy. One last curiosity: at the end of the series, one of Zruspa’s henchmen warns that they will return “when Spain organizes another World Cup.” Finally, almost five decades later, it will happen (even if only in part: Spain will hold the organization along with Portugal and Morocco) in 2030. What is not so clear is that our future mascot will have a letter of introduction designed by an anime legend. In Xataka | When football wants to be American football: FIFA invents a halftime show with Madonna in imitation of the Super Bowl

Spain and Morocco have been dreaming of a tunnel under the Strait for 40 years. The great enemy of the project is called Umbral de Camarinal

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Linking Europe with Africa from the Strait of Gibraltar has been discussed for decades. However, in recent years we have seen how the Governments of the countries involved have been adding steps to this project. Spain and Morocco work has accelerated in recent months to make a railway tunnel a reality that would pass under the Strait and that would connect Punta Paloma (Tarifa) with Cape Malabata (near Tangier). The infrastructure (if it is built) would easily become a historic engineering work, allowing people to cross from one continent to another in just half an hour. What are we talking about?. The project contemplates a strictly railway tunnel, without a viaduct or vehicle lanes (something it originally discussed doing), with a total length of about 42 kilometers between stations, of which 27.7 are submerged. The deepest point it would reach 475 meters below sea level and would cross what is known as the Camarinal Threshold, the shallowest area of ​​the Strait and, curiously, much more complex from a geological point of view. What would it be like inside?. According to data collected by the Spanish public company SECEGSA, the design proposes two independent single-track tubes, each with an inner diameter of 7.90 metersand a 6-meter central service gallery for maintenance and emergency tasks. This gallery would connect with the main tubes through transversal passages every 340 meters. At the lowest point of the layout there would be a safe parking area with intervention areas and a smoke extraction system. High-speed trains for passengers and shuttle convoys for goods and vehicles would run through the tunnel. Who is in charge. The project is moving forward in two ways. On the Spanish side, the work is coordinated by SECEGSA, a public company created in the eighties precisely to promote this connection. On the Moroccan side, the Government has decided to concentrate all its efforts on the channel with Madridruling out other parallel paths. The most recent and relevant agreement It was signed on December 4, 2025 in La Moncloa between the Minister of Transport of Spain, Óscar Puente, and his counterpart in Morocco, Karim Zidane. It contains a memorandum between the Spanish National Geographic Institute and the National Center for Scientific and Technical Research of Morocco (CNRST) to jointly study the seismicity and geodynamics of the Strait for three years. Financing. In March of this year, the Spanish Government approved an additional transfer of 1.73 million euros to finance technical studies, according to they count from La Razón. Added to this item is a marine research campaign commissioned by the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) with a budget of 553,187 euros, published in the Official State Gazette. This campaign, lasting about 15 days and scheduled for the first half of 2026, includes high-resolution bathymetry, sampling of sediments and rocks from the seabed, and laboratory analysis. Three CSIC institutes participate (Marine, Geological and Mining Sciences, and Oceanography), the Navy Hydrographic Institute and the United States Geological Survey. Obstacles. The key is in the Camarinal Threshold. The Spanish subsidiary of the German manufacturer Herrenknecht, specialized in tunnel boring machines, carried out a feasibility study that concluded that the work is technically possible with current engineering, although he warned of enormous logistical and economic challenges. The subsoil of that area is made up of materials from the Flysch Complex, with layers of sandstone and clay of turbidite origin, covered by more recent sediments. This geological variability, added to the fact that the Strait is located on the Azores-Gibraltar-Tunisia fracture, the same one that caused the devastating Lisbon earthquake of 1755makes excavation a particularly complex challenge. On the other hand, it should be noted that the Strait is not an easy scenario. More than 100,000 ships pass through its waters a year and the study area is located within a Special Conservation Area with a protection plan for orcas. More than 1,900 species of marine flora and fauna have been recorded, which requires obtaining certain environmental permits before doing anything. How much will it cost. Although there are no concrete figures on how much the project would cost, Morocco World News situates the estimated cost alone for the Spanish part is above 8.5 billion euros, while other media such as El Diario elevate the total budget above 15,000 million, to be distributed between Spain, Morocco and the European Union. In any case, it will be one of the most expensive infrastructures ever built in the region. When will it be ready. Here it is advisable to lower expectations. And the deadlines that are managed They place the possible inauguration between 2035 and 2040always in the best of scenarios, but very possibly set more in the 2040s than before (that is, if the work is ever executed). If the seismic and geotechnical studies end up being favorable, a reconnaissance gallery could be put out to tender in 2027, requiring several years to complete to obtain detailed information on the terrain and the viability of the project. Why it matters beyond engineering. Connecting Africa with Europe by rail would encourage trade in very profitable ways, integrating the railway networks of the Maghreb with the European system and making the peninsular south take on a completely different color as a logistical node. Of course, it also raises political debates, especially regarding immigration management. Be that as it may, we will still have to wait to find out if the project finally materializes. Cover image | SECEGSA and Google Earth In Xataka | Amazon wants to save its ‘cloud’ from the mud: the plan to shield Zaragoza against large floods

While Europe looks at Ukraine, the US has sounded the alarms for Spain on a closer front: losing two autonomous cities

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In July 2002, a handful of Moroccan soldiers landed on the islet of Perejil and raised a Moroccan flag there. The Spanish response came days later with a military operation so rapid and measured that it ended up becoming one of the diplomatic-military episodes strangest of the recent Mediterranean. What worries Spain. While Europe concentrates much of its military attention in Ukraine and the eastern flank of NATO, a much closer concern is growing in Spain: the south of the Strait. The problem is not just Morocco or the military balance in the Maghreb, but the change in the United States’ attitude toward the region. The appearance in Washington of official documents that describe Ceuta and Melilla like cities “under Spanish administration” in Moroccan territory has generated unprecedented alarm because it breaks a historical diplomatic taboo. For decades, the sovereignty of both cities was considered out of the question for Western allies. Now some American political sectors are beginning to treat her as an open dispute susceptible to future negotiation. US pressure. Spanish concern does not arise solely from a parliamentary report, but from the political context that surrounds it. Republican congressman Mario Diaz-Balartclose to Marco Rubio’s entourage and aligned with positions very favorable to Rabat, has not only publicly defended that Ceuta and Melilla are “in Moroccan territory”, but that the own report encourages the State Department to promote diplomatic talks about their status. All this coincides with the deterioration of the relationship between Donald Trump and the Spanish Government for military spendingNATO and the disagreements over Iran. In certain strategic Spanish sectors, the feeling is beginning to spread that Washington increasingly considers most useful to Morocco as a regional and less essential partner to Spain within its Mediterranean architecture. Morocco and the new balance. The most profound change may be occurring on the other side of the Strait. Morocco has been accelerating for years its military modernization through agreements with the United States, Israel, Türkiye and France, while also promoting its own arms industry. Since 2021, industrial projects linked to drones, weapons and advanced military production have multiplied. At the same time, Rabat has consolidated his diplomatic position in Washington after the American recognition of Western Sahara. For many Spanish analysts, the problem is no longer just migratory pressure or specific border crises, but the emergence of a regional power much more militarily connected to the West and increasingly secure in its strategic position. Spain is left out. The other big concern is that Spain seems have been left out of the new network of military alliances in the Maghreb. Italy has become the main strategic partner of Algeria in the Mediterranean, expanding defense agreements, industrial cooperation and military coordination with one of the most powerful armies in Africa. Morocco, meanwhile, close ties with Washington, Paris and Tel Aviv. Spain has managed to rebuild diplomatic relations with both neighbors, but it hardly has any relevant agreements on defense matters. This vacuum is beginning to be perceived as a serious problem in certain strategic circles, especially when linked reports to the Ministry of Defense they already admit that “South of the Strait of Gibraltar, military pressure is a reality.” Ceuta and Melilla as vulnerable points. That is why the reports of the Spanish Institute for Strategic Studies raise with increasing clarity the need to a specific plan defense for Ceuta and Melilla. The focus goes far beyond the military and includes logistics, cybersecurity, maritime surveillance, institutional resilience and protection of critical infrastructure. Fear does not necessarily point to an open conventional conflict, but rather to hybrid scenarios constant pressure: migration crises, diplomatic tensions, partial blockades or political attrition campaigns. Autonomous cities thus appear as especially sensitive enclaves due to their logistical dependence and geographical isolation. A brutal return: geography. If you like, all this reflects something broader: the return of geography as a central factor of European politics. For years, Spain observed the Maghreb mainly from a migratory and commercial perspective, while the greatest threats seemed to be far from the western Mediterranean. But the war in Ukraine has accelerated regional rearmament and has reorganized alliances throughout the area. And in the midst of this transformation, Spain begins to discover that one of its potentially most delicate fronts is not in the Baltic or in Eastern Europe, but just in the other side of the strait. Image | US Army In Xataka | The US threatened to take the Rota base to Morocco. Spain has buried it with an unbeatable offer: more territory In Xataka | ANDhe tunnel between Spain and Morocco seemed like a chimera. Now a tunnel boring machine manufacturer says it is viable

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