Spain

I was about to buy the best-selling Chinese motorcycle in Spain. Until I read the fine print

by

Chinese motorcycles They are driving the Spanish crazy. So much so that they are achieving the unthinkable: snatch the throne to the historic Japanese Honda and Yamaha. It is no wonder, since both in terms of performance and price, what the Chinese proposals offer is simply unbeatable. Servidor was recently at the Zontes dealership to test what is currently the best-selling A2 license scooter in Spain: the 368G. I went down from trying it convinced of the purchase, until I read the fine print. One that has a lot to do with China’s strategy to conquer Europe. The aforementioned. If you don’t understand much about motorcycles, the summary is easy: this motorcycle is “the SUV” with the best quality-price on the market. It costs less than 5,000 euros, has a 368cc engine and almost 40hp of power, and comes with extras such as rear and front cameras with Sony sensors, heated grips as standard, keyless boot and hood, screen with mirroring for the mobile… The equivalent in any traditional brand costs about 1,500 euros more. The rolling smoothness of the motorcycle is excellent, and although the general qualities are somewhat tight (something completely logical, given the price), it is an absolutely winning purchase. Everything good, except for one little problem. We are guinea pigs. China is achieving something unthinkable a few years ago in the world of motorcycles (and cars). They have not come to compete against smaller brands or carve out a niche for themselves. They have landed in Europe to take the top positions in the ranking and end the leadership of traditional brands. Decades of reign that they have managed to end in a very short time. To do this, at least in the territory of motorcycles, something key is needed in a vehicle for daily use and enjoyment: reliability. And to ensure that the bike passes through the workshop frequently, the inspection intervals are especially abnormal. Yes, but. In the case of this Zontes, the maintenance interval is 4,000km. Yes, every 4,000km you have to go to the workshop. To give you some context, its rivals like the Honda 350 ADV They go through the workshop every 12,000km, and the Yamaha Xmax 300 every 5,000km for oil changes and every 10,000 for the rest of the consumables. The brand is completely aware of the problem this poses, and the 2026 model will arrive in summer with maintenance intervals of 6,000km. It is a substantial change, since every 12,000km a 368g will have passed through the workshop three times. One 2026, two. Little by little. Zontes is not alone in this problem. Voge, the Chinese manufacturer that has managed to become the top 1 in the best-selling trail motorcycles in Spain, has several models with service intervals every 6,000km. But in its star versions, such as 900 DSXthis goes up to 10,000km. If they still sell, imagine in a year. There are many bikers who do not put too many kilometers on their motorcycle, or those who are willing to visit the workshop twice a year in exchange for taking a much more equipped, complete and powerful product. China is managing to place its motorcycles in the top 3 in sales even with this enormous handicap on the table. When your maintenance intervals match the rest of your competitors, the rest will be history. Image | Zontes In Xataka | Spain loves one thing: cheap motorcycles. Europe doesn’t like something else: cheap motorcycles.

The Spain we know is not prepared for today’s world

by

“The worst thing has been the explosions, we thought the houses were going to collapse.” María José Díaz, from Diario Sur, spent last night talking to the neighbors from Grazalema that have been relocated to Ronda. That phrase perfectly sums up the terror that ran through the people of Cadiz. The evacuation of Grazalema. It has rained a lot in the mountains of Cádiz, that is not new. And they are not onlyalmost 600 l/m² on the rainiest dayis that in recent weeks more than 2,000 l/m² have been accumulated. That is what has turned the streets of the town into a continuous river. That is what has caused water to flow from the floors of the houses, from the baseboards, from the wall sockets. That is what has finally caused the ‘explosions’ (the noises or cracks) that at first seemed like storms, but were quickly identified as hydroseisms. Grazalema is in an environment of karst limestone rock. This suggests that beneath the ground there is a whole network of microcavities, conduits and small sinkholes. When the system becomes saturated and the water table rises, water can escape everywhere. So he has done it. What is reported in the press is calling ‘hydrosisms’ They can be understood as the response of the soil to that enormous amount of water. In Grazalema, the creaks are interpreted more as a form of rearrangement of the terrain. It may seem strange, but there is clear evidence of the process (also in Spain). Why has it been evacuated? A priori, the evacuation makes technical sense (the state of the clogged aquifer is being studied), but also psychological (the situation among the population – as evidenced by testimonies – was becoming a nightmare). What lessons can we learn from all this? As González Alemán recalled, we can’t say for sure that all this has something to do with climate change. It will have to be studied in detail, but what is certain is that yes has assumed (is assuming) a stress test of the water infrastructures of Andalusia and, by extension, of Spain. And that should lead us to reflect on the enormous urban reconversion that will have to be undertaken if this follows what the trends indicate. It is not just towns like Grazalema, nor the coasts of the country. It is not only the buildings built in flood zones, nor the retaining walls that appear insufficient. It is the system as a whole. A system that it is not clear that we can change in time. Image | Heparin1985 In Xataka | If the question is how the Andalusian water system is holding up all this water, we have an answer: they are going to evacuate Grazalema completely

Changan lands in Spain but its objective is global

by

They arrive in our country in 2026 but Changan’s backpack is loaded with experience. With its first two models flanking the presentation and the presence of the personalities who will direct its operations in our country, this Chinese company gained muscle in Madrid, the first stop in an expansion that they want to be as rapid as it is successful. The cover letter was quickly put on the table: “We want to manufacture five million units in 2030. 3.5 million will be new energy cars (a category that in China includes plug-in hybrids and electric cars)” said Manuel Perez Casado, head of sales in our country and on whose shoulders most of the presentation fell. The goal is ambitious. So much so that if it were achieved it would put the company in the famous five million club. A space reserved for the chosen ones. In the absence of knowing the consolidated data for 2025, it is only certain that two brands have far surpassed the five million units sold: Toyota (which has exceeded 11 million of cars sold) and Volkswagen. Behind, BYD has not achieved break the barrier of five million that has been fighting for two years. That is, right now, selling five million cars means becoming the third best-selling manufacturer in the world. That’s where Changan is pointing. Why does an electric car have less autonomy than advertised? Your arrival in Spain Although Changan arrives in Spain in 2026 as a Chinese firm that may be unknown to the general public, it has 45 years of history behind it. During the presentation, much of the speech focused on building trust in the company. As a group, Changan is fighting, right now, to be the fourth conglomerate of China’s largest car manufacturers. Ahead and as the undisputed leader is BYD, which dominates the Asian country and has found in its BYD Seagull (Dolphin Surf in Europe) a car that has swept the low-priced models. It is followed by Chery, the largest exporter in China that sells in our country under the brands of Omoda and Jaecoo and whose cars serve as a basis for Ebro. The third group is Geely, owner of Volvo or Smart, among other companies. Changan has, like Chery, a long tradition in the export of vehicles. It currently actively sells in 115 different countries, has 21 factories and development centers and more than 24,000 employees spread across 31 countries. In Europe they have centers in Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom that, they say, will help them tune the cars to European tastes. Changan’s contact with countries outside of what has been happening in China is not new. They have development and research centers related to autonomous driving in the United States and design centers in Japan. Furthermore, they have had and have collaborations with Ford and Mazda. So much so that Japanese electric cars are, in essence, Changan cars. Yes, he Mazda 6e and the future Mazda CX-6e They are electric cars built on the Chinese skeleton that Mazda claims to have tuned for European tastes. For now, we have only been able to touch the first of them and we can confirm that it is a good car but that its driving feel and some details of its interior in terms of ergonomics are not exactly what we expect from this Japanese brand. Their weapons to open a gap Ahead of its collaborating company, Changan arrives in our country with the Deepal S05 and S07. They are practically the same car with some differences in equipment and battery size. The first of them is the smallest and makes an appearance in our country with a 68.8 kWh battery with LFP technology which promises 485 kilometers of electric autonomy. For its part, the Deepal S07 does so with an 80 kWh NCM battery that certifies 475 kilometers of autonomy. Both cars were on display during the presentation and we were able to get into one of them in a lap from which we can draw few real conclusions. We will have to wait for a contact or an in-depth test to have a better perspective of the whole. If we talk about driving feel, we found it to be a car that accelerates sufficiently but lacks a bit of restraint in its suspension, too soft which generates very long supports, and that has a proposal that is too artificial in its direction, at times excessively forceful but without the ability to transmit anything that happens with the wheels, which makes us lose feeling when moving quickly. Yes we can say that both cars are greattaking care of the materials that are reached by hand, prioritizing soft plastics and leaving the hard ones where we usually will not touch. They are very spacious cars that comply with the maxim of many other Chinese cars that we have had in our hands. In general, they are well-resolved vehicles inside, with a lot of interior space for the rear seats and with a trunk that is somewhat fair for its size. And, above all, with very extensive equipment. The Deepal S05 comes with a 15.4-inch screen with 2.5K resolution (compatible with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay) that flows very well in the tests that we were able to do when we got on it. Its equipment has all the expected driving assistance systems in level 2 autonomy such as adaptive cruise control. Cameras with what the brand calls 540º vision are also included. That is, we can see what we have under the car. Deepal S05 interior For its part, the Deepal S07 adds a rotating screen that moves left or right to facilitate handling for the driver or passenger. Of course, like its little brother, it lacks any type of physical buttons for the air conditioning functions. Also included as standard is a glass roof and wireless charging for your mobile phone. In this case, the screen is 15.6 inches. The cars have a … Read more

The Canary Islands and Galicia have set off the Navy’s alarm bells. Russia’s ghost fleet has arrived in Spain with warships

by

Since the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and, above all, after the invasion large-scale ukrainian In 2022, Russia has been perfecting a form of confrontation that avoids direct clashes and moves in the shadows of international law: hybrid war. Sabotage, energy pressure, disinformation and opaque commercial fleets have become tools as strategic as tanks or missiles, and among them the called “ghost fleet”. Now everything indicates that they have found a new route: Spain. The “fleet” arrives from the south. At the end of January 2026, a Russian tanker sanctioned by the European Union was left adrift off the coast of Almería and was escorted by Spanish Maritime Rescue to a port in Morocco without being detained. He did it despite transporting more than 425,000 barrels of refined products of Russian origin. The episode, starring a ship integrated the ghost fleet (old ships, with frequent changes of name and flag and opaque structures of ownership) showed how Spain has become a key point of passage and incident management of a system designed to circumvent Western sanctions. Something happens. In the heart of the western Mediterranean, the Russian hybrid war was beginning to materialize not with missiles, but with timely breakdowns, gray areas of maritime law and routes connecting Russian ports with North Africa under the attentive, but limited, action of the European authorities. Morocco as a hinge, the Canary Islands as an entrance. A few days later, the arrival in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria of a oil tanker from Tangier set off alarms about a possible indirect entry of Russian fuel into Spain, using Morocco as an intermediate platform. Maritime security experts stressed that it was not an illegal operation in itself, but it was an unusual route which fits with the patterns of the ghost fleet, given that Morocco lacks sufficient refining capacity and has become a common destination for oil tankers linked to Russia. The Severomorsk Destroyer in 2023 The crux. The key, they insisted, is in the loading documentation, because the origin of the product remains Russian even if there are intermediate stops. In this context, the Canary Islands appear as a vulnerable link: a lightly guarded Exclusive Economic Zone, located in the transit axis of opaque oil tankers, which reinforces the idea that Spain offers the perfect combination of geography, infrastructure and control loopholes for this new phase of the Russian economic war. Silent pressure. Finally, and in parallel to these commercial and logistical movements, the most classic dimension of Russian naval power has ended up becoming visible in Spanish waters, forcing the Navy Spanish to intensify its surveillance operations. Within a week, Spanish units have followed the transit of several Russian vessels (including the destroyer Severomorsk and a mixed military-merchant convoy) from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Atlantic, with monitoring relays off the Galician coast and constant coordination with the command centers. Hybrid war. These missions, framed in the permanent surveillance of waters of national interest, show that the phenomenon is by no means isolated: while the ghost fleet operates on the economic and logistical level, the Russian naval presence reinforces the strategic pressure about key runners such as the Alboran Sea, Gibraltar and the Atlantic coast. Spain, the perfect route. The sum of these episodes draws a coherent pattern: the russia hybrid war has left the Baltic and the North Sea to settle in the Mediterranean and the eastern Atlantic, and Spain has become one of your most effective routes. It seems clear that all those breakdowns managed without detention, indirect discharges via Morocco, fuels of dubious traceability entering through the Canary Islands and Russian military ships crossing runners strategic are part of the same logic of attrition, ambiguity and saturation that we had already seen in other parts of Europe. And as in those cases, it is not a frontal attack, but rather a constant pressure that exploits the gray areas of trade, energy and maritime security, now placing Spain at the center of a board where war is not declared, it is navigated. Image | US Navy, Mil.ru In Xataka | Russia’s ghost fleet has changed its business model. Oil has given way to a much bigger target: Europe In Xataka | For years Europe has wondered how to stop the Russian ghost fleet. Ukraine just showed you the way: with AI

Spain wants to become a “bunker” for data centers with a very clear attraction: cheap energy

by

Spain finds itself facing a historic opportunity. In the offices of big technology companies—from Amazon (AWS) until Microsoft or Google—the map of the Iberian Peninsula shines with its own light. The geographical location and the deployment of fiber optics have made the country the ideal candidate to be the great “cloud” of southern Europe. However, there is a toll: these data centers (DPCs) consume electricity at an industrial pace. Only the Community of Madrid investments are played worth 23.4 billion euros linked to these projects, while regions like Aragon see how the demand from these centers threatens to absorb half of all the energy they occurs in the community. But until now, Spain had a barrier to entry: an electrical regulation designed for steel foundries, not for servers. In order not to miss the investment train, the Government has decided to make a move and change the rules of the game. A change of rules in the BOE. The Ministry of Industry and Tourism has activated the legislative machinery. The goal is to allow data centers can access to the Statute of Electrointensive Consumers, a category that until now was reserved for large heavy industry and that allows receiving million-dollar compensation on the electricity bill. In fact, the first step is now official. Through a resolution of the Secretary of State for Industry published last January, the Government has eliminated with a stroke of a pen and as a matter of urgency the main technical obstacle for the 2026 campaign: the “off-peak” requirement. The previous regulations required companies to consume at least 46% of their electricity during the cheapest hours (generally at night) to receive aid. This, which works for a factory that can put on night shifts, is impossible for a data center that operates 24/7. The new resolution considers this requirement fulfilled for all applicants this year, a “technical amnesty” designed to facilitate the entry of new actors. However, it is not an isolated patch. In parallel, the Ministry has submitted to public consultation a Royal Decree Project to reform the Statute in a structural way. The text, whose hearing process has already included the sector’s allegations, explicitly recognizes that the current regulations have been ‘misaligned’ and need to be adapted to strengthen the competitiveness of companies in the face of high energy prices. The end of the tyranny of the night. To understand the importance of this measure, you have to look at the sky. The old rule required consumption at night because, historically, that was when electricity was cheap. But the explosion of solar energy in Spain has changed the paradigm: now, the cheapest hours tend to occur at midday, when the sun shines brightly, generating what experts call the “duck curve” in prices. Maintaining the obligation to consume at night was not only a bureaucratic barrier for data centers, but also economic and ecological nonsense in the Spain of 2026. By eliminating this requirement, the Government not only helps technology companies, but also adapts the law to the reality of an electrical system dominated by renewables. Less bureaucracy and more compensation. The Government’s plan to seduce data centers does not consist of paying for their electricity directly, but rather of shielding them from indirect costs. The reform proposes two courses of action: money and simplification. Compensation of hidden charges: The new Statute will allow subsidizing costs that increase the bill but are not energy consumption, such as contributions to the National Energy Efficiency Fund (FNEE). According to industry sourcesthis charge is around 2 euros per megawatt hour and has a tendency to rise. Alleviating this burden is vital for technology companies’ numbers to turn out green. Administrative facilities: The entrance exam has been relaxed. Along with the elimination of off-peak hours, the BOE has set a new technical ratio (ratio between consumption and added value) of 0.61 kWh/€ by 2026. In addition, cumbersome requirements are eliminated, such as the requirement for very specific long-term renewal contracts, which generated a disproportionate administrative burden. The missing piece of the puzzle. Despite the red carpet rolled out by the Ministry, the sector remains cautious. From SpainDC, the association that brings together data centers in Spain, they value the elimination of the off-peak hour requirement as a “relevant advance”, but they warn that the party has only just begun and they still do not have the official invitation in hand. The problem is bureaucratic, but lethal: the CNAE (National Code of Economic Activity). To be an electro-intensive consumer, your activity must appear on a closed list of eligible sectors. If the Government reforms the technical requirements but does not expressly include the “Data Processing” code (6311) in that list, the reform will be a dead letter for them. “For data centers, the inclusion of the CNAE is a premise. Without it, certification is still not within our reach,” employers warn the Energy Newspaper. Added to this is the underground tension due to the capacity of the network: it is not enough for energy to be cheap, there must be “plugs” available. The Electrical Network It is saturated in key pointsand the sector demands urgent investments so that the promised megawatts actually reach the servers. A seduction in the testing phase. Spain has sent a clear message to international markets: it wants to be Europe’s great data warehouse and is willing to modify its sacred industry laws to achieve it. The BOE resolution for 2026 It is the test of faitha temporary safe passage to prevent the flight of investments. However, the ultimate success of the strategy depends on the fine print that is written in the coming months. If the structural reform of the Royal Decree ends up including data centers in the official list of beneficiary sectors, Spain will have completed its transformation: from a country of sun and sand, to a country of sun and data. Image | freepik Xataka | Meta is spending millions and millions of dollars convincing us of one thing: that data … Read more

The hypermarket is quite mortally wounded in Spain. There is an absolute winner: the Mercadona model

by

For years the plan was to take the car, go to the hypermarket on duty and spend a couple of hours walking through its aisles to collect everything we needed and a few other things that we could find because there was almost everything there. is passing away by leaps and bounds. From the boom of the hypermarket to its decline. It was the 90s when they became popular, but there has been a change in purchasing and consumption habits that were catalyzed by the pandemic. The 2025 data from the consulting firm NIQ (former Nielsen) collected by El País They speak of a share of 10.2% of total sales in Spain. And last year it grew by 1.2% unlike the previous year, where it fell by 2%. The problem, in addition to its small piece of the pie, is that the majority of food distribution channels in Spain grew more. The heirs of hyper. These Mercasa studies date from spring 2025 cited by The Economist where they reflect that supermarkets already concentrated 91.8% of the commercial surface in the state. And it is not the only one: the other alternative is proximity formats. It is true that the NIQ data shows that the medium supermarket (between 300 and 799 square meters) fell more than the hypermarket, but its share is four points higher. The small supermarket (less than 300 square meters) and the large supermarket (between 800 and 2,500 square meters) are the big winners: the former rose two tenths with a sales increase of 9.1% and the latter did the same by nine tenths to reach 57.1% of the market and 7.6% of turnover. Here there is an absolute winner: Mercadona, whose new openings exceed 1,500 square meters and which has also been transforming its 1,600 stores for years to replace the smaller ones. And its strategy is paying off: its share has risen to 29.5% in 2025 despite having 10 fewer stores. The Mercadona effect or how efficiency kills size. This change in trends opens a new battle for proximity: the growth is in the 1,500 square meter supermarket aka the Mercadona model or in the convenience store. Growing no longer means opening more centers, but rather having better centers: it pays more to close 10 stores because you have more efficient stores. On the other hand, last mile logistics is gaining weight: it is easier and more affordable to serve an online order with a network of small stores scattered throughout the urban center than from a distant hypermarket. In addition, the franchise format allows chains to expand their brand without assuming operating costs. The consumer has spoken. The NIQ consultancy reflects clearly this paradigm shift: purchase occasions per household have grown by 11% in 2025 and units per basket have decreased by 7.6%. In short: we buy more times but less quantity, a trend that benefits local stores and penalizes hypermarkets. Kantar’s reading points to factors such as smaller homes, a higher average age, an urban context that favors this type of purchase over American car culture. The chains are moving. The fact that the hypermarket is in decline, reducing its weight in the market, directly affects the operators that exploit this format, such as Carrefour and Alcampo, followed by Eroski and El Corte Inglés. In NIQ figures, the first lowered its share two tenths to 7.2%, the second fell from 3.1 to 2.9% and the Basque chain fell one tenth to 4.3% and El Corte Inglés did the same two tenths, to 1.6%. So they are adapting to this paradigm shift: In Xataka | Mercadona has understood that Spain no longer wants to make its potato tortillas. And he is making gold with it In Xataka | Years ago Mercadona decided to conquer the market with its white brands. And that is making gold for some companies Cover | Carrefour

The time it takes to get to a highway anywhere in Spain, on a revealing map

by

Faced with the pressing housing problem in Spain In large cities, one of the simplest solutions for those who can afford it is to leave stressed centers such as Madrid or Barcelona in search of more accessible municipalities and properties. How much? It depends on your budget, what your work is like and what the destination location offers you in such objective terms as services and infrastructure. And there is one essential to move: the distance to a main road. I speak with knowledge of the facts: this was a key factor when choosing a municipality to buy an apartment months ago. My new location has direct access to the highway and getting from there to my trusted padel club in Pamplona is 10 minutes longer than doing it from my old apartment, located in the center of the Navarrese capital. Although it is not ideal, my pocket has appreciated it and the sacrifice is profitable for me. Now, having chosen an idyllic municipality in the Navarrese Pyrenees would have been a very bad idea in terms of mobility (although bucolic on days like today). That was my personal decision, but given the prices, I know that I am not alone: ​​from buying in the capital to doing so in a municipality in the province there are price variations of up to 131% in Madrid or 126% in Álava, according to the latest Idealista study that collects La Razón. Because if the price of the property in Villagónadas de Abajo is the lowest in the province but it is where Cristo lost his lighter, already such. Well yes: the price differences are abysmal and the communications are too. An x-ray of territorial inequality and Spanish orography This map created by Digital Cartography With data from the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, this is evident. The cartography collects the minutes by car to a highway or highway from a good part of the Spanish state (if there are no this type of roads, as happens in Ceuta or Melilla for example, then they do not appear) with information from 2022. To see everything in a more intuitive way, they have used the colors of the traffic light, where green is what can cost you up to 20 minutes and red goes from one hour to 133 minutes in the maroon areas. The access time to a highway or highway in Spain. Digital cartography with data from the Ministry If we superimposed a physical map with a demographic one we would find a clear diagnosis of red zones in critical areas such as the Asturian massif and the Pyrenees, the muga with Portugal (especially in Zamora, Salamanca and western Extremadura), the Iberian System and the maximum expression of “Empty Spain” in the south of Teruel, the north of the basin and areas of Guadalajara or the Betic Systems. We know that in communications Spain It is a centralized state with Madrid as the nerve center and the lines of these main roads, although they do not appear on the map, can be intuited. Without going any further, it is not too difficult to imagine where the A-2 goes to Barcelona or the A-6 to A Coruña. That is the first clue as to why we find such an uneven map: the radial network model, which leaves enormous gaps in peripheral areas that are not linked to large state/European corridors. Obviously the extreme orography of the Pyrenees or the Iberian System makes construction difficult on a technical and economic level (it is not that it is not possible to lay out viaducts or tunnels, it is that it makes the cost skyrocket), but the Average Daily Intensity mandates: for a public work to be approved there is a cost-benefit analysis and if an area has a low population density, the ADI is low, making it difficult to justify the investment. On the other hand, there are environmental restrictions: some of these red zones coincide with national parks or protected areas. In this scenario, obtain a Environmental Impact Statement (mandatory in projects of this magnitude) is an impossible mission. The small print. Something that I greatly appreciated when I returned to Navarra is that there is no traffic… compared to Madrid. The rush hour for leaving work or school may be noticeable in a few minutes of delay, but it is light years away from the traffic jams that I have had to suffer in return or bridge operations when I lived in the state capital. Because although in Madrid almost everything is green, in practice those minutes correspond to a distance traveled respecting the limits of the road and assuming fluid traffic. In Xataka | This is the DGT map to visualize where there are active V-16 beacons in Spain. There is another more useful unofficial map In Xataka | Europe’s passenger car industry, in a revealing map that makes it clear who is the real “engine” of the EU Cover | Digital cartography

Spain prepares for a “festival” of Atlantic storms

by

After a month of January that has been through water and snow (especially the last few weeks) and in which the Sun has made little appearance, all eyes are on how the month of February will start this Sunday. But a priori, the trend of constant rains seems to continue to prevail throughout the peninsular territory, as AEMET itself has pointed out in its latest bulletin. Boiled. This is undoubtedly the best summary we have for what we will see throughout the month of February, at least until the 22nd, which is what it covers the latest prediction from the national meteorological agency. And the fault is not an isolated front that reaches the peninsula, but a real carousel of fronts that will come and go of the national territory. This means that rainfall throughout the month of February will be above average, and a significant rainfall surplus is expected, especially in the west of the peninsula, Extremadura and the central-southern area. Something similar to what we have had in recent days, so we will not find any changes. They are persistent. As we say, prediction models such as ECMWF point to an atmospheric configuration that opens the door to the continuous arrival of storms from the Atlantic, a scenario that counteracts the initial forecasts that it was going to be a much drier winter than usual. And this change in the forecast completely breaks the trend of the dry environment and it is good news, since the reservoirs begin to fill for spring and summer. Something that is undoubtedly very positive in case half of the year the trend continues to be quite dry and that could be a serious problem if we had not now filled our water reserves. The cold on pause. If the water is the protagonist, the temperature is the supporting actress that surprises, and despite the rain and overcast skies, we are not going to experience extreme cold. Something that agrees with what the AEMET pointed out when seeing that we have been there for three years (for now) without a great cold wave throughout Spain. That is why normal temperatures or slightly above the historical average are expected, and without severe frosts. This is because the Atlantic air flow, being oceanic and humid, usually tempers the environment, avoiding the drastic drops in thermometers typical of continental or Siberian air inlets. In the long term. These predictions are made with the ECMWF models with their weekly maps and clearly show the persistence of low pressures surrounding the peninsula until the middle of the month. But in the long term everything can end up changing and give a very different prognosis. Although it is true that combining it with ICON and other global models reinforces the instability forecast, which increases the reliability of this prediction throughout the month of February. In Xataka | We have always believed that London is very rainy and that Barcelona is not. The only problem is that it’s a lie

Spain has just surprised Europe and the US with an unprecedented operation. It is not a simple rearmament, it is a historic naval coup

by

For years, the European rearmament it was more conversation than facts and Spain always appeared in the list of the lagging countries. Now after constant pressure from the United States and the climate of insecurity In Europe, the country has taken an unexpected turn with an unprecedented naval investment that has surprised even its allies. A leap that has not been seen in decades. Spain has activated one of the largest renewal processes of its Navy since the end of the Cold War, an investment of 5.5 billion euros for a plan that combines the incorporation of 37 new warships and four submarines of new generation with the deep modernization of units already in service. This is not a routine replacement, but rather a complete reconfiguration of naval capabilities for a more demanding strategic environment, where sea control, deterrence and the protection of sea routes have returned to the center of the security agenda. The submarine axis and a program. The technological heart of the plan is formed by the four S-80 submarines, developed by Navantiadesigned to return to the Spanish fleet an advanced submarine capacity in stealth, autonomy and combat. With air-independent propulsion, state-of-the-art sensors and an architecture designed for surveillance, intelligence and anti-submarine warfare missions, these units represent a qualitative leap which places the Spanish Navy at an operational level comparable to that of the large European navies, with a delivery schedule that extends until 2030. Submarine S-8 Frigates, ships and balance. The renewal is not limited to the underwater field. The program includes five F-110 frigates multi-mission design, designed to operate in high intensity scenarios, together with the modernization of the F-100 frigates to extend its useful life for two more decades. Added to this are new action ships maritime with anti-submarine capabilities, which seeks to maintain a balance between new generation platforms and proven units, avoiding an operational vacuum during the transition. F-110 Frigate Logistics as a multiplier. A key part of the effort is focused on logistical and technological support. The construction of a new Supply Ship of Combat, the update of minehunters, the incorporation of hydrographic vessels and a specific platform electronic warfare They reflect a broader vision of naval power, where sustaining prolonged operations, gathering information, and dominating the electromagnetic spectrum is as important as direct combat. Geopolitics and deterrence. There is no doubt, this rearmament responds to an international context more unstablemarked due to open conflicts in Europe, tensions in the Mediterranean and the Sahel and greater competition between powers. For a country with a strategic position between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, strengthening the fleet is not only a matter of prestige, but deterrent credibility and real capacity to protect own and allied interests within the NATO framework. Industry, employment and autonomy. Beyond the military level, the program aims to have a direct impact about the naval industry Spanish. The aim is most likely to consolidate a technological fabric with high added value, in addition to generating qualified employment and reducing external dependencies in critical systems. If you also want, the development of the S-80 and of the new frigates It has also served as a catalyst for innovation in propulsion, sensors and combat systems, with effects that transcend the strictly defensive sphere. Spain on the board. The last reflection that comes out of the historic announcement is clear: with this investment sustained over time, Spain reinforces its role as a relevant actor in the European maritime securitya priori capable of contributing more decisively to international operations and the protection of the main lines of maritime communication. I already we had seen the last months in many other nations. In the case of Spain, it is not, or does not seem to be, a simple update of ships without further ado, but rather the confirmation that naval power is definitely once again a central pillar of defense policy in the 21st century. Image | Navy, A Guy Named NyalNavantia In Xataka | Spain may not have F-35, but it is about to make history by sea: it is called F110 and it is ready for any war In Xataka | The United Kingdom will be only the first client: Spain builds a colossus in Galicia to build warships like churros

It has been so windy in Spain that the wind turbines have been disconnected

by

Spain woke up this Wednesday, January 28, 2026, under the effects of a storm of cold, snow and wind that has gone beyond the collapses on the roads. The storm Kristin has not only covered in white the center of the Peninsulacausing major traffic jams and a rise in teleworking in Madrid, but has also forced the system operator, Red Eléctrica de España (REE), to execute emergency measures to prevent the electrical balance from being compromised. Two hours of tension. Between 08:00 and 10:00 in the morning, REE was forced to activate the call Active Demand Response Service (SRAD). The reason was a specific but severe mismatch between generation and available demand. According to operator datathe system suffered a deficit of just over 2 gigawatts (GW). The forecast pointed to an operating power of 38,526 MW, but reality remained at a peak of 36,517 MW at 08:50 hours. This imbalance, which is technically known as a problem in the so-called “morning ramps“was due to a paradoxical phenomenon: excess wind. Although wind power is a key piece of the electricity mix, when gusts exceed certain safety thresholds, the wind turbines must be disconnected to avoid structural damage. The “wind blackout.” This phenomenon made the actual production would plummet to 7,500 MW, compared to the 12,500 MW initially planned. Added to this factor was a “secondary effect” from Portugal, where the storm also caused havoc, forcing imports to be reduced of electricity to Spain from 2,300 MW to just 800 MW. As wind energy expert Sergio Fernández Munguía explains on their social networksthis disconnection is not an anomaly, but rather an automatic protection mechanism. In situations of extremely strong winds, higher than the operating limits of the wind turbines – around 25 meters per second, about 90 kilometers per hour – the turbines are stopped preventively to guarantee their integrity. A physical limit that makes extreme wind an operational risk factor for renewable generation. The “red button” for the industry. The SRAD is the successor to the old “interruptibility”. This is a mechanism included in Operation Procedure (OP) 7.5 which allows REE order large industrial consumers to temporarily reduce or stop their consumption to relieve the network and guarantee reserve levels. Around thirty companies from different sectors and sizes participate in the service, with a minimum demand of 1 MW. These companies receive a reward both for being available and for each effective activation. In the last auction, held on November 28, 2025, 1,725 ​​MW were awarded for the first half of 2026, with a total cost of 255 million euros that ends up having an impact on consumers’ electricity bills. This Wednesday’s execution took place in two blocks. The first, 865 MW, at a price of 116.47 euros per MWh; and a second block of 860 MW at 120.90 euros per MWh. In total, 1,725 ​​MW of industrial power was paralyzed, the maximum available in this period. The role of gas and criticism of the system. Given the fall of wind power and practically no solar production at those early hours, the system depended on gas backup. The combined cycles went from generating about 3,000 MW at 6:00 in the morning to more than 8,000 MW at 9:00. However, this effort was not enough to fully offset the loss of renewable generation. According to industry sources consulted by The Energy Newspaperaround twenty combined cycle plants – around 8,000 additional MW – were not coupled or in immediate operational reserve, which prevented their rapid entry into the system and precipitated the order to stop industrial consumption. What can we expect in the coming months? Despite the spectacular nature of the measure, the official message is one of calm. Electrical Network has underlined in its statements that “the continuity of supply has not been compromised at any time” and that the activation of the SRAD has the sole objective of guaranteeing the system’s safety reserve levels. However, the scenario for 2026 poses relevant challenges. The operator estimates that during this first half of the year around twenty SRAD activation orders could be issued if similar stress situations are repeated. This mechanism is not the last link in the security chain, but it is a critical defense against abrupt power variations in a system with a high penetration of variable renewable energies. The challenge of intermittency. What happened this Wednesday once again puts on the table the challenges of operating an electrical system that is increasingly dependent on the weather. The rapid activation of the SRAD and the support of gas prevented greater evils, but the episode reinforces the need to have firm reserves – such as hydraulics and combined cycles – and industrial flexibility mechanisms capable of shielding the network against unforeseen meteorological events in the future. Image | Unsplash Xataka | Inspecting an offshore wind turbine no longer requires stopping it: the drone that uses AI to ‘x-ray’ moving blades

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password.

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

Here you'll find all collections you've created before.