Spain

There is a “nuclear” gift from Russia to North Korea off the coast of Spain

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In the 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, many Western experts began to fear that Russian scientists and military technology would end arriving in North Korea through opaque means, silently fueling Pyongyang’s weapons programs. Since then, every strange move between Moscow and the North Korean regime has been observed with a mixture of concern, secrecy and suspicions that are difficult to prove. A collapse full of unknowns. counted this morning CNN in an extensive report that the sinking of the Russian freighter Ursa Major off the Spanish coast has ended up becoming one of the strangest and most opaque stories to emerge around the Ukrainian war, as well as one of the most delicate. Officiallythe ship suffered several explosions in December 2024 before sinking in the Mediterranean. However, from the first moment they began to accumulate details difficult to fit into the version of a simple maritime accident: a cargo absurdly described as “manhole covers”, a Russian military escort for much of the journey, strange maneuvers before the sinking, subsequent explosions on the wreck and a very unusual silence from both Moscow and the Spanish authorities. Little by little, the case began to look less like a conventional shipwreck and more a strategic operation that went wrong in the middle of an extremely sensitive geopolitical context. The suspicion that changes everything. The great suspicion arose when Spanish researchers and sources cited by CNN They began to point out that the Ursa Major could transport nuclear reactor components similar to those used in Russian submarines. The captain himself would have ended up admitting to Spanish investigators that those supposed “manhole covers” were actually linked pieces to two naval reactors, although he claimed not to know if they contained nuclear fuel. The most disturbing hypothesis is that the final destination was not Vladivostok, despite officially appearing on the route, but the North Korean port of Rason. That is where the story takes on a completely different dimension, because the sinking would no longer be just a maritime incident, but the possible interruption of a technology transfer extremely sensitive between Moscow and Pyongyang, just after North Korea sent thousands of soldiers to support Russia in the Ukrainian war. The WC-135 off Spain. The arrival of the WC-135 aircraft Americans was the detail that definitively set off all the alarms. These planes, known as “nuke sniffers,” are not just any aircraft: they are extremely specialized platforms designed to detect radioactive traces and analyze nuclear contamination in the atmosphere. Washington normally uses them to monitor nuclear tests, atomic accidents or sensitive activity in places like the Russian Arctic or Iran, in any case, not to routinely fly over the Mediterranean off Spain. that the United States will send twice These devices over the area where the Ursa Major rests immediately fueled the suspicion that he feared something much more serious than a simple shipwreck. Although there is no public confirmation of radioactive contamination, the simple deployment of these planes left a sensation that is very difficult to ignore: Russia could have had a nuclear “gift” destined for North Korea sunk in front of Europe. Let us remember that a few months later, Kim Yong Un showed the world his alleged nuclear submarine. Explosions, spy ships and an uncomfortable wreck. The sequence after the sinking made the story even stranger. According to the research quoted by CNNthe ship did not seem doomed to sink immediately after the first explosions. However, hours after Spanish rescue resources arrived, the Russian ship Ivan Gren It launched red flares over the area and new explosions were recorded, detected even by Spanish seismic systems. Days later it also appeared the Yantarofficially a Russian research ship but designated for years by NATO as spy platform submarine. He remained on the wreck for several days before to register more explosions underwater. All of this continued to fuel the theory that Moscow may have attempted to destroy sensitive evidence at the bottom of the Mediterranean, especially if the ship was carrying advanced military nuclear technology or compromised documentation related to North Korea. The theory of silent sabotage. Another of the most surprising aspects of the investigation is the possibility that the Ursa Major was attacked with an extremely unusual weapon. The Spanish authorities are handling the hypothesis of a small hole just 50 centimeters caused by a supercavitating torpedo Barracuda typea weapon capable of moving at very high speed by reducing the friction of water using a gas bubble. The disturbing thing about this type of torpedoes is that they can pierce a hull without necessarily generating a large audible explosion, something that would fit with the account of the Russian captain, who stated not having heard no impact as the ship began to lose speed. Other experts believe the use of limpet mines or attached charges to the helmet. In any case, the mere fact that sophisticated sabotage is contemplated in waters near Spain reveals to what extent the case has stopped looking like a conventional accident. The reflection of a new alliance. Beyond the concrete mystery of the Ursa Majorthe case reflects something even more important: the rapid rapprochement between Russia and North Korea. For years, Moscow avoided crossing certain lines related to the transfer of strategic military technology to Pyongyang. However, the war in Ukraine has changed many priorities. As we have been countingNorth Korea contributes ammunition, missiles and soldiers, and Russia could be returning the favor with technical knowledge much more sensitive. The images released months later of the sinking with Kim Jong Un showing the helmet of a supposed North Korean nuclear submarine fit closely with this possibility. If there really was an attempt to move Russian naval reactors to North Korea, the sinking of the Ursa Major could represent one of the most important (and most secret) episodes of the new military relationship between both countries. Whatever it is is still in the Mediterranean. To this day, the wreck remains at about 2,500 meters deep … Read more

Spain wants 90% of the people on this map to have an AVE station 30 minutes away. There is small print

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The Ministry of Transport and Urban Mobility wants to turn the train into one of the great mobility axes of our country. To this end, the objective has been proposed to promote the use of high speed in the west of the Iberian Peninsula. The project has a clear headline: an AVE station half an hour away for 90% of the inhabitants of the Atlantic corridor. What has been announced? 9% of the population of the Atlantic Corridor will have access to a high-speed station within half an hour in 2030. This is the conclusion reached by the Territorial accessibility analysis carried out by the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobilitythrough the Office of the Commissioner of the Atlantic Corridor. If the plans are fulfilled, the Ministry assures that in less than five years a total of 62 high-speed stations will be ready, spread across 28 provinces and 11 autonomous communities. The jump will have to be substantial because right now there are 33 stations available with high-speed service distributed in 8 autonomous communities and 19 provinces. What is the Atlantic Corridor? Within the mobility of the European Union, the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) defines nine major corridors to define your roadmap and investments. These corridors are large spaces through which a very important part of the citizens of the European Union and their goods move. In the different corridors, therefore, all mobility nodes are taken into account, from ports and airports to railways and roads. In the case of the Atlantic Corridor we are talking about a set of communication nodes that link the south of Germany with Paris and the entire west coast of France with Spain (on its western slope) and Portugal, culminating in the Cádiz area. In these moments, the Atlantic Corridor as it passes through our country offers the following data: 5,400 kilometers of railway tracks 2,900 kilometers of roads Nine seaports Five international airports Nine intermodal stations Four cross-border crossings with Portugal or France And it is linked to 13 autonomous communities and 40 provinces By train. Among the infrastructures designed to facilitate movement through all these places is the train. And, specifically, the boost to high speed that the European Union wants to give to encourage the use of this means of transport instead of the plane. These investments, according to the Ministry of Transport, will have to be completed before December 31, 2030 and represent an investment of 3,123 million euros. It must be taken into account that the European Union has been demanding better connectivity by train from Spain and Portugal than should crystallize with a Madrid-Lisbon in 2030. But It won’t be until 2034 when this line is completely a high-speed route. What does it imply? In order to achieve the milestone set by the European Union, it will be necessary for Spain to complete the “Basque Y”, the high-speed project that has been underway for more than 20 years to provide the region with a qualitative leap in railway connections. that seem not to arrive. Additionally, the entire project will need to be completed to connect Spain with Portugal through Extremaduraa journey in which, at the moment, it is not always possible to travel at high speed. And it will also be necessary to bring high speed to Huelva. 90% with small print. The big headline, as we said, is that 90% of the population of the Atlantic Corridor will have a high-speed station less than half an hour from their home… as long as such a station exists in their province. Here is the headline’s trick, if the province does not have a high-speed station, the percentage drops drastically in some cases. For example, in the press release no reference is made to Salamancaone of the conflicting points when talking about high speed in the Atlantic Corridor. The European Union roadmap marks a connection between the Spanish city and Porto but there is little progress in this regard. Another of the region’s usual demands is also discarded: recover the Vía de la Plata railway. The truth is that this project is neither here nor expected. Other data must also be taken carefully. The Ministry of Transport says that 100% of the inhabitants of the Basque Country will have access to a high-speed train station… but in this case less than an hour away and not 30 minutes. La Rioja will also make a qualitative leap, from the current 14% to 99% although no high-speed train stops in the region. These data lead us to the fact that, in 2030, 70% of the population of the Atlantic Corridor will have a high-speed station less than an hour from their home. The Ministry of Transport puts this number at 26.8 million people. Some controversies. However, having a high-speed line close to home does not mean that we have a high-speed train that is always accessible. Spain, the second country with the most high-speed roads in the world (second only to China), is a good example of how a poorly studied growth ended with high speed stations with very little traffic. Nor does living in a provincial capital guarantee that the train always stops. A paradigmatic example of this is Zamorawhere they fight so that more high-speed trains that cover the Galician corridor stop at their stop. And sometimes, The best solution is to offer high-speed stations in the middle of nowhereas a link between large populations. Increasing the number of high-speed stations does not automatically mean having ample schedules to take a high-speed train. However, this shouldn’t be bad in and of itself. A good example is Japan’s dense high-speed network where there are trains that stop exceptionally between origin and destination and others that dot their journey with more or fewer stops. Of course, there the density of passage in the number of trains facilitates mobility and the connection between “fast” trains and those that stop more frequently. Photo | Adif In Xataka | High speed in Madrid … Read more

On its way to increasing military production, Spain already has two new candidates: Seat and Ford

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Europe rearms. The war in Ukraine and the constant pressure from the United States Government for European countries to increase their defense spending has driven a rearmament that crosses Europe and has raised blisters among the nations that invest the least in defense. One of them is Spain. But Spain, like many other European countries, is already looking for spaces to increase its weapons production. And he has an idea: car factories. What has happened? Spain is already considering using car factories to promote its military modernization programs. That’s what it says Expansiona medium that points to internal Defense sources as the voices that advance the conversations that the Government would have had with companies such as Ford and Seat. According to this medium, the conversations are part of the implementation of “the budgets and sizing of the new military modernization programs (PEM) that are going to be launched.” The objective is to define the budget to be used and where it could go, with the intention of presenting them around summer and assigning them at the end of the year. Seat and Ford? That Seat and Ford are the first to be mentioned makes a lot of sense. With its conversion towards the electric carMartorell planned to reduce staff and resize its facilities. In 2022 they estimated a surplus of almost 2,000 direct jobs and with a commitment to new technology, the El Prat plant focused on gearboxes is one of the most notable. For its part, Ford seems to be looking for a new future to its Almussafes plant or, at least, part of it. The company has significantly reduced its production and, although it has confirmed the assembly of a new modeleverything indicates that Ford does not fully trust the plant. In fact, the latest rumors suggested that The Chinese company Geely wanted to take over part of the facilities. With a view to Defense. Although there is now open talk of converting part of the plants of these two companies into spaces to produce military material, the truth is that this idea has been floating around Seat for a few weeks. Last March it already emerged that Seat negotiated with Indra to manufacture light military vehicles. The agreement, they assured in Five Dayswould have the approval of the Government, which already stated last year that the reconversion of the automobile industrial sector could involve, at least in part, supporting Defense. It also coincides with the increase in Indra’s investments in the military field. Not only in Spain. Reconditioning automobile facilities to produce war material is not an idea that was born in Spain, far from it. In Germany, there have been negotiations that one of the Volkswagen plants begins to manufacture tanks. Last year there was also talk of Renault’s turnaround, pioneer in tank productionto manufacture drones bound for Ukraine. And not just vehicles. Last March there was already talk of the possibility that Volkswagen will start producing parts for missiles at its Osnabrück plant, according to Financial Times. The intention is that trucks would leave their facilities to transport them but also basic equipment such as shuttles or electrical generators to activate them. A key moment. If governments are looking with eager eyes at European automobile plants, it is because they know that the industry is not going through its best moment. The conversion to electric cars points to massive layoffsespecially because they lack a good part of the mechanical components that are present in any combustion car. Furthermore, its simplification points to shorter assembly times, a greater presence of robots and less human capital. These massive layoffs could be saved, at least in part, with the reconversion of these plants. It must be taken into account that manufacturing in Europe is more expensive than doing so in Asia or countries with preferential trade agreements with Europe such as Morocco either Türkiye. This is moving part of European production to these countries. Especially the smaller ones that are more complicated to make profitable. Spain is of the countries that are suffering the least from the blow because, at the level of salaries and energy costs, we are more competitive than plants from Germany or France. However, both Volkswagen with Seat and Ford, Stellantis either mercedes They have dropped that they are willing to reduce their workforce and production in our country. Photo | Caesar and seat In Xataka | Ford invested 1 billion to produce electric cars in Europe. Now it will invest money in laying off 1,000 employees

Spain has just entered a “polar episode” because of Greenland

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It’s May and yes, it’s cold out there. Maybe not “very cold”, but certainly much colder than reasonable. And the fact is that, between Sunday the 10th and Thursday the 14th, the Peninsula and the Balearic Islands will go through a “thermal drop” caused by a mass of maritime polar air with drops of between 5 and 10 degrees compared to normal. What is happening? At a technical level, the cause is found in an anticyclonic ridge that runs from the Azores to Greenland. That has produced a southward undulation of the polar jet. Understanding this pattern is interesting because it is what allows us to have five “extremely cold days for the time” just after the warmest April in the historical series. There will be a sharp thermal drop with drops of up to 15 degrees if we take last week as a reference. In some inland places, the thermometer will drop below zero (-3 degrees in the upper Duero, the Iberian and Central systems; -5 in the Pyrenees). In addition to the showers, AEMET warns of snow, hail storms and frost. Just because it’s rare doesn’t mean it’s unpublished, of course. Late frosts at the end of April, May and even June are common in a large area of ​​the peninsular territory. The worst part of these events, however, will be borne by the countryside. Weren’t we going to have a warmer than normal spring? I said before that the most curious thing may be that this comes after the warmest April on record. Obviously, we are not talking about a “cold wave”: neither by duration, nor by extension, nor (of course) by temperature. But it still draws attention in a context like the current one (with the forecast of AEMET talking about warm spring). However, and it is worth pausing for a moment, there is some scientific debate (what is known as Francis-Vavrus hypothesis) on whether the fact that the Arctic is warming twice as fast as the rest of the planet is having paradoxical consequences: as the temperature gradient reduces, zonal winds weaken and undulations increase. It is not something that has been proven, but it is plausible and, even on an intellectual level, it is good to keep it in mind for the coming years. What can we expect? As AEMET saysthis week “probably colder than normal in most of the Peninsula, especially in areas of the west, center and south.” It’s still early to make a wardrobe change. Image | Tropical TidBits In Xataka | We are on the eve of a polar strike in the middle of May. And there is no climate change that protects us from this

The oldest train line in Spain is still running 180 years later. And it moves 40 million passengers

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It is very likely that you have also done the exercise but I don’t know if the subject fascinates you as much as it does me. Have you ever thought about how far and how close we are from our great-grandparents and our great-great-grandparents? The City of Wonders by Eduardo Mendoza explains wonderfully how Barcelona became a technological centrifuge at the end of the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th century. When Onofre Bouvila arrives in Barcelona, ​​the city is very different from the one in front of him when the book ends. A little before what the book tells, Barcelona had already begun to assimilate some technological advances that would be difficult for the average citizen to conceive. One of them was the railway. In 1848, the first train line on the Peninsula was inaugurated in Barcelona.. It’s Barcelona-Mataró. 30 kilometers in half an hour And, indeed, the Barcelona-Mataró is not the first Spanish train line but it is the first on the Iberian Peninsula. Actually, the first train line in Spain is the one known as Havana-Güines Since on November 19, 1837, the first service between these two towns was launched. The objective was to transport the sugar and honey that was produced in the first of these towns from Güines to the port of Havana. However, the first train on the Iberian Peninsula I would have to wait another decade. It was not until October 28, 1848 when the first train from Barcelona left towards Mataró surrounded by the music of the Artillery Corps and the curious who came to Doctor Aiguader Avenue. They explain in The Vanguard that the commotion was considerable to the south of the Parque de la Ciudadela and next to what is now the Estación de Francia, because the atmosphere vibrated with the excitement of witnessing a historical event in our country. The train had 24 cars and had capacity for 900 people. They had almost 30 kilometers ahead of them, which when the service was transformed into a regular line could be covered in 35 minutes without stops and an hour of travel if it stopped at intermediate stops, leaving far behind the five or six hours that had to be spent if traveling by stagecoach. The smoke, coal and soot did not deter those who, according to the Catalan newspaper, sneaked onto the train to be part of that first cap journey. Before, a few lucky They had already had the opportunity to travel between the two cities by train. And a few weeks before the big day, two rehearsals were carried out to check that everything was perfect and worked as it should. It was the result of the work of Miguel Biada. Miguel Biada i Buñol He was a merchant mariner who became a promoter of the first train line on peninsular soil. Although he was born in Mataró, he earned his living as a merchant in the Caribbean where, already in Havana, he had been part of the group of businessmen who promoted and carried out the first Spanish train line, the aforementioned Havana-Güines. Back in Spain, the businessman pushed to push ahead with that first train line that, according to some researchwas projected on the international gauge. These sources suggest that Madrid was required to opt for what It would later be known as Ancho Ibérico. A decision that condemned Spain to be isolated from the European railway network and that It still has its consequences today.. Finally, as we said, the first train line in mainland Spain started in 1848 and became a complete success. In the first year, 675,828 passengers boarded the train among whom, unfortunately, was not its promoter who had died that same year in April. Nor did the five people who, they say, have any good luck. The Vanguardwere run over and killed that first year. These deaths did not put a stop to the expansion plans. And the railway had come to stay in the Iberian Peninsula. It did so decades behind other European countries, but the expansion was so rapid that In 1866 Spain had already accumulated more than 5,000 kilometers of roads. Today, the Barcelona-Mataró has extended to the Massanet-Massanas station and is more than 70 kilometers long. Obviously, it is the first Rodalies line in Barcelona, ​​the one known as R1 that today starts from Molins de Rei and moves almost 40 million passengers a year. Photo | Illustration and photography collected on Wikimedia In Xataka | The Madrid Cercanías have become a nest of problems and delays: their solution is new “megatrains”

Spain still has dozens of reservoirs that cannot be used because literally no one has laid pipes

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It was inaugurated in 2015, cost 57 million euros and has a capacity for 30 hm3 of water, but the Siles dam in Jaén hasn’t been used for a decade because no one has made the necessary pipelines to irrigate the Sierra del Segura. It is not an isolated case. An example. The Rules dam was inaugurated a little earlier: in 2004. At the end of 2025, while the province of Granada was at 29% of its capacity, the Vélez de Benaudalla reservoir was close to 70%. The secret is the same: going 20 years without pipes that allow us to use water. These are flagrant cases, but there are many more (and for the most varied reasons): Alcolea in Huelva, Mularroya in Zaragoza, Castrovido in Burgos… Is there anything more Spanish than making reservoirs and taking years—or decades—to build the pipelines that make them useful? The house on the roof. In a country like Spain, each useless cubic hectometer is not only de facto lost water, it is also a tremendous ecological damage inflicted on river channels for no reason. And, if that were not enough, it is economic nonsense. It makes no sense to mobilize all the resources necessary to launch a reservoir and then leave it forgotten. Above all, because (whether we like it or not) we live in an agricultural giant that needs water security that we cannot guarantee. The opportunity cost of delaying the pipelines necessary to launch these reservoirs impacts the economic and employment development of entire regions. A Spanish problem? To tell the truth, we cannot say that it is a purely Spanish problem either. Portugal, France or Italy have had similar problems. What happens in Spain is that there is an enormous fragmentation of powers that means that, when any problem appears, everything comes to a standstill. In our case, the central State designs and finances the main dams and key sections. However, it is the autonomous communities, the hydrographic confederations or the municipalities that they must run the secondary networks. And in determining what is the main or secondary tranche (and who should pay the bill) most problems arise. But not the only ones. And it is that, as the processes become eternallicenses expire, works are not awarded, litigation drags on, environmental requirements become stricter and solving the problem becomes impossible. In the end, the dams are what is striking (what is politically profitable). The “last mile” (that whole set of pumping stations, pipelines and treatment plants) is much less striking, as crucial as it is. When problems become entrenched, there are no good solutions and administrations prefer to put the issue aside rather than make decisions. The country of a thousand preys. Because yes, it is true: Spain has many damsbut dozens of them remain vats of water with no use. And as much as the causes are clear, it is still striking that not even water crises like those of recent years manage to solve this. Image | Red Zeppelin In Xataka | “In the next ten years, Spain and Latin America are going to suffer (a lot) with water,” Robert Glennon (University of Arizona) A version of this theme was published in 2025

Germany is the European mecca of the combustion car. That Spain becomes the electricity supplier goes through Mérida and 800 million Chinese

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Hunan Yuneng International Spain New Energy Battery Material SLU already has its excavator blades in Mérida. The Chinese battery manufacturing company You already have the land and have obtained the building license from the town hall, so the preparation work on the ground has already been visible for a few days. The speed with which one of the strategic electric car factories is materializing is scandalous: in February we were talking of environmental approval and be careful because it is expected that be operational at the end of the year. That Hunan Yuneng has achieved it in such a short time says a lot about both parties involved. The factory is going from strength to strength. The plant will produce cathode materials for cells LFP batteriesmore specifically lithium iron phosphate, a technology that is emerging due to its lower cost, greater durability and better thermal resistance. As collects Badajoz Newsthis project involves an investment of close to 800 million, will have a productive capacity of up to 300,000 tons per year and will directly generate 500 jobs. According to MotorpasiónIn this first phase there will be an initial investment of about 116–125 million euros of investment and about 160 direct jobs. One of the most revealing developments about the real status of the project is the appearance of an auxiliary satellite industry: the Chinese company Jinhong Gas has constituted formally in Mérida the company ‘Jinhong Gas (Spain) SL’ to directly supply the Hunan Yuneng plant with nitrogen, an essential element for the manufacture of LFP cathode materials. Why is it important. Because it is one of the largest industrial investments captured by Extremadura and the first plant of this type in Europe, as explains the Junta de Extremadura. This makes Mérida strategic, a reference for the European automobile industry from the moment it is operational. LFP batteries are the key to cheap electric cars: they are more affordable because lithium and iron are cheaper than nickel or cobalt and they are also safer and resist charging cycles better, which makes them more durable. It is true that its energy density is lower than those of NMC chemicals, but due to longevity and cost they are ideal in the entry or medium segment, precisely where Europe needs it most compared to China. Furthermore, producing the cathode material on European soil is almost a necessity by law and a process that opens doors to aid such as Auto+ plan. Context: the lithium triangle. Extremadura has been gaining weight in the electric car supply chain for years. In Navalmoral de la Mata there is already a plant in the oven to produce complete batteries. It was initially intended for NMC batteries, but has pivoted to manufacture LFP accumulators. On the other hand, in the surroundings of Cáceres it is believed that there is one of the largest lithium deposits in Europealthough exploiting it is another story: is paralyzed after the neighborhood opposition and environmental platforms. However, the European Commission has mineral and rare earth exploitation projects in its portfolio. three located in Extremadura of the seven total in the Spanish state. Unblocking it would mean that the region could control extraction, cathode material production and battery assembly, all in the same territory: just what the Critical Raw Materials Act It has been encouraging for years without much success. The manufacturing of electric cars and their parts in Spain speaks Chinese. Chinese brands have understood that the way to avoid European tariffs on vehicles manufactured in China is that they have a shortcut to negotiations with Brussels: produce directly on European soil. Spain, which abstained from voting on those tariffshas become your favorite destination. Yes, but. The structural weak point that we have already reflected but that is worth remembering: the factory will produce lithium iron phosphate, but the lithium it needs to do so will not come from Extremadura, but probably from Australia, Chile or again China. According to the IEA report on critical minerals 2023China controls more than 60% of global lithium refining, so strategic sovereignty is relative. On the other hand, we also have to keep an eye on employment: the experience with other Chinese plants in Europe, such as lfrom CATL in Zaragozahas generated debate about what proportion of the initial qualified personnel comes from the investing country. It’s fine print that should be on the table and resolved before the machinery is operational. In Xataka | MG, BYD, Lynk&Co, Omoda: who’s who of Chinese car manufacturers in Spain In Xataka | China appears to dominate the global market for electric car batteries. He has an obvious Achilles heel Cover | Michael Fousert and Rafa Esteve

Murcia has been paying the first “shadow toll” in Spain for 27 years. This year will end it

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It was 1997 when Murcia approved the Law 4/1997, of July 24, on Construction and Operation of Infrastructures of the Region of Murcia. It might seem like a regulation more related to the infrastructures of the autonomous community, but far from it. Two years later, taking advantage of this text, the Murcia Government gave approval to the construction of the Aunor Highway (the RM-15 highway), granting the concession to a company owned by Sacyr and OHL. In October 2001, the toll road was already in operation. But on this toll highway there are no barriers or personnel to collect the corresponding amount. But yes, the people of Murcia pay for it. It is what is known as a “shadow toll” road. And in 2026 it will end. Goodbye to the first “shadow toll” in Spain Just like explains Sacyr on its websitethis Murcian highway is considered the first shadow toll highway in Spain. A formula unprecedented until then in our country. Operation is simple. The concessionaire company builds and maintains the road for the stipulated period of time. During the years that it is active, the control means certify the number of vehicles that pass on the road but the driver does not stop to pay at any time. At the end of the period stipulated in the contract (in this case, each year), the Government to which the highway belongs pay a variable amountdepending on the number of cars that have circulated through it. That is to say, the cost of traveling on the road does not only affect the driver’s pocket, it is all citizens with their taxes who pay the concessionaire company the amount corresponding to the number of vehicles that circulate on it. In this case, the concession for the RM-15 was 25 years. Therefore, next September the concession period will end and the Government of Murcia will have the opportunity to extend or terminate it and, in that case, take charge of the maintenance and operation of the road itself or contracting the services to a third party. This last option will be the one that comes out ahead, they explain in the local media as The truth. The Government of the Region of Murcia has put out to tender a contract for the maintenance of this road, along with other conservation actions and operations on other roads in the Mula Sector. The amount is 20 million euros and 20 companies have participated in the competition. With the end of this shadow toll, an annual payment of between 10 and 13 million euros per year ends, according to the media. In total, it is estimated that once the contract is finalized, between 305 and 312 million euros will have been paid to the concessionaire company. In its day, the highway was seen as a relief for the residents of the Northwest and Río Mula regions. He explained The truth that the road allowed greater access to the towns in these areas but, above all, it was a much safer alternative than the previous national highway, which crossed municipalities and made it “the most dangerous road in the Region of Murcia.” Photo | Google Maps In Xataka | If the question is how to get rid of tolls, the European Union has a clear answer: being an electric truck

a proposal from Spain after the Grok controversy

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For a long time, much of the conversation about AI has revolved around promises of productivity, creativity and automation. But there are uses that exhibit a much harsher reality: the possibility of generating non-consensual sexual content. It is not a minor detail, because it directly affects the privacy and dignity of the victims. The European Union has decided to respond to that specific point with a ban that already has political agreement. The novelty. We are facing a ban that is integrated into a broader negotiation on the AI ​​Act. The European Parliament explains that its negotiators and those of the Council have reached a provisional agreement to adjust several obligations of the rule, arguing to make it easier to comply without altering its risk-based approach. Within that package appears the piece that changes the game for these apps: the co-legislators have agreed to prohibit systems capable of creating this type of content. The final process, however, still requires formal adoption. The role of Spain. The Spanish Government claims a direct role in the measure. Moncloa maintains that the ban agreed in Brussels comes from a proposal that Spain put on the table in January, after the controversy generated by the nudes of women and minors created with GrokX’s virtual assistant. According to that official version, the initiative achieved the support of the Union in mid-March to be included in the reform of the European Artificial Intelligence Law. Pedro Sánchez has also celebrated the agreement with a direct political message: “No more doing business by violating the dignity of our sons and daughters.” The red line. The text identifies two especially sensitive categories. On the one hand, the systems used to create child sexual abuse material. On the other hand, those that allow the intimate parts of an identifiable person to be represented or shown in sexually explicit activities without consent. The ban, it should be noted, covers images, video and audio. Furthermore, the agreement is not limited to systems designed to generate this material: it also covers those who put them on the European market without reasonable measures to prevent it and those responsible for their deployment who use them for that purpose. The key date. The ban already has a calendar on the table, and that changes the reading of the matter quite a bit. The official note sets December 2, 2026 as the deadline for companies to adapt their systems to the new rule. Before getting there there is an important formal step: the provisional agreement must be adopted by the European Parliament and the Council to enter European legislation. Even so, the path is marked, because they aim to close this procedure before August 2, 2026. The fines. In the official statement we have not found reference to sanctions. However, the Irish law firm Matheson pointed out in April that both the Council and Parliament defended incorporating this practice into article 5 of the AI ​​Act, the section reserved for prohibited practices. This requirement is relevant because, in the AI ​​Act, article 99 provides for non-compliance with these prohibitions with administrative fines of up to 35 million euros or up to 7% of the company’s annual global turnover, if that amount is higher. For SMEs, a more limited criterion is contemplated. Images | Xataka with Nano Banana In Xataka | How to request to delete photos in which you have been naked sexualized with artificial intelligence

As far as we know, the agency that supervises AI in Spain is not supervising anything. What it does have is an Ideas Laboratory

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The Spanish Agency for the Supervision of Artificial Intelligence (AESIA) is close to completing its first year of operational life. This organization has activated several initiatives with results that are still difficult to specify, but one thing is clear: supervise, what is said to supervise, does not seem to be supervising anything. The danger, once again, is to continue the European drift: it is good to try to avoid the risks imposed by AI, but what Europe and Spain need is something else. Neither supervises nor sanctions. The great paradox of the agency with official headquarters in A Coruña is that, after months of operation, it has not yet exercised its theoretical sanctioning power nor has it audited a single critical algorithm of Big Tech. For now, its work has focused on “early access” to the regulations. The eternal criticism. Although the European AI Law already allows systems that violate fundamental rights to be banned from February 2025, the AESIA has not opened a single relevant file. Alberto Gago, its director, recently declared in El País that “We are sure that no prohibited AI operates in Spain.” The work is currently very different: it is limited to pedagogy and accompaniment, leaving the work of regulatory “bite” for a future that at the moment seems far from coming. Meanwhile, the real AI market continues to be defined by companies from the US or China, which do not stop releasing new models with practically no regulatory restrictions, while Spanish and European companies have the yoke of a regulation on their heads that threatens to block them before they can even launch projects of this type. At the moment he only writes manuals. In fact, she has now become a free legal consultant for a dozen companies from a “regulatory sandbox” recently created. This initiative, which boasts of being one year ahead of the mandatory deadlines of the European AI Law, wants to act as a controlled space where companies can test their AI systems. Of the 200 applications, 12 projects were selected, but the result of this effort consists of the writing technical guides that help companies comply with these regulations. The sandbox also raises doubts regarding things such as its duration, which is one year and may be too long for how fast this segment moves. A civic center as a temporary headquarters. AESIA should already be using the facilities of the La Terraza building, but said location continues under a concession from RTVE and this It does not theoretically end until 2034. It is difficult to project an image of international technological sovereignty when the agency’s main office operates from the Casa Veeduríaa shared space with neighborhood activities. This provisional headquarters coexists with neighborhood workshops and association meetingsfar from the massive data centers it aims to oversee. The image of a cutting-edge regulator working among this type of activities is probably not the most appropriate in terms of its operational credibility. Thirty professionals against the billion dollars of Big Tech investment. There is a worrying disproportion between the ambition of the government narrative and, for example, the actual staff currently available at AESIA. During the launch announcement, 80 highly specialized employees were promised, but the figures August 2025 indicate that there are barely 30 professionals on staff covering all areas. The work seems mammoth if an organization like this wants to supervise all the models that will come into operation in our country. Currently on their official website they appear two calls to cover permanent and temporary positions, in addition to six calls for officials. The Ideas Laboratory. Last April got started this “multidisciplinary faculty” to anticipate ethical challenges regarding gender, minors and misinformation. Although the topics are vital, the purely academic format clashes with the extreme speed at which the AI ​​industry moves. It is especially peculiar that the organism emits Christmas toy recommendations as global corporations redefine geopolitical power through massive language models that now threaten even unbalance the pillars of the economy. Good intentions are of little use. There is an evident mismatch between the philosophical mission of this laboratory and the technical reality. Although this citizen pedagogical work is interestingly necessary, it should not be the main function or the greatest achievement of a high-level technical supervision agency. The AESIA is behaving more like a citizen service department than as an organization capable of analyzing how the algorithms that grant us credit or diagnose diseases work. ALIA, a compromising example. We have a first worrying case with ALIAthe AI ​​model developed at the BSC. This model has been certified by AESIA, which indicates that it complies with the regulations. However the boot and evolution of said model continues to be erratic and worrying, although it is true that the resources available to the project are very far from those of startups in the US or China. The rigor of the certification is debatable and calls into question whether AESIA will have the capacity to oversee the most advanced AI models. In Xataka | This is not a normal update: MareNostrum 5 will spend 129 million euros to become the Spanish AI supercomputer

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