Spain

setting a time in Spain will always leave losers

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The week started with Pedro Sánchez announcing that “the Government of Spain will propose to the EU to end the seasonal time change”. Immediately afterwards, the marmorena got involved. And not because the idea does not have popular support: when in 2018 the European Commission held his famous public consultation On the subject, 8 out of 10 people were in favor of ending it. The problem is another and much more thorny: what schedule do we stick with? The experts are clear about it. In fact, the consensus between specialists from the SES (Spanish Sleep Society) and many other international companies It’s surprising: science is with winter time. It is the time that (on paper) ensures better alignment with natural light, limits “social jet lag” and appears to consistently yield better health and safety results. “Winter time makes it easier to have more hours of sleep and a more natural awakening that coincides with dawn. If there were a permanent summer time, in the winter months there would be a lack of light in the morning and in the summer months an excess of light at night, a situation that imbalances the internal clock and can cause poor performance and vulnerability to certain diseases,” explained the SES in its public positioning. Martín Olalla, the great Spanish expert on these topics and a historical opponent of the elimination of change of seasonal time, often insists that the evidence makes it clear that the benefit is very limited. However, when choosing one of them, the winter one wins. And then everything becomes strange. Because, although no one says it explicitly, in the popular imagination “permanent schedule” is associated with an “eternal pseudo-summer” full of long afternoons to comfortably enjoy the little leisure that day-to-day life leaves us. But let’s face it, that’s not going to happen. Daylight saving time has problems. The main one is that enjoying “long afternoons” throughout the year condemns the west of the peninsula to sunrises around ten in the morning. For landing it in a specific way. In A Coruña, in the middle of the winter solstice, dawn at 10:03 in the morning and it would get dark at 17:01. Something that is, clearly, unfeasible. A zero sum game. In the end, the seasonal time change is a compromise solution that tries to adjust the civil time to the variability of the days. It is probably a bad solution, but it helps mitigate the problems that would arise when opting for either of the other two schedules in a stable manner. After all, with winter time Galicia, Asturias, Extremadura and western Andalusia would win; while they would lose the Mediterranean and the Balearic Islands. We would avoid very late sunrises in winter and we would improve sleep, health and the morning security. The problem is that you kill the afternoons, which is the only socially attractive thing about making a permanent schedule. And that “game” is not only regional. It is also economical. There are economic sectors such as tourism or hospitality, that prefer bright afternoons; but there are many others, such as school or industry, that prefer earlier sunrises. Sometimes, phrases like “the time zone or time that corresponds to us” give the impression that the schedule is something ‘natural’: that the clock is neutral and all we have to do is adapt to it. But not. Nothing is neutral: opting for daylight saving time, winter time or daylight saving time is deeply political. Something that, whether we like it or not, prioritizes some over others. It’s not a problem, what we have now does too. The problem is another. It is walking towards the abolition of the time change without being aware of it and, above all, without being prepared for it: thinking that abolishing the time change will end all our chronoproblems is ‘magical thinking’. It will create others and, for the first time in more than a hundred years, we will not be able to blame it on the seasonal time change. Image | Moncloa | Jon Tyson In Xataka | The war that ended at two different times: the time change has been giving Spaniards headaches for almost a century

There are people buying land, farms and pig farms in Spain. And those people are investment funds

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If this were not an article by Xataka, if it were a novel by Michael Ende: the story would begin with a top-down shot of the Segrià fields. We would see farms and more farms, cereal fields, irrigated orchards, roads, the Segre winding through the plain. And, as we got closer to the ground, we would see a flood of little gray men with briefcases full of money. The argument would be obvious: the field is for sale and the funds have gone out to buy. 34 million pig heads. That is Spain: the undisputed leader of European pork, the third producer worldwide. A giant, no matter how hackneyed the metaphor may be, with feet of clay. And the Spanish countryside has many problems, but the most worrying (because it has no solution — neither easy nor difficult) is its exasperating lack of generational change. Thousands of farms are on the brink of disappearance simply because no one wants to take charge of them once the owner retires. And that “nobody” doesn’t include the funds? Not until very recently. Agriculture was an unsexy sector for financial capital, but now the situation has changed. We have seen it with agriculture: aggressive field management can generate a lot of income (even if it is at the cost of large negative externalities). Now, in addition, today two great factors have joined the celebration of capital: the first is that the mass of exploitations without relief is enormous. The second is that the processes of integration of farms with the meat industry have reached a point of no return — “the field” and “the industry” are now almost synonymous. A sea full of sharks. But, if that were not enough, the pressure on aquifers and international volatility are turning the agricultural world into a difficult place for small farms. Only large corporations have the lungs to dive into such tough markets. Is this bad news? If we look at the Spanish movements from a more international perspective, I’m afraid so. The Californian case is a warning for sailors: large funds are buying properties solely and exclusively for your water rights. And so, as seen in the last droughtit’s a huge problem. A problem that adds to environmental conflictsto rent captureto agricultural changesto the industrial dismantling of emptied Spain. A strange future. As I said before, Spain is the great agricultural power of the continent. In fact, little by little, it has become one of the great world powers in the marketing of agricultural products. But it will not be easy to stay there, the financial funds They are the best example and the problem is that everything seems to indicate that, along the way, the Spain we know will not be recognized by “not even the mother who gave birth to it.” Image | Annie Spratt | Markus Winkler In Xataka | The great paradox of Spanish olive oil: although it grows 15% a year, more than 500 olive oil mills will close in the next decade

There are foreign bus companies trying to compete with Alsa and Avanza. And Spain is making it impossible

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The Spanish bus map is in the process of changing. Routes that do not make money, corridors that no one wants to access, companies that want to completely liberalize the sector and the doubt of, to what extent, foreign companies can enter to play in a foreign country. And Spain is trying by all means to ensure that the latter does not happen. What’s happening? If we adhere to Spanish regulations, right now a company dedicated to the transport of passengers by bus You cannot make international trips with stops to drop off and pick up travelers within Spain. Not, at least, permanently. The rule only allows this service to be carried out temporarily, in order to protect national routes. That is, this prevents a company from opening a route, for example, between Lisbon and Paris and from picking up and dropping off passengers within Spanish territory at its stops within Spain (in Madrid and Barcelona, ​​for example). It is understood that if this is possible it would be a direct competition to those who have been awarded those corridors. How do buses work in Spain? Spain uses a concessional model for its bus lines. This means that a broker goes out to tender and companies present their proposals playing with the price. The best offer is the one takes the concession and the one that begins to operate during the agreed years. The system has its advantages and disadvantages. Confebús, an association that defends this model, points out that it gives security to the client because transportation is guaranteed during the agreed years and a route cannot be abandoned. Companies like FlixBus are contrary because they understand that competition is limited and that they prevent the company from adapting to new circumstances. These circumstances, for example, leave some expired concessions or concessions that have never been put out to tender. It is especially serious on bus lines where a high-speed railway operates in parallel, since the train is much more competitive in price and time. Of course, the main people affected by the abandonment of these lines are the residents of towns with intermediate stops. And what about international travel? For some time now, Europe has wanted to liberalize the sector, as it has done with trains. Despite this, Spain is resisting and although at first it was proposed to jump to the direct competition model, finally we want to maintain the concessional system but with profound changes in the current map. With this system, services through cabotage are prevented. That is, the company picks up and delivers passengers within the same country along an international route. This is the argument of Avanza and Alsa to defend the latest ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union that has ruled in favor of Denmark before the opening of a file from the European Commission. However, the case that both companies put forward is not very representative of the open debate in Spain. What has happened in Denmark? Denmark has regulated the occasional bus service that operates through cabotage in the country to a maximum of seven calendar days in a month. The formula is also applied at other times in France, as both companies use in a statement collected by 20Minutes. Understanding that this contravened community rules, the European Commission has opened a file against Denmark but the Court of Justice of the European Union closes it, understanding that Denmark does not prevent the service, it only regulates it. That is, a company can act with a discretionary service through cabotage but within the regulations established by the country. But… what is discretionary? Here is a big part of the issue. European bodies have been discussing Whether or not Denmark allows cabotage service through discretionary routes but not regular routes. Discretionary routes are those that do not have a fixed route or established times. That is, they do not always leave on the same day of the week and at the same time from a specific city, for example. They are the typical routes for trips by tourists or supporters who go to watch a soccer match in another country. The limitation of those seven consecutive days within the same month that Denmark applies is designed so that foreign companies do not compete unfairly with their national companies, offering a regulated service camouflaged as discretionary. Implications in Spain? None. This is what FlixBus defends. The travel company maintains that this regulation, contrary to what Avanza and Alsa points out, has nothing to do with the regular and international routes that companies like them propose for our country. Routes in which they would use cabotage to make the line more efficient. They give as an example the route between Trier (Germany) and Madrid that FlixBus has requested with intermediate stops in Zaragoza and Barcelona that passengers could use to move within the national territory. The line has not been authorized and FlixBus appeals to the resolution of the European Commission of April 16 that forces Spain to open its lines to this service. Spain filed an appeal against this decision was dismissed by the Court of Justice of the European Union. What is Spain doing? Place all obstacles to the entry of new actors or the liberalization of bus lines, as demanded by Europe. The approval of the Sustainable Mobility Law On October 8, 2025, article 50 was eliminated, which allowed certain routes to be authorized in free competition. That is, for now, the battle to open new international routes that allow the transfer of travelers within the same country continues. Spain has the obligation to comply, if we adhere to what is required by the European Commission, but, for the moment, it still has not given the green light to this possibility. Photo | FlixBus and Eleazer Glez In Xataka | Until a few years ago, the towns between Madrid and Valencia had trains and buses. Now they only have one problem: the AVE

Renfe is achieving 96% punctuality in its service. But not in Spain, but in Mecca

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While AVE customers in Spain are very familiar with the wave of service delays, especially during this last summerRenfe boasts in Saudi Arabia of figures that seem from another world: more than 96% punctuality and “anecdotal” cancellations in the high-speed service that operates between Mecca and Medina, according to the company. The truth is that the Haramain High-Speed ​​Railway numbers contrast with what we have here in Spain. The Saudi showcase of Renfe. The Spanish company leads the consortium that manages this pioneering high-speed train in Saudi Arabia, responsible for the complete operation: from driving to ticket sales. Álvaro Fernández Heredia, president of Renfe, presented these data at the Saudi International Rail in Riyadh, where he assured that the project is “one of the most successful in the world.” The figures that Renfe displays outside the home. The Haramain connects Mecca and Medina over 453 kilometers, with stops at Jeddah and the international airport. According to Renfe, since its inauguration in October 2018, the service has transported 29.2 million passengers, with a year-on-year growth of 20%. In the last year, the operator claims to have achieved more than 96% punctuality, measured with a margin of up to five minutes late, and operated 70,000 consecutive services without a single cancellation. The litmus test of Ramadan. Just like show According to its figures, during the March 2025 campaign, the service mobilized 1.35 million pilgrims, 40% more than the previous year. 3,410 trips were made with up to 132 trains running on the same day. The average punctuality reached 98.5% in this case, says Renfe, without recording cancellations. These are figures that are hardly seen in the company’s Spanish reports. The contrast with Spain. Last summer four out of ten high-speed trains They arrived late in Spain. Between June and August, 6,554 long-distance and AVE trains suffered delays of more than 15 minutes, according to pointed out El Mundoaffecting 2.5 million passengers. However, only three out of every hundred were able to claim compensation after tightening reimbursement conditions that Renfe applied in July 2024. Now it takes an hour of delay to obtain 50% of the ticket, when before 15 minutes were enough. Minister Óscar Puente recognized in September that the system will continue to have incidents “for at least two more years.” What’s coming now. Renfe has reaffirmed its commitment to Saudi Arabia and its ambitious Vision 2030 plan, which includes new railway projects. Among them, a high-speed line between Riyadh and Qiddiya, whose tender could be launched in the first half of 2026. Cover image | Tim Adams In Xataka | Renfe has found a scapegoat for its problems on the Madrid-Barcelona line: Talgo and its AVRIL trains

does everything the other way around in Spain, is losing a fortune… and plans to open more stores

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Costco has announced that it will continue opening warehouses in Spain despite accumulating 150 million euros in losses since its arrival in 2014, according to reports Digital Economy. The Spanish subsidiary recorded another 7.5 million losses in 2024, although its sales shot up to 607 million. The company already operates five centers (Seville, Getafe, Las Rozas, Sestao and Zaragoza) and is looking for new land. Its latest establishment in Zaragoza started with 15,000 members on the day of its inauguration. Why is it important. Costco represents the complete opposite of the model that dominates Spain: Mercadona triumphs with medium storesa reduced assortment and no membership. He doesn’t even have his own card. Costco is committed to large stores of more than 15,000 square meters, buying in bulk and charging a membership fee. It is the clash between two philosophies: the Spanish one that lives in your neighborhood and offers small, domestic formats, versus the American one of “pay 36 euros a year and get 24 rolls of toilet paper.” The strategy. Costco is playing the game Amazon played for two decades: lose money in a controlled way while it grows and build market share. Its 750,000 members (15% more than in 2023) and constant sales growth suggest that the model is finding its place. The company earned 11.5 million just from membership fees in 2024. Each new center comes with a gas station and Kirkland’s own brand products. Its average salary of 24,044 euros is above the sector. The contrast. Where Mercadona has immediate success, Costco has sustained losses. Where Mercadona optimizes margins (3.88% net profitin an upward trend), Costco optimizes volume and loyalty. Where Mercadona dominates with a 28% national share, Costco is building small niches. Yes, but. The bet has obvious risks. Costco needs critical mass for its model to work, and Spain is not the United States. Spanish purchasing habits favor proximity over volume, and competition in large stores – dominated by the French – is fierce. In fact, the hypermarket is going down in favor of the supermarket. We no longer make shopping a three-hour ritual on Saturday, but instead take advantage of empty spaces to make small purchases any day. And now what. Costco maintains that 2025 will bring more investment and land prospecting. The key will be if it manages to replicate in Spain what it achieved in other markets: convert initial losses into long-term leadership. It took Amazon twenty years to become profitable. Costco has been in our country for ten years and continues to invest. In Xataka | Spain has become a country addicted to something that a few years ago enjoyed little prestige: white label. Featured image | Marcus Reubenstein

Spain has an antidote to mental and emotional exhaustion: the nap

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In Spain, the tradition of the siesta has long been a cultural habit. However, today science claims it as a valuable resource to combat mental and emotional exhaustion. Different studies show that a well-planned nap not only helps you regain energy, but also improves cognitive functions and mood, something especially useful in times when stress and fatigue are the order of the day. Therefore, napping is an effective strategy to maintain active and balanced mind throughout the day. A mental reset called a nap The importance of the nap lies in its ability to refresh the brain and body, allowing people to face their daily tasks with better spirits and concentration, as highlighted a study from the University of Coruña. A quality nap increases energy, alertness and relaxation after rest. Improves concentration, memory and logical reasoning, promoting better performance in activities that require attention and mental speed. Besides, helps stabilize moodreduces impulsivity and makes it easier to calmly handle the frustrating tasks that often appear during the day. The scientific evidence indicate that even very short naps of just six minutes can be effective in improving sleep. processing of ideaswhile longer naps help consolidate long-term memories. For the nap to be effective, its ideal duration this between 15 and 30 minutesenough time for the brain to recover its capacity, but without entering phases of deep sleep that could cause drowsiness when waking up. Likewise, the best time to take a nap is between 2:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m., a time that coincides with a natural drop in energy during the day. If the nap lasts too long or takes place after three in the afternoon, it can negatively affect nighttime sleep, generating insomnia or a phenomenon known as “sleep inertia“, which consists of a feeling of drowsiness and difficulty reactivating after rest. Additionally, if naps become frequent and long without any noticeable improvement in performance when you wake up, it could be indicative of a sleep disorder underlying that should be evaluated by a professional. The nap is a break, not a substitute It is essential to clarify that the nap should in no case replace the need to sleep between seven and nine hours a nightsince this night rest is essential to maintain good general health and ensure efficient recovery, something that is only achieved when the brain reaches certain phases of sleep. “Sleeping well is much more than the time you spend in bed. The first is the number of hours you sleep. The second is the quality of sleep: having restful, uninterrupted sleep. The last is a regular sleep schedule,” assures Dr. Marishka Brown, sleep expert at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Not all people experience the same benefits of nap; The effects may vary depending on individual factors such as lifestyle and health. When you rely too much on long naps to compensate for fatigue, could be a symptom of health problems that require medical attention. In fact, some studies indicate that prolonged naps they associate in certain cases with metabolic problems such as obesity, although a direct causality has not been confirmed, but rather other factors related to lifestyle intervene. In Xataka | Sleeping in 90-minute cycles seemed like a magical solution to wake up like a rose: science doesn’t think the same Image | Pexels (Kaboompics.com)

Spain is rapidly stopping consuming it and no one has convincing explanations

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There was a time when many things could be missing from the tables of Spanish homes, but never bread. Never that. The bar was an essential part of the diet, one of its pillars, so firm that it even ended up leaving a mark in the proverb. Things have changed and now it is increasingly difficult to find bread in homes at meal time. And for example, a button: its per capita consumption (at least domestic) has collapsed in the last decade. The big question is… Why? Less bread at home. On Spanish tables and cupboards it is increasingly difficult to find loaves of bread. Although for a long time they were one of the pillars of nutrition (so much so that it has crept into popular proverbs), households seem to be turning their backs on them little by little. And no one really knows why. The last reminder of the extent to which we have lost interest in bread was left yesterday by the EfeAgro agency in a chronicle which starts with a revealing fact: on average a Spaniard consumes 25% less today than just a decade ago. Has consumption dropped that much? To answer that question, it is good to take a look at the data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. To be more precise to the figures of your consumption panelin which they detail “the food consumption data in Spanish households.” The nuance is important because its results basically show domestic behavior, purchases and consumption that are made within the home, not in the extradomestic channel. When the data on bread is analyzed, the reading is clear: today we consume less (much less) than a few decades ago. And as a figure always says more than a long explanation, here is a table with the evolution of demand. The data show annual per capita consumption measured in kg, although one detail must be clarified: the concept “bread” has remained unchanged in the historical series, but not its different classifications, which have changed, combining concepts such as “fresh bread”, “unpackaged” or “industrial bread” and “packaged”. Bread (total) fresh bread industrial bread 1990 56.4 52.9 3.5 2000 50.1 46.4 3.7 2010 36.3 30.8 5.5 2020 32.8 26 6.8 2024 27.4 21.5 5.9 looking back. The drop is even more pronounced if we broaden the focus and look at how Spaniards behaved in the 60s and 70s. Although the calculation criteria may have varied, the data from the Ministry of Agriculture show that in 1964 the “consumption of bread-making cereals in Spain” was around 92.5 kg per inhabitant per year. In the 70s that average was already 76.6 kg. He latest yearbook published by the Government, with data at the end of 2024, show that total per capita consumption of bread fell in the country by 0.2% compared to the previous year, although this decrease was not generalized: consumption of normal fresh bread ‘punctured’, while demand for whole grain, unsalted and industrial bread grew. Is it all negative data? No. Recently the Ministry of Food published a report with data from the year between August 2024 and July 2025 showing that bread purchases have generally increased by 3.9% during that period, leaving annual per capita consumption at 27.8 kilos. It remains significantly below the 34.9kg 2015, but it still represents an increase. Bread can also boast of having an almost absolute level of penetration in Spanish homes, reaching more than 99.8%, and generates a business of billions of euros. To be more precise, the data accumulated between August 2024 and July 2025 speak of 3.4 billion. Searching for the causes. The big question at this point is… Why do we consume less bread at home today than a few decades ago? EfeAgro remembers that in the last ten years its price has become more expensive almost 29%although the CPI data for September show that at least in the last year it remained below the general price index: 1.2% compared to the global 3%. The drop in consumption seems to respond more to changes in consumption habits: a greater availability of alternatives to bread, a more varied diet, a increase in consumption in places outside the home… “There has been a downward trend for years in Spain, it must be taken into account that when societies become more prosperous, consumption is reduced and other sources begin to be used”, explained already 2022 to The Spanish Jorge de Saja, from the Spanish Association of the Bakery, Pastry and Pastry Industry. Another key point from the sector is the increase in more satiating variants (such as whole wheat). “Don’t eat bread”. There are those who provide another explanation for the drop in bread consumption: “The perception that it is a food that can make you fat,” they regret from Asemac. Ángeles Carbajal Azcona, from the Department of Nutrition at the Complutense University of Madrid, also remembered it in 2016 in an article in which, citing other authors, I remembered that the “dietary advice” of some specialists to lose weight is: “Don’t eat bread.” “Epidemiological studies that try to look at the relationship between bread consumption and body weight usually see that people who consume bread more frequently have a higher risk of obesity, diabetes and weight gain,” he clarified in 2024. Jordi Salas-Salvadóprofessor, a The Country. “The problem is that these studies are done with current bread, which is not the same as traditional bread, with sourdough and long fermentation: bread has a high glycemic index, but artisanal bread has more fermentation process and that makes the glycemic index lower.” Image | Diana Krotova In Xataka | “We are the glitch in the Matrix of food”: the Madrid bakery whose reinvention of bread has gotten out of hand

How to know which internet operator comes to your home with this website of the Government of Spain

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When you are going to hire or carry out fiber portability, one of the first doubts is always know which operators come to your house. Because not everyone always arrives, and today we are going to propose a method to check this that is faster than putting your address on each operator’s website. This is a map created by the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Service, in which you can search for any property in Spain, and see which operators offer service there. The page also allows you to see mobile coverage that is in each area of ​​the country. Look for fiber coverage on your farm The first thing you have to do is enter this Ministry website. In it, in the section of Maps you can see there is one for Fixed Broadband Services. The map is from 2024, which is the last time the data was updated, but over time it should continue to be updated. Here, click on the button Visualize of this map. This will open the map page, which you can also go to directly from this link. In it, after accepting the terms, you will see a map of Spain in which you can go zooming to find your house. You will see that the farms appear painted in colors, and these depend on the speed you reach each of them, as the legend on the map says. Once you find your property, click on it. This will open the information screen for your plot, where you will have the maximum descent speed indicated and the list of operators that provide service. Here, keep in mind that there are small operators that use the fiber lines of the big ones. In this Xataka Móvil article you can see what coverage each of the operators uses so you know which ones you can use. Finally, remember that That website also has a section Wirelesswhere you can see the speeds of the mobile connection in each point of Spain. In Xataka Basics | How many days do you have to cancel your fiber optic contract and what penalties may there be?

Europe looks to Spain to understand the agriculture of the future

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In just a decade, has grown by 3,000% and has generated more than 200,000 direct and indirect jobs throughout Spain. We are talking about pistachio: the ‘green gold’ that, despite initial skepticism, has radically changed hectares and hectares of the heart of the country. But we have known all this for years. What we did not know is that this agricultural boom was going to lead to an entire agrotechnological revolution. The epicenter of “pistachotech”. With 80% of the Spanish pistachio, Castilla-La Mancha has taken a step further to become the European epicenter of this “pistachio technological wave”: from “laboratory” rootstocks and new less common varieties to drones, precision irrigation and sterile insect programs. However, that is not the most interesting thing. As the Nobel Prize winners recently reminded us, what is interesting about this technological boom is the cultural change towards an innovative agricultural environment. But let’s go in parts. What is really happening in Castilla La Mancha? As explained in Enclave ODSAccording to Ángel Minaya (director of Agróptimum), the ultimate idea is to “control the entire process from the origin: the seed, the tree, the management and, subsequently, the industry.” This has led a group of researchers, businessmen and producers to start – often separately – an authentic revolution that goes from genetics to industrial organization. Let’s talk about the seed… This has been one of the first battles, for years California has led the creation of varieties with vigor and high tolerance to pests, salinities and low temperatures. And places like Cuenca have been key in its widespread adoption. They are true all-rounders that also reduce harvesting (alternation of crops) and improve harvesting performance than traditional varieties. They produce more, in a more stable way and are collected with fewer resources. …but it’s not just a seed thing. The truth is that, even having the best seed in the world, the genetic approach is not enough. And it is even less so in areas like Spain where water tensions and the pressure of desertification processes are the order of the day. Therefore, beyond grafts and varieties, precision irrigation and nutrition, computerized phenology, drones and their new remote sensing systems and the mechanization of harvesting have a central role in pushing the countryside towards a techno-digital era that has not quite come to fruition. Until now. And the best example of this is the speed with which the Spanish countryside is considering putting into practice sterile insect techniques that, although they are not yet fully necessary due to the youth of the plantations, are the gold standard of pest management. Good news. After all, the pistachio depends to open and close the harvest window properly and, above all, to process the harvest quickly. Without an extensive technical and industrial infrastructure, it is an almost impossible mission. An ecosystem in full growth. In a context in which agriculture needs massive amounts of genetic engineering, automation and data in real time, the configuration of a high-tech hub in the heart of Castilla La Mancha is excellent news. It not only seems an excellent tool to establish population and develop Empty Spain, but it is beginning to be configured as the great opportunity for the Spanish agricultural industry to reinvent yourself. Image | Christopher Burns | Christopher Balz In Xataka | The best pistachio, the one from Madrid: this is how the capital of Spain wants to become the capital of nuts

Spain has more and more problems with the drought and criminal networks have begun to realize it

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This story begins with a civil guard couple in civilian clothes chasing a tanker truck. They have been following trucks for months, they have checked thousands of livestock farms and, finally, they are about to find something. With 50 million liters of something. The initial track. More than a hundred residents of a district of Lorca denounced last year that there was an entire network selling water tanks to supply agricultural operations. It is nothing new: the Civil Guard has numerous investigations underway into the inspection and control of water use. Therefore, SEPRONA started to investigate the matter. And what have they found? The surveillance device located the tanker truck filling point: it was a well without authorizations for use and without a volumetric counter or any other type of measuring instrument. It seemed difficult to know the number of liters extracted. However, as the company pretended to be legitimate, the Civil Guard has been able to document that, during the last 18 months, 56 million liters of water had been sold for a value of at least 275,000 euros. This is only in the last 18 months: the armed institute believes that the illegal use of the well may have lasted several decades. Just one case out of a million. Over the last few years We have been talking about dozens of people investigated, detained and convicted due to illegal irrigation: in 2023 alone, hundreds of millions of cubic meters of water have been extracted illegally. The problem is real: so real that the Malaga water company has even hired private detectives to monitor employees, suppliers and customers. However, the key to this is not what has already happened. The key is what is going to happen. The list of threats is enormous. Climate change, overexploitation of aquifers, intensive agriculture, inadequate water management, forest fires, deforestation and population growth… Spain has a problem with water and that problem is not going to stop growing and growing. In this context, robberies are going to become more frequent and common. And that’s saying a lot: according to WWFthere are more than 500,000 illegal wells. But no one can be surprised. After all, there is a high financial incentive and relatively low penalties. Most cases they end, in fact, in fines and that is an excellent breeding ground for a huge problem. Image | VD Photography | Elentir In Xataka | Spain is facing a brutal drought and there are farmers watering avocados irregularly. A prosecutor wants it to be a crime

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