Spain

Spain had a completely saturated electrical grid. And then data centers arrived to blow it up even more

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Imagine a highway on which not a single vehicle can fit anymore. But the problem is not that there is a lack of asphalt, but that the cars do not know how to drive efficiently and keep kilometer-long safety distances. The Spanish electrical grid was exactly that. It had been operating for years at the limit of its administrative capacity, and suddenly, a convoy of trucks of industrial tonnage and voracious appetite has arrived at the access ramp: data centers. These megainfrastructures, pillars of artificial intelligence and the cloud, promise to water the economy of millions, but their brutal need for supply threatened to burst the seams of an already saturated electrical system. To avoid collapse and not let the reindustrialization train escape, the Government has had to react and radically change the technical rules of the game. Cascading capacity collapse. To understand the collapse we have to look at how our way of consuming energy has changed. The energy transition is profoundly reconfiguring the model throughout the national territory. Requests to connect to transportation and distribution networks have skyrocketed. In addition to the electrification of industry and renewable hydrogen, there is now massive consumption associated with data centers for artificial intelligence. The problem broke out when the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) established a “dynamic criterion” to calculate how much access capacity was available in the areas shared by several network nodes. As detailed by the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (MITECO) in his press releaseapplying this criterion means that a single access requested at a node can cause a “cascading effect that drains capacity in the rest of the nodes that share the area”, blocking requests from dozens of kilometers away. Basically, a large data center asks for passage and, automatically, the system administratively blocks neighboring nodes as a precaution, even if physically the cables have plenty of space. Investments in the air and the ghost of the blackout. The consequences of this traffic jam directly affect the real economy and national security. Real estate and industrial paralysis. The situation is so critical that, as we already mentioned in our previous coverage citing the Asprima employers’ associationlast year only 12% of connection requests for new urban developments were granted. There are 350,000 homes at risk simply due to lack of electrical power. The risk of an electrical “zero”. The Official State Gazette warns that the increase in installations that are not able to withstand “tension gaps” poses a very high risk. If there is a disturbance and these generators are massively disconnected, exchange flows are produced that are incompatible with Spain’s limited interconnections with Europe. As the diary recalls The Countrythe objective is to avoid at all costs a repeat of massive blackouts like the one suffered by the Iberian Peninsula on April 28, 2025. It is not enough to put more cables. In areas limited by this dynamic criterion, it is no longer possible to enable new capacity simply by investing money in reinforcing the network with “more copper.” The expert in the sector Joaquín Coronado sums it up perfectly: the demand must be 100% active; It must provide flexibility and commit to the stability of the system. The Government’s emergency surgery. To unclog this Gordian knot, the Government and regulators have launched a three-way shock plan: The new Royal Decree of MITECO. The Ministry has been brought to public hearing (until March 16) a standard that updates the technical requirements to connect to the network. The master key is that now it is required that the demands “withstand voltage gaps”, do not introduce adverse oscillations and maintain the quality of the wave. By forcing installations not to disconnect in the event of small disturbances, the number of nodes affected in shared areas is reduced. This simple technical measure could bring out 50% more capacity in about 900 knots of connection to the high-voltage network. The “flexible permits” of the CNMC. To put an end to the binary model (either I give you all the capacity or I deny it), the CNMC has proposed four new types of permits, as we already broke down in Xataka. These range from allowing consumption only in certain time slots, to “dynamic” permissions where the operator can remotely disconnect a data center if there is an emergency on the network. The “technical amnesty” for data giants. In parallel, the Ministry of Industry has been urgently removed the “off-peak” requirement. Previously, to receive aid, you had to consume at night, an absurdity for a data center (which operates 24/7) and for today’s Spain, where solar energy has brought down prices at midday. The citizen cost and the fine print. The Government’s maneuver not only responds to a national emergency, but also places Spain as a pioneer on the continent. The country is anticipating the update of the European network codes, deploying a battery of technical specifications simultaneously that is already considered a milestone worldwide, as detailed The Country. In this deployment, the new regulations also settle a historical debt with energy storage: batteries will finally have their own specific regulatory framework, no longer being administratively treated as simple “generation by analogy” facilities. However, this deep digitalization so that the network supports such a complex mode of operation will not come for free, and the bill for modernization will end up looming in the consumer’s pocket. Forecasts for 2026 They already estimate direct increases in citizen receipts, with a 4% increase in tolls and a not inconsiderable 10.5% in electricity system charges. And while citizens assume the technical cost, the data giants – recipients of this regulatory red carpet – prefer to remain cautious in the face of the eternal Spanish bureaucratic obstacle. The technology sector warns that a key piece of the puzzle is missing: If the Government does not expressly include the National Code of Economic Activity (CNAE) corresponding to “Data Processing” in the official list of sectors entitled to receive the million-dollar electro-intensive aid, all … Read more

The F-35 cannot be hacked like an iPhone. The explanation is the same why Spain and Europe cannot go to war without the US.

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There was a moment, probably towards the end of the Cold War, when the concept of Western military superiority stopped being measured solely in tons of steel or number of divisions and began to depend more and more on lines of code, networks and invisible architectures. As the decades passed, that technological transformation redefined not only how war is fought, but who really has control of the tools with which war is waged. Europe is realizing that that train has missed it. The jailbreak myth. Last year we already have that the possibility of an “off” button on the American F-35 it wasn’t exactly like that. Now, the comparison launched last week by the Dutch minister when suggesting that the fighter could “break free” like an iPhone It simplifies to the absurdity what is, in reality, a combat system defined by software and armored by cryptographic architecture. The F-35 is not designed for the operator to modify its code, but only to run software authenticated by keyscontrolled supply chains and closed validation environments, which means that physically accessing the aircraft is not the same as controlling its system. It is therefore not a consumer device on which alternative applications are installed like those on a mobile phone, but rather a platform whose integrity depends on digital signaturestrusted hardware modules and a support infrastructure that validates each update before the aircraft executes it. ODIN and structural dependency. They remembered in the middle The Aviationist that the real core of the problem is not in “hacking” the plane, but in keeping it outside the American ecosystem that keeps it operational. The F-35 depends on ODINthe logistics and data network that manages maintenance, mission planning, software updates and threat files, all under the control of infrastructure and processes largely managed from the United States. Disconnecting it does not turn it off immediately, but it initiates a progressive loss of capabilities that transforms it from a fully integrated fifth-generation platform to a combat fighter that is increasingly less relevant in the face of modern threats. So yes, exactly the same as a phone that stops receiving critical patches and updates. The same European dependence. Curiously, or perhaps not so much, this logic does not end with the plane, but runs through the entire European military architecture. The Financial Times recalled this morning in a piece that tried to answer the big European questions, that the continent’s armies depend on American software, clouds and systems for secure communications, data analysis, command and control, intelligence and platform maintenance. We are talking about platforms with contracts that involve giants like Google, Microsoft or Palantir and fundamental systems such asl Lockheed Martin Aegis integrated into, for example, European ships. The European military commanders themselves they recognized in the report that an abrupt break would generate operational gaps, fragmentation and loss of effectiveness, because a good part of the digital “back-end” on which its capabilities rest is not under European sovereign control. Digital sovereignty vs reality. Now that Washington is going through a phase where the word “ally” does not fit to the profile, the political speeches that advocate accelerate technological sovereignty in defense they collide with a structural reality: replicating the entire ecosystem that supports platforms, networks, encryption, AI and cloud services is not as simple as moving servers to European soil or changing providers overnight. And it is not because data localization does not equate to real sovereignty when that same software, updates, cryptographic keys and interoperability depend on American supply chains and regulatory frameworks, and where European generals themselves warn that a hasty decoupling would put daily operations at risk. Same explanation. In the end, the F-35 can’t be hacked like an iPhone has the same explanation why Spain and Europe cannot aspire to full digital sovereignty or resort to a high-intensity war without the United States: the structural dependence of the North American technological ecosystem. In the air, that translates into a fighter whose effectiveness rests on updates, threat data and logistical support controlled from Washington. On the ground, in militaries that operate on digital infrastructures, critical software and command architectures deeply intertwined with American suppliers and standards. If you also want, it is not so much a question of political will, but rather of technical architecture: whoever controls the software, controls the capacity. Image | RawPixel In Xataka | “It’s not what we need”: Germany has just put the finishing touches on Spain’s great military dream, the European anti-F-35 is disappearing In Xataka | The Netherlands has just activated panic in Spain and the US allies: the F-35 can be “released” like an iPhone

The debate format that has been radicalizing opinions in the US for years. arrives in Spain. Xokas is its protagonist

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The Galician streamer The Xokas sat opposite several ideological rivals in a debate produced and presented by Ibai Llanos on YouTube. The format, which draws directly from the Anglo-Saxon model popularized by Charlie Kirk and ‘Turning Point USA’, leaves open a few questions about the politicization of streaming entertainment and the risks of a genre that turns ideas into spectacle. The Xoqué? If you have been under a virtual rock in recent months and have no idea who El Xkoxas is, here are some facts: Gonzalo Pérez grew up like streamer during the pandemic years, the same period in which platforms like Twitch They multiplied their user base in Europe. Millions of confined people found in these new communicators a company that traditional television did not offer them, and creators like El Xokas capitalized on it. Its followers are mostly young men, between 16 and 30 years old, a very important fact to understand the drift towards incendiary political opinions that its content is having lately. It becomes politicized. The transition of gaming to the political commentary It was not a leap, but a gradual change. Xokas incorporated opinions on current affairs, criticism of what he called “single thinking” and positions on cultural debates (feminism, identity, political correctness) that generated more opinions for and against than any video game game. The search for controversy is a strategy that YouTube algorithm rewards to a greater extent than neutral content. Its truthfulness or independence are aspects completely unrelated to success. Consequence of this drift: He doesn’t invent anything. The “political streamer” is a figure who has come a long way outside of Spain. Figures like Tim Pool either Steven Crowder In the United States they created a template that El Xokas is now repeating: they build a base audience on entertainment topics and when they grow, they pivot towards political commentary, without losing followers along the way, and gaining many new ones. Until recently, our ecosystem of creators declared itself apolitical, with successful streamers like Ibai or El Rubius absolutely oblivious to this type of controversy (and although it is often easy to detect the colors, never declared, of creators like AuronPlay, TheGrefg or Illojuan). The model that Kirk invented. And so we come to the debate of ‘Xokas vs. 8 haters’: eight people critical of the streamer’s career debate with him one by one, with Ibai as host and referee. They talked about Xokas’ personality, politics, economics or feminism and four days later, the video has exceeded four and a half million views. It is a format copied from the debates that Charlie Kirk, A conservative debater, he was organizing until his death since 2012: he in the center, progressive students rebutting him one after another, with Kirk responding to each argument before moving on to the next. The format problem. Different studies have pointed out problems with the format, which make rhetorical ability the true value of these discussions: whoever speaks faster and with more confidence seems to win even if their data is incorrect. In the absence of real-time verification mechanisms, the appearance of handling authentic data matters more than actually doing so. The central debater has an advantage due to the confrontation with successive rivals, which eliminates the pressure of arguments: every time a rival finds a line of argument, time runs out. This Spanish version has some added problems: the title itself already generates an editorial reading: naming the critics as “haters” implies that Xokas is the one who is right: if he debates against “haters”, any argument they raise is associated in advance with bad faith, not with reasoning. Politics, on YouTube. A recent Reuters report documents that Spain follows the European trend of shifting information consumption towards video platforms. Those under 35 years of age are the group furthest from traditional formats and, therefore, are more exposed to political opinion mediated by content creators. That is, the public conversation about taxes, feminism or freedom of expression occurs in environments where the editorial rules are different, more wild and less regulated than those of a conventional medium. History of controversies. To get an idea of ​​how the Xokas positions may be affecting younger people, these are some of the controversial opinions they have expressed: Critical in 2021 to ElRubius and TheGrefg for going to Andorra to pay less taxes. Less than a year later, he threatened to leave if they kept uploading them to him. His trick stolen from “a friend” to flirt with drunk girls was the one who generated more criticism outside the streaming environment, and motivated the famous video of the Ministry of Equality in which he was actively identified as one of the main sources of sexist attitudes of mass reach in Spain. In March 2022, it was discovered that her Twitter defender @CathyVipi, which she used to insult critics and competitors, he carried it himself. He stated that the majority of people who cannot change their physique are “undisciplined and lazy“, rejecting the influence of genetic or psychological factors. It was criticized how opinions of this type can affect young followers. After invest in Knoweatsa home-prepared food company, publicly attacked Wetaca (direct competition) in a live broadcast. Wetaca responded on social media by recovering previous statements from Xokas in which it said that “eating healthy is stupid“. Controlling the narrative of all these controversies is essential for El Xokas and his occasional ally Ibai. For this, nothing better than a trap debate. In Xataka | China has solved the mystery of why there are people who go bankrupt watching streams: the “榜一大哥”

The US threatened to take the Rota base to Morocco. Spain has buried it with an unbeatable offer: more territory

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Since the Madrid Pacts Since 1953, the US military presence in southern Spain has been one of the silent pillars of Western security architecture. Throughout the Cold War, the crises in the Mediterranean and the successive enlargements of NATO, this relationship has survived changes of government, diplomatic tensions and strategic redefinitions without losing its structural weight. Therefore, an idea that had gained strength It worried Spain. The threat that shook the board. It happened in the summer of 2025, when from circles close to the Republican Party slipped the idea of ​​moving the Rota and Morón bases to Morocco in response to the Spanish refusal to raise defense spending to 5% of GDP. As the days passed, the debate stopped being rhetorical and became a strategic question of first order. The proposal suggested that Washington could punish an ally considered insufficiently committed by relocating key assets to the Maghreb, in a context of increasing US support for Rabat and internal tensions in NATO over burden sharing. However, beyond the political noise, the real viability of this maneuver depended on much deeper factors than a simple temporary decision. The first reason: anti-missile shields. Rota is not an interchangeable base, but an essential node of the NATO missile shield together with Romania and Poland, integrated into a system of sensors, radars, satellites and command centers that requires millimeter coordination and reaction times of between five and twenty-five minutes. Not only that. Also houses Aegis destroyers equipped with SM-3 missiles and is part of the technical framework whose nerve center is in Germany, all in allied territory fully integrated into the Atlantic Alliance. The simple idea of ​​moving that capacity to Morocco would imply rebuild from scratch critical infrastructures, redesign the legal and operational framework and, above all, locate sensitive parts of the system in a country that does not belong to NATO, with the legal and political complications that this entails. Morocco is not NATO territory. Rabat has offered in the past ports and military facilitiesand its weight as a strategic partner in the Maghreb and the Sahel has grown exponentially hand in hand with US support for the Sahara and normalization with Israel. However, it is one thing to strengthen cooperation and quite another to replace a structural base already established by facilities outside the allied legal and military umbrella. They remembered in Infodefensa that implementing equivalent capabilities there would require extremely complex bilateral agreements, multimillion-dollar investments and institutional guarantees difficult to match those of a European partner, in addition to altering the logistical balance that allows the United States Navy operate with continuity in the Mediterranean, the eastern Atlantic and Africa. A second irrefutable reason. As they said this morning in Spanishfar from reducing its weight, Rota has begun an expansion valued at more than 400 million of euros, a work that involves new docks, semi-buried magazines and maintenance contracts that can reach 90 million annually with up to six destroyers deployed. In this way, Spain has not only authorized the increase from four to six Aegis vessels, but is adapting the infrastructure to double docking capacity and consolidate the base as a high-tech anti-aircraft and anti-submarine node. In political and strategic terms, the operation amounts to a kind of reinforced transfer of territory and operational sovereignty, although assuming, of course, that the base converts Spanish soil into a potential target in the event of conflict. Broken as a structural piece. In short, the presence of thousands of American soldiers, the agreed ceiling in the bilateral agreement and the local economic impact show a relationship that transcends governments and cycles politicians. So that the hypothesis of a transfer If Morocco were to be moderately credible, clear signs of withdrawal should be observed, such as a reduction in ships or a halt in investments, and the truth is that exactly the opposite is happening. There was already a compelling reason why the United States could not take the base to Morocco: its irreplaceable integration in the NATO architecture. And now Spain has just added a second one that is even more difficult to ignore, by reinforcing and expanding that presence with investments and effective transfer of strategic space that consolidate the Rota base. as a structural piece of Washington’s device in Europe. Image | NavyUS Navy In Xataka | In 1953 the United States decided to put a naval base in Rota. Now the facility looks to its future with uncertainty In Xataka | If the question is whether Spain can deny the US its bases to provide air support to Israel, the answer is not so simple.

The US has cut programs for research and science. Europe and Spain are recruiting their scientists

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The Trump Administration has cut substantially the funds allocated to finance universities and, with them, the research projects that were being carried out, as as they point out from Nature. So American scientists have had no choice but to look for solutions to the draconian cuts in their country. Europe in general, and Spain in particular, they have become a magnet unexpected for all that talent, with programs that promise stability and million-dollar resources. Talent drain. According to information from the Ministry of Science, the call for the ATRAE program, aimed at incorporating researchers of international prestige with experience abroad in Spanish R&D centers, received 254 applications for the 2025 call. This implies an increase of 32% in applications, marking a historical record, because in 2023 no applications arrived from that country and in 2024 they only accounted for 16% of the total. 33.5% of them came from scientists from the US, which represents more than double that of previous editions. Finally, the scholarship program has selected 37 researchers in a program that allocates 38.9 million euros. Of the selected researchers, 56.7% come from American institutions and universities. Scientists who choose Spain. The Country collected the reasons why some of these researchers had decided to leave the US to continue their work in Spain. Vincenzo Calvanese, a 43-year-old Italian researcher who works at the Josep Carreras Institute in Barcelona after a decade in the United States, says that “many of my colleagues are having a very difficult time because of the political and economic events that affect science.” He encourages other colleagues to follow in his footsteps in Spain or other countries in Europesince the program represents “one of the few opportunities to ensure the future of research and some professional security.” ​Audrey Sawyer, a 43-year-old American hydrogeologist who has joined the research team at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, expresses a similar concern: “I have never seen a situation like this in the US. I feel very bad for the researchers and students, they are very talented and are facing serious challenges.” Although she applied before the most recent cuts, she clearly sees how federal funding affects areas like biomedicine and climate change. Europe: a troubled river gains fishermen. According to a survey made by Nature Among the US scientific community, 75% of researchers have seriously contemplated emigrating due to the cuts and layoffs promoted by Trump. In this scenario of uncertainty, Europe fights back taking out the nets to try to attract a good part of that talent dissatisfied with cuts in US research. The EU has doubled the funding of the European Research Council (ERC) with 500 million euros to provide it with more resources for these new researchers under the umbrella of the program Europe horizon. Spain distributes the incorporation of these new researchers in a balanced way: Catalonia receives 35.1% of the funding provided by these new scholarships, Madrid receives 29.7%, and entities such as the CSIC host 29.7% of the researchers. In this way, local research is reinforced with international talent, new students are trained and more funds are attracted from international competitions. The exodus is not only about science. The desire to leave the US does not only occur in the scientific field, some EU countries have doubled the number of residency applications and citizenship of US citizens. It is the case of Irelandwhich went from receiving 31,825 in all of 2024, to 3,692 applications during the month of February 2025 alone. Europe’s response to those requests has been different, tightening requirements to obtain residency or, as in the case of Spain, eliminating the “Golden Visa“which granted a residence permit in exchange of an economic investment. In Xataka | Of course digital nomads love Oviedo. It’s not because of the way of life: it’s because they charge 90,000 euros Image | Wikipedia, Unsplash (National Cancer Institute)

In the middle of Valentine’s week, strawberries have reached figures never seen before in half of Europe. The problem is not love, it is Spain

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Hearts, chocolate, bouquets of flowers and pink decorations everywhere: Valentine’s week is synonymous with many things, but above all with crazy prices. What was not expected in half of Europe is that strawberries were going to rise so much. And when I say ‘so much’, it’s ‘so much’. What happened to the strawberries? The peak in demand is predictable: every year, coinciding with Valentine’s week, the demand for strawberries skyrockets. And, furthermore, it is a very inelastic demand: since it is a “special” day, people continue buying them “almost” independently of the price. That has not changed in 2026: what has changed is that the supply has suffered a huge shock. A shock called Spain and Portugal: And more specifically its meteorology. If the frosts of a few years ago caused the shortage of red peppers throughout the European continentthe historic rainfall in recent months has reduced strawberry production, its quality and shelf life to almost historic lows. To give us an idea of ​​the collapse: in Huelva, production has fallen by half compared to 2025. And despite efforts to catch up, production is 38% below from that of the 24/25 campaign. This has meant that strawberries are arriving in the Netherlands at 5.83 per kilo and in France at 6.44. The problem naked. In this case, the problem is that Europe depends completely on Huelva and, in recent decades, it has not been able to do anything to avoid it. Huelva producers have demonstrated an impressive capacity to produce with very high quality at very low prices. That (and the constant rise in production) has meant that no one can build a parallel agribusiness. The problem is that the climate becomes increasingly volatile, the ‘security’ of the Andalusian countryside decreases. and this episode has only confirmed it. What’s behind the story. So what is hidden behind the strawberries at seven euros per kilo in a market in Alicante is the story of the loss of hegemony of one of the most solid and refined economic pillars in southern Europe. That is to say, while strawberries are on their way to becoming an ‘ultra-luxury’ product, Andalusia’s competitive advantage is fading. Are a giant with feet of clay. Image | Alba Otero In Xataka | Spain’s problem with its supermarkets: Huelva strawberries are now cheaper in Germany

The European Commission did not like how Spain has imposed the V16 beacon. That has potential consequences.

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The V16 beacon has generated all a wave of criticismboth because of its obligation, and because their capabilities and legislation around it. In this last aspect, the European Commission has confirmed that Spain did not follow the mandatory notification procedure before imposing the connected beacon. From here, the consequences can range from a formal infringement procedure to Spanish courts refusing to apply the rule. It is mandatory, but Brussels has a different opinion. Since January 1, 2026, drivers in Spain are required to carry a V16 beacon connected that, in the event of a breakdown or accident, allows the DGT to geolocate the vehicle. Just like account the executive vice-president of the European Commission, Stéphane Séjourné, in response to the parliamentary question of the PP MEP Dolors Montserrat, this obligation was established by two royal decrees: the 159/2021 and the 1030/2022. The problem is that, according to Séjourné, neither of them was communicated to Brussels before their adoption, something that European legislation expressly requires. Why does that matter? There is a European directive, 2015/1535which obliges Member States to notify the European Commission of any draft technical regulation before approving it. The objective is that both the Commission and the rest of the EU countries can analyze it and detect if it could cause problems for trade or contradict community law. If a State does so, it has a waiting period of three months before being able to adopt the standard. And Séjourné suggests that Spain would have skipped this step entirely. What the Commission has said. The executive vice president of the European Commission confirmed in its response expressly that the Spanish royal decrees “have not been notified in accordance with the procedure of Directive (EU) 2015/1535”. Furthermore, it also warns that, if a Member State fails to comply with this obligation, the Commission “may open a formal infringement procedure under the article 258 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU”. lJudges may not apply the rule. Beyond the sanctions that the alleged infringement may entail, the Commission recalls that the Court of Justice of the EU has already established in its jurisprudence that “national courts must refuse to apply technical regulations that have not been properly notified.” In other words: if you as a Spanish driver They fine you for not carrying the V16 beacon You could, in theory, challenge that sanction by alleging precisely this failure to notify. Minterior market Brussels also warns of another aspect. As the use of danger signaling devices is not harmonized at the European level, each State can regulate according to its traffic regulations. But when very specific technical requirements are imposed on what that device must be like, as is the case with the beacon and its mandatory connectivity, Séjourné warns that this can “become a restriction on free trade within the internal market”, something that would violate article 34 of the TFEU. And now what. The issue, like many others in the country, has become another debate of political colors. Montserrat has demanded the Government to “immediately clarify this situation and act with transparency.” In the absence of knowing more details about it, it seems that we will have to wait to find out if the beacon may end up causing more problems than necessary. Cover image | Guillaume Perigois and DGT In Xataka | The RAM crisis has put the future of smartphones, consoles and computers in check. And the cars are not going to escape either

Spain went to hunt therians in the parks and there were none. That says more about us than it does about them.

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In recent weeks, social networks and the media have been filled with information, with the usual overtones of alarm, about the phenomenon of therians, people (usually adolescents) who identify as animals. The wave has reached a certain point with the “therian gatherings” of recent days: in Pamplona and other cities, crowds of people showed up in parks and shopping centers to “monitor” concentrations that never occurred. The phenomenon says little about therians and a lot about how we manufacture collective panic in the viral age. First of all: what is a therian. We already explained it in depth in our first approach to the phenomenonbut essentially they are people who claim to suffer from “species dysphoria.” Unlike furries, a therian does not wear an anthropomorphic animal costume, but instead identifies psychologically or spiritually as a non-human animal. There is no scientific basis – as there would be for gender dysphoria – but there are clear links between how this group is being formed and how other subcultures and urban tribes were generated, often born from pop fandom and which today have millions of followers. Crazy Therian meetings. What we have seen are several supposed therian gatherings that were called off on the fly or were outright false, but were attended by hundreds of curious people. The most popular case was that of Friday, February 20 in the Plaza del Castillo in Pamplona, ​​from Therian hangout rumors on TikTok, Instagram and Telegram. Not a single person characterized as an animal appeared at the place, but when people started talking about it The therians could be in the Plaza de Merindadeshundreds of people moved on foot to that area, collapsing traffic on roads such as Avenida de las Cortes de Navarra. Menacing tints. Although there were no outbreaks of violence in Pamplona, ​​there were in other areas of the country. In Córdoba, a collective TikTok account called CloeMastim He called a meeting for February 27 in Miraflores Park. The publication accumulated about 2,000 interactions between comments and shares before organizers canceled it due to a barrage of death threats. In Lugo, the meeting scheduled for Praza Viana do Castelo was suspended after receiving messages such as “we are going to rip off your skins” and “I am going to go hunting.” In Barcelona, ​​the concentration did take place and about 3,000 people gathered in the surroundings of the Arc de Triomf; The meeting ended with five arrests and the intervention of the Urban Police and the Mossos d’Esquadra. These violent traits are well known to the therians themselves: a member of the community denounced that “sometimes they create fake accounts in which people posing as Therian propose to make meetings to attract people and go attack them.” That is to say, some of the calls that caused alarm did not even come from real therians. When did it become massive? Therians have existed for decades on internet forums, invisible to the general public. The change in scale occurred between 2020 and 2021, when the TikTok algorithm began to amplify videos of young people performing shifts either quadrobics (movements that imitate the locomotion of quadrupeds) with masks and accessories that evoke their animal identification. TikTok’s short format flattens any identity until it becomes aesthetic: what for some is a question of identity, for the majority of spectators is an extravagant costume or choreography. The same old story. The cycle is the same that we have seen in other cases of social panics and that has been amply studied in its forms of spread: media that had never written about therians published emergency pieces, many of them bringing up the possible “contagion” of these behaviors and putting the issue of mental health on the table with not exactly didactic intentions; television talk shows debated the phenomenon with the same tone with which decades before sects were discussed. And in several cities, groups of adults turned out en masse to “watch“non-existent concentrations. We recommend reading the 1972 book ‘Popular Demons and Moral Panics’ by Stanley Cohen, which already described precisely what we have seen in recent days, in five phases: a group or behavior is identified as a threat to social values; the media portrays it in simple and symbolic terms; public alarm grows; the authorities respond to the climate of concern; and finally, the panic dissipates, but the stereotypes remain. And of course, the group mentioned belongs to groups in a marginal position, before the panic chose them as a focus. Of course, Cohen was talking about an inflammation process that lasted weeks and now, with social networks, it happens in hours. The anti-trans side. There is a phrase that appeared in dozens of comments during the days of the Spanish therian fever of February 2026: “If you can perceive yourself as a cat, why not as a washing machine?” It is not an original occurrence but, as documented by sociologist Andrés Kogan Valderramaa slogan with a route, systematically used in different Spanish-speaking countries (do you remember that thing about combat helicopter?) to link therian identity with trans rights and present both as equally absurd. Because the threats that the Therian profiles received have the same rhetoric as that raised against the LGTBI community. In Latin Americawidely distributed far-right media present a template that was transferred unchanged to Spain: first, pathologization of the therian collective as “mental disorder” or “identitarian delusion.” Then, direct association with the “woke agenda” and gender identities. Finally, a threat that demands moral restoration. Feminism, sexual education and trans rights have passed through there. As stated the newspaper ‘Ara’the aggressors who went to “watch” the therians in parks and squares will, in all probability, be the same ones who tomorrow will find another group to point out. In Xataka | What are urban tribes and how have they evolved until today?

Long-term forecasts return rain to Spain

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Although we have had storms and surprises in the last couple of weeks, the truth is that we have enjoyed a certain meteorological stability that has given a break to the very saturated soils, rivers and swamps of the peninsular geography. The reason is simple (the NAO positive), the bad news is also simple: there is a turnaround brewing in Scandinavia. And, as a side effect, our chances of receiving a train of storms from the west again have risen significantly. But, first of all, let’s explain what the NAO is. The ‘NAO’ is the ‘North Atlantic Oscillation‘: I usually describe it as the ‘dance’ between the Azores high and the Icelandic low. That is, between the two major atmospheric phenomena that govern the meteorology of the North Atlantic. When the index we use to “measure who is winning” is negative, the Azores anticyclone is weaker than normal and, therefore, is unable to block the deep storms that hover over the Atlantic. The direct consequence is that they circulate further south than normal: right at our latitude. What happened at the end of February and what will happen at the start of March is the opposite: positive NAO. That is, the Azores anticyclone is strong and that sends the jet further north. Something that gives us stability, fewer fronts and (usually, although not necessarily) colder. But there are signs that this is beginning to change. It is important to remember that we are talking about long-term predictions and there are still many days ahead, but the pattern seems to be gaining consistency: during the first half of March, an anticyclonic block will develop over the skies of the Scandinavian peninsula. That, presumably, can undulate the jet and encourage more rain in the Mediterranean. That is, at least, Sergio Escama’s prediction. And the truth is that it is compatible with the weekly prediction that AEMET published a few days ago. Why is it important? Above all, for two reasons: the first is that the scenarios that are compatible with these schemes can give rise to a lot of rain on the Mediterranean façade. That is, because torrential rains are on the table. And the second issue is that we must not forget that Spain it is up to the top of water. “More rain” will be synonymous with “management problems” for weeks. So here we are, looking obsessively at the Nordic countries to see what the Atlantic will send us. Image | ECMWF In Xataka | Andalusia anticipates the storm and has already canceled in-person classes and activated the UME. The doubt is placed on the workers

The emptied Spain seemed condemned to depopulation. Until a town in Palencia found a way to avoid it

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until recently Nava walls (Palencia) was a remote town known above all for its heritage and being the birthplace of the poet Jorge Manrique and the painters Peter and Alonso Berruguete. That was until not long ago, we say. In recent days the name of this town in Tierra de Campos has grabbed headlines throughout the country for another reason: against all odds, it has become proof that the ‘Spain emptied’ and the rural peninsula do not have to resign themselves to losing population. In Paredes they have certainly worked a miracle. The most curious thing is that he has done it with a recipe quite obvious. Looking at the INE. Although its tables are basically made up of figures, percentages and rates, from time to time the INE gives us the odd mystery. It happens in Paredes de Nava, Palencia. If we take a look at their census we observe a curious phenomenon: despite the fact that their region (Land of Fields) has spent the last decades losing density of population, in line with much of rural Spain, in recent years Paredes has gained neighbors. In 2023 they were registered in the town 1,985 peoplejust one year later there were 1,911 and in 2025 the observatory already counted 1,927. Is it that curious? Yes. It may not be spectacular growth, but it is striking if two factors are taken into account. First, it breaks the negative trend that Paredes had experienced in recent times, accustomed to losing a few 25 residents every year. Second, the town had not moved in its current population data for quite some time. We have to go back to 2018 to find a better result and the town hopes to reach the psychological barrier of the 2,000 registereda figure that has not been used since 2013. And how is it possible? If the case of Paredes has attracted attention beyond Palencia or Castilla y León, it is because this increase in population is neither coincidental nor the result of chance. On the contrary. Responds to a strategy that already has sparked interest from other towns and relies on two legs: immigration and affordable housing. To understand it, we have to go back to 2024, when the mayor of the town, Luis Calderón, contacted YourTechoa Spanish SOCIMI that seeks solutions to “homelessness and lack of housing.” The entity works in several fields at the same time, but in the rural Their bet basically consists of recovering empty houses to turn them into “accessible” homes for “vulnerable families.” Objective: home… and roots. In practice, this means that they acquire homes and then rent them to the City Council so that they end up being rented to new residents in an initiative with a marked social focus. On walls for example 75% of the beneficiaries are foreigners, especially Latinos. Since the idea is for newcomers to the town to take root, it is easier for them to take root. different shapes. As? Through contracts of leasing for those who need a vehicle or rentals with option to own. And the work? The councilor assures There are no shortage of vacancies in the province. In addition to the Renault factory, livestock and agriculture there are a project to open an olive oil refining factory. “There are plenty of jobs, there are more than 1,200 unfilled, that is without taking into account the social and health needs and those of Renault,” guarantees Calderón, who optimistically awaits the opening of the new oil refining factory: “We are going to need many more houses.” “The solution, in rural areas”. The demographic pulse of the town is not new. It started after the pandemic, when a special office focused on repopulation opened. Years ago he decided to welcome 200 Ukrainian mothers and their children, in 2024 he contacted TuTecho and today he boasts that the town has managed to attract 150 new inhabitants. Of them, a third (49) have arrived thanks to TuTecho, which has in turn acquired 11 homes in the Palencia municipality. Initially the company had acquired only four. “The solution to the country’s main problems, housing and immigration, is in rural areas,” he defended. a few days ago the councilor in statements collected by The Newspaper. The truth is that Paredes’ experience seems to have encouraged other people. Those responsible for TuTecho explain that they have already made the leap to a dozen towns, where they also collaborate with city councils to articulate a residential rental offer that makes possible what for a long time seemed like a pipe dream in emptied Spain: “Restock”. “A bridge between both”. The founder of Tutecho, Blanca Hernández, sums it up clearly: “Depopulation is a challenge, homelessness another. We realized that we can be a bridge between the two,” relates to The Confidential. “It’s about matching the profiles of inhabitants that the town needs with the families that meet those requirements and need a home.” In the case of Paredes, they have even managed to ensure that the school, which until not so long ago seemed on a tightrope, faces the future with some peace of mind. Not bad if you take into account that, as stated in a recent EY report, 48% of the territory Spanish does not reach the European density threshold (12.5 inhabitants per km2) and 80% of small rural municipalities are losing population. Images | Santiago López-Pastor (Flickr) and Wikipedia In Xataka | Empty Spain is now officially one of the quietest places on the planet. There is no risk that it will cease to be

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