Spaniards

Restoring vision is one of the great challenges of contemporary technology. These Spaniards have had an idea and it seems to work

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In January 2018, the car Tonya Illman was riding in got stuck in the sand. They were on Wedge Island, 180 kilometers north of the Australian city of Perth; so while they waited for roadside assistance to arrive, Tonya took a walk on the beach. And it was there, among the dunes, where saw something sticking out of the sand. It looked like an old bottle and he picked it up thinking it would look good on his shelf. Then, as they emptied it of sand, they found a note: a form on the back, a small handwritten note on the back. Tonya had just found a message that had been thrown into the sea from the German ship Paula on June 12, 1886. A message that had taken 132 years to reach its destination. Well, this, just like this, is how we tried to restore sight to blind people: throwing electric bottles into the sea of ​​neurons in our brain. Now a Spanish team wants to change that. What has happened? That a team from the Miguel Hernández University of Elche and the Center for Biomedical Research Network (CIBER) just published data from a new “round-trip” cortical machine vision system; that is, capable of adjusting stimulation according to the neuronal response. The results (despite being in a preclinical phase) they are excellent. How does it work? It is a device of about four millimeters with 100 microelectrodes that is implanted through a small hole of about 10 millimeters. The interesting thing is that it is a system that records and stimulates at the same time. This is what allows you to adapt the stimulus patterns in real time and fine-tune the stimulation to adjust it. And that has been the complicated part. In the end, sending stimuli to the brain is trivial; But during all these years it was a lot like throwing a bottle into the sea: I knew what you were sending, but not what was being received. With these new ones closed, everything changes. Are they the first to get it? Reviewing clinical trials databasesit seems that there are a couple of other companies developing the same type of devices: the trend seems clear and we can see how the market is changing from the They seem to be a little more advanced, but not too much. Which is good news for the UMH and for Spain. It is clear that the only way we have right now to move forward on this problem is ‘personalizing’ the way systems stimulate the brain. And the only way to do it is through these closed circuits. It is still curious that the field of research has survived such notorious failures as those of retinal prostheses (which left many people in the lurch). But here we are, one step closer to being able to look back. Image | Ruiqi Kong In Xataka | Hundreds of blind people received bionic implants to restore their sight. Now they are out of support

Spaniards eat much less fish than 30 years ago and a big reason is on the horizon: laziness in cooking it.

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The data is clear. Fish consumption has been going on for decades losing ground in the refrigerators and kitchens of Spanish homes. We eat less and less, which is already noticeable in the sector, with the loss of thousands of fishmongers. There are, however, certain businesses that seem to be weathering the storm and even your sales increaseand they achieve it basically thanks to a different bet, focused on the sale of ready-to-eat fish, online orders and home delivery. It is interesting because this reveals to us that the great fish crisis may not be so much a question of taste as much as it is a question of habits and cultural change. What has happened? That fish is not immune to the social and consumer changes that have been affecting the food industry for years. Only in his case the trend is especially interesting. Sector data has long shown that Spanish households buy less and less fresh fish, which among other things has precipitated the closure of thousands of fishmongersbusinesses that deal with other challenges, such as the lack of generational change. There are clues, however, that in reality not the entire sector is suffering. We Spaniards today may have less fish in our refrigerators or cook it less than our parents or grandparents, but the consumption associated with leisure, the away from homeis not having a bad time. Not only that. There are certain specialized businesses (such as those dedicated to the sale of ready-to-eat fish or home delivery) that they assure be selling more. Do we eat less fish? If we base ourselves on the data Regarding domestic consumption from the Ministry of Food (MAPA), the answer is clear: yes, with fluctuations. His latest reportwith data for the year from August 2024 to July 2025, shows that the consumption of fishing products has decreased by 2.1%. If we talk specifically about the purchase of fish (not counting shellfish or preserves) the puncture has been 4.4%, 5.4% in the case of fresh merchandise. They may not seem like big declines, but the crisis facing fish is better understood when the temporal focus is expanded and per capita consumption data is analyzed. In that case, a collapse is confirmed that has hit the sector squarely. own Fedepesca warns that in recent years “local businesses in general and fishmongers in particular have lost a third of their stores.” Does all consumption fall? Not quite. Recently we told you how there are certain species that have seen their consumption rebound (in the case of smoked salmon and trout) and above all how fish consumption seems to be resisting and even increasing outside the home. This is suggested by the “extradomestic consumption” report of Mercasawhich in 2023 saw a rebound of 2.6%. The last ones quarterly data They also show an increase in the demand for fish. The truth is that for years it has been easier to find establishments and even chains that serve poké dishes with salmon, sushi, sashimi or ceviche, in addition to the traditional fish offering. Year Per capita consumption of fish products (kg) Per capita consumption of fish (kg) fresh fish frozen fish 1990 30.4 19 13.6 5.4 1995 29.4 18.2 14.6 3.6 2000 24.32 14.45 11.72 2.73 2005 28.36 16.40 13.39 3.01 2010 27.3 15.38 12.05 3.33 2015 25.9 14.46 11.64 2.82 2020 24.83 13.25 10.58 2.68 2024 17.99 9.31 7.31 2 And on other channels? A few days ago the SER published an analysis which gives clues to other business avenues that seem to be weathering or even saving themselves from the decline in fresh fish consumption: businesses dedicated to the marketing of ready-to-eat foods and those focused on home delivery. That is, those that facilitate and personalize consumption. There is not much data, but SER provides two specific examples that help understand the phenomenon. The first is the Catalan supermarket chain Plusfreshwhich offers customers the option of taking home ready-to-eat fish. The company claims that they have installed ovens in all their establishments, which has allowed them to considerably increase sales of seafood products. “Five years ago, 8% of the fish we invoiced went through the oven, today it is around 16%. In these five years we have doubled the sale of these products,” precise. He is not the only one walking in that direction. In your line “ready to eat”Mercadona has included salmon and sushi poké. Are there more examples? Yes. The SER cites another case: Peix a Casaan online fishmonger that allows you to schedule deliveries and that has gone from selling a few boxes of fish a week to managing between 100 and 150 orders each day. Its owner explains that a decade and a half ago began to bet on the fish delivery service, a formula that it hasn’t gone bad: From working with fifteen well-known clients, we have gone on to dispatch thousands and thousands of annual orders with an enviable year-on-year growth rate of around 20%. Why’s that? Because the sector suspects that the problem is not that fish is no longer liked or that it has become too expensive. In fact, in the last year, domestic demand for smoked salmon and canned clams and mussels has increased. considerably. The key would be something else: a cultural change that prevents younger people from buying and preparing fish at home. “We have a special focus on the young public, those people up to forty years old, who we have seen are not having access to seafood. For us it is a key audience,” recognize from Pesca de España. It won’t be easy because in the background there is a larger trend: a growing interest in cooked and ready-to-eat food, which has even led some (among them Juan Roig) to predict the end of traditional kitchens at home. Images | Jorge Franganillo (Flickr) In Xataka | A Japanese restaurant has taken its obsession with fresh fish to the extreme: it lets you catch it yourself

On the island of Djerba there was a ten-meter tower made of skulls for 300 years. Those of 5,000 Spaniards

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There are dozens of monuments in the world that should never have been erected. One of them stood for centuries on the Mediterranean island of Djerbain Tunisia. Yes, the region where The fictional city of Tatooine was recreated for the Star Wars saga, where George Lucas glimpsed a young Luke Skywalker discovering the path of the force. This mysterious place, beyond being an iconic place for fans of the saga, housed one of the most macabre constructions in history: Burj Al-Rus, a tower made with the skulls of 5,000 Spaniards. This is your story. In the 16th century, also called the “Century of Discoveries”, Spain rose as a world superpower and He assembled an empire so large that it dominated territories throughout the globe: Africa, numerous colonies in Asia, half of Italy, the Netherlands, Burgundy and much of America, from the current United States to Argentina. As his hand extended over so many regions, controlling and managing them became a problem. In fact, the management of the Mediterranean alone became a great headache for the Christian countries, especially for Spain, since the Ottomans and Berbers They carried out raids and they captured slaves wherever they could. It was also at this time that a fearsome figure emerged: Turgut Reis, also known as Draguta privateer, pirate and Ottoman admiral who has filled pages of historical literature ever since for his cruelty. Not only their fleets They attacked the ships of the empire dailyhindering trade routes, but managed to plunder even coastal areas and enslave their people. During this time, Jean de La Valette, general of Malta, was obsessed with defeating the Turks and reconquering the city of Tripoli, which was now under their power. So in 1559 he convinced Philip II to command a fleet of 28 ships and 50 galleys with 30,000 Christian soldiers. These forces would be led by Juan de la Cerda y Silva, fourth Duke of Medinaceli and Viceroy of Sicily. Hundreds of men left Syracuse, in present-day Sicily, for Tripoli. But when they arrived they saw something they did not expect. The enemy defenses were superior than thought. They turned around due to De la Cerda’s decisionwho pointed out that that battle was impossible win it without the relevant artillery equipment or, at least, cannons. Several troops were sent to Malta to warn of the situation and the rest of the fleet stopped on the island of Djerba (also called Los Gelves) to wait for reinforcements. The Djerba massacre and the construction of the tower There they fortified themselves as best they could and tried to build some defensive sites against a possible arrival of the Ottomans. And boy did they arrive. In less than two months, almost 90 galleys under the command of Piali Baja and its commander, Turgut Reis (Dragut). He chaos and fear It seized the troops, who were waiting for their commander’s decision. Between the choice of fighting or retreating, he chose the second when the Muslims had already landed and started a massacre. Pialí Bajá fought the Spanish, or what was left of them, for three months. While his generals managed to escape, 5,000 men led by Álvaro de Sande were isolated. Half of them were soldiers and the other half were simple sailors.. Without any help, they surrendered to the Ottomans, but Dragut showed no mercy. He didn’t even take them as prisoners. Directly ordered cut off the heads of the 5,000 survivorsclean their skulls and bones and, together with mud, build a tower on the beach built with Spanish skulls and adobe. This terrifying monument that could be seen from the sea dozens of kilometers away, would serve as a warning against future attempts at conquest. This tower was called Buj Al-Rus, which means “Tower of Skulls.” It was more than 10 meters high and stood for almost 300 years, until 1848, when the king of Tunisia ordered its demolition and buried the remains. Later, a monolith would be erected in its place in memory of the thousands of Spaniards who perished atrociously on that island. Turgut Reis, for his part, ended his days in the Ottoman siege of Malta, on June 23, 1565, at the age of 51, after being wounded during the siege of Fort San Telmowhen a cannon shot mortally wounded him in the neck. Image: Wikimedia Commons. Burj-er-Roos, engraving by Sir Grenville T. Temple, Bart. (1841). In Xataka | A group of archaeologists has discovered a new unknown language thousands of years old. The problem is that they don’t know how to decipher it.

In 2007, 20% of homes were bought by young Spaniards. Now that gap is being filled by another group: foreigners

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With the skyrocketing priceshe decoupling between supply and demand in cities and a market increasingly inaccessiblethe notaries of Spain have found themselves with a curious fact (not unexpected) when reviewing the home buying and selling data. Operations led by young people have collapsed in recent decades. If in 2007 they represented 22.5% of the total, now they do not reach 10%. Of course, all groups have followed the same dynamic. The statistics Notaries show that there is another group of buyers that has experienced a diametrically opposite trend: foreigners. What has happened? That the General Council of Notaries (CGN) has launched a new tool on-line which helps us better understand the Spanish real estate market. Above all to study key aspects such as the evolution of prices, the pace of purchases and sales or the amount of operations, offering an alternative vision to that of portals such as Idealista. If something has attracted attention During its presentation, however, another indicator was: the weight of young people in the real estate market. Or rather, how it has been receding little by little. What does the data say? The conclusion of the notaries is quite clear. If we look back and analyze the last two decades, we see that “the presence of young people in the market has been drastically reduced.” In 2007, the younger population (those between 18 and 30 years old) was behind 22.53% of sales. Today that percentage has been reduced to 9.55%. In fact, the statistical portal shows that they are one of the groups with the smallest footprint on the market, only behind the group that is already over 70 years old. In general the latest data Updated CGN data show that those under 31 years of age have represented 9.35% of buyers over the last year, far from the 25.7% of the 31-40 age group or 26.89% of the 41-50 age group. For more than a decade, in fact, the average age of those who buy has been around 50 years old. It’s not surprising at all. Other studies have been pointing out for some time the difficulties with which young people encounter to access the real estate market (only a part manages to buy or rent) and above all its gradual weight loss. Do they show anything else? Yes. Young Spaniards may play a much more discreet role in the sector today than just a few years ago, but there is another group that has grown. So much in fact that has covered the gap left by those less than 30 years old. CGN data show that operations carried out by foreigners have skyrocketed in the last two decades: from representing 7.5% of the total in 2007, they have risen to 20.1%. The Vanguard specifies that the increase has been especially pronounced in the case of non-residents, who would be purchasing of the order of 50,000-60,000 properties per year. He statistical portal of notaries allows us to go a few steps further and get a more approximate idea of ​​which foreign citizens are interested in the Spanish real estate market. According to their updated data, the British represent 8.7%, the Moroccans 7.7% and the Italians are close to 7%. They are followed on the list by Germans (6.9%) and Romanians (6.4%). It is interesting that in some of these groups, such as the British, the percentage of non-resident buyers is higher than those who do have their habitual residence in Spanish territory. When comparing the evolution of foreign buyers and young people (between 18 and 31 years old), the data must however be handled with some caution, since the General Council of Notaries does not clarify to what extent they overlap. And what about the prices? In recent years the real estate market has been marked by another phenomenon as or even more relevant: rising prices. The data of Idealistic show that, in Spain, on average, the square meter of residential use cost 1,522 euros in September 2015. It now stands at 2,517. The data does not exactly match the calculated by the notaries, but it still gives an idea of ​​the increase in housing prices. The group estimates that last year the sector recorded a variation rate price increases of 7.12%, one of the highest in the last decade. In fact, it was only surpassed in 2022, when the figure was 7.23%. “From January to August 2025, apartment prices in Spain (new and second-hand housing) have increased by 8% compared to 2024. This situation is worsened in the country’s capital, with Madrid registering a price increase of 15.2%. In Barcelona the increase reaches 9.23%,” concludes the CGN. The director of the Technological Center of Notaries, Alberto Martínez Lacambra, admits In fact, the rise in housing prices “is beginning to be worrying.” And beyond prices? The weight loss of young people is explained by several factors. Although the increase in the price of residential m2 is a key factor, there is an added difficulty in saving (costs rise in the purchase and sale market, but also in the rental market) and accessing credit or deep imbalance between demand and supply that the most saturated markets suffer from. The situation is so complex and young people have it so difficult that in fact notaries have found another revealing surprise: they are increasingly most common donations of housing (or cash for purchases) between parents and children. Regarding the increase in foreign buyers, the trend coincides with another undeniable reality. One that goes beyond the effect of extinct ‘golden visa’: he general increase of the foreign population, which has helped Spain increase its GDP and strengthening of the registry, a reality recognized by the INE itself. In recent years, the country has also gained appeal as a vacation destination, to the point that it threatens to become with more visitors of the planet. Images | Emil Gabrovski (Unsplash) and Roberto Tjalondo (Unsplash) In Xataka | A 40m2 “capsule” for 25,000 euros: the Chinese solution to housing that … Read more

Red Eléctrica asked for calm. Immediately afterwards, thousands of Spaniards flocked to buy generators and camping gas.

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“The ghost of the great blackout has once again haunted Spain,” This is how my partner summed it up after learning that Red Eléctrica Española had detected new “sudden voltage variations” in the peninsular network. The news was enough to reactivate a recent fear: being left in the dark again. And with that fear, the fever for forecasts also ignited. In search of forecasts. Demand for products related to energy supply and survival has increased by 76%, according to data from the European price comparator Idealo. Among which stand out stoves and camping gas, with an increase of 253%, followed by power stations at 87%, radios at 56% and portable batteries at 49%. Interest in products such as water purification tablets has also skyrocketed by 20% and flashlights by 14%. An alert that set off the alarms. The alert issued by Red Eléctrica Española October 7 was enough to put the population on guard. Although the company assured that the voltage fluctuations “do not pose an imminent risk of a blackout,” the population reacted quickly. Many households, still with fresh memories of the April 28 blackout, began to reinforce their domestic emergency kits, as recommended the European Commission at the beginning of the year. The great precedent. The current prudence is not accidental. Half a year ago, the peninsula suffered a blackout that left the entire country without power for more than twelve hours. During that day, the chaos moved to the stores: endless lines and empty shelves in hardware stores and large stores. Servimedia data they confirm it: The demand for electric generators shot up by 639% and that for gas camping stoves by 547% in just 24 hours. Mass hysteria or rational prevention? The figures may suggest an emotional reaction, but the data rather points to a new culture of foresight. Before the blackout, only 5% of Spaniards had an emergency kit prepared. After the event, the figure doubled to 10%, and the intention to prepare for it went from 32% to 58%. as detailed on YouGov. The CIS adds that 78% of citizens did not feel afraid during the blackout, although 53.5% acknowledged that they remembered the kit recommended by the EU. Furthermore, 88.2% positively valued the civic and supportive behavior of their neighbors during those hours of darkness. The phenomenon has revived the debate: are we facing a “collective energy hysteria” or a modern form of domestic resilience? The business of self-supply. In a matter of months, concern about a possible power outage has created a new market niche: that of energy self-sufficiency. Sales of generators, solar panels and stoves they multiplied by five after the blackout in April. Large chains such as Leroy Merlin or Decathlon sold out their stocks in hours, while neighborhood hardware stores had their own special August selling flashlights, radios and batteries. The trend has not stopped. From Idealo confirm that the searches of these products continue to rise. In parallel, interest has grown in so-called portable power stations, small devices capable of charging everything from mobile phones to basic appliances, and which are already among the most consulted articles on the internet. “Prepper” culture is normalized. Added to this fever of prevention is the rise of the so-called prepperspeople who prepare for emergencies. In fact, two of them described how the blackout tested their preparedness: Their kits allowed them to cook and stay informed when most people lost power. A phenomenon that, far from eccentricity, reflects a growing search for domestic autonomy. A new energy consciousness? Electrical Network insists that “There is no imminent risk of a blackout,” but citizens—and the market—think differently. The culture of self-sufficiency is no longer a rarity and has become established in the collective mentality. There is no blackout in sight, but there is a change: many prefer to rely on their generator before the electrical system. In times of uncertainty, energy is no longer only measured in kilowatts, but also in peace of mind. Image | FreePik and FreePik Xataka | A ghost haunts Spain: the ghost of another massive blackout caused by network tension problems

Spaniards who make special effects for Hollywood tell us about AI

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We already had clear that Spain has become indisputable superpower of the comic mainstream United States. It is not only there that ours are triumphing internationally. By the Comic-with Malaga Many of those responsible for the VFX study were passed The ranch To break down its spectacular curriculum, and we had the opportunity to talk to two of its members, Isaac de la Pompa and Sofia Balestrini. With your help We take the pulse of the state of the special effects in Spain and review its trajectory: The Ranchito was founded in 2004 by Félix Bergés and since then has become a European and global leader in VFX, with more than 200 employees. Among the films and series in which they have participated are ‘The Snow Society’, ‘A monster comes to see me’, ‘Jurassic World: the fallen kingdom’, ‘Game of Thrones’, ‘Stranger Things’, ‘The Mandalorian’ or ‘Westworld’. All success races have a turning point, and in the case of El Ranchito, it was ‘the impossible’ of Juan Antonio Bayona. We ask how your meeting was with the director of ‘The snow society‘: “Bayonne had already worked with Félix Bergés in’ The orphanage ‘and had him again. The effects became very Old School, With real water, and the result was so good that they came to call us no less than ilm (George Lucas’s effect company) to make a projection of the film. “ What impressed so much to the geniuses of the effects of Industrial Light & Magic? “It was shot in a Valencia pool. We bought a computer specialized in making water, waves and that type of fluids, but there is not a pixel on the screen. The only thing we retouched was the foam of the top of the waves, which is a mixture of real image and effects generated by computer.” When the film opens, it sweeps at the box office worldwide. “And above all, the Best Supporting Effects prize of the visual Effects Society in 2013 wins.” And from there, El Ranchito’s phone does not stop sounding. It is a before and after: “Before that, Felix had tried by all means to enter the American market, without getting it. An occasional interview, and nothing more. But the prize made the difference.” The prize and the price recognize: “Here we were more cheaper than those of Los Angeles. It was still a time when in Los Angeles there was labor (now everything is already democalized around the world), and it was much cheaper to take things to us.” For example, ‘Game of Thrones‘. “Chapter eight of season five, which we were not sure how to dobut we accepted because Felix had a lot of value, he accepted everything. I would not have dared. “Before, from HBO they made sure:” They made us a previous exam, they sent us a plan of season 4 in which some skeletons came out and told us ‘take, animated, compose it and others’ “. They had courage, but HBO too: “Suddenly they had to get out of their comfort zone, put aside all the American, Canadian and English companies, and have a Spanish company that had not done a project of that size.” When Ranchito had a good coil of international projects, important orders followed. ‘The Mandalorian’, without going any further: “There were effects that ILM did not give time to finish, and they called us. Above all we made ships of ships.” And he gave them chance to meet an idol: “And of course, we had call with John Knoll (Creative Director of ILM, responsible for the effects of innumerable films with the company since 1989), which is a very rare feeling, being in a videoconference with such a reference. “ The future of special effects The next question is inevitable: How do you see the future of the sector, especially with the arrival of artificial intelligence tools? “At the moment there is no total change, but tools have appeared that facilitate the work, in microtheses that simply make the artist’s life a little simpler. For example, making a mask is a laborious task that before had to make frame by frame, and now there are models that do it automatically.” Nor is the panacea at the moment, they warn: “Then you have to retouch, you have to refine, but the progress is there” “But in general,” they tell us, “there will be a paradigm shift, it is the absolute future. Some professions such as 3D modelers are going to die and they will have to convert to other things.” And yet, “there are limitations.” What kind of limitations? Techniques (“In some aspects that seem unimportant details when generating images, AI is still very green”), but above all legal and use: “Lionsgate has reached an agreement with Runway to feed with a 20,000 films of which they have rights and be able to generate new ‘legal’ productions with AI. It is insufficient, they need many more references to create something with meaning.” That is to say, The current IAS are so sophisticated because they “cheat” in that sense: “Google and other IAS are based on millions and millions of references that take without permission, and that is why the videos are so sophisticated. We cannot do that, and legally we are now in anyone’s land.” Technology exists, the intention exists, but the logical legal maze of power or not being able to use images without permission is such a caliber that we may take years to see how this tangle is faded. In Xataka | What is the work of an artist of visual effects, in the words of Carolina Jiménez (‘Marvel’, ‘El Hobbit’, ‘Cosmos’ …)

Millions of Spaniards consume benzodiazepines to sleep at night. They do not know that it is an poisoned candy

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On July 13, 2010, two days after Spain won the World Cup in South Africa, a Facebook user He putas the name of a group of that social network a phrase for history as a title of a group of that social network: “I am Spanish, what do you want me to win?” He talked about sports, of course. But if I had to choose a non-sports land to beat almost any other nationality, I would have (sadly) clear: The consumption of benzodiazepines. And if we talk about sleeping medications, I would bet on Lorazepam. A medication … paradoxical. Lorazepam is a benzodiazepine of intermediate action. In general terms, it works in the brain as a specific agonist of most subtypes of the Gabaa receiver. That is what makes it act as anxiolytic, sedative, muscle, anticonvulsive and amnesic. But, generalized (and even if the lormatazepan is better), it is prescribed to sleep. Why does it help to sleep? This medication facilitates Conciliation (helps to fall asleep), increases the total sleep time (in the first shots – therefore, treatments of more than four weeks are not recommended) and reduces night awakenings. It is, as it is easy to see, a resource very helpful to a problem increasingly widespread. And why is it ‘paradogical’? Because those ‘benefits’ have costs. To start, leave hangover. Being an intermediate action drug, it can leave some drowsiness or stunning after awakening. But that is little. The worst thing is that it modifies sleep architecture. In essence, the deep sleep phase and the ReM phase tend to reduce. That makes the sleep more continuous and less repairing. As The Uxoa Olaizola Pharmaceutical“Maybe you sleep, but your brain is not resting.” As if that were not enough, you can create addiction. This is better known and, in fact, it is one of the problems with the benzos. About 10% of the Spanish population has consumed them without a recipe, and 7.2% do so daily. We have a problem and it is quite serious. “75% of Spaniards wake up at least once At night, and 3 out of 10 directly affirm that they suffer from insomnia. “And, eye, the scientific evidence available tells us that we tend to think that we sleep better than we really do. Reality, surely, is much worse. And he will go more; With all its consequences. Lack of sleep is related to immunological problems, Metabolic, Cardiovascular emotional and cognitive; With disorders such as diabetes or of the obesity. Not just that sleeping little causes us to be more tired and irritablebut Raise our stress levels And it makes us Assume more risks And make more wrong. Hopefully not to mistake on this. Image | Shane | Roberto Sorin In Xataka | Science has been trying to find out what is the best time to go to sleep. And it is already close to an answer

Only 25% of Spaniards claim to be rested behind the holidays

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The return to work after a vacation, which they should supposedly Assume a respite And an opportunity to disconnect from work stresshas become a whole challenge for many Spanish workers. Although it was expected that those workers who have already enjoyed their vacations will return With renewed energiesthe reality is that only 25% of workers get it. At least that’s what emerges from A survey Made by the consultant Robert Walters to workers from Spain, France and the United Kingdom. As if you hadn’t gone. The survey reveals that one in four Spaniards claim to feel completely rested And ready to return to work after your vacation. The percentage is even worse in the United Kingdom, where only 15% say they really feel rested After your vacation. France, with 22% about the rest figures of their employees to those of Spain. In addition to returning with the feeling of not having rested, 63% of Spanish workers recognize that they experience anxiety when returning to their jobs, while in France this figure rises to 64% and in the United Kingdom reaches 78%. The similarity of the results in the three countries reveals that this is not an isolated problem from Spain. Digital disconnection and workplay. A very striking behavior that emerges from Robert Walters’s survey is the one that points to the “workshop” (Fear of getting off opportunities professionals for being absent) directly impacts the capacity of employees To rest. To 44% of Spaniards, 61% of the French and 67% of the British, find it easier to relax during their vacations if they know that their companions are also on vacation, because they know that They will not miss any opportunity Labor that leaves them at a disadvantage with respect to their classmates. Working from the beach. Another survey by the same consultant provides a relevant fact about the ability to Disconnection of the Spaniards During their vacations: 68% of professionals in Spain review Your job email During its rest days, while in the United Kingdom the percentage is 51%. These data coincide almost millimetric with those obtained two years earlier by the mental health consultancy Alan in its Mental Health Barometer 2023in which 65% of Spaniards had trouble disconnecting labor concerns At the end of your day. THE SOLUTION: Download revolutions. As Alberto Cantón, Managing Consultant in Robert Walters, says in his report, for some, reviewing their email helps them keep up and avoid an avalanche of messages when returning from the holidays. ” That is, it is a way to avoid a back overload situation When they go back. “Sometimes, something as simple as blocking the reception of emails outside working hours helps disconnection and reduces stress levels,” says Canton. According The published By the specialized portal psychology and mind, holiday rest is a psychological need with which the ability to judgment and decision is improved and productivity and concentration are increased, repairing the harmful effects of cortisol and anxiety in the organism. In Xataka | If the question is why the work seems worse behind the holidays, the postvacational syndrome is the answer Image | Unspash

93% of Spaniards have bought there throughout this year

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Mercadona has eaten its competence in Spain and in an example to be followed by world giants such as Costco, Walmart or Tesco Regarding the margin of benefit, in what leads them with a good distance. Behind such specific figures there are usually more general ones, and that is just what the Wordpanel by numerator (before Kantar) is just than Kantar) than collect expansion. Absolute leader in market share. Mercadona has a 26.7% market share according to Wordpanel data, which represents a sidereal advantage over its closest persecutor, Carrefour (9.2%). They are followed by Lidl (6.7%), Eroski (4.3%), day (3.7%), consume (3.5%) and Alcampo (2.9%). Stronger in his hegemony. The most striking thing in a domain photo like this is that Mercadona is the second supermarket that grows the most compared to 2024, only behind Lidl ( +0.3% vs +0.4%). In addition, in 2024, Mercadona was the supermarket that grew the most. In addition to growing, it diversifies: one in seven euros of your benefit wins it Selling money, no food. 93.2%: Spaniards are very Mercadona, and much Mercadona. Having a room in the distribution market is already a huge milestone, but of all the data surrounding the Supermarket of Juan Roig, the most surprising is the percentage of buyers who have attended at least once to the supermarket: 93.2%. A figure that speaks not only of how internalized it is to buy in the Valencian company, but of the amplitude of its presence in the market. According to the company, it has 1,602 supermarkets on national soilwith establishments in all autonomous communities. The only places where we cannot find a Mercadona are the islands of La Gomera, El Hierro and Formentera. Lidl is far, far away. In contrast to the figure of Mercadona, which is practically the entire population, the percentage of users who have bought at least once in Lidl is in 69%, which is already a victory itself, because they are almost two points more than a year ago. And without opening more stores. The total number of Mercadona establishments has stagnant (or even reducing) A five years. In 2019, the company had 1,626 shops compared to 1,602 today. The great expansion It occurred between 2000 and 2010when they practically tripled their number of stores in Spain. As of 2015, they are around the same numbers. Changes in already open stores. Mercadona has been applying deep transformations in the establishments that I already had open, gradually making them “Stores 8“. They are broader, they have more advanced technology and integrate sections such as” ready to eat “, designed for those than They buy time, no food. These stores are, according to Juan Roig, “twice as profitable.” A unique model. In addition to the Spanish market figures, Wordpanel by numerator also collects, with similar methodology, the distribution market share in countries such as France, Ireland, United Kingdom either China. In several of them there are supermarkets that exceed 20% quota with slack, such as Tesco in the United Kingdom or Dunnes in Ireland. However, Mercadona is the only supermarket of all the analyzed that dominates its market of origin so clear about its maximum competitor. And in Ireland, for example, there are three supermarkets above 20%. In France, three above 17.5%. Spain is a unique case, although Covir will show that The opposite model also works. Images | Mercadona and INE In Xataka | Juan Roig believes that cooking at home has no future. There are eight million Spaniards who are already giving the right

The Spaniards eat less and less fish. So the fishmongers are recycling their product … for pets

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In Spain we eat less fish. Much less. And we have more pets. Many more. Life fishmongers are not alien to one or another trend, so they have decided to do A movement quite logical: to make a place in the lucrative, promising and above all growing business of food for pets. After all, if they have already done the large supermarket chains, why can’t your neighborhood fish do? The logic is simple: that the place where you buy fish for you, for your children, couple and other family is also the place where you buy it for your hairy. What happened? That Fedepescathe Spanish Federation that represents businesses dedicated to the sale of fishing products, has just released an original campaign. Original and expected. Monday, during an act held in MadridThe organization presented a campaign to encourage its clients not to take home food for them or their family. He wants them to do it also for their pets. In fact, slogan cannot be clearer: “In the fish market there is also food for your hairy compi!” Fedepesca campaign poster. “For the whole family”. The strategy is well cooked. If the fishmongers are reliable businesses in which to acquire fresh, seafood and frozen fish, why were they also going to be to buy pet packaged foods that fish has as “protagonist ingredient”? Fedepesca itself remember which is something that supermarkets have been doing and would allow traditional fishmongers to become points of sale for “the whole family.” “The initiative aims emphasize. According to EFEAGROthe Federation has begun to introduce packaging food for pets in Madrid by the hand of a wholesaler and there are associations of Seville and Catalonia interested in following their steps. In total Fedepesca brings together near 6.2000 businesses. Reinvent or die. The movement is curious, but not surprising. Although Spain is a country with thousands of kilometers Of coast and a gastronomy linked to the sea, the fishmongers are finding that we eat less and less fish. The Last data The government shows that between April 2024 and last March the consumption of marine products fell 2.7%, a percentage that rises to 4.3% if we speak only of fish. And it is not a timely drop. In 2003 the annual per capita consumption of products related to fishing touched the 27.8 kilosfact that in 2009 even reached touch the 30 kg. In 2023 that indicator had descended until 18.9 And last year he got off 18a negative trend that has no signs of changing in view of the balance of recent months. Given this scenario, fishmongers have opted for new business roads, such as home shipments and Sale of algae… or pet food. More pets. The panorama is very different if we talk about company animals. In fact there are calculations that show your census overcomes to children. Although The data They must be handled cautiously are demolving: a few months ago The country He made a survey Between veterinary schools and concluded that in Spain there are 9.3 million dogs and 1.6 million censored cats. In total 10.8 registered pets. Leaving aside that there are many other species that are used as company animals, the data far exceeds the number of minors registered by the INE. ANFAC, the association that brings together pet food manufacturers, assures That in Spain there are more than 30 million pets, of which about 9.3 are dogs and 5.8 felines. Differences can be explained because not all animals have chip. And an appetizing business. These figures translate into something else: business. More more pets is the market focused on its food and care. ANFAC calculates that the sales volume went from 561,305 tons in 2023 to 573,210 in 2024. And that reflects only the weight. The rise is greater if we talk about billing. Fortune Business INSGIGHT esteem That the world market for pet care reached 259,370 million dollars in 2024 and its forecasts are of clear growth. Their estimates pass through that this year the 273,420 million are already in the beginning of the next decade, the 428,000 million are rubbed. Images | Anusha Barwa (UNSPLASH), Grupo Eroski S.Coop (Flickr) and Fedepesca In Xataka | In Spain there are less and fewer children, so the ice cream industry has launched for a more buoyant market: dogs

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