Spanish

opening private clubs for Spanish millionaires

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Madrid boasts of being a welcoming city for people from all over the world. That hospitality and its fiscal laxity with big capital have transformed the accent of some of the upper neighborhoods of the capital with the arrival of millionaires from all over Latin America. In fact, such has been the migration to the capital that some of the local millionaires have been displaced to other neighborhoods. As response to that massive arrivallocal millionaires have found a new way to socialize: select clubs for wealthy members, with five-figure entry fees and selection processes that are more reminiscent of a job interview than a place to socialize. Only in the last two years have they opened Forbes House, the Metrópolis Club in the iconic building on Gran Vía, the Vega Members Club and Soho House is about to arrive. Select and controversial club. Normally these spaces maintain a low profile and their openings do not appear in big headlines. However, the waiting list to enter some of them begins even before they open their doors. Remembering the scene from Brad Pitt in Fight Club: “The first rule of Fight Club is not to talk about Fight Club.” However, this silent phenomenon has made headlines after the statements by Tamara Falcó’s husband, by Íñigo Onieva collected by The World during the presentation of his club Vega Members Club. “We don’t want this to become the Latin American club either. We want there to be a balance between the local and international community,” Onieva said during the event. The comment seems to have not been well received by the Latin American millionaires living in the city, and has become an issue with economic, social and even political implications. The Latin response was immediate. As published The CountryOnieva’s statements quickly circulated among the richest and most influential Latin personalities in Madrid, generating surprise and indignation. Sergio Contreras, a Venezuelan political refugee in Madrid, goes further by reminding the managers of those clubs that some of those Spanish fortunes were made thanks to the fact that they emigrated at the time to countries like Venezuela. “There is a racist discourse that I am beginning to notice: first it was said that we took away their jobs in the real estate sector. Now, it turns out that we also steal their leisure and their apartments,” he complains. Manuel Campos Guallar, partner and co-owner of Vega, came forward to emphasize that different generations mix in these clubs, nationalities and professional profiles. For his part, the director of Forbes House, Andrés Rodríguez, was more direct: “We meet in the restaurants in Madrid, we meet in the stores, but we still don’t know each other very well nor are we doing much business,” he declared to the same medium. For Rodríguez, precisely connecting the Latin American community with the Spanish one is one of the missions of his project. Entering costs money, but above all contacts. Beyond the controversy raised by the right of admission by nationality, the new private clubs that have proliferated in Madrid are not exactly cheap, but money will not give you the key to enter either. Entering Forbes House or Vega does not depend only on being able to pay: there are interviews, filters and the mandatory recommendation of at least two current partners or the express invitation of the founders. Entry fees to these exclusive spaces are usually between 10,000 and 15,000 euros, to which must be added an annual fee that can exceed 2,000 euros. In the specific case de Vega, the founding members contributed 15,000 euros each and the annual fee is 2,400 euros and 1,500 for those under 35 years of age. The model was not born here, but it has found its moment here. Madrid has not invented this type of exclusive access clubs for select members. New York has been living for years The New York Times christening as “member-only mania“. A survey GGA Partners’ 2023 report reveals that 63% of clubs reported an increase in membership from 2022. Remote working created a class of well-paid executives hungry for a social life, and empty buildings after the pandemic provided the infrastructure necessary to satisfy it. London has been at this longer. The historian Seth Alexander Thévoz documents in his book ‘London, Clubland‘ a total of 133 active private clubs in the city, of which 78 are after 1985 and most of the newer ones have opened after 2015 or even 2022. Madrid is following that same path, with a small nuance: here the tension between the local and the international has given the phenomenon a charge that goes far beyond the economic filter to elect the wealthiest members of the city. The passport can also affect your income as a member. The business behind the phenomenon. Beyond the social nature of creating a space where millionaires from the capital can interact among equals, the proliferation of private clubs in Madrid is not a passing fad or a whim of four rich people: it responds to a structural transformation of the city. According to the latest report From Barnes City, the Community of Madrid leads foreign direct investment in Spain, concentrating close to 70% of the national total, with more than 24,000 million euros, and in 2026 it will repeat as the most attractive city for high net worth. That concentration of wealth It directly feeds the demand for exclusive leisure spaces for those ultra-rich clients. The business model of these private clubs for the rich is not new, but its scale is. He Club Matadorone of the oldest of this new cycle, has around 2,500 members and an approximate turnover of six million euros per year, with an annual membership of 1,720 euros. He New Clubof nineteenth-century essence and founded in 1856, has a maximum of 500 members, a permanent waiting list and a monthly fee of approximately 1,500 euros. The death of a partner is usually the only way of access for a new partner, … Read more

A website has collected more than 1,000 speed limitations on Spanish trains. Adif has knocked her down

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They are called Dignitat a les Vies and they say they are “fed up with the mistreatment by Renfe, Cercanías and Adif.” The claim is clear: “we want a decent railway system.” And as a means of protest they had a website with all the speed limitations found on Spanish railways. They had it, because Adif has taken down the website. Cessation of activity. It is the title that heads a writing from Dignitat a les Viesa platform that until last Friday had an active web page in which all the speed limitations of Spanish railways were collected. The text reads that Adif has confirmed that the blocking of the page is derived from a previous complaint on its part, understanding that “the information on Temporary Speed ​​Limits (LTV) is ‘sensitive’ and cannot be known by the general public.” Listening to the road manager, the court has ordered the blocking of the website. What was shown? Simply, all the speed limitations present on Spanish roads. Supported by users and, above all, by machinists according to The Country, The association had a map where more than 1,000 incidents were recorded. The map, which Dignitat a les Vies assures has been replicated by the media (such as its own The Country) and has not been removed, showed public information that Adif refuses to provide in what they describe as “an act of paternalism. According to these users, “Adif is failing to comply with the current legal framework. In accordance with Law 9/2025 on Sustainable Mobility, Regulation (EU) 2017/1926 (MMTIS) – updated by 2024/490 – and Directive (EU) 2019/1024”, which requires them to make public “the data on the infrastructure and its restrictions.” And they emphasize that showing them “helps the user understand chronic delays.” The restrictions. As reflected in the newspaper The CountryIn Spain there are currently more than one mile of temporary speed restrictions active. This means that there are more than 1,000 points where drivers must circulate at a speed lower than the maximum speed permitted at that point in a generic manner. These restrictions are a consequence of actions on the tracks but also the consequence of continuous warnings by train drivers. And it is that, as they have confirmed to Xatakathe workers indicate with a report points that, in their opinion, should be reviewed or do not allow driving at the maximum speed required. Everything indicates that, after the Adamuz accident in Córdobathe zeal with these notices is greater than before. Train drivers also have the power to reduce speed at specific points if they so deem it necessary. These speed reductions must be reflected with a notice to the command post and in a report but, as we said, Adif has the final say on what is reviewed, what point is left for later and where speed restrictions are applied and for how long. Is it important? Yes, because temporary speed restrictions have multiplied high-speed travel time. Right now, Adif has indicated to the operators that Journey times are going to be longer in Madrid-Barcelona due to actions on the tracks and trains have been eliminated. This situation will last for months and as it is an issue that falls on the side of the road manager, the client has no right to compensation. The data of The Country They indicated on March 9 that there are 422 points where trains must run at a maximum of 30 km/h. It is the most repeated speed limitation. If the restrictions at 60 km/h or less are added, there are more than 850 points in Spain where high-speed trains cannot go above this speed. Where are there more limitations? Due to the volume of traffic and passengers, it is logical that the restrictions in Madrid-Barcelona have focused attention. Especially since it has been difficult to travel between both cities during the day without suffering any surprises or being clear about what time you are going to arrive, which complicates the traditional movement between cities. However, the media reports that line 100 Madrid-Hendaya is the most affected with 83 temporary speed limitations that reduce speed by 112 kilometers along the total 641 kilometers, followed far away by line 400 Alcázar de San Juan-Cádiz, which totals 85 limited kilometers spread over 69 restrictions found along 577 kilometers. However, it is the line 240 S. Vicenç Calders-L’Hospitalet that is most affected if the number of kilometers with active speed limitations is taken into account. And of the total 71 kilometers of the line, 56 of them have limitations below normal as a result of 35 conflict points. Photo | José Ignacio Esgarriaga In Xataka | Spain decided to build its social life around the AVE. And now he’s discovering the consequences of failing.

Spanish cities are collapsed because they were not designed to go “from the periphery to the periphery”

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For decades, commuting to work in large Spanish cities had a clear logic: workers lived on the outskirts of large cities and They traveled every morning towards the center to their jobs. It was a fairly stable urban model, reinforced by transportation networks designed to take workers to the large office districts of the urban area. However, in recent years this pattern has been changing as the price of land in the center has skyrocketed and companies have also had to move to the periphery. As and as it portrays The Countrythe problem is that cities are not designed to move from periphery to periphery, and that movement has become in a daily mousetrap for millions of employees. In recent years, many companies have chosen to move your offices to peripheral areas where land is cheaper and there is space to build large office complexes. This movement has made it possible to build huge business campuses that would be unviable in the urban centers of large cities with high demand for land such as Madrid or Barcelona. In Madrid, the north of the city has become one of the main destinations for this type of projects. An example is the Telephone Districtlocated in Las Tablas, which occupies about 22 hectares and concentrates more than 12,000 workers in a single business complex. The records of the Residence-Work Mobility Atlas of the Community of Madrid show that districts such as Fuencarral-El Pardo (where the Telefónica District is located) are already among the areas with the highest concentration of employment in the region. Barcelona experienced a similar process with the development of 22@ technological district in Poblenou, where numerous technology companies and corporate headquarters have been setting up shop in the last two decades. The transformation of this old industrial neighborhood created a new employment center outside the historic center of the city. Employment is moving, but so are prices The problem with this migration of companies to the periphery of urban centers is that when thousands of workers begin to concentrate in a specific area, the real estate market usually reacts quickly. Proximity to work centers increases the value of neighborhoods nearby, which ends up raising rental and housing prices. This increase, in turn, forces employees to move to municipalities even further away from the city center and the offices where they work. The result is a constant increase in daily trips within the metropolitan area. In Madrid this phenomenon is reflected in the labor mobility figures. According to the recorded data According to the Mobility Atlas of the Community of Madrid, every day 1.2 million people enter the capital from other municipalities to work, compared to the 790,000 who did so in 2016. Something similar is happening in the city of Barcelona, which after the growth of 22@ has attracted workers from numerous municipalities in the metropolitan area, congesting the northern and southern access roads and the city’s ring roads due to the traffic generated by these employees at peak hours, such as and how collect traffic congestion report of Inrix of 2025. All these congestion problems have their origin in the fact that the large transport infrastructures (metros, trams, Cercanías, bus lines, etc.) of the large Spanish cities have been designed for decades with a radial structure. They were planned to connect the peripheral neighborhoods with the city center, which was where most of the employment was concentrated. When new business centers began to grow outside the center, that structure began to show its limitations. Many workers no longer need to go to the urban area, but rather travel between peripheral areas that are not directly connected by public transport. A very clear example of this is the demand of the residents of Tres Cantos for an axis that connects them with… The A-6, not with the center of Madrid. This requires long journeys or several transfers, something that often makes the car faster. Even if it means getting stuck every day on the way to work. Furthermore, public transportation in many cities has become a lottery with constant delays and breakdownswhich generates uncertainty when considering alternatives to the private car. The increase in long trips to work and dependence on the car is clearly reflected in traffic data. According to the TomTom Traffic IndexMadrid registered an average congestion level of 38% in 2025, which is 3.6 percentage points more than the previous year. That level of traffic means that traveling 10 kilometers during rush hour can take about 34 and a half minutes, at average speeds. close to 17.5 km/h. The report also estimates that Madrid drivers lose around 98 hours a year in traffic jams during rush hours. When daily journeys are long, the accumulated time can multiply and reach up to 500 hours per year per person lost in traffic jams. Barcelona faces a similar situationwith a level of congestion in its urban center and access roads of 41.1%, which is one of the highest figures in Europe. In Xataka | The worst traffic jam in history: two weeks, more than 100 kilometers and thousands of cars detained in China Image | Commons

50 years ago, an inventor introduced the first water engine. He was Spanish, a visionary and a complete fraud

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“Of my patent, the license for Spain is transferred free of charge to the State for the benefit of all Spaniards.” Loud and clear, this is what Arturo Estévez Varela, the inventor of the water engine and, without a doubt, a great Spaniard. At least that’s what they must have thought. NODE viewerswhich in the early years of the 1970s included the words of this man from Extremadura. “That died with my father and we haven’t bothered to move it either,” said Arturo Estévez Jr. in a report for RTVE in 2009. Perhaps due to lack of knowledge or, probably, due to having too much knowledge. Knowledge that the invention, in reality, was completely unrealizable and that the patents shown to the journalist from the public entity have no value. But who was that man in a suit who drank from a jug before filling the tank of a motorcycle with water and made it work? Behind the name of Arturo Estévez Varela there was an inventor, an enormous visionary and, why not say it, also a scammer. Before his water engine, this Extremadura native born in Valle de la Serena (a small town of just over 1,000 inhabitants in the province of Badajoz) had already devised a chicken roaster with infrared and the “wing plane”, a device that allowed rockets to be recovered. Space X in Franco’s Spain. Arturo Estévez Varela in a demonstration of his invention With four liters of water, 900 kilometers of autonomy But if Arturo, who perhaps at this point we should start calling Don Arturo, became famous for something, it was for his water engine. An invention that, according to what he said, allowed you to travel by car 900 kilometers with just four liters of water. Statements included in the press of the time. It was October 1970 and, evidently, it seemed like magic. How did good old Don Arturo get a motorcycle he was taking around Spain running? Yes, with water, but also with hydrogen. Water was only one of the pillars of his invention. The third was hydrogen. And the second, a mystery. Town to town and city to city, Don Arturo traveled throughout Spain, generating a stir as he went, capturing the attention of the press and, as we have seen, also of the NODO. What this Extremaduran inventor did not reveal was what was hidden in that substance that, together with water, allowed the combustion engine of his motorcycle to work. In theory, the water reacted with a mineral that Arturo did not want to reveal. This reaction produced hydrogen which, when burned in the combustion engine, made the motorcycle work. That is, the procedure was similar to that have tried in Toyota. It is not a motor fuel cellis a combustion engine that burns hydrogen, a much more inefficient process. If we consult different sources on the Internet, many agree that the Francoism came to order a technical report to check if what that unknown inventor said was true. Obviously, everything was left in water, yes, but borage. missing These same sources end their story at the same point. Don Arturo was tireless in making himself heard, in convincing people and strangers that his invention worked and that it was the solution to many of Spain’s problems. However, it disappears. Nothing else was heard of him and the fables begin. Since the Franco regime tried to hide the invention until the oil companies decided to silence it. It seems that the secret, however, was not so secret. In this blog They recover a large part of press clippings from the time. Shortly after making himself known and without being listened to by the Government, Don Arturo managed to get someone to trust him. That someone was José Carrera Rey, a businessman who bought half of the rights to the invention at a price of six million pesetas. It is at that moment that Don Arturo loses track of him. José Carrera Rey then discovers that he has in his hands an invention that is useless. What it doesn’t have are six million pesetas and he doesn’t have a partner either. In desperation he denounces Don Arturo but nothing is heard from Don Arturo again. Only an indictment, in 1974, for an alleged crime of fraud, managed to get Don Arturo to appear in court. However, in December 1977 the magistrates were clear: Justice matters were already going very slowly in Spain and Don Arturo had not committed any crime of fraud because he believed in his invention, so there was no type of deception. Due to the dates on which the Spanish Television report was recorded and what his son says, Don Arturo died on the border of the 80s and 90s and took his secret to the grave. A secret which, according to the scientists who have studied the case, was boron. He boron It is a chemical element that, in reaction with water, produces hydrogen that, even, can become inflamed due to the enormous heat released. Hence, Don Arturo always warned that his “secret mineral” and water had to be mixed in controlled quantities. As collected The Vanguard last summer, the water engine, therefore, is perfectly functionalbut very little useful. To obtain 5 kg of hydrogen, with which a fuel cell Toyota Mirai (more efficient than burning hydrogen) travels about 600 kilometers, 45 liters of water and 19 kg of boron are needed. The problem is, basically, the 68,000 euros that 19 kg of boron would cost, according to what was reported in the Catalan newspaper. Was it functional? Of course, but, at its side, the first liter of synthetic and emissions-neutral fuel at 2,800 euros It no longer seems so expensive to us. Image | Commons In Xataka | The 194 kilometers that changed the history of the automobile have a first and last name: Bertha Benz In Xataka | The history of the first traffic light in Spain, installed in 1926: six lights … Read more

the Spanish space startup grows with Japanese money

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PLD Space has closed a Series C round of €180 million led by Mitsubishi Electric. With this injection, the Elche company exceeds the 350 million raised in total and has a clear path to carry out the first demonstration flight of its rocket Miura 5 before the end of 2026. Why is it important. Spain has very few technology companies capable of raising this type of money on a global scale. PLD Space has not only achieved this, but has done so by attracting a top-level Japanese manufacturer that is not coming to make a financial bet but to secure access to launches for its clients in Asia. That difference between a financial investor and a strategic investor changes everything. Between the lines. Mitsubishi Electric has also signed an MOU with Lockheed Martin to collaborate on geostationary defense satellites. That the same week in which he signs that agreement he also leads this round in PLD Space is no coincidence. Japan is building a chain of access to space so as not to depend on anyone, and PLD Space fits as a provider of low orbit launches for the constellation of satellites that that ecosystem needs. For the Spanish company, this means support that goes beyond capital: it is a seal of industrial credibility. In figures: 180 million euros raised in Series C. More than 350 million in total accumulated financing. Planned capacity of 30 launches per year by the end of the decade. The Miura 5 can place up to 1,080 kg in low orbit. Target production: 4 rockets in 2026, 6 in 2027. The context. Europe has had the problem of access to space on the table for years. The delays of Ariane 6 and the dependence on American launchers have made it clear that the continent does not have a mature private alternative. He European Launcher Challengewhich calls for a test flight of a higher-capacity rocket before 2028, has acted as an accelerator for PLD’s roadmap. The company already designs the Miura Nextdesigned precisely to meet that institutional challenge. The big question. PLD Space has proven that it can raise money and that it can fly hardware. He Miura 1suborbital rocket, completed its first launch in October 2023. But the jump to orbital is different. Many launch startups have raised hundreds of millions and have not reached orbit. The real test begins when the Miura 5 takes off from Kourou, whose facilities should be ready in July. Until then, money buys time, but not guarantees. In Xataka | “We are the company that has developed an orbital rocket the fastest”: PLD Space, one step away from making history from Spain Featured image | PLD Space

the great paradox of Spanish energy

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The Spanish energy market has broken into two halves that seem to have no relationship with each other. On the one hand, the trench of the retail market—direct sales to consumers—has become a scenario of continuous attrition where historical giants are bleeding customers at an unprecedented rate. On the other hand, the boardrooms of these same corporations celebrate the highest profits in their entire history. How is it possible to make more money than ever by losing hundreds of thousands of customers? The answer defines the new paradigm of the sector: large electricity companies are ceasing to be “light sellers” to consolidate themselves as managers of colossal infrastructures. The real business is no longer in fighting the average citizen’s monthly bill, but in controlling the cables, regulated assets and energy demanded by the new technological giants. The bleeding of the 1.3 million contracts. The closing figures for 2025 draw a historic leak. As detailed The IndependentIberdrola and Endesa suffered an “unprecedented fall”, jointly losing almost 1.3 million customers (1,279 million exactly) in the electricity and gas markets. Endesa left 645,000 contracts behind, while Iberdrola lost 634,000. The attitude of companies towards this flight of users is radically different. The president of Iberdrola, Ignacio Sánchez Galán, downplayed to the matter during the presentation of results, calling it “normal rotation” and boasting of the “enormous loyalty” of its hard core of users. On the other side of the coin, Endesa yes it has set off the alarms: has announced an injection of 900 million euros until 2028 with the urgent objective of recovering half a million customers, even relying on strategic alliances such as the recent purchase of Masorange’s energy business. The feast of alternative firms. In the last year, an absolute mobility record was broken, more than 7.25 million changes of marketer. In other words, almost one in four Spaniards decided to change their rate. The big winners of this stampede have been companies like Octopus Energy, the MásMóvil group and, most especially, Repsol. The oil company has already established itself as the fourth electricity operator in the country, exceeding 2.1 million customers and taking market share directly from traditional electricity companies. The model breaks, but the box is full. Any traditional economics textbook would say that losing more than a million customers is a financial catastrophe. However, the balance sheets say the opposite. How to publish Five DaysIberdrola pulverized its brands by earning 6,285 million euros in 2025 (12% more than the previous year), while Endesa reached 2,351 million (18% more). The secret of this paradox explains it perfectly The Mail When analyzing Iberdrola’s accounts: the net benefits that come from the management of distribution networks skyrocketed by a brutal 77%, while the contribution of the energy generation business fell by 27%. In simple words, they earn less by selling electricity to the end customer, but they earn much more by charging the regulated “toll” for using their cables, especially in markets with very attractive legislation such as the United States and the United Kingdom, which already account for 60% of their investments. The future runs through the cables. Electricity companies are going to stop obsessing about installing solar panels at any price to focus on the sockets and transmission highways. Endesa will invest a record figure of 10.6 billion until 2028, allocating more than half (52%) exclusively to electricity networks. Simultaneously, it will put the brakes on renewable energy, cutting its investment by 20% due to the “cannibalization” (plunging prices) that solar energy suffers during peak production hours. Iberdrola follows the same path: 62% of its gigantic investments last year went to the networks. The other great vector: data centers. Endesa already has some 3,000 MW of capacity ready to feed these insatiable technological infrastructures, highlighting its hybrid macroproject in Pego (Portugal). All of this will require a much more robust national backbone; Therefore, Redeia (parent company of Red Eléctrica) will skyrocket your investments 70%, injecting 6,000 million into the high-voltage transmission network to support this technological boom and the electrification of the country. Furthermore, this scenario comes with strong pressure of both companies for extending the useful life of Spanish nuclear plants, such as Almaraz, defending that they can operate safely up to 80 years to guarantee cheap and stable base energy that the system urgently needs. Network saturation and market clearing. The regulatory context explains many of these operational decisions. Spain faces a monumental bureaucratic funnel: 83.4% of electricity distribution nodes They are administratively saturatedwhich keeps 130 GW of renewable energy locked in, even though the grid is physically underutilized. To avoid the collapse of reindustrialization, the CNMC is designing new “flexible access permits” that will change the rules of the game. At the same time, the bottom of the market pyramid is undergoing a silent purge. The Government started a few months ago a historic cleanup of the “ghost marketers.” Of the more than 900 firms registered in Spain, only 416 had real activity. The Ministry for the Ecological Transition has already begun to disable inactive or delinquent companies, transferring their clients to avoid systemic risks and clean up a hypertrophied market. The definitive metamorphosis. The traditional electricity bill is no longer the main battlefield for the great energy totems. While they gladly cede – or out of pure wear and tear – the exhausting hand-to-hand combat of the retail market to independent marketers and oil companies in the midst of a green conversion, Iberdrola and Endesa have ascended to a much safer, more profitable and macroscopic ecosystem. They have understood that the future does not belong to whoever sells electricity to the final consumer, but to whoever owns the highways on which, inevitably, all that energy will have to circulate. Image | freepik and Alex Quezada Xataka | Spain has a giant problem: its electrical network claims to be “full” when in reality it is underused

the great Spanish paradox of forest risk

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It seems like a contradiction, but that’s how paradoxes work. And this one in particular is so problematic for Spain that in nine out of ten configurations the result is always the same: whatever happens is bad for fires. But why? I mean, how is it possible that whether it rains or not, this country always has a problem with flames? The world on two scales. If it doesn’t rain, if we endure weeks or months of drought, the humidity of the material accumulated in the mountains (grass, bushes, leaf litter) drops. In addition, the soil temperature rises and living vegetation begins to become stressed. Just one spark is missing and boom, we have a fire source that is very difficult to stop. That is, drought worsens the risk today. The rain makes it worse, but it will do so tomorrow. Because if it rains, the vegetation grows (especially what we call fine fuel) and the continuity of the scrub increases. It’s biomass, biomass and more biomass. If it rains there is no risk, if it doesn’t rain: it is material that sooner rather than later will become fodder for the flames. The hell of the summer of 2025, started in spring… Sometimes we don’t focus much on this: wet springs are wonderful, but in our case it is also a potential danger. Not only because of what I explained above, but because (also) no one manages it. And that means that, if the trend continues in the direction it is going, we have to start seeing rainy winters as more than just a way to save the season. We must begin to see them as a clear reminder that we must invest in prevention, plan devices, firewalls, fuel management and all types of extensive farms that help contain the problem. Because climate change is not just “warmer.” A few days ago, AEMET itself reflected on How rainfall records are changing. Changes in the landscape and rural abandonment are a permanent source of problems and the so-called “bullwhip effect” only increases them: growth phases and drying phases that never stop coming and going. So yes, the great Spanish paradox with rains and fires is this: no matter what happens, in the coming years, we will always have problems with fires. Image | Karsten Winegeart In Xataka | In China they are deploying metal firefighters. Maybe they are more useful than robo-waiters

Two Spanish space giants have joined forces to take 5G defense satellites into space: PLD Space and Sateliot

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Two Spanish companies they have sealed an agreement to launch new generation satellites without depending on any other foreign company. In Europe we have been with the run run of technological sovereignty. This agreement is a perfect example of this, and also a milestone for Spain if the project ends up materializing. The agreement. PLD Space, manufacturer of the Miura 5 rocket based in Elche, and Sateliot, a telecommunications satellite operator based in Barcelona, ​​have signed a contract to launch two satellites from Sateliot’s Tritó constellation aboard the Miura 5. The launch is scheduled for the last quarter of 2027, expectedly on the fourth commercial flight of the Elche rocket, and will do so from the Kourou Space Port, in French Guiana. Each satellite weighs about 160 kilos and will be launched on a dedicated mission, without sharing space with other operators. Why is it important? This agreement is presented as the first entirely Spanish private space mission, with satellites designed, manufactured and operated in the country, launched using a rocket also of Spanish origin. And the interesting thing about the project is that it would cover the entire value chain of the sector (manufacturing, launch, operations and commercial exploitation) without foreign intermediaries. Although the European Union has been trying for years reduce your dependence on operators like SpaceXthis alliance fits directly into this context. What are Tritó satellites? The Tritó constellation is a significant evolution of the current satellites that Sateliot has, weighing 15 kg and dedicated exclusively to the Internet of Things (IoT). In this case, the new Tritó have greater capacity and will combine IoT connectivity with direct device-satellite communication (D2D), including data, voice and video through 5G. Marco Guadalupi, CTO of Sateliot, counted to El Español that one of its key points is that they will be able to “establish the connection when the device is in the pocket”, being key for emergencies, natural disasters and defense applications. The risk they assume. Guadalupi does not hide that it is “a risky mission.” The Miura 5 is a new rocket, whose first launch test is scheduled for the end of this year, and its reliability has yet to be demonstrated in real flight. “We are crazy and we know what we want,” I was joking Guadalupi himself in the interview with the media. The Sateliot team claims to have visited the PLD Space integration and testing facilities on three occasions before signing. In exchange for the risk, they get something that few options on the market offer: a dedicated mission, without competing for space, and the flexibility to adapt flight conditions to their specific needs. Review. Last November, PLD Space closed financing of 169 million euros through ESA’s European Launcher Challenge, backed almost entirely by Spain, for launch contracts and improvements to the Miura 5. Sateliot, for its part, has plans to deploy up to 100 satellites in 2028 and aims to reach revenues of 1 billion euros in 2030, according to they count from Reuters. Among its shareholders is Indra, with 4% of the capital. The agreement with PLD Space also occurs while Sateliot is opening market in India. Jaume Sanpera, CEO of the company, traveled to the Asian country coinciding with the announcement, where the company already has headquarters and sees potential for a future business in which they offer connectivity in remote areas. What’s coming Before the satellites board the Miura 5, Sateliot plans to launch a prototype of the Tritó platform in mid-2027 to validate the payload. The more capable commercial satellites would be integrated into the rocket in the final stretch of that same year. Regarding the total number of satellites they hope to put into orbit, Guadalupi counted that “there will be hundreds.” Sateliot’s intention is to centralize launches to simplify logistics, and although they do not rule out other suppliers, they aim to continue working with PLD Space. Cover image | Satellite In Xataka | A new “solar system” has just been discovered. There’s just one problem: it shouldn’t exist.

Spanish companies have hired again in 2026. The problem is that there is no one to hire

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Spanish companies start 2026 wanting to expand their workforce, but they face a big problem: they cannot find enough qualified candidates for your vacancies. According to the data of the ‘Labor Market Guide 2026‘ prepared by the consulting firm Hays, companies are ready to grow and hire more staff. However, the labor market has changed and professionals are already they don’t want to give up to their current jobs. Companies step up. The Hays study reflects that 81% of Spanish companies plan to increase their workforce during 2026. The economic growth trend drives the expansion objectives of Spanish companies and, to carry it out, new vacancies have been opened. This growth in job offers is especially noticeable in dynamic sectors such as technology, professional services and industry. However, the big obstacle quickly appears: there are not enough professionals with the necessary training to fill those vacancies. 93% of the companies consulted for the Hays study claim to have serious difficulties in find qualified profilesa percentage that reaches a historical record and is paralyzing many hiring plans. Talent shortage vs. little training. The lack of qualified professionals has become an insurmountable wall in the hiring processes for new vacancies. 85% of companies claim to have launched internal training programs to develop capabilities of its employees. Only 18% of participants openly admit that they are not investing enough in closing this skills gap that holds them back so much. From the employees’ side, the perception is different. Only 48% of employees are aware that training is being carried out in their company to improve their training. This disconnection between what companies promise and what workers see aggravates the situation, making it more difficult to attract and train talent. Qualified external talent is not found, but neither are resources allocated to train the talent that is already on staff. Less job rotation. Unlike what happened years ago, in 2026 professionals have prioritized stability and growth within their company, instead of jumping to another offer. This change in mentality represents a change with respect to the years 2022 and 2023 in which the labor market had high mobility and the workers they changed jobs frequently in search of better working conditions. Even so, 62% of workers feel that their salary does not reflect all the effort that they put in day by day, but that dissatisfaction is not enough to push them to movesince they value stability and personal balance more. Christopher Dottie, regional managing director of Hays for Southern and Western Europe, puts it in clear words: “companies continue to look for talent, while talent continues to look for stability.” Better salary and flexible working hours: keys to attracting talent. To break this inertia and attract available talent, 72% of companies plan salary increases in 2026, with increases of 7% in areas such as customer service, administration and finance, and 6% in the technology sector to meet salary expectations what candidates demand. Furthermore, the flexible days They are imposed as a key piece in attracting talent, although many companies still resist implementing them despite the fact that the vast majority of employees consider them essential for their well-being. In fact, this ability to adapt to demands for flexibility and offer teleworking options is what is tipping the balance. between the public and private sectors. In Xataka | The employment paradox in Spain: we have the highest unemployment in the EU and also the lowest number of job vacancies Image | Unsplash (Beatriz Cattel)

deal with the websites of the Spanish administration

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Claude’s latest upgrade isn’t advertised as “smarter”: it’s advertised as an acting agent. Sonnet 4.6 Not only does he reason, he also navigates websites, fills out forms and completes procedures with the mouse and keyboard, just like a person would do. It’s a quantum leap in what AI can do for you, not to you. The demonstration chosen by Anthropic It was a great example: a user renewing his car registration on the website of the American equivalent of the DGT. It seems like a simple, functional and well-designed website. We want to see how it would go with the Electronic Headquarters of the Tax Agency. The context. Claude had already taken a big leap this month with the arrival of Opus 4.6 just two weeks ago. Sonnet 4.6 is the intermediate version, the one used by most users, including those on the free plan, and Anthropic has transformed it into more than just an improved chatbot: its OSWorld scores, the benchmark standard for measuring computer use by AI, have grown steadily for sixteen months. The company claims that tasks that previously required its most powerful model (Opus 4.5 and 4.6) are now solved by Sonnet 4.6, at the same price as always. Between the lines. There is a very clear market strategy here. Anthropic just closed a $30 billion round and aired its first ad in the Super Bowl, taking a dig at OpenAI. Now it democratizes agentic capabilities in its free plan. The objective is not only to attract developers: it is to reach the average user and change their daily relationship with AI. When chatbots started to have memory, our way of interacting with them changed. They went from tools to relationships. When they start doing things for us for real, like booking appointments, filling out forms or managing hellish paperwork, the change will be of a different magnitude. Yes, but. The technical and cultural challenge is enormous. AI that navigates computers is vulnerable to attacks of prompt injection– Malicious instructions hidden in web pages that can hijack the agent. Anthropic has improved the resistance of Sonnet 4.6 at this point, but the issue is not resolved. And that is without entering the ecosystem of European government websites, where the user experience already represents a challenge for us humans. The big question. When does a brutal demo stop being a brutal demo and become something that anyone uses to manage their tax return? That distance, between the promise of the agent and the reality of the digital bureaucracy, is where the real game is going to be played, beyond the hype. In Xataka | What is Claude Cowork, how it works, and what things you can do with this AI assistant on your computer Featured image | Anthropic, Xataka

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