Stopping

BYD’s plan so that charging your electric car takes the same time as stopping for gas

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In recent years we have seen how Chinese brands have begun to conquer Europe with the accelerator pressed, with BYD as the main protagonist. However, let us remember that BYD is not only a manufacturer of cars: it is also a manufacturer of batteries and charging technology. That is why he is going to bring out all the heavy artillery in Europe as well, with a plan of 2,000 million euros to plague the region of ultra fast chargersthose that charge their cars in five minutes and that the brand itself showed us during the presentation of the Denza Z9GT. Breaking down obstacles. Charging has historically been the Achilles heel of the electric car. Not so much because of the capacity of the batteries, but because of how long it takes to charge the batteries compared to a brief refueling in a combustion car. BYD aims directly at this psychological brake with its own infrastructure that equates recharging an electric car to filling the tank of a combustion car. If it manages to impose its infrastructure, it would eliminate one of the great barriers of those who are skeptical about the electric car. Technology. The system Flash Charging It uses chargers with up to 1,500 kW of power, three times more than the most modern Tesla Superchargers, which are around 500 kW. To make the most of it, the car must equip the second generation of the BYD Blade Batteryspecifically designed to withstand these extreme loads. With that combination, going from 10% to 70% battery takes five minutes. The first European model with this capacity is the Denza Z9GT, which we were already able to try first-hand last April and which has a starting price of 115,000 euros in its electric version, acting as a technological showcase for the brand. Already in the presentation we were also able to see how the car, in fact, only took about five minutes to reach 70% of its charge, although the infrastructure that the brand must put in place to reach those figures is no small feat. Numbers. The plan involves adding about 3,000 stations in Europe before the end of 2027, of which 600 correspond to the United Kingdom, where BYD has already inaugurated its first ultra-fast charging point. On the other hand, the manufacturer told us at the time that the idea in Spain is to start with about 200 or 300 chargers. “It’s a lot of money, with each charging point costing almost half a million pounds,” counted Stella Li, the group’s top international executive, told the Financial Times. How they avoid saturating the electrical grid. One of the technical challenges of very high-power chargers is the impact on the electrical infrastructure. BYD solves this with a system of stationary batteries installed at each charging point, which are recharged during hours of lower demand (normally early morning) and act as an energy reserve when a user connects their vehicle. Thus, the peak demand on the network is much lower. The real bottleneck. Curiously, the main obstacle is neither technical nor economic. Bono Ge, head of BYD in the United Kingdom, counted to the FT that “the challenge does not lie in the infrastructure, but in the speed with which the town councils can give their authorization. We can implement it very quickly.” Technological showcase. The move is very reminiscent of Tesla’s Supercharger network, which was key in its commercial expansion by minimizing that recurring thought of having to recharge the car on long trips. Europe already has extensive networks, in fact Tesla has about 20,000 points on the continent, but BYD is betting on fewer and much more powerful stations. The idea is to continue expanding its technology, and make it so that other vehicles can also use their chargers, regardless of the manufacturer. BYD’s market share in the EU has already risen from 0.8% to 1.9% in the first four months of 2026, according to data from the European automobile association ACEA, and in the United Kingdom it reaches 3.4%, above Renault and Volvo. In Xataka | The best electric car chargers 2026: Which one to buy and six recommended models

Young people are stopping drinking beer like crazy. That’s why Mahou wants to sell you water as cosmetics

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On May 28, social networks in Spain woke up flooded with pink, lychee and promises of beauty. That day YUZZ saw the lightthe new business adventure of the influencer María Pombo in alliance with the brewing giant Mahou San Miguel. Under the motto Here You Glowis presented not as a simple drink, but as a revolutionary concept of fun skincare: a soft drink that “takes care of you on the inside so that you shine on the outside”, formulated with hyaluronic acid and vitamin C. The deployment was massive: the strategy started with mystery videos, a WhatsApp channel that was fuming with thousands of followers looking for clues and culminated in an experience pop-up in the heart of Madrid. However, beyond the indisputable success of the call, the launch uncovers a striking contradiction: that of an industry traditionally linked to nightlife and beer trying to bottle the idyllic universe of health, cosmetics and well-being. Why does a brewery sell beauty? Beer is beer you might be thinking. However, the alcoholic beverages sector is going through a moment of profound transformation in the face of the decline in consumption among new generations. This is where they make the leap towards functional soft drinks, since it responds to an unstoppable global trend. In fact, the wellness market It already moves 480,000 million dollars in the United States, with annual growth of up to 10%. Europe follows in the same wake, and Mahou is looking for its piece of the pie. But to connect with Generation Z and millennials It is not enough to launch a product; a narrative is needed. This is where María Pombo comes in. The industry is witnessing an evolution of influencer marketing, it is no longer about paying a well-known face to hold a can, but rather a “shared business model” based on co-creation. Pombo has been involved from day one, sharing the development process organically with her more than four million followers. This drastically reduces the consumer’s natural resistance to conventional advertising. The label under the magnifying glass. While marketing works perfectly, the scientific community has raised eyebrows when analyzing the list of ingredients. Can you really drink cosmetics? According to Dr. Emiliano Grillo, specialist in Dermatology, is blunt in the magazine Cuore: “There is no way for you to eat the skincare“. The expert warns that, for oral hyaluronic acid to have a real impact, it would require much higher doses than those anticipated in this type of recreational formats. But the biggest problem with YUZZ is not what it promises, but what it hides: sugar. Although the brand prides itself on being a low-calorie drink without sweeteners, nutritionist Paola Sánchez explains in the same medium that each can contains about 10 grams of sugar, the equivalent of two cubes, from the concentrated apple juice that serves as a base. The pharmacist Mencía Hermosa goes one step further and points out the paradox of the product: the consumption of sugars is directly involved in the glycation process, a mechanism that damages collagen and “contributes to skin aging.” That is, the soft drink could be torpedoing the effect it promises to generate. For her part, the pharmacist and disseminator Lena de Pons dissects the formulation in Infobaedenouncing that “the narrative sells more than the evidence.” De Pons clarifies that YUZZ is governed by food regulations, not cosmetics. Legally, they can only claim that it helps collagen because it covers 15% of the Nutritional Reference Value (NRV) of vitamin C, a tiny amount. “A fruit salad has more antioxidants,” says the expert ironically, also regretting that the word “science” is used in the campaign without providing independent studies that support the bioavailability of its formula in the body. The undeniable triumph of narrative. At the end of the day, the reality of YUZZ depends on the lens through which you look. If we evaluate it under the rigor of dermatology, trying to replace a cream with a soft drink is nonsense. As a timely and recreational alternative to a mixed drink with alcohol or a traditional soft drink loaded with artificial additives, it is an option that the experts themselves consider acceptable. But in the corporate field, the move is masterful. How to conclude Article 14in a saturated market where attention is the rarest commodity, getting an entire country to debate about your brand is the greatest success. Mahou and María Pombo have made the initial impact. Now they face the real challenge: to demonstrate that this cross between a brewery and skincare It has enough commercial history to survive on the shelves once the noise of social networks has died down. Image | instagram Xataka | It’s cheaper and less anxiety-inducing: ‘solo-maxxing’ is Generation Z’s answer to the stifling dating industry

Spain counted on immigration to reverse its demographic drama. Now immigrants are also stopping having children

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I had never lived so many people in Spain. Not at least since there are official records. A few days ago the INE revealed that at the end of the first quarter of 2026 the country had around 49.7 million residents, “the maximum value in the historical series.” In reality there is little surprising about it. The INE takes time using that tagline in its statements on population, in which it also insists on another idea: if Spain is moving in record numbers it is basically thanks to the increase in people of foreign origin. The balance between births and deaths in the country is far away to be good. The problem is that this demographic salvation table shows symptoms that it will not work indefinitely. What has happened? What Funcas just published a studysigned by Héctor Cebolla and María Miyar, which basically analyzes whether Spain can rely indefinitely on migration to save it from the demographic winter. In fact, the report of think tank seek (literally) explore “the limits” of immigration for “demographic adjustment.” It is an important topic for two reasons. First, because the arrival of foreigners has become the great engine of population growth in Spain. Second, because despite the increase in the registry and the fact that the INE has been registering for some time record numbers of residentsthe truth is that the Spanish demographic engine is not exactly oiled. In 2025, the INE counted 446,982 deaths and 321,164 births, which leaves red numbers vegetative growth. And what is your conclusion? That although the migratory flow is acting as a demographic lifeline, we cannot trust that its effects will continue forever. “Immigration has made it possible to sustain population growth and cushion aging, but it has done so through a mechanism that requires continuous and increasing flows, loses effectiveness over time and does not correct the underlying trends of demographic imbalance,” comment María Miyar Busto, director of Social Studies at Funcas. It is not about denying the positive effects of immigration, but about “recognizing the limits of the model” and placing it “in its rightful place in the analysis of public policies.” Above all, thinking about the future in the medium and long term. “The short-termism that dominates the debate on the benefits of immigration has not allowed the analysis of the long-term consequences and has favored the absence of an explicit demographic strategy,” duck Onion. Why this warning? Because after analyzing data on migratory flows and tables of age ranges, birth rates and population growth, Funcas researchers have reached several worrying conclusions. For example, they have proven that although Spain manages to attract a significant number of immigrants, it is not as effective when it comes to retaining them. They have also confirmed that the population of foreign origin shows signs of a progressive aging and that over time their demographic patterns (such as birth rates) end up being similar to those of Spanish families. What does the data say? To begin with, Spain has a problem when it comes to determining the migrant population. The country is attractive enough to attract foreigners, but only a portion ends up putting down roots here, contributing to the demographics and economy. And to show you a button: although between 2002 and 2024 they entered Spain almost 15 million of people, the population only increased by seven million. That leaves our country in a peculiar situation. Spain is the main recipient of immigration in Europe in relative terms and between 2013 and 2023 it absorbed 16% of the immigration that arrived on the continent, however for years its retention rate has been one of the lowest in the region: 51%. That, remember Funcasforces Spain to maintain “high inflows to sustain a population that is constantly renewed.” Why is that a problem? Because for the model to continue supporting Spanish demographics, it requires “growing and uninterrupted” migration, something complicated every time that population arrives from countries (especially in America) who are also aging. Is it the only warning sign? No. The study de Funcas also questions whether immigration will serve to rejuvenate the registry. Researchers calculate that the foreign population that has already turned 55 years old shot up by 42% between 2021 and 2025. This is almost 20 percentage points more than the growth recorded by the immigrant population between 20 and 54 years old, which increased by 25%. What’s more, the think tank It is estimated that around a quarter (22%) of immigrants have already blown out the 55 candles. How young are the immigrants? “The population born abroad is no longer a young population, but rather less aged than the native population,” they respond from Funcas, which also warns that this “gap” between residents born in Spain and abroad will reduce as the immigrants who moved to Spain at the beginning of the century, between 2000 and 2008, before the great brick crisis, approach retirement age. To underline this idea, the research center provides a revealing calculation. “In absolute terms, the increase in the immigrant population aged 55 or over between 2021 and 2025 (42%) means that more than 615,000 people of that age were added to the Spanish population, a figure equivalent to the population of Malaga, a dynamic that anticipates greater pressure on the health and dependency systems,” slide. The phenomenon is especially clear in Spain, one of the EU countries where the most adult immigrants arrive. If you look at 2024, only 13% of new residents were under 15 years old. At the opposite pole, 18% were over 55. Do they behave differently? That is another of the keys that Funcas focuses on. If we Spaniards ourselves resist having large families or move to rural areas…Why should immigrants, people who often face a more complex economic starting point and lack a family support network, act differently? Onion and Miyar even talk about a “Spanishization” of reproductive behavior. Despite the significant increase in the number of women of childbearing age, the total number … Read more

The US remains committed to stopping China. Now it has targeted the second largest Chinese chip manufacturer

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SMIC (Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp) is the largest Chinese semiconductor manufacturer with a global market share 5.32%. Only TSMC and Samsung surpass it. Currently this is the only Chinese company that has the necessary technology to manufacture 7nm integrated circuitsbut Hua Hong Semiconductor, China’s second largest chip producer, is developing the technology necessary to manufacture this class of semiconductors. The US Department of Commerce has confirmed without intending it that Hua Hong Semiconductor is very serious with its 7nm photolithography. And it has done so because, according to Reutershas notified the most important lithography and wafer processing equipment manufacturers in the US that they no longer have permission to deliver their most advanced machines to this Chinese company. The purpose of this US entity is clear: it aims to make it difficult for Hua Hong Semiconductor to conclude the development of its 7nm lithography. Lam Research, Applied Materials and KLA already have one more obstacle in China Department of Commerce technicians analyze export requests within the framework established by current regulations and approve or deny the sale of integrated circuits and wafer processing equipment to China. The current regulation is the most effective tool at the disposal of the US Government to try to slow down the development of China’s semiconductor industry and prevent it from acquiring the capacity to manufacture cutting-edge integrated circuits in the short or medium term. Hua Hong is preparing to start production of 7nm chips at its Shanghai plant Hua Hong Semiconductor’s division specializing in third-party chip manufacturing is called Huali Microelectronics, and it is preparing to launch the production of 7nm integrated circuits at its Shanghai plant. The sources that have revealed this information assure that Huawei has collaborated with Huali Microelectronics on this project, which invites us to reach two reasonable conclusions. The first is that Huali’s 7nm lithography is likely to play an essential role in GPU production capacity for artificial intelligence (AI) from both Huawei and other Chinese companies. And the second conclusion is actually a plausible hypothesis. And, like SMIC, Huali does not have access to ASML SVU teams. For this reason, it is very likely that with the help of Huawei it has developed security techniques. multiple patterning to be able to manufacture 7nm chips with the UVP machines in its possession. Lam Research, Applied Materials and KLA are three of the US companies that the Commerce Department has notified that they can no longer provide Hua Hong Semiconductor with their most advanced wafer processing equipment. China is a very important market for these companies, so presumably they are going to lose several billions of dollars in sales. Lin Jian, the spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has declared that his country expects the United States to stabilize global industrial and supply chains and keep trade functioning normally. Image | TSMC More information | Reuters In Xataka | TSMC is already the highest-earning chipmaker on the planet. It has beaten two semiconductor giants

Japan’s problem is not that it is stopping having babies at a record speed. It’s just that he did it 17 years earlier than he should have.

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If there is a way out of demographic pitJapan still hasn’t found it. And not for lack of effort. Although all your effortsof the imagination and million-dollar investment that has been allocated to birth policies, its balance of births continues to be disastrous. The last one has just been published by the Government and shows that in 2025 they were born in Japan 15,179 fewer babies than in 2024. It is the tenth consecutive year of decline, a new historical low and above all a scenario in which Japan did not expect to find itself until 2042. The question is: Is Tokyo willing to cover this birth rate disaster with a greater migratory flow, the demographic table that keeps afloat other countries? What has happened? that Japan has received a hard bath of demographic reality, something that is beginning to be common. The Ministry of Health has just published the birth rate for 2025, a document that leaves little room for optimism. Throughout last year, 705,809 babies were born in the country, a bad figure no matter how you look at it. It represents the lowest record since statistics began to be compiled in 1899, and above all it confirms that the birth rate has been declining for ten consecutive years… with no prospect of improvement. In annual terms, these 705,809 births represent a decrease of 2.1% compared to 2024. If we look further back, to the last decade, the drop is around 30%. The only good news is that the data improves (slightly) some forecasts launched by the Japanese press a few months ago and that the speed at which the birth rate falls seems to be slowing down little by little. At least it is lower than that of the 2022-2024 period, when it exceeded 5% annually. Is it that bad news? Yes. For several reasons. The main one is that the Japanese demographic crisis is worsening much faster than the Government believed, which years ago prepared for a pessimistic scenario. In 2023 the National Population and Security Research Institute and Social Security (IPSS) published a report in which it calculated that the number of annual births would not decrease to 700,000 until 2042. The reality is that the country has already moved within that range in 2025, 17 years than expected. What’s more, the IPSS estimated that 774,000 babies would be born in 2025. The actual data that we know today (705,809) is closer to its most pessimistic projection (681,000). Why is it a problem? Because Japan is proving that, despite its multiple attempts, it has not managed to close its demographic gap. It is not just that their birth rate is falling, it is that vegetative growth (difference between births and deaths) gives clear alarm signals. Although the deaths have decreased by 0.8%the Japanese population shrank by 899,845 people last year. Media like Nikkei either The Japan Times In recent hours, they have published analyzes that warn of the gradual aging of the country and (above all) the pressure it puts on its social security system and pensions. There will be something positive, right? More or less. The statistics leave some positive readings or that show possible paths to follow, although with nuances. For example, in 2025 marriages increased slightly compared to the previous year (1.1%) to reach 505,656. The question is whether this rebound is the result of the hangover from the pandemic, when many couples postponed their weddings. Another curious fact is that there are territories that seem to have hit the right demographic key: in Tokyo the births increased by about 1.3% last year, reaching 88,518, and it is estimated that its metropolitan area accounts for almost a third (30%) of all births registered in the country. What is the solution? The big question. The difficult thing is to answer it. Japan has tried with economic and labor incentives, programs for pair…Everything to boost your birth rate, a goal to which you have dedicated millions and millions. It has been of little use to him. There are those who believe that in this scenario a possible salvation is to rethink the national immigration policy. “Refusing to accept an adequate flow of migrants is not only ignoring economic reality, but giving up on our collective future,” pointed recently to The World Akito Tanaka, from the Migrant Solidarity Network. “Policies that are increasingly limiting the entry of foreign workers are exacerbating precisely this problem,” Tanaka insists.who warns that Japan faces “an unprecedented demographic crossroads.” The latest data from the Ministry of Health actually leaves an interesting idea: the 705,809 babies registered in Japan in 2025 not only correspond to births to parents of Japanese origin, but also include foreigners. What is Tokyo’s position? It does not seem very willing to bet on foreigners to revive its population. In fact just yesterday transcended that Japan’s immigration agency has tightened the guidelines that applicants for permanent residence must comply with. In practice the changes make it more difficult meet the requirements to obtain the visa, for which it is key to demonstrate good conduct and financial self-sufficiency, among other conditions. It’s not exactly new. It has been known for months that the government of the conservative Sanae Takaichi was planning double the time minimum stay that foreigners must remain in Japan to qualify for citizenship. Can it change? In the midst of an avalanche of international tourism (which has generated multiple tensions between foreign visitors and the native population) the presence of foreigners has become a relevant issue in Japanese politics. In fact, after taking the reins of the Government, Takaichi did not take long to promote an immigration policy that revolves around regulations with an eloquent name: “Law for a society of orderly coexistence with foreigners.” His last results at the polls They show that their position does not upset the electorate. Image | Andrew Leu (Unsplash) In Xataka | If Korea believes it is experiencing a demographic crisis, it is because it does not … Read more

We have been dreaming of stopping aging for centuries. The question is if we are finally achieving it: Crossover 1×37

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Myths such as that of the fountain of eternal youth have helped human beings through the ages. let’s dream of not aging and living forever. Reality is still cruel: Although life expectancy has increased, we age without seeming to slow it down. But there are those who argue that there may be. In this episode we have spoken with Dr. José Hernández, longevity expert and founder of a clinic specialized in Age Reversal, to understand what aging really is, why it is considered a disease today, and what technologies could allow us to go back biologically. In this debate we talk about information theory and epigenetic damage, cellular reprogramming, or how there are already large companies —and some billionaires— investing significantly in this. In fact, the most advanced science is accompanied by methods that seem much more effective not so much in slowing down aging but in ensuring that our physical condition is much better when this process affects us: Physical exercise is an absolute pillar of longevityassures this expert. Of course there are other factors that influence – diet and genetics, of course, do – but we are dealing with a question that has opened numerous avenues of research, some of which are promising. Who knows what can happen. On YouTube | Crossover In Xataka | Don’t tell me your age, tell me your grip strength: how simple gestures tell us how well we are aging

Spain is stopping making its potato tortillas at home. And that is why the Mercadona supplier is growing by 20%

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After decades of debate Spain hasn’t decided yet Whether or not the tortilla should contain onion, what thousands and thousands of Spaniards do seem to be clear about is that the ideal is for someone else to cook it. More and more people prefer to go from peeling potatoes, heating oil and making their own tortillas to buying them directly at the supermarket. And so is making gold to one of Mercadona’s allied companies, a Navarrese firm which in 2025 increased its turnover by 20% to reach almost 200 million euros and this year it hopes to make another growth spurt to reach 230. It is the financial data of a company in the food sector, but it also tells us a lot about the market and our consumer habits. Sincebollists V.S. concebollistas. It is not easy to classify the Spanish population into tight compartments, but there is something that does not fail: the majority of 49.4 million of people who live in this country can be defined as sincebollists either concebollistas depending on whether you prefer the potato omelette (one of the great emblems of the native cuisine) with or without onion. The curious thing is that both seem to increasingly opt to abandon the stove and buy ready-made tortillas. At least that’s what they suggest. the latest data from Grupo Elaborados Naturales, Mercadona supplier and one of the largest tortilla manufacturers in the country. One figure: 197 million. The company presume that since its founding in 2006, it has managed to achieve “a dizzying pace” of growth of between 15 and 40% annually. 2025 has not been an exception. His last balance shows that last year it had a turnover of 197 million, 20% more than the previous year. This year it hopes to maintain that pace with another growth of 16.7% that will allow it to reach a turnover of around 230 million. As? Basically with your offer of refrigerated and frozen tortillas, although in the HORECA channel (the professional hospitality industry) also works with processed potatoes and vegetables. 2026, big. To achieve this growth, the company has redoubled its industrial muscle. The firm has dedicated approximately 40 million euros to strengthening its facilities, expanding its factory in Funes (Navarra) by 20,000 square meters and equipping itself with 12 new lines which will allow it to double the production capacity in that plant: from 300,000 units per day to 600,000. The company assures that it will also generate hundreds of jobs. In total, the company has three factories: Funes, dedicated to the production of tortillas; that of Corella (Navarra), which combines the manufacture of tortillas with prepared refrigerated potato-based dishes; and Aguilar del Río Alhama (La Rioja), where 150 people work dedicated to cooking migas and ‘fifth range’ foods (ready to eat) with vegetables. Apart from the national market, the company exports to a dozen and a half countries. The (long) shadow of Mercadona. Beyond its production capacity, there is one fact about the company that draws attention: its weight in the sector. Elaborados Naturales has reached a market share in the ‘potato tortillas’ category of 56% in large national distribution. This enormous footprint is better understood when knowing a key fact about the Navarrese company: its alliance with Mercadona. The firm is a supplier to the Juan Roig chain, which has in turn expanded throughout the sector until it has gained a market share of between 25 and 30%a percentage that has been reinforced thanks to its good rhythm of growth. More than just a business balance sheet. The balance sheet of Elaborados Naturales is nothing more than that: the balance sheet of a company in the food industry. If it is interesting to read beyond the company’s offices, it is because it connects with other underlying trends that are clearly identifiable in both the industry and Spanish society. For example, the growing demand of prepared foods. The latest data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Food (MITECO) they talk to us of an increase in the consumption of prepared dishes of around 6% while that of fish, fruits and vegetables declines. Much of it Of that demand is also satisfied in supermarkets. Rain of millions. A good example is Mercadona, which has seen how its line of ready-to-eat dishes has been taking over a growing gap in that business niche. Its success (also supported by white label) is in turn boosting its extensive ecosystem of suppliers, including Elaborados. In fact, the tortilla manufacturer is just one of the many companies that have seen their turnover grow by close to 20% in recent years driven largely by the commercial expansion of the Valencian chain. Images | Kent Wang (Flickr) and Natural Prepared In Xataka | Years ago Mercadona decided to conquer the market with its white brands. And that is making gold for some companies

20 years after Dolly we still haven’t cloned humans, but stopping aging is feasible: Crossover 1×32

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In the summer of 1996, a Scottish laboratory made a breakthrough that would forever alter our understanding of genetics and ignite intense debates about the ethics and the possibilities of cloning. That day Dolly was bornthe first mammal cloned from an adult somatic cell. This milestone, achieved by researchers at the Roslin Institute, opened a new era in genetic engineering and shattered the belief that only embryonic cells possess the potential for the complete development of a new individual. Since then there has been debate about the possibility of cloning human beings, but we have not done it and it does not seem that we will ever do it. Serezade, molecular biologist, researcher and scientific communicator, talks to us about that and many other things this week. But we also discussed with her another fascinating topic: how the latest advances seem to be achieving something long sought after: slow aging. There is a lot of fabric to cut here, and for example the environment, culture and habits shape our DNA. But there are also risks, ethics and genetic privacy intertwined. And all this raises a key question: does it make sense to be immortal? On YouTube | Crossover In Xataka | The promise of 120 years is dismantled: biology sets a life ceiling that is quite difficult to break

We Spaniards are stopping having Christmas trees because they don’t fit in our house. So there are already companies renting them

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The year or the city doesn’t matter. At least in Spain, Christmas usually comes accompanied by a series of images that are repeated December after December, invariably: streets full of colored ledsbalconies in which they begin to appear papanoels and other Christmas decorations, shop windows in which gold, silver and reddish colors suddenly predominate… and living rooms in which trees full of tinsel and garlands sprout overnight. Year after year the same questions are also repeated: better natural or artificial tree? And above all… What the hell do we do with it after Epiphany, when it’s time to pick up the decorations? Where do we store it, if we already have the storage room all the way up? There are those who have seen In those doubts a promising business. Tree Earrings. There is no Christmas without decorations. And there is no Christmas decoration worth its salt without a good tree. It’s been like this all our lives, but just in case there were any doubts, cities like Vigo, Barcelona, Badalona either Madriddetermined to build gigantic trees in the heart of the urban area. Something similar happens in businesses, offices and homes. People demand trees (both artificial and natural), something that is felt in the nurseries and the big chains of decoration. As a reference, the National Christmas Tree Association (NCTA) estimates that each year they are sold in the US between 25 and 30 million of natural Christmas trees, which requires a huge plantation with hundreds of millions of copies distributed throughout the country. The dilemma, whether you choose real or fake fir trees, is… What to do with them later? A question, a business. There are those who have seen that question and the demand for Christmas trees as a business. After all… Why rack your brains choosing decorations, assembling them, disassembling them and then looking for a place to store them for months if we can pay a company to take care of everything? Or better yet, what if instead of buying the tree we rented it? Leasing trees may sound strange, but there comes a quick search on Google to find a few companies that operate in Spain and they dedicate precisely to that: to temporarily give up trees full of lights in exchange for a fee. The offer is wide and includes everything from small specimens to others of large size and size, for both indoor and outdoor spaces. But is it a business? Yes. The holidays may only last a few weeks, but if companies like Ximenezthe Córdoba company that has been in charge of setting up decorations in Vigo, Madrid, Barcelona or Milan, is that Christmas decorations can become a million dollar business. After all, it is not only families who demand decoration. Governments and companies of all kinds also do it, from businesses that do not have space to store decorations the rest of the year to hotels that need trees for their living rooms and hallways. In a warehouse in Madrid… One of the most popular Christmas tree rental companies in Spain is B&M, a family business with twenty years of experience that works from a warehouse in Tetuán, Madrid. Recently those responsible they explained to The Spanish Newspaper Every campaign, about 200 trees come out of there ready to decorate and that the company itself is in charge of collecting once the holidays are over. Their work involves several challenges, such as matching the taste of their clients and coordinating the logistics that require dismantling and removing 200 trees during the second week of January. “The pickup is intense because on the 9th everyone wants you to pick it up.” “Three, four hours at least”. The company also makes it clear that although it may seem like a simple task, preparing the ideal tree requires work. First they convey a proposal to the clients. Then they shape it. “A four or five meter tree is a job for five or six people, who have to spend at least three or four hours on it,” clarifies the signaturewhich explains, for example, that there are businesses that want trees with their corporate colors. How much do these services cost? In your website There are rates (with delivery and collection service included) ranging from 265 to 2,800 euros, without VAT. It all depends on the tree you want. They range from 1.5 to five meters. Are there more options? Yes. The demand for Christmas decoration is intense enough that it has encouraged other businesses, such as those that are committed to sustainability and offer a rent in pot. Your proposal? Instead of buying a plastic tree or taking a felled fir, rent one that you can place in your house alive, with its pot. Once in your living room you can decorate and take care of it and after Christmas the company will collect it to take it to a forest or to its nursery of origin. Images | Arun Kuchibhotla (Unsplash) and Jared Lind (Unsplash) In Xataka | Without knowing it, we all honor Thor during Christmas thanks to a pagan ritual: the Christmas tree

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

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

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