tons

Mercadona and the rest of the supermarkets spend tons of paper on receipts that no one reads. Now they want to change it

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You go to the supermarket, you buy a couple of things (just enough for dinner), you go to the checkout, they give you the ticket, you put it in your pocket and you leave with the bag in the direction of the parking lot. Pure routine. Our daily bread. If the employer’s retail achieves its objective, there is one element of that scene, however, that will change radically. Which? That ticket that you will end up throwing away without even reading it. What has happened? Every year supermarkets print millions and millions of strips of paper in which in many cases only a handful of articles appear, so they end up in the garbage can without anyone having even looked at them. It is a waste, a waste of resources. For chains like Dia, Lidl or Mercadona, but also for the environment. So Asedas (Spanish Association of Distributors, Self-Service and Supermarkets) has had an idea: they want us to start printing receipts only when the customer requests it. What do they want? The news I advanced it on thursday theEconomist. Asedas has proposed to the Government that it slightly tweak the regulations that regulate tickets so that they are no longer printed systematically. That does not mean that they are no longer issued or that the customer no longer has a receipt that clarifies what they have purchased and how much they have been charged. The change would focus on support. The idea, clarifies Ignacio García, head of Asedas, is “that the ticket continues to be generated electronically for control purposes, but that it is printed on paper at the consumer’s request.” That is, the user can request the physical or digital ticket. Right now, remember theEconomistthe regulations provide that supers deliver the receipt in two ways: either in paper or digital format. What’s happening? Since not all clients are in favor of handing over their data (including email) to the chains, in the end they have no choice but to print it. Not only that. The employer’s data They show that many of the times we go to the supermarket we buy only a handful of items, so the receipts show small transactions, for low amounts that we do not even review. Result: those papers end up in the trash as they are printed. It is not even strange for the customer to reject them when the cashier offers them to them. Is it that serious? “Our companies have been confirming for years that, in about a third of operations, the ticket is abandoned at the checkout line,” confirm Garcia. It is not surprising if we take into account the data on the shopping basket managed by Asedas. According to their estimates, 30% of the operations registered in supermarkets respond to almost urgent visits, during which we take home at most four products and spend less than 10 euros. In 60% of cases, purchases involve between five and 25 products with average tickets of between 10 and 50 euros. Only the remaining 10% actually respond to large purchases. In practice, the fact that all operations end up reflected in a receipt means that the supers generate about 5 billion tickets that require the use of almost 4,500 tons of paper and a million-dollar expense. Is it important? Beyond the millions of receipts that are printed each year and the cost that this entails in tons of paper and euros, Asedas’ proposal is interesting for at least two reasons. To start with who throws it. Asedas presume to be “the first food distribution business organization in Spain” and cover 19,200 retail stores and 495 wholesalers. Between your partners Companies such as Mercadona, Lidl, Aldi or Dia appear. Another key is that its idea is in line with what is already done in other European countries. For example, in 2023 France said goodbye to the generation of tickets by default precisely because of the amount of paper it consumed. That doesn’t mean they no longer exist, but they must be requested. In the Netherlands, Switzerland and Sweden there have also been changes related to the generation of receipts. In Spain itself, some large chains they take time moving towards the digital ticket. Images | Xataka Mobile and Wikipedia In Xataka | There was a time not too long ago when the future of supermarkets seemed like Amazon Go. Now Amazon Go is dead

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates import millions of tons of sand every year despite living on immense deserts

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The story is striking in itself: Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, two countries closely associated with the desert, import tons and tons of sand every year. So striking, in fact, that the first intuition is that it is false. But, as soon as you get closer to it, you discover that not only is it true, but it is more interesting than it seems. Because yes, these countries import a lot of sand. In 2023, only the United Arab Emirates bought more than six million tons. And it is surprising, of course, because these are two countries located on enormous deserts. The explanation, however, is simple: the sand they have is not suitable for certain things. At a technical level, what is known as “eolian sand” (that which the wind accumulates in dunes) is very fine, very uniform and very rounded. That makes it a poor sand for making glass, concrete or other industrial products. It is not that it cannot be used, but it requires adjusting the mixtures, controlling the granulometry and impurities (fines), and carefully balancing the manufacturing processes. That is to say, the process ends up becoming so expensive that it is cheaper to import sand that is more suitable for standardized processes. And this, ultimately, should not surprise us. Sand is, today, the second most exploited resource in the world (only after water). The United Nations Environment Program estimates that every year 50,000 million tons of sand and gravel are used. What’s more, the lack of sand is so obvious that there are criminal networks that traffic with her internationally. However, we are not talking about just any sand. There are, as is evident, many types of sand. For what is not interesting today we can distinguish natural sand (HS 250590) and siliceous/quartz sand (HS 250510). The Gulf countries import, above all, the second. Emirates, to give an example, is spent half a million a year in the first and 87 million in the second. That is to say, although they are countries ‘rich’ in sand, they do not have the sand they need. A sand, moreover, with very specific specifications (granulometry, purity, humidity, fines, contaminants, consistency of supply) and that are basic for glass, foundry, filtration or the chemical industry. However, they also import natural sand. And this is interesting because, as they point out in the UNthis only makes clear the significance of the problem of governance and externalities. Despite having usable sand, in many cases it is preferred to buy from other countries (such as Oman) to avoid the negative externalities of draining sand from their coasts and deserts. Something that can alter livelihoods (fishing, agriculture due to salinization, coastal tourism) and increase vulnerability to storms. In the summer of 2019, the couple who became famous was arrested in Sardinia for hiding 40 kilos of sand in his trunk. That was the anecdote, the problem was another: that beyond mass tourism, the tensions on the sand are increasingly greater. It is something that has only grown and is normal. The world is not here to do without one of its most valuable resources. Image | Lars Portjanow In Xataka | We are running out of sand. And there are already traffickers who negotiate with it in India or Morocco

Greenland has 1.5 million tons of rare earths. The problem is that there are no roads to get to them.

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The geopolitics of the 21st century has found a new and icy epicenter. After the capture of Nicolás Maduro In Venezuela earlier this month, Donald Trump’s administration has turned its diplomatic aggressiveness northward. The goal It’s an old longingtake control of Greenland, which the White House defines as an “ingot” of strategic resources. However, the physical reality is inescapable since beneath a complex geology lies an absolute lack of basic infrastructure that turns any extraction plan into a logistical chimera. The 93-mile wall of asphalt. Since the Republican Party introduced the Make Greenland Great Again Act In 2025, pressure on Denmark has escalated to even suggesting the use of force. As explained by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)Washington has elevated Greenland to the category of “national security” need. This position, which some analysts already call the “Donroe Doctrine”, seeks to secure the hemisphere as an exclusive sphere of influence against Russian icebreakers and Chinese expansion. But obsession collides with engineering. According to CSIS dataGreenland—a territory three times the size of Texas—only has 93 miles (150 kilometers) of roads in total. There are no railways and the settlements are isolated from each other by land. Diogo Rosa, researcher at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, warns in Fortune that any mining project must create these accessibilities from scratch. This includes ports capable of handling industrial volumes (Narsaq port barely moves 50,000 tons a year) and local power plants, since the current electrical grid is unable to sustain a large scale mine. The enigma of eudialite. Even if roads were built to reach neodymium and terbium, the mineral itself poses an unprecedented technical challenge. Greenland’s rare earth elements are typically encapsulated in a complex type of rock called eudialite. Unlike carbonatites that are mined elsewhere in the world with proven methods, no one has developed a profitable process to extract them from eudialite, as explained by analysts. For this reason, experts like Javier Blas describe the enthusiasm of the Trump administration as a “Optimistic PowerPoint”. Blas maintains that the island is not a Wonderland of raw materials: if after decades of exploration no large mining company has operated successfully, it is because the processing costs—which would exceed 1 billion dollars—devour any profits. Added to this is that deposits as Kvanefjeld They are co-located with radioactive uranium, which has generated massive social rejection and environmental laws that block the projects. The mirage of mining wealth. Currently, Greenland only has two active mines: an anorthosite mine and the Nalunaq gold mine. The latter, operated by the Canadian Amaroq Minerals, managed to produce 6,600 ounces of gold in 2025, exceeding its own forecasts. But as Scott Dunn, CEO of Noveon Magnetics, points out, in Fortunethe success of gold (a high-value, low-volume mineral) is not scalable to rare earths. While Washington makes long-term plans in the Arctic, companies like Dunn’s are already producing magnets in Texas with materials sourced outside China, demonstrating that the solution to technological supply could be closer to home than the Polar Circle. The China factor: the silent owner. The great strategic obstacle to the “Donroe Doctrine” is not only the ice, but that Beijing is already there. China controls near the 90% of global supply of rare earths and has known how to play its cards in the Greenlandic subsoil through litigation. The company Energy Transition Minerals (ETM), with significant Chinese capital, holds an arbitration international against Greenland, demanding historic compensation of $11.5 billion — four times the island’s GDP — following the ban on uranium mining in 2021. This legal dispute places the island in a geopolitical clamp: Washington wants control to expel Beijing, but the latter is already blocking the richest deposits through business actions and prior exploitation rights. The navigable Arctic: an unexpected ally? Paradoxically, the hoax Climate change is what is accelerating the White House’s plans. Greenland is warming much faster than the rest of the planet, and melting ice is transforming the Arctic into a strategic trade corridor. As the New York Times reportsthe Polar Silk Road is no longer a projection: in October 2025, a Chinese ship reached Great Britain from the north in just 20 days, saving 40% of the time compared to the Suez Canal. This new connectivity turns Greenland into an “unsinkable aircraft carrier” in the middle of new sea routes. However, sea ice melting does not solve the problem on land. In the north of the island, extreme weather continues to force any mining machinery to hibernate for six months a year, maintaining profitability like an “optical illusion.” The treasure behind the ice wall. The attempt to take control of Greenland seems to hit a wall of environmental laws, hostile geology and, above all, a total absence of basic infrastructure. The Trump administration has invested hundreds of millions in mining companies, but the results remain buried under layers of permafrost. As Anthony Marchese summarizes in Fortune: “If you go to Greenland for its minerals, you’re talking about billions of dollars and an extremely long time.” While the White House sells the island as the definitive trophy of the new technological Cold War, the technical reality of 2026 dictates a simpler sentence: the island’s greatest treasure remains protected not by weapons or treaties, but by the lack of a road that reaches it. Image | Unsplash Xataka | The US has decided that Europe is its problem in Greenland. Germany wants to convince him that the problem is Russia

China has been dumping tons of sand into the ocean for 12 years. And now we are seeing islands emerging in the middle of nowhere

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It has been more than a decade since China began a striking strategy of territorial expansion: throwing tons of sand into the South China Sea. This is not unique to China and, in fact, Japan thus built an airport that soon it will be an underwater airportbut China is doing it massively and with one objective: to claim what is its own. And seeing how they raise these artificial islands is… hypnotic. Context. The end of 2013 marked a turning point in China: the country started to massively fill in seven of the reefs of the Nansha and Xisha archipelagos (Spratly and Paracels, respectively). In record time between December of that year and June 2015, China carried out the first phase of the operation: the filling phase. From 2015 onwards, they have dedicated themselves to consolidate that territory through the construction of infrastructure such as landing strips, hangars, ports, radars and support structures. According to the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, between December 2015 and October 2015, China had built artificially about 12 km² of land on the Nansha reefs. While the United States said it with concern, the Chinese media confirmed the information with pride. Before and then How they do it. They did not use overly complex methods to do so. On the one hand, they cut the coral bottom and pumped sediments to shallow areas. The earth was deposited as fill to later build dikes and retaining walls around the reef. The next step was to deposit more fill and, finally, large steamrollers and shovels were compacting that earth to give consistency to the whole. The last thing was to create paving, landing strips, roads and other infrastructure. The result is more than 12 km², and put in context they represent “17 times more land claimed in 20 months than all the other international claimants have achieved during the last 40 years.” In action. Seeing the satellite photos that show the before and after, something easy to do using the history function of Google Earth, is interesting, but seeing a timelapse of how one of these new territories has been built is, as I said, something hypnotic. An example, the following video ‘tweet‘ (if you can’t see it, click on it): Narrative. What motivation does China have for such a deployment of resources and money? It depends who you ask. On the one hand, the Chinese government has defended that the creation of these islands serves the support in rescue missions on the high seasalso to fishing, scientific research, navigation support points thanks to these radars and the collection of data for its meteorological service. Finally, it also serves for defense if necessary. The neighbors are not convinced by the explanation and, in fact, think that it is a strategy that responds to a single interest: claiming territories that China considers its property. The Ministry of Defense of Japan assures that these infrastructures allow a permanent Chinese presence in waters that do not belong to it, with offensive capacity in practically the entire South China Sea. Military. Recent reports, such as the one from CSIS in 2025, underlines that China’s recent near-perennial activity in the South China Sea has only been possible thanks to that decade-old construction work. Western analyzes they point that the runways for aircraft are prepared for combat aircraft and land transport, as well as the presence of ports for warships, underground facilities and even missile platforms. The tension is evident because Beijing claims sovereignty over territories that its neighbors deny. Those neighbors are Vietnam, Taiwan, Japan or the Philippines. And Vietnam, in fact, is doing the same thing as China in 2013: throwing land into the sea. Their progress has also been considerable in a short time in an area that has become a real hotbed. The ecological impact. But beyond the intentions of each other, something undeniable that cannot be hidden under any narrative is the environmental damage that these artificial islands cause to their surroundings. In some articles it has been indicated that this ‘island’ desire has caused the loss of some 12 to 18 km² of reef, damaging some of the best preserved reefs in the region directly, but also affecting distant systems due to the ‘clouds’ of sediment formed during the dumping of sediments. Chinese scientific articles have also shown that these practices eliminate completely the ecosystem of the occupied area and negatively affects currents and sediment patterns, causing the aforementioned degradation of neighboring areas. However, the State Oceanic Administration of China defend that all projects were thoroughly evaluated and do not harm corals. The fault of it? Global trends such as sea acidification or climate change. Images | Ma Wukong In Xataka | China is building something that looks like an oil well. It is actually a nuclear bunker with a command center

hundreds of tons of rare earths

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During World War II, Nazi Germany built hundreds of bomb shelters as defensive frameworks of the Third Reich to protect the civilian population and critical infrastructure from Allied bombing. After the war, most were abandoned and passed for marginal uses until, decades later, one of them was converted into a high security warehouse. From war to the strategic reserve. At some undisclosed point in Frankfurt, a World War II anti-aircraft bunker, one of those concrete colossi that for decades were urban ruins or spaces converted to leisurehas acquired a new silent feature and deeply political: hosting one of the largest European warehouses of rare earths and critical metals. In the midst of a deterioration in global trade and with Europe facing a strategic dependence that I had been ignoring for years, this underground refuge has been transformed into an extreme security deposit for materials without which modern industry simply does not function. The Chinese shock and the race. The rbunker activation It is not coincidental. Since China tightened in Aprilus restrictions to the export of rare earths and strategic metals (in response to US tariffs), European inventories have remained below minimum. Tradium, one of the two large German importers of these materials, began to buy back stock to private investors and redistribute them directly to European companies in key sectors such as automotive, electronics, energy or defense. The move is reminiscent of a war economy in slow motion: it is not about speculation, but about surviving a prolonged supply disruption. An armored warehouse. The old bunker, renovated since 2011 after the first major warning from Beijing with the embargo on Japan over the Senkaku Islands, offers more than 2,400 square meters storage with different levels of security, protected by solid walls, cameras, opaque blinds and a four-ton armored door that gives access to a windowless chamber. Nikkei counted Inside, hundreds of blue and green drums loaded with neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium or terbium (all of Chinese origin) are lined up along with specialized metals such as gallium, germanium, indium, antimony, rhenium or hafnium. In total, some 300 tons that Tradium It is considered the largest known stock in Europe, although it admits that even larger and more discrete reserves may exist outside its knowledge. Skyrocketing prices. The impact of the chinese lock It is starkly reflected in the prices. Dysprosium has exceeded 900 dollars per kilomore than triple that before the restrictions, while terbium is around the 3,700 dollarsabout four times its previous value. Both are essential for improving the thermal resistance of electric motor magnets, making them critical parts for the electric vehicle industry. However, for European companies, price has taken a backseat: the real problem is the availability. After eight months of non-existent or minimal deliveries, even a half-year strategic stock begins to seem insufficient. Extreme security. The level of protection in the warehouse is such that even in the event of theft, the materials they could not be reintegrated in the industrial chain without certification, which reduces its value outside the legal circuit. In return, customers pay up to 2% annually of the stored value for logistics, which includes insurance. Meanwhile, European diplomacy is trying to buy time: the German Foreign Minister, Johann Wadephul, has traveled to Beijing to negotiate some type of relief, although he himself has acknowledged that there are no clear signs that China will grant general export licenses in the short term. Buried geopolitics. If you also want, the Frankfurt bunker is much more than a warehouse: it is a physical symbol of the extent to which geopolitics has penetrated the bowels of the European economy. Where civilians were once protected from bombings, today they protects the industry of strategic asphyxiation. Thus, the question that floats between drums and concrete walls is not how much rare earths will cost tomorrow, but when will they circulate again normally and whether Europe will arrive in time to build real autonomy before the next supply cut leaves it exposed again. Image | Berlin Wanderlust In Xataka | Germany didn’t know what to do with a dangerous Nazi bunker in the middle of Hamburg. The solution has radically changed the city In Xataka | Germany needs China’s rare earths at any price. And that price is giving you the future of your economy

a mother drone with 16 tons of surprises

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If drones are the weapons of present and futureChina is several galaxies ahead of the rest of the planet with a single architecture. HE called Jiu Tianand it is the evolution of old war aircraft carriers adapted to new times: a huge mother plane that has just successfully completed its first overhaul. The rise of the aerial mother. China has given a decisive step in the global race for dominance of unmanned airspace with the inaugural flight of the Jiutian, a 16-ton colossus that not only symbolizes the maturity of its aeronautical industry, but also marks a turning point in the very conception of air power in the 21st century. Although officially presented as a civil platform Versatile for heavy transportation, emergency communications or advanced mapping, the Jiutian (next to the Jetankits version more openly oriented towards dual missions) represents the culmination of a strategy in which drones cease to be simple support vectors and become motherships capable of releasing swarmstransport loitering munitions, and completely alter the way the military views saturation operations, electronic warfare, and spectrum control. And much more. The official media they have insisted after its first test in modularity and the diversity of civilian roles, but the combination of load capacity, range, autonomy and mission architecture has aroused interest that goes far beyond the commercial: it is the birth of the “aircraft carriers of the sky” (or rather drone carriers), platforms that are inserted in the global strategic competition. The metamorphosis of the drone. The first characteristic that distinguishes the Jiutian (and the Jetank) is its size. At 16.35 meters in length and 25 meters in wingspan, it is placed in an unprecedented category: large tonnage drones with the capacity to transport 6,000 kilos of payload. Added to this is an autonomy of 12 hours and a range of 7,000 kilometers, figures that were previously only associated with manned transport or ISR aircraft. This structural base allows mounting mission modules completely interchangeable: from high-precision logistics containers to communications capsules to restore networks in disaster situations. However, beneath that multifunction façade hides the real qualitative leap: an internal compartment “hive” type capable of hosting dozens to more than a hundred smaller drones or loitering munitions, along with eight external points from which guided weapons, air-to-air missiles, glider bombs or electronic warfare charges can be launched. Two versions of the same revolution. The figures presented by the Chinese developers show that the two models share dimensions, maximum takeoff weight, payload and autonomy, which indicates that Jiutian and Jetank are part of the same family of megadrones aimed at covering everything from logistical needs to complex military missions. One where the Jetank stands out is in the more explicit emphasis on its ability to launch swarms in mid-flight and change roles in a few hours thanks to mission modules that are quickly assembled. Chinese analysts describe it as a “world-class” platformcapable of acting as a multipurpose transporter, swarm nurse, electronic warfare vector and even light bomber with precision munitions. Its open architecture system allows you to process, integrate and update sensors and software in an agile way, which transforms the drone on a flexible node within a broader network of manned and unmanned systems. In essence, both models are not simple UAVs: they are aerial ecosystems capable of adapting their function to any tactical or strategic scenario. A doctrine of formation. The real value of these drone carriers lies not only in their size or the weapons they can carry, but in the ability to release swarms of small drones (including kamikaze UAVs) that introduces a dynamic that surpasses the traditional logic of combat aviation. For example, a single Jiutian could deploy a swarm sufficient to overwhelm anti-aircraft systemscollapse sensors, overwhelm radars and allow other platforms to penetrate previously insurmountable defenses. In parallel, its autonomy allows, a priori, that the combination of reconnaissance, attack, electronic warfare and saturation be integrated into a single extended missionsomething that has rarely existed in unmanned platforms of this size. In recent conflicts like the one in Ukrainedrones have proven to be low-cost weapons with a disproportionate impact: their ability to destroy much more expensive equipment has rewritten the relationship between investment and military effect. China, with these developments, appears to have internalized that lesson and taken it a step further: from individual drones to turning one larger drone into the matrix from which hundreds are deployed. The future and 2049. He Jiutian development It is part of Xi Jinping’s goal of turning the Chinese Armed Forces into a “world-class army” by 2049. The exhibition in Zhuhai the previous year had already shown prototypes of combat drones equipped with AI capable of operating in tandem with manned fighters, and the flight of Jiutian confirms that the country is accelerating the technological pillars necessary to sustain a network combat model: megadrones, distributed artificial intelligence, swarms, modular sensors and platforms capable of exerting pressure on any regional theater. From that perspective, Jiutian and Jetank become in fundamental pieces for surveillance, reconnaissance, electromagnetic interference, saturation attacks and power projection missions in remote scenarios. Its design does not respond to an isolated program, but to a broader strategic architecture that China is perfecting to sustain its military rise. Image | CCTV, EPL In Xataka | One of China’s most disturbing weapons already has a flight date: a huge mother drone with 100 kamikaze drones on board In Xataka | China is sending drones to an island 100 km from Taiwan. The problem is that Japan and the US are filling it with missiles

45,000 tons of green hydrogen per year

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For decades, the North Sea was synonymous with oil and gas, holding a good part of the European economy and energy supply. Today, in full transition to renewables, that same sea is emerging as the scenario of a change of era: there has not been discovered a hidden reservoir, but the production of 45,000 tons per year of green hydrogen. Is this possible? Some media They have replicated The same narrative of finding a natural hydrogen site in the North Sea, but the reality is very different. An official statement from Totalenergies and Air Liquide They announced two projects of electrolysis in the Netherlands and Belgium that, added, could produce that amount of green hydrogen every year from renewable electricity generated in the Oranjewind marine wind park. In short, there is no hydrogen deposit “under the sea”. What there is is production potential thanks to offshore wind turbines that provide energy to electrolyte capable of dividing water into oxygen and hydrogen. Electrolysis It consists of applying electricity (If it comes from renewable sources, such as wind, we talk about “green” hydrogen) to previously treated water to separate its oxygen and hydrogen molecules. Subsequently, hydrogen is compressed or transported by pipes towards its industrial or energy use. There are many plans in sight. The project mentioned above contemplates an electrolyzer of 250 MW in Zeeland with the capacity to produce up to 30,000 tons per year, it is scheduled for 2029. Also, there is one of “Tolling” with the Elygator electrolyzer in Maasvlakte, with 15,000 tons per year for the Refinery of Antwerp, operational within two years. This scheme means that Totalenergies does not build or opera directly that electrolyzer: yields its renewable electricity to air liquid, which transforms it into hydrogen, and totalenergies pay for that production capacity In addition, others develop in Europe projects like Hope (Hydrogen offshore production for Europe), coordinated by French Lhyfe. This will install a 10 MW electrolyzer off the coast of Belgium and hopes to produce its first four tons per day in 2026, demonstrating the viability of generating hydrogen directly on the high seas. But is there anything in motion? Pilots have been tested for three years Sealhyfea small offshore plant also from Lhyfe. However, making the leap to large -scale production faces several obstacles: High costs: a single electrolyzer such as Zeeland is about 600 million euros of investment. Technical challenges: corrosion, storms and maintenance in marine conditions. Environmental Impact: Offshore wind farms They can affect to marine biodiversity, fishing or provoking bird collisions with turbines. Fragmented regulation: Each northern sea country applies different norms, which delays common projects. A strategic sea. The European Union has marked as a goal to boost renewable hydrogen to decarbonize sectors that are difficult to electrify – such as steel, cement or heavy transport – and reduce dependence on fossil gas. By 2030 wants to have dozens of electrolyte gigawatts installed. In parallel, its offshore renewable energy strategy plans to reach up to 300 GW of marine wind capacity in 2050, Much in the North Sea. Now, the North Sea does not belong to the EU as a whole: it is distributed in exclusive economic zones (ZEE) from different countries, including Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, United Kingdom and Norway. That means that each project must first adjust to the country’s regulations in whose Zee is. To overcome this fragmentation and scale the energy transition, Brussels promotes cross -border cooperation initiatives such as the North Seas Energy Cooperationwhich seeks to harmonize rules and interconnect projects between neighboring countries. Goodbye gas and oil. The North Sea was for decades symbol of the European Black Gold and gas dependence. Today it could become a laboratory of the energy transition. The “Treasury” is not hidden in chests under the sea: it is a challenge that requires investment, political cooperation and technological advances. Only if these barriers are exceeded, the figures will cease to be striking holders to become a true energy revolution. Image | Freepik Xataka | How much electricity produces each country with renewable energy, exposed in a graphic

In Madrid there are 24 tons of Canarian volcanic sand giving tumbos. So they will become a “dry garden”

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Every summer has its informative soap opera. That is no novelty. What is less common is that, As is happening In La Palma, a few sacks of sand star. It sounds strange, but after all it is the history of the 24 tons of volcanic sand that in May 1,800 kilometers traveled to value the Canarian culture and then ended up abandoned. From the case we already talk to you A few weeks ago. Now we finally know its conclusion, which is no less surprising. Volcanic sand … and traveling. A few months ago, in May, the Canary Authorities had a peculiar idea: they collected more than 20 tons of sand from Tajogaite volcano (La Palma), prepared it and put it in large bags and then uploaded it aboard a ship that transferred it to Cádiz, from where she traveled again on board trucks to Madrid. It took several days to cover the entire journey. Once in the capital they opened the sacks and scattered those blackish grains in the middle of Callao, drawing a huge, dark and bright circle. And all that, for what? To value the Canarian struggle, a popular sport on the islands, but that many do not know in the Peninsula. Coinciding with the Month of the Canary Islands, on May 17 the outdoor playing field was prepared in the Plaza de Callao and everything arranged so that two of the teams with the most footprint in the islands, the Saladar of Jandía and the Candelaria de Mirca, dispute in Madrid one of the most emblematic days of the DISA Government of the Canary Islands. As was in charge of emphasizing The regional government was the first time in the very extensive history of the island sport in which an official fighting day was held in the center of Madrid. But even so, to give it more epic, they decided that the fighters were measured on authentic volcanic land of La Palma. Hence the whole logistics deployment of sacks, permits, ship, trucks and crane. First stop: Callao Square. The experience was a success. In addition to the Arena, in Callao, stands were installed and the appointment attracted a nourished audience that included some authorities, such as the island president, Fernando Clavijo. “Fighting about the sand with which so many palm trees continue to fight to get ahead was a spectacular moment. We were recorded in memory,” Recognize in The Spanish newspaper (EPE) Lorena Hernández, general director of native sports of the regional government. At first, the sand, he remembers, sounded like “crazy”, but the idea went ahead for his “romanticism.” And what do I do with all this sand? That was the next question. Once the competition is over and the experience is over the next question was what to do with those 24 tons (some versions speak of 20) expelled in their day by the Tajogaipe volcano. They could take the way back to the palm. Or they could stay in Madrid as a gift, which was the idea that ended up. There were those who thought that the grains would be divinely in the Madrid volleyball pigs and for that purpose they reserved, but there was a problem: the sand was heated too much, so it was not a good idea to dedicate it to that end. Second stop: Torrelodones. The history of those volcanic sands ended A report With a suggestive headline: “Without a trace of the 24 tons of sand from the palm volcano that Canary Islands gave to Madrid for beach volleyball fields.” The newspaper said that the Consistory had no evidence that they went to dedicate volleyball sand to its volleyball fields. Apparently the material was lost track. The mystery did not last little. A day later the same medium revealed That the sand of discord was actually in a Torrelodones warehouse, where they accumulated dust waiting for the City Council to ultimately accept the sacks formally and look for a new use. Discarded the Volleyball fields and without short -term plans that the Canarian struggle was to take root in Madrid, then it was pointed out to be given a third use: environmental. Third stop: “Dry Garden”. The story seemed to conclude there, but EPE He has just contributed A new fact that (at least apparently) puts the end to the soap opera of volcanic sand, at least for the moment: instead of allocating sports clues, the sand will be dedicated to gardens. And not any kind. There is talk of “dry gardens.” One of the ideas on the table is to create a garden with low water consumption species and a typology similar to those that exist in the Canary Islands. Another option is to use it in other green spaces to take advantage of the properties of the material, of porous structure, good for drainage and that prevents the land from flooding. “It is a high material in minerals, in the Canary Islands it has worked wonderfully. If the sand can have a second use and create a green space with the sand of the palm, it will be wonderful,” Recognize Hernández. Why does it take so long? Simple: bureaucracy. The Cabildo had already prepared a document with the details of the donation, but now it is time to modify it: instead of allocating the sand to sports uses, it will be dedicated to the parks and gardens of Madrid. “Being a donation between public institutions, it requires a lot of paperwork. With this, we believe that we can put an end to management in one or two weeks,” they explain to EPE after specifying that a few days ago new documentation was requested. While the procedures advance in the offices, in the Torrelodones ship follows the one that is probably the most traveling sand in the history of the palm. Images | The Government of the Canary Islands (X) In Xataka | The Canary Islands have seven islands, but only one has escaped from the … Read more

Airplanes are releasing tons of food on a familic gaza. There are those who believe it is a bad idea

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In full controversy for the famine that shakes the population of the Gaza Strip, Israel has decided Open your hand and guarantee “humanitarian pauses” and safe routes to facilitate food distribution in the area. The first thing we have seen however is something different: airplanes throwing food From the air, a measure that revives A controversy that already sounded strongly Just a year ago: Does the air cast really work? Is it real aid or is counterproductive? Something is clear: Mathematics They indicate that it is not the most effective way. What happened? That after days of controversy, marked by the publication of photographs in which they see familic Palestinian children and the hardening of the position of Germany, the United Kingdom and France, which They claim The end of the war (and the humanitarian crisis) in Gaza, Israel has decided to move card. On Sunday his army advertisement A series of “humanitarian pauses” in several points of the strip for ten hours a day to “increase the help” in the region. “Safe” breaks and routes. On paper, the objective is to facilitate the arrival of resources to help the population of the Strip, which faces a serious malnutrition crisis denounced among other organizations by the UN. The Israel Defense Forces (FDI) argue that “humanitarian pauses”, added to the creation of “safe routes”, will allow “Improve the humanitarian response”. The decision comes, however, in a very specific context: in the midst of an intense inertnational controversy due to the famine suffering from thousands of families from Gaza and the voices that accuse the Israel of being responsible for the crisis. The Netanyahu executive denies it and holds that humanitarian corridors “refute the false statement” of an “intentional famine”. In the opposite pole, Hamas alleges that Israel does not seek to stop the crisis in the strip, but “bleach her image”. A fact: 470,000 people. The UN World Food Program (WFP) Calculate that 100% of the population of Gaza faces “acute levels of food insecurity” and specifies that there are 470,000 people to the “catastrophic hunger”. “71,000 children and more than 17,000 mothers will require urgent treatment due to acute malnutrition,” prevent From the organism. The WPF is not the only one who has warned of the very serious crisis that crosses the strip. The Ministry of Health of Gaza, under Hamas control, Calculate That since the beginning of the Israeli offensive, in 2023, 133 people have died for malnutrition. Only so far in July the deceased They exceed 60. Click on the image to go to Tweet. What is the situation? The WFP warns That hunger in the strip “has increased dramatically” since in March the entry of aid in the region was prevented, “reversing the progress” achieved during the brief high the fire of the beginning of the year. In May, he remembers, the “limited” cast resumed, but has not served to stop the crisis. The UN says that since then it has only been able to deliver “small quantities” even though it has 116,000 t of food “lists”. Does Just two months The food distribution was activated by the Humanitarian Foundation of Gaza (GHF), an organization backed by Israel and the US that was launched between the suspicion of other international institutions. The person in charge of the United Nations Help Coordination, Tom Fletcher, He came to cross out of “cynical parody”, “a cover -up for greater violence and displacement” of the Palestinians within the territory. Looking at heaven. In the midst of the growing international controversy for the famine of Gaza, Israel has not only announced “tactical pauses” and “humanitarian runners” to facilitate the distribution of help in Gaza. He has also announced that he will connect a desalination plant to his electricity grid and has resumed the help of help from the air, a scene that already We saw in 2024. On Sunday at dawn Israel carried out an operation wishes, with the help of airplanes. Jordan and United Arab Emirates They were added throughout the following hours. According to Reutersin total they dropped 25 tons of help. A controversial decision. However, the use of aircraft and aerial launches will hardly help placate the controversy. Rather on the contrary. In 2024 about twenty humanitarian organizations They criticized That kind of deliveries in Gaza (both the aerial and maritime) by considering that “they are not an” real alternative to the most effective way and that, in their opinion, it should be a priority: the land. “Governments cannot hide behind aerial releases and efforts to open a maritime corridor in order to create the illusion that they are doing enough to support Gaza’s needs,” they warned in A statement NGOs, including Amnesty International or Oxfam. Click on the image to go to Tweet. Why do they reject them? The problem is not only of image or that air distributs are used as a way of avoiding the real focus of the problem. NGOs question their real utility warn that the capacity of airplanes is very limited. “Air releases cannot provide assistance volumes that can be transported by land,” They influenced last year. “While a five truck convoy has the capacity to transport about one hundred tons of vital assistance, recent air releases only deliver a few tons of help each,” They argue. The BBC He has made accounts And it has come to the conclusion that, given the situation in Gaza, 160 aircraft would be needed to supply a volume of food that guarantees that the gazaties will have a meal a day. The US Central Command estimates that in 2024 its C-130 load aircraft delivered 12,650 meals by plane and trip. “Extremely dangerous”. There is another reason why NGOs mislead air deliveries: safety. “The releases can be extremely dangerous for the lives of civilians who come in search of help. They have been reported dead by the free fall of help packages in gaza,” They warn The NGOs. The BBC He has interviewed To experts who … Read more

The Canary Islands gave 24 tons of sand from La Palma volcano to Madrid. Now Madrid doesn’t know what to do with them

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Madrid has 24 tons of volcanic sand of the palm with which he does not know very well what to do. It sounds strange, but that is the peculiar outcome with which the consular and capital governments have been found after an initiative designed to value the Canarian cultural heritage in the Peninsula. The idea worked, but has ended up leaving that peculiar inheritance: bags and more bags of dark ash that accumulate dust (and controversy) without a clear destination. We explain ourselves. Presuming culture. May 17 was a day to frame in the history of Canarian culture. Or at least in one of its most popular disciplines: The Canarian fighta sport that hurts its roots in the first settlers of the islands. His practice is very popular in the archipelago, but not so much out. Hence, on May 17, as part of the Month of the Canary Islandsthe Government promoted A milestone In the discipline: the first day of official Canarian struggle in Madrid. FIGHTERS AND MUCH (MUCH) ARENA. For the appointment, fighters of the Saladar de Jandía and the Candelaria de Mircatwo key teams of the discipline that were measured in the twentieth day of the DISA Tournament of the Canary Islands. And something else: tons of volcanic sand transported from the palm to cover the pitch. The idea was to give even more epic to the appointment carrying a piece of the Canary Islands (literally) to Madrid and deploying it in the middle of Callao, where the Canarian fighters were measured. A 24 tons “ring”. The idea worked. The photos Shared by the Canarian government (with volcanic sand covering callus) they are fascinating and also show that the appointment attracted a good handful of curious. To host them, even a portable stand with capacity for 200 spectators. The event was also attended by President Fernando Clavijo along with regional positions and representatives of the institutional, sports and social life of the archipelago. In case that was not enough, the Executive took care of the last detail. Any type of volcanic sand was not transported to Madrid. No. The authorities chose ashes from the island of La Palma that were generated during the Tajogaite eruption In 2021. “The youngest of the islands, chosen as a symbol of identity, roots and renewal,” the Canarian government insisted in its community. In total some mobilized some 24 tonsaccording to the institution itself. And what happened to that sand? The fight was held on May 17, Jandía’s Salader won the Candelaria de Mirca in a fierce encounter (12-10), but … and then? What happened to tons of volcanic sand? That is the question that was asked recently eldiario.es, which after consulting with the Madrid City Council reached an amazing conclusion: the bags seemed to have vanished. “Without a trace of the 24 tons”, He titled The newspaper. The news was even more striking because, as confirmed by the regional government, the agreement contemplated that, after the May fight, the 24,000 kilos of ash were ceded to the Madrid City Council so that it could cover with it the fields of beach volleyball. From the Consistory they assured however not to have proof of that initiative. I wasn’t dead … It was not the last chapter of the curious soap opera of the traveling volcanic sand. On Saturday Eldiario.es published again Another revelation About the 24 tons of Tajogaite: the material was not lost by Madrid, but stored in work bags in a Torrelodones industrial ship. The reason? Although the initial idea was to allocate the sand to Madrid Volleyball courts, the authorities of the capital came to the conclusion that it was not a good idea to give it that use. His grains may serve for a Canarian fighting fight, but in the opinion of Madrid technicians they tend to heat up easily, which led the authorities to rule it out for the courts. And what will it be used for? It doesn’t seem to be very clear. At least according to the information handled by eldiario.es, which ensures that the Department of the Environment is looking for an adequate destination for the Canarian gift. The bags are also waiting for the Consistory Ultime for a collaboration agreement to accept the material, which, a priori, will have environmental use. In the authorization of the Cabildo it is noted that the material “lacks commercial value”, although as He put value The Canarian government does have a symbolic value. Images | The Government of the Canary Islands (X) and Canary Islands In Xataka | The Canary Islands have seven islands, but only one has escaped from the hordes of tourists: its secret is literally on earth

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