town

Spain debuts in the World Cup with a match against Cape Verde. There is a remote town in Galicia where life is like a derby

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At this point in the film it is very difficult to predict what will happen in the remainder of the term, if the peace agreement between Washington and Tehran will come to fruition or how the war in Ukraine will be settled. What is easy to predict is that this afternoon, starting at 6:00 p.m., a large part of Spain will be glued to the TV to follow La Roja’s World Cup debut against Cape Verde. There is, however, a small town in Galicia where this match will be experienced with special intensity: Burela. There, in fact, it is proposed almost like a derby. In a place in Lugo… It may not be the most famous nor the most populous municipality in Galicia, but Burela is exceptional in many ways. To begin with, it is a relatively young town. Although its history may trace back centuriesuntil the mid-1990s was part of the Cervo town hall. But above all, if something defines Burela, it is its multiculturalism. According to the Galician Institute of Statistics (IGE), almost 20% of its population was born abroad, in countries in America, Asia, the rest of Europe or Africa, which has a large representation with various nationalities. A “Galician-style” Cape Verde. Among this range of homelands there is one that stands out for its weight, history and mark on Burelense society: Cape Verde. The Country precise That in the census of foreigners there are almost 500, but if we take into account their descendants the figure is closer to a thousand people. Not bad for a population that does not reach 10,000 residents. For reference, in 2022 the INE had registered In Spain as a whole, 2,600 people of Cape Verdean nationality, of which almost 600 resided in Galicia. In net terms, it is the second largest community, only surpassed for Madrid. Some media they need that Burela is the municipality in Spain with the highest concentration of population with roots in Cape Verde, at least if we take into account its weight in the local census. This fact is explained by a very simple reason: the flow of Cape Verdean immigrants began there several decades ago. In fact, there are families living in Burela who are already the fourth generation. “They were among the first”. The link between Burela and the African archipelago is best understood by reviewing the story by Manuel Mendes Pereira, athlete and one of the many residents of Burela with family roots in Cape Verde. “My father, originally from Porto Mosquito, on the island of Santiago, came in 1978 to work in the construction of Alumina. He came through a brother of his who was already here. He liked the sea and ended up involved in fishing,” relates to Sport. “My mother arrived later, in 1989. They were one of the first. He always told me that Burela was practically nothing compared to what it is today.” Is it a unique case? No. Villablino, in the Laciana region of León, also maintains a strong bond with emigration of Cape Verdean origin. In the case of the Mariña of Lugo, the connection is explained by the industry and especially the fishing sector. In Villablino, the link, which can be traced back decades and decades agopart of the mining activity. This relationship extends to Bierzo, where in the 90s the Embassy had registered about 3,000 citizens from Cape Verde. Community members are called “capebertians”. And FIFA arrived. The World Cup has served to give new prominence to those ties woven in Burela or Bierzo, in which today they will experience with special intensity the Atlanta match in which will be measured you love selections The event will be special for both of them, who are making their debut in the World Cup and aspire for this tournament to occupy a prominent place in their chronicles. The Red comes as a favorite and dreams of adding a second star to its shield, the African team aspires to leave a mark in his first World Cup. “We are going a bit with a divided heart, but this time perhaps I am going more with Cape Verde,” admits Manuel Mendes. He won’t be the only one. In the Bierzo region there will be fans in a similar situation. Whatever happens, party. Although not even Burela is free of the signs of racism, what the Galician municipality aspires to today is to enjoy a day of party and celebration. Whatever happens, whether there are goals or not, whether one team or the other wins, one thing is certain: in the town of Mariña in Lugo there will be parties, music and dancing. The match will coincide with Cape to Cape Festivalpromoted by the Lugo Provincial Council and the City Council, among other organizers, and which will feature music by DJs and various groups, including Batuko Tabankaa set created ago more than two decades and formed by women of Cape Verdean origin. Images | Municipality of Burela 1, 2 and FIFA In Xataka | For the first time, Curaçao will play in a soccer World Cup. And only one of their players was born in Curaçao

the traditional solution of a town in Navarra to the most dangerous problem of seeing an eclipse

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Who has not been guided by the rooms on New Year’s Eve so as not to screw up with the beginning of the 12 grapes? Without a doubt, those sounds that precede the chimes of 12 midnight are an ideal resource to fully enjoy the last night of the year. This summer, in the Navarrese town of Lerín they will have something similar to follow the solar eclipse of August 12. It is a ringing that has been designed for the occasion by the Navarra Bell Ringers Association and that, without a doubt, will make the observation of this phenomenon much more special. And also safe. A new touch for a unique phenomenon. The town of Lerín celebrates each year some days of astrotourism and scientific tourism, known as Lerín Earth Star. This year, as it could not be otherwise, they have been planned to coincide with the eclipse. For this reason, the astrophysicist and scientific disseminator Javier Armentia contacted the Association of Bell Ringers of Navarra to find out if they have a specific ringing to announce this type of events. The objective, according to explained At the press conference in which this curious invention was announced, it was “to unite tradition and astronomy in a way never seen before.” Since they did not have such a ring, they did not hesitate to look among their members for someone willing to design it. The person in charge, finally, was Rosarina Caballín. A simple touch with several interventions. The touch designed by Caballín is simple, with a ringing that becomes more intense as the climax approaches. It is designed to indicate the beginning and end of the partial and total phase of the eclipse. Bells for security. The decision to notify the start of the partial and total phase is not only symbolic, it also seeks the safety of those attending. While the eclipse is partial, if you look at the Sun it is absolutely essential to use approved protective glasses. Even if there is only 1% of light it can be enough to damage the eyes. On the other hand, during totality, when the Sun is completely covered, you can look at it without glasses. But the ending can be difficult to discern. As soon as the first rays appear again, the glasses should already be on. Therefore, warning through chimes is a genius. Ringing bells. This ringing will be carried out through two bells that have been acquired by the Association for this special moment. They do not belong to any building, but will be installed on a scaffolding approved for the occasion. The use of bells in history. We are used to associating bells with religious issues. In the Catholic religion, for example, it is quite common for them to be used to notify the start of masses, both those that take place regularly and those that are extraordinary for any reason. However, historically bells have been used for many other purposes. They have been used to warn of fires, neighborhood assemblies or even the passage of livestock. Some of these touches have their own tradition. It is the case of touch try cloudwhich was used to warn of the arrival of a storm and which in some places in Spain was even accompanied by a verse: “Hold on, hold on, God can do more than you.” It is not strange that Navarra has wanted to recover this type of traditions and unite them with the astronomical phenomenon of the year. An event that in the north of Spainperhaps it could also be considered the most important of the decade. Image | Unsplash/NASA In Xataka | The trio of eclipses that await Spain on the horizon: an unprecedented and historic chain between 2026 and 2028

A bank convinced people in a poor town in the US to spend their savings. Now it’s full of millionaires

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Stories of lucky breaks and millionaires there are manybut they almost always have a common denominator: we speak in singular. That is why what happened in a small town in Florida whose families were going through serious difficulties to get ahead is so special. Even today, the enclave continues to seem like a nondescript and inhospitable town. But don’t be fooled, a large number of millionaires still live there among the people. And all thanks to Coca-Cola. Quincy and the banker. This is the name of the town in one of the most fascinating stories of the United States economy. There, in the midst of the Great Depression of the 1920s and 1930s and with part of the census in serious difficulties, a figure appears who was going to change everyone’s lives. Your name: Pat Munroean astute banker, a businessman who focused on a key detail to convince all citizens. No matter how impoverished they were in Quincy or how dire the financial situation of the families, the man observed that almost religiously, people spent every penny on a nice ice-cold glass of Coca-Cola. What if that devotion turned it into a stroke of luck? Coca-Cola in a bag. The sugar giant It went public in 1919 at $40 a share.but a conflict with the sugar industry and its bottlers caused a 50% drop shortly after, when it reached $19 per share. Put another way, there was a time in history when Coca-Cola was trading for less than cash in the bank and its stock was extremely cheap. And among others, Munroe was at the right time. The bargain of the century. What did he do? Invest. The man began to acquire Coca-Cola shares as if there were no tomorrow. However, he did not do it alone. He encouraged all his acquaintances and friends of acquaintances in town to buy a stake in the company. Focusing on bottom line profits and brand power, Pat Munroe kept buying and buying. And as he did so he kept telling everyone in Quincy who would listen to him to buy too. He took advantage of the trust and respect the community had for him and went on a crusade to get anyone who could to get on the Coca-Cola train. Loans for shares. The man was so sure of his success that every time a person went to his bank to ask for a loan, encouraged him to accept another in exchange for shares. Farmers, shopkeepers, teachers: absolutely anyone who could spend money was tempted by Munroe. For the banker, the fact that Coca-Cola shares were at $19 each was an opportunity that no one in the city should escape. That is why he never tired of urging people to buy and, almost as important, to remain firm in the decision regardless of the market fluctuations that occurred in the short term. The ball Finally, the banker’s observations turned out to be a historic success. Quincy, an eminently agricultural city, not only stayed afloat in difficult times thanks to Coca-Cola dividends, brought a wealth that is still studied in universities. In fact, the enclave became the richest city per capita in the entire United States for a time, and dozens of its inhabitants were nicknamed “the secret Coca-Cola millionaires.” People who trusted Munroe’s good eye and invested all their money (and what they didn’t have), and who amassed enormous fortunes with those first shares, which they then passed down from generation to generation, turning them into the eponymous Coca-Cola millionaires, ones who, effectively, established entire dynasties of financial prosperity that transcended generations. How much are we talking about? It is difficult to speak in total terms, but to give us an idea of ​​the money, in 2013 it was made a study evaluating what happened in Quincy. The results showed that a single share with reinvested dividends was worth $10,000,000. $270,000 in pre-tax cash dividends would be sent to the owner by sending a check for approximately $67,500 in March, June, September and November of each year. Thus, if the great-grandmother and the great-grandfather on duty had acquired a round lot of 100 shares for between $1,900 and $4,000, depending on the purchase price, they would have more than a billion dollars, excluding the effects of estate taxes. By the way, the current value is considerably higher, since the stock has more than doubled its price since then and the quarterly dividend now exceeds $0.53 per share. Money for crisis. That investment has been a lifesaver every time a tough time approaches. When the local economy was supported by coca and the crisis arrived, tail dividends. In fact, these assets have supported the city through every recession since. When crops failed, it was Coca-Cola money that kept people employed. When the national economy collapsed, it was Coca-Cola’s cash that allowed people to stay in their homes. When times were good and Coca-Cola was cheap, they bought more shares. Quincy today. It is a unique story, because it is unusual. Every family that amassed a fortune then passed it on to their children and grandchildren, in some cases through direct donations and in others through the use of trust funds. Even the bank where it all started has a Coca-Cola on display and, according to data from the early 2010s, a staggering 65% of trust assets under management were still invested in Coca-Cola stock. Quincy’s appearance today is not much different from the Great Depression era. It remains a quiet and eminently agricultural city with a population around to 7,000 inhabitants. But don’t let your eyes fool you, some of the grandchildren whose families built an empire, that of the secret Coca-Cola millionaires, still walk through those streets. A version of this article was published in July 2025 Image | PXHere, Ebyabe, PXHere In Xataka | Jeff Bezos asked his parents for their life savings to found Amazon. They only asked him one question: “What is the Internet? In Xataka | Madrid may … Read more

500 million euros are going to be spent on expanding the circuit in their town

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Formula 1 is much more than a motor sport. Each Grand Prix moves billions in advertising interests and investmentsthat’s why the main cities in the world they fight for having his own circuit in the championship. In Denmark, a group of investors wants build a circuit capable of entering the orbit of Formula 1. The plan puts on the table some 510 million euros in exchange, and is proposed on the foundations of a small circuit that already exists located in Padborg, a town in the south of Denmark with only 4,393 inhabitants. Two millionaires and the first Danish GP Perhaps the names of Henrik Lyngbye Pedersen and his son Mathias Lyngbye Villadsen will not be familiar to you. But if we tell you that his last name comes from one of the founding members of the main Danish pharmaceutical companymaybe they give you some clue. Both are heirs to the fortune of the brothers Harald and Thorvald Pedersenfounders of Novo Nordisk, creator of Ozempicand they have proposed an investment of 3.8 billion Danish crowns, about 510 million euros, to build a circuit with very serious aspirations. As and how to publish Motorpassionits objective is to build a track 6,006 meters long, with 18 curves and capacity for 100,000 spectators. Along with the expansion of the current layout, it is also planned to build a hotel complex, a conference center and a karting and motocross circuit. All this with the intention that the venue does not depend solely on the celebration of one Grand Prix a year, but rather leaves the door open to other events related to the world of motorsport. The current Padborg Park circuit is located between Padborg and Tinglev, on the land of a former airfield that opened as a circuit in 2003. Now, Henrik Lyngbye Pedersen and his son Mathias want to expand that space and officially turn it into the Denmark Circuit. Current status of the Padborg circuit The proposal to remodel this old airfield into a first-class circuit approved for Formula 1 It seeks to attract audiences from Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands, taking advantage of its proximity to the border and the connection routes with cities such as Flensburg. Rebecca Palmberg Steele, project director, assured that “the circuit will be located in a place that is the gateway to Europe, and this project has the potential to boost both the sport, the business world and the local community,” declared the one responsible for the Danish media Børsen. 510 million to bring Formula 1 to your home The heirs of Novo Nordisk have estimated an initial investment of 3.8 billion Danish crowns to create what would be the first circuit capable of hosting a Danish Grand Prix in the future. It is a huge investment for a facility that, until now, functioned as a minor circuit and as a training space. The circuit design has already been assigned to the Wurz Design studiofounded by former Formula 1 driver Alexander Wurz, who already has extensive experience in the private layout design for training and competition, such as Qiddiya Speed ​​Park Circuit in Riyadh or the RACC Driver Training Center in Madrid. The more than six kilometers of track would place it among the longest routes in Europewhile the capacity of 100,000 people makes it one of the largest venues in the north of the continent. However, for a circuit to host a Grand Prix, an FIA Grade 1 license is required, the highest level of homologation. The promoters of the project assure that this is the goal of the project, although they also make it clear that entering the Formula 1 calendar will not be easy since new tests are only incorporated when one of the venues stop celebrating themso the heirs of Novo Nordisk face an investment whose return is not assured. In Xataka | The Madrid F1 circuit is not yet finished but it has already had its first accident on the track: four workers with a van Image | Unsplash (Marti Sierra , hannah thiel)

The Tartessian civilization is one of the great enigmas of the peninsula. Now he is revealing himself from a town in Badajoz

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Guareña is a town in Vegas Altas del Guadiana, Badajoz, with just over 6,600 inhabitants. Historians have long known that there, not far from the mouth of the Burdalo Riverit hides an archaeological sitebut its scope was not clear until just over a decade ago. After a first survey, in 2014researchers began to recover pieces and unearth structures that 12 years later have become a fascinating window to one of the most enigmatic peoples who inhabited the southwest of the peninsula: the Tartessians. Since then they have not stopped exploring the deposit (known as Casas de Turuñuelo) in search of treasures like the one that has just surfaced now, during its eighth campaign. What has happened? That we just found a new test (the umpteenth) of the enormous archaeological wealth of Turuñuelo Housesthe Tartessian site located in Guareña, province of Badajoz. Although the eighth exploration campaign started in late April and will not be completed until the end of May, the researchers have found a discovery that has captured the interest of media such as RTVE or Extremadura Channel. In recent days, both media have reported on the discovery of an altar in the shape of a bull’s skin, a characteristic piece of the Tartessian culture that joins another of the same style located during a previous excavation. The structure appeared in a hallway attached to what is known as ‘room 100’ of the site. When analyzing it in detail, the researchers verified that it still has remains of ashes from the sacrificed animals on it. Why is it important? For several reasons. One, it allows us to better understand how the Casas del Turuñuelo site was structured. Two, it confirms its enormous archaeological wealth and (most importantly) its usefulness for knowing the tartessiansthe civilization that prospered in the surroundings of what are now the provinces of Huelva, Seville, Cádiz and Badajoz between approximately the 9th and 5th centuries BC From the Guareña City Council remember In fact, the site is part of the Tartessian culture of the 5th century before our era and “stands out for being one of the most relevant enclaves of said civilization in the Iberian Peninsula.” Proof of its importance is that among the ruins of Casas del Turuñuelo they have been recovered the first reliefs of human faces from Tartessos, which among other things confirms that this ancient culture was not aniconic. Are they your only findings? No. Since surveys began in the area in 2014, the Guareña site has not ceased to amaze us, becoming a real box of surprises… and an archaeological treasure. This explains, among other things, that from the Institute of Archeology (CSIC-Junta de Extremadura) they will consider the creation of a work team with specialists from different disciplines and successive campaigns will be promoted. Only the first three allowed part of a majestic building with two floors, a patio and three rooms to be recovered. And what did they find? In one of these rooms (‘100’), a room of around 70 square metersthe first altar was located in the shape of a bull skin and a bathtub or sarcophagus located at the southern end, attached to the wall. Not only that. Archaeologists have rescued bone and ivory tableware and plates that once decorated a now-lost wooden box. Another area full of surprises is the interior patio, 125 m2, rectangular in plan and connected with a three-meter-high staircase. There archaeologists discovered remains of dozens and dozens of animals, probably related to sacrifices: at least 52 horses, four cows, four pigs and a dog. Bronze weights, unguent jars, remains of a Greek sculpture and bowls were also recovered in the same area. Is it a deposit further? The answer is again ‘no’. And not only for the enormous fascination that generates Tartessos. In just eight campaigns, archaeologists have obtained authentic historical jewels in Casas de Turuñuelo, such as the two ritual altars in the shape of bull skin or the sculptures of faces, “the first human representations of the Tartessian culture”, remember from the CSIC. The site also reserved for us an engraving with combat scenes on a slate plate, an alphabet from 2,500 years ago and the marble altar oldest Greek (at least among those known to date) from the western Mediterranean. Are there more surprises? Yes. As if that were not enough, the structures of the site also keep some secrets that make them unique. For example, part of the stairs that connect to the interior patio are made up of steps made from lime mortar ashlars. It may seem like a minor detail until you discover what it represents. the oldest example known throughout the Iberian Peninsula for “manufacturing lime in an anthropic manner”. The big question now is what treasures remain to surface in Casas del Turuñuelo. Images | Building Tartessus, Junta of Extremadura and CSIC In Xataka | Almost 2,000 years ago a Celtiberian soldier visited the most remote frontier of the Roman Empire. Then he returned to Soria with a souvenir

In 1962, someone donated shares in a company to the elderly in his town. The company was Nokia and today they live like millionaires

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There are stories that seem taken from a Hollywood script. That of Onni Nurmi, a young Finnish entrepreneur, has a name, surname, date and even a street named after him. The story of our protagonist It has all the elements for a script worthy of an Oscar: a man who was born in misery, fell into debt with his neighbors, crossed the Atlantic to settle his outstanding accounts and returned to his country. Decades after he died, he has become the greatest benefactor of his people. All this, for having donated to the nursing home in his town the shares of a rubber company that did not attract anyone’s attention. A Nurmi always pays his debts Onni Nurmi was born in 1885 in Savijoki, a small town within the municipality of Pukkila, in Finland, a town of just under 1,700 inhabitants. Nurmi grew up in a humble home marked by the hardships of being raised by a single mother who worked in the fields and ran a small canning store in the town. When she died unexpectedly at age 49, Onni was only 13 years old and had no future in Pukkila, so he moved to Helsinki. In 1912, he returned to Pukkila and resumed the family business by opening a store. However, his business did not work out. The following year, indebted to dozens of neighborstook a ship to America and spent 15 years working as a game warden in Minnesota. When he returned in 1928, he went door to door paying off every outstanding debt owed to Pukkila residents, some of them incurred a decade earlier. He didn’t do it because no one demanded it. Onni was simply that type of person. Onni Nurmi. Source: Kylä Savijoki Helsinki’s most unlikely investor With his debts paid off, Onni moved back to Helsinki, where he worked as a property manager and led an orderly, quiet life. He never married or had children. At some point he discovered investments in the stock market and, without financial training and with the only help of his intuition, he decided to buy shares of a small company that manufactured paper, rubber, rubber tires and boots which had its headquarters in the city that gave it its name: Nokia. In 1959 he wrote his will and decided to leave all the shares of that company that manufactured wellies to the municipality of Pukkila, with two conditions: They should never be sold and his donation was to be used solely for the well-being of the town’s elders. Onni Nurmi died in 1962 at the age of 77. The 780 shares he donated to the town where he had lived most of his life were then worth about $30,000, the equivalent of about $320,000 today. His gesture was undoubtedly generous, but not extraordinary…yet. The Buffett Effect: Let Time Do Its Work The clause preventing the sale of the shares seemed a problem at first. If the town had been able to cash in on the stock portfolio at any time, it would have obtained funds to improve the nursing home. However, the will was blunt on that point: shares had to be keptand they could only use dividends that these actions will generate over time. However, what seemed like a limitation to local authorities eventually became the best investment decision anyone in Pukkila could have made. The will was forcing them to apply a technique that for more than six decades has become a millionaire to Warren Buffett: leave let time do its work. Throughout the 80s and 90s, Nokia left rubber boots behind to become the largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world, position he held between 1998 and 2012. The original 780 shares that Nurmi had donated multiplied by a thousand due to its growth in the stock market and the overwhelming sales domain of their phones. At the height of the technology boom, Pukkila’s portfolio was valued at around 90 million dollarsmaking their Pukkila retirees the most prosperous in Finland, at least on paper. What do we do with so much money? The prosperity of the actions opened a new debate among the residents of Pukkila. They were sitting on a fortune and doing nothing to profit from it. In 1997, the city council proposed selling part of the shares to diversify the portfolio and reduce the risk of a hypothetical fall of Nokia. Not everyone agreed. A section of the town argued that selling the shares was against Nurmi’s will. Another sector even proposed that the benefits be used so that residents would not pay municipal taxes for 12 years. Given the disagreement, the debate reached the courts and lasted for several years. Ironically, the “Buffett effect” came into play again, and the judicial paralysis was the best possible news for the people’s coffers: while the issue of the sale of shares was being settled in court, Nokia shares did not stop increase its value. The courts finally approved an agreement by which the municipality could sell a part of the portfolio and diversify its funds, always respecting the original will of the will to support the town’s elders. as main beneficiaries of those actions. With that money the Onni Wellness Centeropened in 2008. The building stands on Onnintie Street (which in Finnish literally means Happiness Street) and includes sheltered housing, spaces for people with memory disorders, a health center, pharmacy, swimming pool, gym, library, cafeteria and a Japanese garden. All this in a municipality of less than 2,000 inhabitants. Onni Nurmi never imagined the magnitude of his donation decades after his death, but in some ways, he more than repaid the patience his neighbors had in waiting decades to pay off their debt. In Xataka | Giving money away wasn’t enough: Warren Buffett turned Christmas into an investing masterclass for his family Image | Unsplash (Pawel Czerwinski, Joe Zlomek, MW), Kylä Savijoki.

Europe desperately needs coltan for its chips. The solution is in a town in Ourense and depends on a single procedure

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Galicia hides beneath its soil an indispensable technological treasure for the 21st century, and the machinery to unearth it has already been put into operation. We are talking about the Penouta mine, located in the Ourense town of Viana do Bolo, which is the only coltan mine on the way to being active again throughout Western Europe. This is not a new deposit, since the original operations of this mine They ceased in 1985 and the area was abandoned. Although there was a recent attempt at reactivation by the company Strategic Mineralsthe project ended in bankruptcy. Today, however, this highly strategic asset awakens from its slumber and its long-awaited reopening already depends on one last bureaucratic push that could be resolved before this summer. The penultimate notice. To understand where this mining resurgence is, you have to look at the offices. According to the Vigo Lighthousethe Council of Ministers has just given the green light to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). This step was vital for the Australian group Energy Transition Minerals (ETM), through its Spanish subsidiary, definitively acquires the deposit. A purchase that has been forged after a public auction in which the firm presented an offer of 5.2 million euros. With the blessing of the central government and the financial muscle secured, the ball is now in the court of the Xunta de Galicia. As pointed out The Voice of Galiciathe operation depends solely on the General Directorate of Energy and Mines approving the transfer of the licenses from the former promoter to ETM. The Ministry of Economy and Industry assures that the process is “very advanced.” Regarding deadlines, the company hopes to be able to sign the deeds in the month of May, or in any case, complete the process throughout the second quarter of the year, inevitably before the month of July. A lifeline for Europe’s technological sovereignty. The Galician exploitation of Penouta is rich in tin and tantalum (popularly known as “black gold” or coltan), critical minerals for the manufacture of electronic components at a time when Europe seeks to depend less on third countries. According to statements by Daniel Mamadou, general director of ETM, collected by The Economistthe company has committed to ensuring that all production “remains available for the development of associated industries within the European Union”, and have already initiated contacts with potential local partners. Added to this is its value as a circular economy model. An EU report a few years ago dedicated an entire chapter to Penoutahighlighting it as a reference in the recovery of critical raw materials from mining waste (slag heaps) from the old exploitation of the 80s, an activity that, in addition, “can help restore the environment.” The open fronts. The reactivation plan will be progressive, where ETM plans to start first with “section B” (the waste dumps), which will allow a gradual incorporation of workers. In parallel, the company will prepare the documentation to request a new license for “section C” (the exploitation of the mine itself) with the aim of starting to extract coltan in 2027. To shorten these bureaucratic deadlines, the company plans to request the declaration of a Strategic Industrial Project (PIE). This care when requesting new licenses is not coincidental, since the judicial front has marked the recent history of Penouta. On the one hand, there is good news for the project: the Provincial Court of Ourense firmly filed a case for alleged polluting discharges in February when it found no evidence of criminality. However, the main exploitation permit of the previous owner was annulled in 2024 by the Superior Court of Xustiza of Galicia (TSXG), considering the environmental impact study on the Natura 2000 Network “insufficient”, a decision that is currently pending appeals before the Supreme Court. The firm that will change everything. The closure of the previous stage of the Penouta mine left 55 families on the streets after the bankruptcy. Today, the scenario is radically different. With Australian financing guaranteed, authorization from Madrid in the pocket and a judicial horizon that is beginning to clear, Galician “black gold” has ceased to be a frustrated project and has become the country’s great mining hope. Now, the entire sector holds its breath waiting for that single signature from the Xunta de Galicia that will put Ourense back on the map of the European energy transition. Image | Strategic Minerals Europe Xataka | Madrid has the key mineral underground so that Europe does not depend on China. The problem is that there is a gap above

The map of Spain where you can see how healthy the tap water in your town is

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Water management in the Spanish state has several fronts: from the purely hydrological to the increasingly frequent shortage scenarios to the quality of this. Yes, the water that reaches the tap has passed through a water treatment plant and is therefore suitable for consumption, but there is a pollutant to keep an eye on: nitrates. The filtration of nutrients from the industrial agricultural activity so widespread in Spain brings about the degradation of ecosystems and also jeopardizes the security of public supply by saturating the self-cleaning capacity of aquifers and exceeding, in many cases, the treatment capacity of local water treatment plants. Although checking the quality of the water that reaches your tap is a resource accessible to citizens through platforms such as the National Consumer Water Information System (SINAC), the reality is that sometimes databases are too technical and dense, so someone has thought of converting the information from the Ministry of Health into an interactive map that is understandable to everyone. Is “the water of your town“and is a public consultation tool so that anyone who wants to know the quality of tap water of your municipality regarding nitrates, you can do so without needing technical knowledge through an interactive map that is easy to interpret. The map in question has been developed by DATADISTA based on official data from SINAC, which depends on the Ministry of Health and collects the analytical results of all drinking water supply networks in Spain. It is important to highlight that the last reading dates from April 2026 and does not contain real-time measurements, but rather the frequency varies depending on the supply area. Thus, while those networks that distribute more than 10 cubic meters per day have to report, those that are smaller the report is voluntary. Hence, some small rural towns appear without data. To make it easier, it comes with a direct search engine. Datadista The map shows the Spanish state with an OpenStreetMap map and points distributed throughout the territory on a color scale that goes from red for those who do not comply with the regulations to green for those who comply, passing through intermediate tones for risk or surveillance situations. In addition to being able to zoom and move the map or the Canary Islands having its own button to center the image on its archipelago, in the upper area are the layers that we can activate to view information such as the Nitrate Vulnerable Zones declared by the autonomous communities or the chemical state of the underground aquifers. In the lower left corner, the legend that explains the limits. If you prefer not to search on the map, at the top of the website there is a search box that speeds up everything and a brief summary of those critical areas. How good (or not) is the water in your town? Municipalities that fail to comply, critical points and control points. Datadista At first glance, a clear correlation is obtained: the most affected areas are concentrated in areas of intensive irrigated agriculture, especially in the interior of the peninsula. If you also activate the aquifer layer, transparent white and in the bottle: there is one direct relationship between agricultural intensity and water pollution underground with which the population is supplied. The categories in which the municipalities are classified are four: It fails to comply when any network registers 50 mg/L or more of nitrates, which is the parametric value set by European regulations and the Royal Decree 3/2023. Critical point: nitrates consistently exceed 30 mg/L. It is 60% of the legal limit and obliges the operator to develop a Water Health Plan with corrective measures. Control point, for those municipalities where high episodes have been detected but on a punctual and non-sustained basis. Complies, for municipalities that do not present a relevant risk due to nitrates. Be careful because there are 201 municipalities and almost 91,000 people supplied within that “non-compliant” range and 885 municipalities and more than a million people who drink tap water in critical areas. It is important to consider that the final state of a municipality is always determined by the worst state of all its supply networks. The nitrate problem. Nitrates reach the water due to the excess of nitrogen fertilizers and livestock manure, which, applied to the field (whether directly or not), are oxidized by bacterial action, transforming into nitrate, a very soluble anion that the soil does not retain and that easily infiltrates into the aquifers and rivers from which the population is supplied. The 50 mg/L limit was set by the WHO between the decades of the 50s and 60s to prevent acquired methemoglobinemia (blue baby syndrome) in infants due to high levels of nitrates in well water, the use of uncontrolled groundwater for infant formulas is not recommended. But science has shown that the problem is more serious than that legal limit. Without going any further, a Danish study from 2018 showed that there is a greater risk of colorectal cancer from just 3.87 mg/L, the MCC-Spain project found links to aggressive prostate tumors even below that current limit. In fact, in 2025 an international group of science professionals recommended lower this safety threshold to 6 mg/L, a figure that is very far from what comes out of the taps of numerous municipalities in the state. In Xataka | Much more than tourism, cars and oil: the entire industry that Spain exports to the world, gathered in one graph In Xataka | Someone has created a simulator where you can see if sea level rise is going to reach your house or not. Cover | Infowater

In the middle of 2026, a childhood without mobile phones sounds impossible. A town in Ireland is doing it

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Greystones is a small town on the coast of Ireland, more specifically in County Wicklow. 22,000 inhabitants, semi-detached houses, coastal landscapes, a railway network which allows you to reach Dublin in just over half an hour… A priori, it is the perfect town to enjoy a peaceful life just a stone’s throw from the bustling Irish capital, where companies such as Google or Apple. However, in recent years the town has been in the news for another, very different reason: his crusade against the use of smartphones among the children. His case shows that it is still possible to live a cell phone-free childhood. What has happened? That the small town of Greystones (Ireland) has strived to teach the world a lesson: to show that in 2026 it is possible to keep children away from mobile phones, Instagram, TikTok and the rest of social networks. We just need to join forces to change the sign of social pressure. The initiative is actually not new. Greystones launched their crusade in 2023when it already aroused the curiosity of the rest of the world. However, the unknown remained as to how the experience would turn out. Now we already know. Where does the idea come from? The debate around what age Children should start using mobile phones or social networks and the influence that these have on them is not new. It’s not a concern unique to Greystones, either. There however it happened something interesting during the pandemic. When students returned to classrooms after lockdown, Rachael Harper, headteacher at St Patrick’s School, found that some children were having trouble sleeping or struggling to concentrate. She wasn’t the only one to notice. Other colleagues confirmed that they perceived similar attitudes among their primary school students. What caused them? It didn’t take long for teachers to focus on the use of cell phones. They even encountered children who controlled their calories with apps. Eoghan Cleary, a teacher at another Greystones school, also found that his students admitted seeing violent content on the Internet. The sum of all these factors led several primary schools to send a survey to around 800 parents When asked about the topic: more than half acknowledged that they noticed their children were anxious. In some cases they had even sought professional help. It was enough for the city to decide to make a move. What exactly did he do? We mentioned it before: join forces. Eight primary schools in the Greystones and Delgany area came together to launch an initiative they named ‘It Takes a Village’ (‘It takes a whole village’). Its main tool was the ‘voluntary code without smartphones’, a community pact that basically encourages residents to prohibit children from using mobile phones during their primary education period. In practice this is equivalent to keeping young people away from networks and smartphones until they turn 12 and enter secondary school. The pact is of course voluntary, free and failing to comply with it does not result in fines, but the idea is that whoever signs it applies it both at school and at home. Were you that worried about the issue? It seems so. “As principal of St. Patricks Elementary School I have observed growing concern among parents and teachers,” Harper admitted in 2023 in a column opinion published in Guardian. “The level of anxiety of children in schools has grown steadily, since easy access to online and mobile content has become a threat to childhood. We felt the need to act. The process started with a realization: childhood is becoming increasingly shorter.” Has it worked? That was three years ago. Now we finally know how the initiative is working. Recently The New York Times dedicated an extensive report in which, among other issues, it confirms that the campaign has had a more than reasonable reception. They have supported her 70% of parents and above all it has penetrated the town, moving to businesses and politicians. He has even made his mark beyond Wicklow. Shortly after it was launched ‘Smartphone Free Chilhood’a citizen movement that advocates delaying children’s access to smartphones at least up to 14 years. How has he achieved it? In 2023, Harper herself insisted in that, if it really wanted to work, the initiative had to go beyond the classrooms. “It’s not about enforcing a code. It’s about building a strong network of services that helps children, families and teachers deal with anxiety-related challenges.” The report of The New York Times suggests that goal is also being achieved at Greystones. Beyond what parents do at home, the campaign is completed with training workshops and events such as phone-free beach parties. Even with the commitment of local businesses. For example, one store has offered to help children who need to locate their parents. Is it so important? Yes. And for a simple reason. The very name of the initiative (‘It takes a whole village’) makes it clear that, to succeed, the campaign must play with collective pressure. And it seems that he is achieving it. “In networks everything is collective. Addressing it jointly is the best option,” recognize Jennifer Whitmore, member of the Irish parliament and mother in Greystones. In other words: delaying a child’s access to mobile phones and social platforms is very easy when they are surrounded by other kids of the same age who also do not use them. “What Greystones demonstrates is that parents and communities are not powerless,” agree Clearly. Is it that dangerous? Harper insist in that the initiative is not based on “anti-technology stances” nor does it want to deny children the use of smartphones. The key lies rather in rethinking the times and what it means to have a mobile phone. “Our goal is to ensure that they are adequately prepared and emotionally capable to take on the responsibility that comes with having a smartphone when accessing secondary education”, claims before citing a UNESCO report that suggests it can take up to 20 minutes for a child to concentrate … Read more

A brotherhood in Sagunto has closed its doors to women during Holy Week. The decision threatens to cost the entire town

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What weighs more, tradition or equality? It seems like a whimsical question, but it’s exactly the same as yesterday they had to consider hundreds of brothers from Sagunto. There the members of Sang de Sagunt have had to make a controversial decision with Holy Week around the corner: Keep the doors of their brotherhood closed to women, preserving the status quo with which they have functioned in recent centuries, or accept the requests increasingly pressing of the women who want to procession just like the men of the town? For them there are few doubts. What has happened? That nothing will change in Sagunto. At least for now. Yesterday the brotherhood of the Sang de Sagunt decided by an overwhelming majority that it will remain faithful to tradition and keep its door closed to women. The members of the brotherhood with the right to vote were called to a conclave in which they had to decide a crucial question: whether or not to alter the statutes so that where it now says “male” it now includes “any baptized person”, a small change that would nevertheless allow women to participate in the work of the entity. The brothers voted for do not touch a single comma. What was the result? The vote was held behind closed doors, but its results were not long in coming. To begin with, we know that of the 1,627 brotherOnly 403 voted, all men, of course. Regarding the result, the ‘no’ to the change won resoundingly. 267 people spoke out against altering the statutes compared to 114 who supported it. Another eight brothers abstained, 12 voted blank and two issued invalid ballots. The result throws a bucket of cold water (the umpteenth) on the claims of the dozens of women of the Semana Santa Inclusiva Sagunto collective who were waiting gathered at the doors of the temple where the summit was held. Why is it important? Beyond the vote and what it means for the brotherhood, the result is important for several reasons. To begin with, it shows that, despite the attempts at Inclusive Holy Week, the message of equality is far from reaching the brotherhood. It’s not just that the ‘no’ won overwhelmingly, it’s that it’s the third time that the brotherhood has spoken out in that sense. A similar vote was held in 1999 in which only nine brothers They spoke out in favor of the inclusion of women. In 2022 the experience was repeated with the same result, although the ‘yeses’ shot up to 135, leaving at least a positive reading for women. Yesterday the vote did not even leave that little consolation. Support plummeted to only 114. Are there more reasons? Yes. Yesterday’s vote is also relevant for what it may represent for Holy Week in Sagunto. In February elDiario revealed that the Ministry of Tourism had initiated an investigation file to decide whether or not to remove the label Festival of National Tourist Interest (FITN). The reason: precisely the lack of gender equality in the brotherhood that has been in charge of the central events of Holy Week for centuries. The loss of the title would be a lot more than a simple administrative formality. The FITN label clears the way to benefit from promotion channels and subsidies, so if Sagunto loses that label it could be affected at a tourism level. The Government already has advanced which, after yesterday’s vote, has decided to initiate a file to “revoke” the 2004 declaration. Why did they vote against? In the background there is a key debate: Maintain the current status to preserve tradition or adapt it to the values ​​of the 21st century for greater equality? As the reporters who were waiting yesterday for the result of the vote at the doors of the temple explained, arguments in favor of both positions could be heard in the streets of Sagunto. At the summit, however, the first one won with arguments like “tradition is tradition” or that women can set up their “own brotherhood.” “We are sad, above all disappointed,” admits to The Newspaper Blanca Ribelles, from Holy Week Inclusive. “I thought that our society would have evolved and that we would be more mature than three years ago, because equality is something that is no longer questioned. It is not about being more, but about equality.” After collecting signatures to encourage voting, Ribelles recognizes that now the next move may be to go directly to court, although assures which is a path “that we would never have wanted to reach”. Is it a unique case? Not quite. What the group demands is that women not have to limit themselves to mending their clothes, cleaning the hermitage or raising funds. They want to go out in procession in “the usual brotherhood, the one they have always had.” It is not the only place in Spain where the debate has arisen. A year ago the Constitutional gave the reason to a woman from La Laguna (Tenerife) who reported a similar situation. The case has been resorted at the European level, however, which explains why yesterday it was not decisive in the Sagunto vote. Images | Sagunto Tourism and Valencian Community In Xataka | Holy Week has been a huge marketing campaign for decades. Now it even has board games

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