traditional

We have been banishing the humble traditional salt shaker from the table for years. Now we have realized that it is a mistake

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For decades, problems such as goiter, hypothyroidism, and childhood cognitive deficits linked to a lack of iodine in the body seemed to be a thing of the past in developed countries. All this was a success of the advances that were seen in public health from the 20th century onwards by targeting the need to add iodine to salt of table that we all consume. But now in many countries there is a significant deficiency in iodine that can lead to the appearance of serious diseases. The culprits. Ironically, new health and wellness trends, as we are seeing a huge boom in non-iodized “gourmet” salts that seem very cool, but they do not have the iodine that is supplemented to classic salt and that we need in our diet. The map of a deficit. According to data from the WHO itself in Europe and the Iodine Global Network, mild iodine deficiency persists and is spreading in countries where it was believed to be an eradicated problem. To give us an idea, in the UK Recent data suggest that women of childbearing age have gone from having sufficient levels to being classified as having mild deficiency. If we continue investigating, in Australia the problem has been reappearing for years despite fortification attempts, while in the United States, recent reviews published indicate that the deficit is growing again despite the historical iodization of salt, linked to new dietary patterns. The ‘gourmet’ culprit. Historically, common table salt has been our primary vehicle for consuming dietary iodine. But in recent years we have seen a trend appear for this product, such as Himalayan pink saltflaked sea salt or kosher salt. The problem with these options, in addition to being much more expensive, is that they are perceived as very healthy alternatives. The problem is that they are almost never iodized, and that is why their increasing consumption in order to improve health is ultimately causing the opposite. There is more. In addition to the salt problem, it must also be kept in mind that in many countries cow’s milk has traditionally been the main source of iodine in the diet due to livestock supplementation and milking disinfectants. But its consumption is falling radically. This is in addition to a general transition towards vegan or flexitarian diets that has increased the consumption of vegetable drinks that, although they are reinforced with calcium or vitamin B12, are not fortified with this iodine. Its consequences. That there is an iodine deficiency is not nonsense, since iodine is the fundamental fuel of the thyroid gland and is vital for neurological development, and that is why the European Food Safety Authority establishes that an adult needs 150 micrograms of iodine per day, a figure that rises to 200 µg in pregnant women. If we focus on pregnant women, having a deficit can have fatal consequences with problems in fetal cognitive development or even drops in IQ. The cases. An analysis published in 2019 estimates that there are currently 81.4 million cases of deficiency in women of reproductive age and, although since 1990 the global prevalence has decreased enormously thanks to universal iodization, the problem now presents a dichotomy: it affects regions with a low human development index such as sub-Saharan Africa due to lack of resources, and rich countries due to modern dietary decisions. The solution. Here the WHO demands that prevention policies be reinforced through specific legislation, promoting universal iodization of all salts, both those for direct consumption and those used in processed foods and bakery. In addition, the need to require or encourage vegetable drinks to be systematically fortified with iodine is pointed out, matching the nutritional profile of cow’s milk. In this way, we return to the original idea of ​​introducing iodine into common table salt, so now it is time to supplement the new foods that appear on the market. Images | Jonathan Cooper Melissa DiRocco In Xataka | If you fall asleep in less than five minutes, you don’t have a “superpower”: it’s a warning signal from your brain

We stopped watching traditional television because of advertising, but YouTube is willing to recover it with unstoppable ads

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A few days ago, YouTube users in smart TVs They began to notice something that many thought they had left behind forever: unskippable 90-second ads in the middle of forty-minute videos. YouTube had promised in March that non-skippables would be 30 seconds long, but the limit has tripled in a matter of weeks. You see the ads. On March 2, YouTube released a statement announcing the global arrival of 30-second non-skippable ads for those watching the platform on connected TVs. More people than ever are using YouTube in the living room, and advertisers want formats that look like traditional television. Only five weeks later, things began to change: this April 7, several users began to publish on the r/YouTube subreddit 90-second ad screenshots, triple the advertised maximum, which could not be omitted in any way. Some media They collected part of the reactions of the spectators, which ranged from fury to inevitable resignation. YouTube’s response. The platform assured that those 90-second ads were not intentional and that it was “investigating” what had happened. The same source published a survey in January in which 87% of more than 8,600 people questioned claimed to have received non-skippable ads lasting more than 30 seconds, and almost a third said they had seen them exceed two minutes. Paradoxically, in 2017 YouTube removed 30-second non-skippable ads considering them precisely “a relic of traditional television.” The accounts come out. YouTube generated 40.4 billion dollars in advertising revenue in 2025. A figure that exceeds the combined sum of Disney, NBCUniversal, Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, which together earned 37.8 billion. The same firm went so far as to declare YouTube “the new king of all media” by estimate its total income at around 62,000 million a year. And it’s not just a matter of raw money: according to NielsenYouTube took over 12.7% of all television viewing time in the US in December 2025, compared to 9% for Netflix. The gap between the two has widened in recent months. More people watch YouTube on TVs than any other screen, and the AI ​​system Google uses to decide which ad format to show (including bumpers 6-second spots, 15-second spots, and the new 30-second non-skippable ones) now have data to decide when a viewer is comfortable enough to tolerate a long ad break. And if you don’t want ads… Anyone who wants to avoid ads has a way out: YouTube Premium, at 13.99 euros per month. There is no middle option, no setting that allows you to opt for shorter or less frequent ads. According to Google itselfthere is no setting to turn off the 30-second format without a paid subscription. The thing is that not even Premium is what it used to be: some service levels include certain types of ads. It is the same pattern that the greats followed streamers: Netflix launched its tier with advertising in 2022; Disney+ followed suit shortly after. “Pay more to see fewer ads” is no longer a promise of digital platforms, it is their business model. What differentiates YouTube from other streaming platforms is that it is not a paid service that has added a free tier with advertising; It is a free platform that has built an advertising business of such magnitude that it can now afford to behave as if it were traditional television. The 90-second ads are another test for Google to discover how far the user’s tolerance can go before they change services or agree to pay. In Xataka | YouTube knows it has a problem with AI “slop” for kids. It turns out that the main culprit is YouTube

China has a nuclear reactor 100 times more efficient than traditional ones. The trick is to shoot atoms with an accelerator

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China has had one goal in mind for some years: to have a voice in the nuclear race. In the weaponsyes, but also in energy. As Europe argues and the United States attempts to rejuvenate its critical infrastructure to meet AI needs, China has been on the accelerator for months. Recently they have not only approved 10 new reactorsbut they are one step away from turning on a new generation nuclear power plant to provide ‘green’ energy for 1,000 years. This is the CiADS system, or Throttle Actuated System. It is a type of reactor that China has been developing for more than 15 years and that promises to convert waste into energy. Their trick is to convert “garbage” into fuel, and it is a very interesting twist for nuclear energy. And even more so in a China that wants to dominate the atom and renewables as a basis for the development of another of the great ambitions of the country. Artificial intelligence. A twist to nuclear energy In a releasethe Institute of Modern Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences gave some details of how this accelerator-driven nuclear reactor works. Uranium is still the fuel, but “reactor driven by an accelerator” is literal. Using a particle accelerator, protons are “shot” at a heavy metal target at a speed of 0.8 times that of light. This generates neutrons that drive a reactor that operates somewhat below the critical threshold to be self-sustaining. The reactor generates energy and this violent reaction causes the long-lived radioactive isotopes that are normally generated in a conventional nuclear power plant to transmute and become materials with a shorter life. As its managers explain in SCMPthe CiADS is a hybrid between a nuclear reactor and a particle accelerator. The main advantage is that greatly reduces the risk of uncontrolled reactionsbut it has another: you can reuse the radioisotopes that normally would be treated as nuclear waste to continue producing energy. Firing beams of protons through these accelerators to bombard the heavy metal makes the uranium-238 give way to a new nuclear fuel: plutonium-239. According to the state media Science and Technology Daily, it is basically turning waste into treasures. According to those responsible, this method is 100 times more efficient than conventional fission and would allow nuclear energy to be converted into “a source of green, safe and stable energy for 1,000 years”, ensuring part of the necessary energy supply for the future. Furthermore, since what would previously be long-lasting waste is reused, the resulting CiADS has a useful life of less than one thousandth compared to conventional waste. The CiADS under construction They are two birds with one stone: China is wildly expanding its nuclear capacity, but it is estimated that it does not have as much uranium of its own and would continue to depend on imports… or to fish it in the sea. With “100 times more efficient” plants, you can get more juice out of what you have. And then there’s the fact that nuclear waste is less dangerous. If everything goes as planned, China will have its first MW-scale CiADS in 2027. It will be then when we check if those theoretical promises achieved by scale prototypes are fulfilled. The CiADS comes at a time when China has emerged as a contradiction in energy matters. They carry years fighting pollution and emissions, but they burn coal. They are a powerhouse in renewables with megastructures and deserts covered by panels. But in the age of AI, it is precisely that coal and gas that is the fuel that allows us to satisfy the demand of data centers at the peak of training. With nuclear weapons, China seeks further reduce your CO2 footprintbut ensuring a future in which it must feed the population, artificial intelligence and a network of technology companies that are doing the most difficult: fighting Western companies without the technological resources of the West. Because right now China doesn’t have the chips or the AI, but yes the energy. And that investment in new generation nuclear plants and, above all, in nuclear fusionrepresents the foundation of what is to come. Everything, that is, if the CiADS works as expected. Images | Sahaza Delis, Tighef In Xataka | There is a global race to be the first to reach nuclear fusion. And Germany just gave it an optimistic date

Microsoft killed the traditional Xbox by saying that everything was an Xbox. Now he wants to resurrect it with Project Helix

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Microsoft has quietly withdrawn its “This is an Xbox” campaign, the initiative with which it had spent 16 months trying to convince the world that any device (television, mobile phone, tablet) It was technically an Xbox.. The deletion coincides with the replacement at the top managementthe debut of Project Helix at GDC and a market paradox: Sony and Microsoft have become, at the same time, the main defenders of the concept “a console is a console.” The campaign. The series of ‘This is an Xbox’ ads were launched under the presidency of Sarah Bond and functioned as the great manifesto of the post-hardware era of Microsoft Gaming. Now it has disappeared without an official statement: the blog entry that opened it on Xbox Wire gives error 404and searching for the term in the official Xbox news repository only returns one article about ROG Xbox Ally. The files indicate that the page was still accessible on March 1, 2026. What was it about? The idea behind “This is an Xbox” was, in theory, reasonable: expand the ecosystem beyond its own hardware, bet on the streaming in the cloud as a gateway and normalize that playing Xbox did not require purchasing an Xbox console. The problem is that the argument, taken to its extreme, destroyed the reason for the hardware. The campaign generated more confusion than interest, with fans wondering why they would buy an Xbox if the titles were available on any platform. The rejection. Apparentlythe initiative was not well received internally, and the company made some strategic lurches. For example, the announcement of an Xbox mobile store in summer 2024 never materialized. A few months later, with the arrival of Asha Sharma as the new CEO of Microsoft Gaming and the departure of Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond, the campaign has ended up being withdrawn. The phrase with which Sharma summed up this new change of direction speaks for itself: “The plan is the plan until it isn’t“. More from Helix. The same day that the 404 of “This is an Xbox” was discovered, Microsoft had a presence at GDC 2026 with the Developer Summit dedicated to Project Helix. Jason Ronald, vice president of Next Generation at Xbox, presented the technical details of the upcoming hardware: a console powered by a custom AMD SoC, co-designed for next-generation DirectX and FSR technology, and which the company describes as “an order of magnitude leap” in gaming performance. ray tracing: pscaling Next Generation ML, ML Multi-Frame Generation and Ray Regeneration for games with path tracing The technical details that AMD provided completed the picture: the custom chip is built on RDNA 5 architecture and TSMC’s 3nm process, and incorporates a dedicated NPU that will power all advanced rendering capabilities, including FSR Diamond. Developer alpha kits will begin shipping in 2027, and the company is committed to maintaining compatibility with games from four generations of Xbox. Not everything is perfect. The complicating point in the “return to consoles” story is that Microsoft told the developers at GDC that “build for PC” is the correct approach going forward, suggesting that Project Helix is, at heart, a PC disguised as a console. That is, it is closer to the ambitious project of Valve with its Steam Machine that of the Sony gives up making more PC games. In addition, Xbox Mode will arrive on Windows 11 in April, bringing the console experience directly to the desktop PC, and the Play Anywhere catalog already exceeds 1,500 titles. The Sony thing. It is commented that Sony is returning to the old strategy of exclusives as a hardware sales lever after the PC ports did not work as expected. Part of the problem was one of timing: games arrived on PC months or years after the console launch, making it difficult to build a stable audience on the platform. There is Steam data very significant: ‘Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered’, for example, reached a peak of just 66,000 simultaneous players, a figure that did not justify the continued investment in big-budget game ports. Sony and Microsoft, two companies that took opposite paths in the last generation (one opening up to the PC, the other trying to dissolve the very idea of ​​the console), have simultaneously reached the same conclusion. A console is a console, and hardware has to have value. In Xataka | “We will not flood our ecosystem with soulless AI garbage.” We already know what Asha Sharma wants to do as CEO of Microsoft Gaming

It is the coup de grace to traditional charcuterie and fishmongers.

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If you are a regular at Mercadona, you will have noticed that the stores are constantly evolving. Every so often new sections are opened, new services are offered, certain products disappear and bet increasingly by white labels. The company closed 2025 with a new purchase that had nothing to do with food: that of the company that has been supplying it with boxes and pallets for decades. Now we know one of the reasons. The new Mercadona T9. Mercadona pilot. It is not just an aesthetic renovation, but also a functional and conceptual one. As the media commented a few days ago FRSMercadona is testing a new type of store in Xirivella, Valencia. Known as “T9 format”, it is a prototype that seeks to optimize processes. What does this translate into? In a store more similar to those automated that we have been seeing for a few yearswith the products available and visible, well organized so that the customer puts them in the cart and their only interaction with a human is at the checkout. This format relies on a reorganization of space that, in theory, optimizes staff productivity when replenishing products while reducing both consumer waiting times and unnecessary movements. take care of yourself. As FRS points out, the shelves will now have more products directly on the pallets, with wider aisles to avoid crowding. There is also a reorganization of the categories into something called “purchase missions.” For example, the popular prepared meals are located next to the bakery, unifying sections that make sense and were previously separate. And that search for a more open space is taken to its ultimate consequences. According to the media, in the Xirivella pilot store there are almost no communicative visual elements. This translates into a lack of traditional signage and signage to identify the sections. Fishmongers. Yes. Again. Within this store format, there are two sections that are clearly affected: fishmonger and butcher. If you are one of those who are going to order sliced ​​ham or a filleted hake, if the t9 format prospers and is exported to the rest of the company’s stores, you will have to look for another fishmonger. Directo al Paladar already told us that these sections they were adapting to new needs in which current generations do not have the ease or knowledge to order a fish from the cut, prioritizing packaged products. The new format dispense of those traditional models and opts for more packaging and less assisted purchasing. Take the product and leave. No waiting, no talking to anyone, no choosing the freshest. What happens to the workers. Nothing. At least, according to Mercadona. Questioned about this in networks, the company has left to confirm that “the entire fishmonger’s team continues to be part of Mercadona.” But, if they are not attending, where are they? To other things, adapting, according to the company, “to other needs within the store and the section itself.” Click to go to X Controversy. But of course, this lack of workers in a section does not only imply knowing where they are located, but also what directly affects the customer: who is there to ask for advice about a piece, quantities or whether a product is fresh or not. There has been some complaint about it, also about the bagging of products or the queues at the checkout. Because if one of the objectives is the flow of customers, and in a Mercadona with the usual format there are already moments in which queues form at the checkout, in one in which the flow is improved in the rest of the trade, the bottleneck may be at the time of paying. It will surely be one of the aspects that Mercadona will evaluate to see if this model can be exported. Future takeaway. In any case, the different movements of Mercadona and the monopolize almost 30% of the supermarket quota, they agree, more or less like it, with the owner of the chain. Juan Roig has been evangelizing for years about the benefits of ready-to-go and ready-to-eat food, and the data proves him right. There are the potato omelettes as an example, but also ready-to-eat dishes. According to a study, the chain has a dominance of 51.2% in prepared dishes. Whether the Mercadona t9 model works or not, we will see. At the moment, it is a pilot program and, as they point out in Digital EconomyXirivella is a strategic laboratory. Images | Mercadona In Xataka | Mercadona has grown so much in Spain that for the US it is no longer just a supermarket chain: it is a “cultural phenomenon”

Neobanks break 25% market share in Spain. Traditional banking is losing young customers

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They are no longer an anecdote, they are a main actor. For the first time, neobanks have exceeded 25% of the market share among individuals in Spain. A new report echoed by some media, places the penetration of these entities in 27.2%. It is a significant jump from the 21.8% they registered in 2024. The data confirms a clear trend: traditional banking is losing the battle for the young customer, although it continues to retain the main business. Image: Revolut What is a neobank. Unlike traditional bankingneobanks operate 100% digitally, without physical branches. Their model is based on a very light cost structure that allows them to offer commission-free services all managed from a mobile app. The Bank of Spain itself defines them as entities that offer banking intermediation services in a completely digital way. The assault on the young public. Neobanks entered the Spanish market attacking a very specific niche: young people and travelers. a study from Adyen and OpinionWay reveals that practically all Spaniards (93%) reject paying banking fees abroad. This has caused 59% of millennials and 55% of Gen Z to trust them more than traditional banks when traveling. Part of the “win” in innovation and reputation It’s not just in the product, but in the marketing. They understood that an app was not enough to attract the new generations; You had to be where they are: social networks and platforms like Twitch and YouTube. Revolut has been the most aggressive, renewing for a third year its alliance with Ibai Llanos and sponsoring its “Evening of the Year.” It seems that traditional banking has reacted to this trend, and has used the same weapons: now, Banco Santander has signed the YouTuber Plex. With almost 15 million followers on their networks, He is the protagonist of the last campaign. The Revolut surprise. This growth is not uniform; It is led by the well-known Revolut. A report from the CNMC was devastating: in 2024, Revolut led the acquisition of new accounts in Spain with 19.8% of the total, surpassing giants such as BBVA and Santander. The CNMC was blunt and recognized that “neobanks and fintechs pose a real competitive threat.” Figures. That leadership in recruitment now translates into real money. According to data from Expansion and El Mundo, the total neobank customer base in Spain exceeded five million in 2024. Revolut quadrupled its deposits in a single yeargoing from 739 million euros to 3,127 million. Meanwhile, its competitor N26 (with one million clients) suffered a 9% decline in deposits since December. Image: BBVA Fintech in traditional banks. The reactionary stance of some entities has led them to a strategy: launch their own neobanks to compete in the same field. Imagin stands out, promoted by CaixaBank. Your numbers They do not leave many doubts: they can boast 3.5 million clients and a 48% market share in the 18 to 34 year old segment among the main neobanks. But very few trust them with their payroll.. Despite the good penetration figures, traditional banking continues to dominate the main relationship with the customer. According to a report by Inmark, banks such as CaixaBank, Santander and BBVA account for almost 84% of the business market. Among individuals, only 4.2% use a neobank as their main entity. However, the goal of neobanks is stop being a complement. They are ripening to attack the core business of banking: Revolut has already announced its plans to offer mortgages in Spain and yes it has materialized installment payment services. The official view: necessary competence. The rise of fintech is a trend validated by official organizations. The Bank of Spain, in its 2025 Observatoryconfirms a 50% growth in the number of entities since 2020 and a 249% increase in their total assets since 2018. At the European level, the president of the Single Resolution Board recently warned that the Revolut model reinforces the need for a deposit guarantee fund mutualized in the EU. For its part, the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC) and your report It is important to understand why they succeed: The traditional banking sector is highly concentrated. Spain (HHI of 1,331) has a higher index than Germany (323) or France (567). This lack of competition is one of the reasons why traditional banks do not remunerate deposits. It is the neobanks who break this dynamic. The Spanish banking sector is four times more concentrated than the German one, according to the CNMC. Neobanks have not grown by chance: they have taken advantage of the void that traditional banking left by not competing Now, there are always stones on the road. The CNMC points out that Spaniards have a “relatively high level of distrust” in online banking – only 23% feel “very comfortable” compared to the 41% average in the eurozone – and “below” average financial education. This paints a battlefield for the coming years. The growth of neobanks shows that they have won the usability war: they are easier to use and have masterfully conquered the young public. However, CNMC data reveal that traditional banking still has the most important defensive moat: customer trust and inertia. Cover image | Composition with images of CardMapr.nl and Revolut In Xataka | There are more and more millionaires in the world and that is a problem: luxury products are no longer exclusive

Google has just integrated its AI in Chrome. It is the beginning of the end of the traditional browser

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The tools The generative is fine, but an AI that is fully integrated into our browser can be even better, Perplexity comet It is a good example. If we join the AI ​​with The most used browser in the world The potential is huge. Google has just announced one of the biggest updates for Chrome, one in which AI is the absolute protagonist. Why is it important. Microsoft Copilot in Edge, Perplexity comet, Brave… The career of the browsers with AI already has a route, but few have the draft that Chrome has (largely because it is the one that comes by default in Android). In fact, we have seen attempts to bring the AI ​​Chrome as Chatgpt Search extension either Claude’sbut Google has just taken a step that marks a turning point, not only for AI browsers, but for how we look on the Internet. Understand the context. To access Google AI you will not have to open a new tab, it will be enough to press the button that appears in the upper right corner of the browser. When joining Chrome, we can ask questions and answer taking into account the context of all the eyelashes that we have open at that time. For example, we can ask you to summarize and organize the information if we are investigating a specific topic, such as the best itinerary for a trip. It also integrates with other Google products such as Calendar, Maps or YouTube. Ia mode. It is activated in the address bar, what Google calls Omniboxand promises to change the search experience. According to Google, we can ask complex questions and deepen more on a topic, directly in the same place where we do the “normal” searches. The example that Google sets is that we are looking at mattresses and we can ask you about the guarantee policy of a specific model. At the moment this mode is activated manually, but as they point out in Ars Technicait is a step towards becoming the default mode. Goodbye to the history. One of the advantages offered by integration with Gemini is to be able to find pages that we have visited more easily. Now we have to open the record and look for it, but with Gemini we could ask something like “In which page were I looking at that gray sofa that was on offer?” And you will find it directly. Agricultural functions. This will still take a few months, but Google already anticipates some agerentic functions that promise to save us a lot of time. According to Google, “will convert 30 -minute tasks into three clicks.” Among the examples they put is to arrange an appointment in the hairdressing or make the purchase. The browser will be able to add items to the basket or send emails in our name, without having to intervene. Security. The update also improves the detection of possible fraudulent sites and will show notices to prevent us from falling into a SCAM. It will also facilitate the change of passwords that have appeared in data leaks so that we can do it in a single click, although only in places that support it. Availability. At the moment, Gemini in Chrome is available in the United States for users who have configured the English browser, both in Windows and Mac. Google says that it will reach iOS and Android apps soon. And most importantly: for the moment It can only be used if we are subscribers of Gemini Pro or Ultra. In Xataka | In case we didn’t have enough subscriptions, AI wants to add one more to our lives: your Internet browser

There are American and Europeans fed up with the lack of “traditional values” of the West. So they are moving to Russia

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Surprising data were known last May: more and more Americans sought to leave the country to Live in Europe. The problem: that the old continent seemed to be closing its doors with migratory policies stricter. What very few anticipated is a new migratory current: that of Westerners who, seeking to recover the “traditional values” that have been lost … and end in Russia. The attraction for the Russia of War. I told it last week The Financial Times. In full invasion of Ukraine and under an increasingly repressive regime, a group of Westerners has chosen to move to Russia in search of what they perceive as “traditional values” in front of a west who consider decadent. Among the most notorious cases is Derek Huffman’san Arizona welder and father of six children, who emigrated with his wife and children alleging rejection of “LGBT indoctrination”, immigration and insecurity in the United States. To accelerate the obtaining of Russian citizenship, he decided to enroll in the Army and fight in Ukrainedefending Even on YouTube that he did to gain respect and a future in his new country. His extreme case has received criticism and also media attentionbecoming a symbol of a reduced but very publicized phenomenon. The “visa of shared values”. Moscow launched in 2024 A special visa For disenchanted western, which facilitates permanent residence to about 150 people per month, a measure that reminds of Soviet propaganda that opposed a corrupt West to a supposedly moral Russia. Although in numbers they are just A few hundredtheir stories receive great diffusion in YouTube channels with Professional productionseveral of them linked to Russia Today According to researchwhich suggests a state effort to amplify the narrative of Russia as a refuge for the conservatives of the West. Examples and integration networks. There are many more cases in addition to the Huffman, such as The one of the Feenstraa Canadian family with eight children who settled on a farm in Nizhni Nóvgorod and reached almost 200,000 subscribers On YouTube, or Stephen Shoresan American computer scientist turned to orthodoxy who claims to feel freer in Russia against the “culture of cancellation”, although he lives under the threat of Ukrainian drones. At the institutional level, figures such as Maria Butina (former Russian agent deported in the United States) and businessmen such as The German Jakob Pinneker They help these immigrants to integrate, facilitating their installation and extolling the “family order and values.” Contradictions and realities. While the Kremlin exhibits these cases as proof of its appeal, the reality is that tens of thousands of Russians They have fled since 2022 to avoid mobilization, political repression and international isolation. In the country itself, thousands of people fulfill condemns for protesting against war or publicly disagree with the regime. The paradox It is evident: Those who come from the West Echoes of the Cold War. What we see today has clear historical parallels with the Soviet strategy during the Cold War. At that time, the USSR I tried to attract to intellectuals, artists and western militants who felt marginalized or frustrated with the capitalism and politics of their countries. Many communists and supporters They traveled to Moscow convinced That there they would find equality and social justice, some even acquired Soviet citizenship or were used in propaganda campaigns that showed the “exploitative west” against “socialist paradise.” The most emblematic case was that of The deserters North Americans who, after the Korean or Vietnam War, sought refuge in the USSR or allies like Cuba and North Korea, converted in trophies ideological. Strategic background. The flow of Westerners to Russia is minimal in figures, but useful in the propaganda plane. Under the official narrative, it reinforces the idea that Russia is not isolated and that even citizens of the Western enemy seek refuge under their flag for reasons of values ​​and morals. In the geopolitical plane, it points to an attempt to counteract the story of a country in crisis and project the image of cultural strength against a fragmented West. Of course, social also reveals the existence of disenchanted minorities In Europe and the United States that, not finding lace in their societies, becomes something very similar to useful pieces for Moscow’s speech. Image | RakoonDerek Huffman/YouTube In Xataka | More and more Americans want to live outside the US but they have a problem: Europe is closing its doors In Xataka | Digital nomadic visas: the countries hook to attract the best digital talent without paying the cost to keep them

Spain, white brand. Landowner and company are about to dethrone traditional brands

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Distributor brands have silently conquered Spanish baskets, from 20% in 2003 to 44% in 2024 without pause or truce, according to a Kantar study published in Expansion. This increase has been unstoppable, without distinguishing between years of economic crises and years of growth. Why is it important. This commercial third change transcends the typical flight to the cheap during crises. The White brand has evolved towards a premium differentiation strategy that has broken the traditional monopoly of the big brands. The context. The ascent has been unstoppable during these more than two decades, growing both in years of crisis (2008-2014, pandemia) and economic bonanza. Neither post-crisis recovery Recent inflation They have stopped their progress, dismantling the myth that they are temporary products. In figures: Lidl leads with 82.1% share. Mercadona follows with 74.5%. Carrefour seeks to move from 33% to 40% before 2026. Day already reaches 57%. In fact, Dia has redesigned more than 2,000 products to “enlorate raw materials” and create “own formulas.” Its purchasing director is clear: “We do not want to be the quality C, but the A”. It is the definitive jump of imitation to your own innovation. The trend. There are several phases in this growth: From 2003 to 2019, constant but moderate growth, around the annual point. From 2020 to 2022, brutal acceleration: +4.1 points in two years. Since 2022, rhythm consolidation, +2.7 points in two years. If the recent growth rate is maintained (1,3-1.4 annual points), the white brand would reach 50% between 2028 and 2029. And would overcome traditional brands in quota. Yes, but. The data suggest that we are close to a natural plateau. Few developed economies exceed 55-60% value share of the white brand, because there are always premium niches and categories where traditional brands maintain advantage (luxury, technological innovation, very specialized products). The money trail. The chains control the entire value chain: from the recipe to the linear, without intermediaries. This allows them to achieve higher margins while they offer quite competitive prices, a much more complicated equation for traditional brands. Spain approaches the German model, where The white brand has gone very much in the market Regarding other countries. Traditional brands will face their greatest existential threat: compete against those who control both the product and the sales channel. In Xataka | Mercadona is more profitable than ever and is also closing stores for the first time in years. It is a calculated strategy Outstanding image | Mercadona

Revolution is not just a threat to traditional banks. Now it is also for Teleoperators

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Revolution has announced that will launch mobile plans from this year. It will, in this first phase and without more confirmations, in the United Kingdom and Germany. Their plans will offer text messages, calls and unlimited national data. Of course, without any fixed contract or commitment to permanence, something that has characterize virtual mobile operators for years. The next step after its esim. In March 2024 Revolution launched its own esim. It thus became the first digital bank to do so, with a target target on trips abroad. This ESIM provided 100 MB for all its users (as long as they install it before May 1, 2024), and 3 GB for Ultra Plan users. It came from the 1global pannus, London company of telecommunications. The ESIM was focused on offering data abroad, not as an alternative to use for user mobile plan. It is something they want to change with their new movement. Mobile Plans. Revolution has announced its entry into the market of virtual mobile operators. It will do it with rates that start from 12.50 pounds per month, and offer full connectivity in the United Kingdom and Germany. Users will have access to a line with their own number, complete integration within the Revolution app itself, and presuming a 20 GB data itinerance for users traveling to Europe and the United States. When. The company has not closed a date for the implementation of its mobile plans, although it guarantees that they will reach the end of this year. Nor has it confirmed what the partners will be responsible for supporting the network connection. From Neobanco to Servicios Hub. Revolut is preceding in the world of Neobancos. The company doubled in 2024being Spain its third market behind the United Kingdom and Portugal, with 4.5 million users in our territory and the ambition to duplicate them in 2025. After launching install payments for credit customersand raise the launch of mortgages and ATMsbecoming OMV is a step that closes a circle. One in which Revolution ceases to be a bank to become a digital service provider. A new threat. Revolution has started in the United Kingdom and Germany, without confirmed plans to land in other markets. However, if you want to conquer territories such as Spanish in the medium term, you will not have it easy. As of December 2024, despite their popularity, OMVs are minority in Spain: Movistar, Masorange and Vodafone Spain centralize the market share. Revolut would go to compete in a specialized niche with ultra-competitive prices as in the case of Digisupport of giants such as Telefónica in the case of O2. Image | Revolution In Xataka | Revolution: What is it, how it works and main advantages and disadvantages

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