travel

We thought that the price of World Cup tickets in the US was going to be the biggest nonsense. Wait to travel by train

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The World Cup is a universal spectacle, but its prices during the tournament that will be held this summer in North America (United States, Mexico and Canada) will not exactly be within reach of all budgets. Especially if you want to enjoy the final, which will be played July 19 in it MetLife Stadium from New Jersey. And not just because their tickets are sold at exorbitant prices. The region’s public transportation operator has revealed that round-trip tickets between Manhattan and MetLife will cost 150 dollars. That decision has already generated a intense controversy. What has happened? That the celebration of the World Cup in the US is being marred by the enormous cost what it will mean for the fans. Until now we knew that those privileged who want to follow the matches directly in the stadiums will have to pay stratospheric sums for the tickets, especially if we talk about the final which will be played at the end of July at MetLife Stadium. That was relatively predictable. Now we know something else: even tickets to go to the stadium on public transport will be priced at the price of gold. Are they that expensive? Yes. A week ago The New York Times has already advanced that round-trip tickets to MetLife from New York’s Pennsylvania Station would cost more than $100, although the public transportation operator, New York Transit (NJT), was reluctant to confirm the information. The mystery did not last long. On Friday, when announcing the mobility plan for the World Cup, the company revealed (almost in passing) that the filtration of Times had fallen short. “Non-transferable, non-refundable, round-trip train tickets will be on sale exclusively to ticket holders on May 13 through NJ Transit for $150,” keep it up the operator when informing of the transportation services that will connect MetLife Stadium, renamed temporarily as New York New Jersey Stadium to conform to FIFA’s sponsorship policy. In the same statement NJT explains that round-trip bus tickets (also non-transferable and non-refundable) will be sold for $80. Is it more expensive than normal? A lot more. NBC News I remembered These days a round-trip ticket to MetLife Stadium usually costs $12.9, so the fare that those who want to use the train on the day of the final will have to pay will be 11 times higher than normal. The price will be very superior This is what fans who travel between Penn Station (New York) and MetLife pay to enjoy NFL Jets or Giants games. Although the price of bus tickets will also quadruple in Boston, where they will be disputed four gamesthere has been international competitions in which fans with tickets could freely use public transport. In the case of the USA, The Wall Street Journal remember that the original 2018 pact between host cities and FIFA included free transportation, but the requirement was relaxed a few years ago. Now fans must pay $150 for a trip that is covered in less than half an hour by car. Click on the image to go to the tweet. Has it generated controversy? Yes. Because of the amount itself (150), but also because the NJT plan does not contemplate Reduced rates, which means that children and seniors will have to pay the same amount as everyone else. It is important because MetLife Stadium will host a total of eight games of the World Cup in which the teams of Brazil, France, Germany and England (among others) will compete. Among those events also includes the most significant of all: the final. Those who want to skip the train or bus and go by car to MetLife will not have it easy either. The celebration of the World Cup will cut considerably the availability of parking in the area, which explains, among other things, that passes are being offered to park in the parking lot of a shopping center in the area for $225, such as has revealed NCB News. Why does it go up so much? That question connects directly with the political debate that has broken out in New Jersey around the World Cup, its costs for the public coffers and the return it will have for the region. Governor Mikie Sherrill (Democratic Party) assures having “inherited” an agreement by which FIFA “does not contribute a single dollar” for transportation and warned that NJ Transit will be forced to pay “a bill of 48 million dollars” to mobilize the tens of thousands of fans who will come to watch the games. MetLife Stadium seats more than 80,000 spectators and Sherrill’s message, just like the one NJT has transferred to the New York Times is clear: “The cost of the eight matches will not be borne by our regular users of public transport.” That is to say, the first step is for the fans (if not FIFA itself) to pay for the transportation required by the competition. Sherrill’s position has caused tensions with the federation, which warns of “deterrent” effect What will the train fares have and remember that MetLife has hosted other macro events without the organizers having to pay for transportation. During the debate, there was also talk of the income that FIFA will receive thanks to the tournament and the return for the USA. Is it just transportation? The truth is that no. The transport controversy is added to another that already goes back a long way: that of the price of tickets to enjoy the World Cup matches. A few weeks ago, FIFA already made headlines because tickets for the final were selling for up to $10,990. Not only are they astronomical figures that threaten to become “the most expensive in history”, as warns the BBC. They also far exceed those of a few months ago. In March, after the president of FIFA recognize that prices could “go up or down according to demand,” the OCU denounced the use of “dynamic pricing”. The rates already they have put on guard to Euroconsumers. Images | … Read more

If you want to travel through Europe with your pet, there will now be something more important than the suitcase or the tickets: your passport.

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If you walk around a park or square in any Spanish city, you’ll probably notice a curious detail: it’s easier to come across people walking dogs than parents with children. Logical. The number of pets far exceeds to that of babies. It happens in Spain and in many other nations. Against this backdrop, Brussels has decided to reinforce the rules that pet animals that want to cross community borders must comply with. And that means something new. starting in April. What has happened? What Brussels has updated the rules that pets (dogs, cats, ferrets and pet birds) must comply with if they want to enter European territory from other countries or cross borders, going from one nation to another in the community club. The goal: harmonize EU rules. This is not a bureaucratic endeavor, but rather a matter of reinforcing laws that try to prevent the spread of diseases. It’s nothing new either. The latest changes are based on the regulations that Brussels has been approving in the last decade. Why is it news? If you have a pet, it is likely that in recent days you have come across news that talks about “rule changes” or one disturbance of the standards. The reality is more complex and less radical. To understand it, you have to go back at least to June 2013, when the Regulation (EU) 576/2013 of the European Parliament on the movement of pets. This regulation replaced a previous one from 2003 and is basically the one that has been governing the movements of pet animals in the EU in recent years. The reality is that the 2013 law was not the last law approved by Brussels on the subject. In fact, years later the regulation was repealed by a later standardmore focused on “animal health” and which (in order to facilitate its application in different countries) included a transition period. That is the key to making the topic news now. This adaptation period will end in less than a month: April 22, as the European Commission (EC) itself recalled at the beginning of this year, when it published the regulation which will govern from now on the movements of pets made for any reason other than commercial. And what does the regulation say? The document It covers 35 pages in which the Commission details the regulatory framework and legislative precedents, as well as describing the different scenarios in which a dog, cat, ferret or bird can travel through the EU. For example, the details of the ‘photo’ may vary depending on whether we are talking about pets from “third countries”, outside the Union, animals that are simply passing through the EU (on their way to their final destination) or others that move between nations of the community club. Your age also influences. From the outset, the regulation makes it clear that it does not represent a full stop, nor does it break with the previous framework. On the contrary. Its guidelines “largely reproduce the rules currently established in the EU.” The objective is not so much to completely change the framework as, the Commission legislators clarify, to “update” the regulation “taking into account the experience acquired” over the years. One of its greatest novelties in fact focuses on the ‘European pet passport’a document that is not far from new and with which the Spaniards who have dogs and cats they have been around for a while familiar. What is the most important thing? He new regulationpublished by the EC in January, above all emphasizes three requirements that pets (pet dogs, cats and ferrets) who want to travel between member states must meet. All this, let us remember, as long as the trips are made without commercial purposes. The first obligation of the EC is that the animal must be individually identifiable, something that is basically guaranteed through a chip. The second, that you have to be up to date with your vaccines, specifically with the rabies vaccine. The regulation is very clear in this regard: the animal must “have received a complete primary vaccination against rabies at least 21 days before the date of movement or have been revaccinated, in accordance with the established validity requirements.” If we also talk about a dog that will move to an EU area free of Echinococcus multilocularis (a species of tapeworm that can infest humans) must first undergo special treatment. Of course, to guarantee that it is ‘clean’ the animal must have gone through this procedure between 120 and 24 hours before arriving in its destination country. Are there more requirements? Yes. If the pet is a puppy less than 12 weeks old and does not yet have the rabies vaccine, the photo changes. Its owner will have to present a signed statement ensuring that the pet has not been in contact with other animals suspected of being infested. However, the main requirement contained in the community regulation has to do with the ‘baggage’ that the animal must carry with it. Just as we always travel with documentation, our furry companion must also go with “an identification document in the form of a passport.” What is that document like? “Such passport must meet the following conditions: be signed by the owner of the pet and have been duly completed and issued in the Member State in which the owner of the pet usually resides”, clarifies the regulations European. That is, the passport is an obligation. That is the main requirement included in the standard, along with which it clarifies that the animal must be vaccinated against rabies and have undergone, if necessary, internal deworming in the last five days. All of the above translates into something very simple: when you travel with your pet, it will no longer be enough for you to book tickets and hotels. You will also have to take care of the animal’s management. Is it that big of a change? Yes. And no. It is important to the extent that it updates community … Read more

from 30 to 60 euros per month to travel throughout the country

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Almost like Groundhog Day, the announcement of a public transport pass to move around the country hits the headlines. He does so because Pedro Sánchez, in his press conference this morning, announced that in a month this single ticket for all of Spain will be active, which was already advanced in January of this same year and about which there had been no further news. All over Spain. It will be approved in the last Council of Ministers of this year, as Pedro Sánchez has pointed outPresident of the Government, at a press conference this morning. The price will be 60 euros per month but will be reduced to 30 euros for those under 26 years of age. In his presentation, Sánchez confirmed that this pass will be available to travel on Cercanías and Media Distancia trains and on public buses. That is, high speed is out. Some doubts. The Government has indicated that it will be available in “the second half of January” and that it will be used, as we said, for the aforementioned trains and buses. However, in the appearance, Sánchez indicated that “he calls on the Autonomous Communities to progressively join all regional and local public service networks.” What does it mean? Although the Government has to give more details, everything indicates that the holders of these passes will only be able to travel on the Renfe trains that provide public services (including here Cercanías and Media Distancia) and the buses that also provide these public services defined by the State. Therefore, it is not explicitly mentioned but everything indicates that municipal buses or metro or tram services, dependent on the cities or, in any case, on the Autonomous Communities, are excluded from this subscription. The same happens with the bus services provided by the latter. Aids. In his statement, Pedro Sánchez assured that aid for public transport will be maintained. This aid has been active almost all year. They were announced in the last days of 2024 specifying that would cost 1.6 billion euros. A few days after their application, they fell because the Congress of Deputies did not approve an Omnibus Decree which included aid. Weeks later it was approved again after a new negotiation. The point is that the aid was only maintained where the Autonomous Communities and municipalities confirmed that they co-financed the user aid. And the State only maintained the discount on the price of season tickets at 50% if the municipal or regional entity contributed 20% of that reduction. The question is whether these aids will now be part of the negotiation so that the passenger continues to access the discounts. It remains to be seen whether the Government will use it as a pressure measure to get regional or municipal public transport to join the single ticket for all of Spain if they want to continue receiving aid to lower the ticket price for their travelers. Background. Although it has been announced and a specific date has been set for its arrival, it is not the first time that the Government mentions the entry into force of this ticket. In January of this yearÓscar Puente, Minister of Transport, already indicated that the intention in 2025 was to define this new transport pass and have it prepared for its activation in 2026. The measure is no exception in Europe, which has seen how this type of proposals gained strength with the Covid-19 crises and the economic damage caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In Germany this ticket has become available for 9 euros and after dying of success It has ended up settling at 58 euros. Austria has a very similar subscription although in this case there are no restrictions on the chosen means of transport. Its price is 79 euros per month and a subscription of 110 euros/month allows you to travel with up to three children. The main doubts that have been raised with this type of transport passes were collected Financial Times. And it is not entirely clear that increased travel will take drivers off the road. They point out in the economic newspaper that the increase in journeys was due to greater mobility of those who already used the train but that after the first call effect, drivers stayed in their cars. Photo | European Union and Juan Enrique Giraldi In Xataka | The most pacifist city in Germany lived off its legendary train factory. Now they will make it from a gigantic tank factory

Cheese and oil have skyrocketed so much in Türkiye that travel agencies have a star destination: a Lidl in Greece

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The cost of living has skyrocketed. Except the cocaine marketa multitude of basic products have risen in price when salaries have not grown at the same level. In Spain we have a year-on-year inflation of around 3%. In Türkiye, on the same date, it is 33%, and that is leading thousands of Turks to travel to Greece every week, and not for pleasure. But to Lidl for make the purchase. Supermarket migration. In the mid-2010s, the Greek economy was a drama. The purchasing power is collapsed and the country’s debt crisis forced many households to squeeze every euro. Neighboring countries that also used the euro were no consolation, so they looked east: to Türkiye. Within the economic context, the lira was cheap and the euro strong, so many Greeks, especially from the islands, went to Turkish bazaars and supermarkets to buy clothes, utensils and food. The ferries they were bursting. It is estimated that the cost per visit was about 120 euros and, since filling the shopping cart in Turkey was considerably cheaper, the Greeks bought large shipments of cheese, oil, meat and sausages. One of the “supermarket corridors” was Lesbos-Ayvalik, and in the middle of the decade spoke up to 100,000 visits annually. Now, the tables have turned. The tragedy of the lyre. More than two decades of controversial policiesamong other factors, have led to the collapse of the lira. The cost of imports has multiplied and the inflation rate does not reach 80% of a few years agobut it has stagnated at that more than 30% that is suffocating the population. It is something that is disproportionately affecting food, including basic necessities. Now it is the Turks who have enormous problems when buying fresh productsmeats, cheese and oil. The situation does not seem to be changing in the short term due to massive debt, default rates (with the penalty that entails) and that price increase in subsistence products. It is the “typical”: products that increase a lot and stagnant salaries, the perfect combination to ruin the purchasing power of families. To Lidl in the neighboring country. What is happening? That this dynamic of cross-border purchases has been completely reversed. If a decade ago it was the Greeks who crossed the border, now it is the Turks who, with a euro that is not so buoyant, but enough to make it worth it compared to the prices in their local markets, flock to Greece to make that weekly purchase. In a report by Bloomberg There are concrete figures that compare a Lidl in Alexandroupolis (about 40 kilometers from the Turkish border) and a Turkish Carrefour. For example, minced meat costs 9.36 euros per kilo in Greece, compared to 12.10 in Türkiye. Greek sausages cost half as much as Turkish ones, Gouda cheese costs a third and oil makes one of the biggest differences: 10 euros per liter in Greece compared to 20 in Turkey. Social networks. Social networks are a loudspeaker – let them tell it to the influencers from Australian mines-, and those who visit Greek cities to make purchases share their experience through networks such as TikTok. The word spreads and more citizens are encouraged to take the leap. For Alejandrópolis, it represents an injection of money for both food businesses and restaurants. Bloomberg details how, after a day of shopping, Turks have a drink in Greek restaurants while sharing the experience. and it esteem that there are 3,000 Turks who are making this weekly trip. travel agencies. Because if we have to define this it is as a need, yes, but also with that word: experience. Because although it may be something private for a family to do, travel agencies are organizing tours to Greek cities, with groups of supermarket tourists who do not want to visit the city, but rather the Lidl on duty. For about 50 euros, buses loads of Turkish shoppers leave on Friday afternoons and arrive in Greek cities on Saturday morning and spend three and a half hours in the supermarkets. Then they spend some free time around the citythey can go to eat and, in the afternoon, on the way home with a full cart. The biggest annoyance? Apart from having to go to another country to buy because in yours the cost of living is very expensive, of course, it is the line at border control. How long will this last? Türkiye trust to halve inflation by 2026, but it will still remain extremely high. We will see how long this situation lasts, which, from January to September of this year, has carried to the fact that 6% of the Turks who visited Greece did so only with the aim of filling the car. Images | Zoshua Colah, Aldin Nasrun In Xataka | Private labels are having an unexpected effect on the food industry: the biggest price drop since 2014

Asturias and Cantabria travel on trains that are more than 40 years old and their renewal has been delayed again

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Year 2020. Renfe awards CAF the delivery of 31 trains to operate on the Cercanías services of Asturias and Cantabria. The reason was as simple as it was understandable: the average age of the fleet was already 28 years. Four years later, the renewal of the promised trains is once again delayed. It’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. “In principle”. This is what Álvaro Fernández Heredia, president of Renfe, has confirmed, who a few days ago assured that the promised trains for Asturias and Cantabria will not arrive until 2027 in an interview with the specialized media. Trenvista. If the plans are fulfilled, of course. And these same trains should arrive next year. In 2024, Transport reiterated its intention that the first tests would be carried out in the first half of 2026 and it was assured that we would see them on the roads that same year. Last September, yes in 2025, was still expected that the trains would make an appearance in a few months. Now, Fernández Heredia says that “in principle, these trains will be in service in 2027.” A statement that leaves fear of new future delays floating. The trains. What Renfe awarded to CAF was the delivery of 31 new trains to be distributed between the Cercanías services of Cantabria and Asturias. When said award was announced It was mentioned that the intention was to renew a fleet that was already an average of 28 years old. It was 2020 and the contract was valued at 258 million euros. Five years later, the residents of Asturias and Cantabria will continue traveling on trains with more than four decades behind them in some cases. At the moment, there is no trace of the 31 Metric Gauge trains (25 electric and six hybrid) that should be able to circulate at a maximum of 100 km/h and have space to transport bicycles. The tunnels. It was the great scandal of this award. In 2023, when CAF began building the trains, it found that something strange was happening with the order. The trains ordered They didn’t enter through the tunnels… more or less. The trains that were intended to be launched are too wide for the Asturian and Cantabrian infrastructure. Order FOM/1630/2015established new measures for gauges on newly built roads. These new measures aim to leave more space between the train and the walls of the tunnels to facilitate evacuations in case of breakdown and were the ones that were sent from Adif to CAFwithout taking into account the infrastructure prior to 2015. Hence it was said that the new trains for Asturias and Cantabria They did not enter through the tunnels. Faced with this situation, there was no choice but to ask: is it better to change the trains or change the infrastructure? Given the cost of the second intervention, the first was chosen. Yes, sure. Despite everything, the intention was the same: to maintain the plans that the trains would arrive in 2026. Now we know that this will not be the case and that they will do so in 2027… “in principle”, in the words of the president of Renfe himself. In The Commerce They review all the occasions in which Renfe has maintained its intention to have the trains ready next year. In addition to the cases already mentioned, the Government reiterated its intentions in February 2024 and July 2024. Since then, silence. “It rains in the wet”. This is what the Cantabrian Government complains about when asked by The Confidential. The regional Executive focuses on the fact that this latest delay is just one more of all the drifts that the case has had and the constant problems that citizens experience. The Association of Rail and Mobility Users (Affecom) highlights that from “Luarca to Oviedo there are about 90 kilometers and it takes almost three hours. (…) It takes us the same time to go to Madrid as it does to travel 90 kilometers through the Principality of Asturias.” And they highlight another detail: there are many breakdowns in stations where there is no coverage of any kind. This is a problem because, first of all, the passenger has no way to communicate by mobile phone to notify of a delay. It would not be (so) serious if it were exceptional but this summer, between July and August, the Asturian PP assures that 800 incidents were recorded that affected 1,000 services. Photo | André Marques 432 In Xataka | “In 1961 it took Bilbao three hours and five minutes. Now it takes three and ten”: Cantabria and Spain’s drama with the train

The two largest travel agencies in Spain fight to sell trips to Disney. This is the business of children’s dreams

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Ávoris has lost the exclusivity it maintained in Spain to market trips to the Disney parks. El Corte Inglés Travel obtained authorization in May to distribute these packages through its Smytravel platform, breaking a monopoly that allowed its great rival to consolidate its leadership in the ranking of Spanish travel agencies. Now both giants compete directly for the same pie: the 500 independent agencies integrated into Traveltool and the thousands of Spanish families who ask about the price of a trip to Disney every year. Why is it important. Disney is not just another product: it is the star product of family tourism in Spain (and increasingly even for adults without children). Its parks received 142 million visitors in 2024, almost doubling its closest competitor, and Disneyland Paris is the loose leader. This trip is sold almost exclusively through physical agencies, generates high margins and attracts families who are especially willing to spend a lot of money to make their children’s dreams come true. Whoever controls Disney controls a substantial part of the family travel business. The background. The exclusivity of Ávoris has never pleased its competitors: For years, agencies that wanted to sell Disney had to resort to the group’s tour operators: LePlan and Touring Club. That made Ávoris the inevitable intermediary of a business with guaranteed demand. This privileged situation used to generate recurring complaints in the sector for what they considered unjustified favorable treatment. Yes, but. Ávoris has not sat idly by. It has launched improvements to the LePlan and Touring Club platforms with a new centralized page that offers training, inspirational content and tools to design personalized Disney experiences. The answer comes weeks after Tourmundial (the brand of El Corte Inglés) announce combined packages to Disneyland Paris with accommodation, transportation, tickets and complementary services. Between the lines. This trade war points to something deeper in Spanish society: the touristification of childhood. Going to Disney has become an almost obligatory milestone, a natural extension of the first communion as a rite of passage and as an experience that “must be lived.” Not taking your children to see Mickey and company can generate a feeling of social exclusion, as if the experience were an essential requirement for a complete childhood. So agencies don’t just sell trips, they sell the feeling of tranquility from meeting social expectations and the fulfillment of the child. In Xataka | The incredible story of the couple who lived at Disneyland for 15 years without the visitors realizing it Featured image | Capricorn song

The last to get to the China parade was Kim Jong Un. Because in North Korea the leaders do not fly, but they travel armored

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Where is Kim Yong Un? The question shortly before the beginning of the Military Parade in Beijing For the 80th anniversary of victory over Japan and the end of World War II, it began to circulate among the attendees. The answer would come shortly after. Just because The missiles that North Korea He had shown hours before they fly at a vertiginous speed, the nation leaders do it slow and on land, but completely safe. A trip loaded with symbolism. The displacement of Kim Jong-un a Beijing represented much more than a simple transfer: it was his reappearance in the multilateral scene accompanied by an emblem of dynastic power, the known armored train as “the sun” (Taeyangcho). This convoy, painted green off and armored in each of its wagons, has been the means of favorite transport of the Kim family from the Foundation of North Korea, linked to both the personal security of the leader and the propaganda staging of the dynasty. Its use reinforced the continuity narrativetradition and strength in an event where state leaders of more than 20 countries coincided, including strategic allies such as Russia and Iran. The rail legacy. The train predilection comes from afar. Kim Il-Sung used it as Modernity symbol and closeness to the people, and Kim Jong-il made him Your exclusive vehicle for fear of flying, reaching a journey of thousands of kilometers Until Moscow in 2001. His trips were long expeditions in which the train became a residence, command room and meeting space with foreign leaders. After his death in 2011, occurred precisely on this train, one of his wagons was converted in exposed relic In his mausoleum in Pyongyang, consolidating the image of the railroad as an essential part of the cult of personality. Kim Jong-UN has continued tradition, although it combines the train with rented aircraft when travel demands to cross oceans, as happened at its summit With Donald Trump in Singapore In 2018. A armored office. Beyond tradition, the train is today an authentic Mobile Command Center. Their wagons have offices, meeting rooms, sofas, satellite communication systems, televisions and computers, in addition to a permanent bodyguard and medical staff. Security measures include Comprehensive armor and weapons Heavy on board, in addition to space to transport the leader’s own car. This infrastructure makes it an Rself -sufficient and safe efugiobut also in an extremely slow medium: its maximum round speed 60 km/hwhich, together with the precarious state of the North Korean roads, prolongs any journey for days. Thus, in 2019 he needed almost three days to reach Hanói from Pyongyang in his meeting with Trump. Luxury and ostentation. The train not only guarantees protection and functionality, it is also the scene of the excesses associated with the dynasty. For example, during the trips of Kim Jong-il, I They served live lobsters and delicacies of various international kitchens, while French wines arrived in air cargoes along the journey. They even organized shows on board with singers and actors to liven up displacements. Although similar anecdotes have not been documented in the era of Kim Jong-UN, South Korean intelligence services believe that the leader has inherited his father’s inclination by the Refined gastronomy and the ostentation. The train as a metaphor. So, “The Sun” It is much more than a vehicle: it symbolizes the rigidity of power that moves slowly, but with Absolute armorwrapped in luxury for the leader and sacrifice for the people. In each international trip, the image of the green convoy touring borders becomes a metaphor for the survival of an isolated regime, which combines tradition, ostentation and fear in equal doses. Kim Jong’s arrival a Beijing in this kind of strength about Raíles not only evoked his father and grandfather’s legacy, but sent the world a continuity message: The dynasty remains firm, armored against external threats and determined to maintain its rituals even in the era of hypersonic missiles and autonomous drones. Image | Heute In Xataka | China has just told the world the place it wants to occupy. And he has done it with a parade of weapons that seem like science fiction In Xataka | In 2021 North Korea drew a stage as a power. Russia and a secret base have turned the plan in four years

What is a light year and why it is impossible to travel in less than a year, according to Einstein’s relativity

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Among all the rules that govern the universe, one of the most iconic and at the same time difficult to understand is the universal speed limit. The speed of light is not only an unwavering constant: it is the link between matter and energy, as Albert Einstein described with the most famous formula of science: E = Mc². Can Asom to the foundations of our own existencebut not travel to more than “C”. Only light can travel a light year in a year. Let’s define constants: the speed of light The speed of light is the key piece in Einstein’s equation. That “C” is not only a number, but the conversion factor that unites the concepts of mass (m) and energy (e). It is a constant that represents the speed of light in a vacuum, but also the speed limit for the spread of any type of information, signal or material particle in the universe. If you think very strong, it is the limit of causality itself: an effect cannot occur before its cause, spreading at the maximum “C” speed, can reach it. This speed is the same for any observer in the universe, regardless of their own state of movement. If you travel in a hypothetical 99% spacecraft of the speed of light and light a flashlight, the light of that flashlight will move away from you exactly at the speed of light, not to a fraction of it. It is one of the universal constants of physics. And the observations of the cosmic microwave background, The remaining light of the Big BangThey confirm that it has not changed measurable in more than 13.8 billion years. What speed is light, then? Although it sounds strange, the speed of light in a vacuum has an exact and defined value: 299,792,458 meters per second. To put it in more earthly figures, it is equivalent to almost one billion kilometers per hour. A photon of light would go around the earth’s Ecuador about 7.5 times in a single second. It is, according to Albert Einstein’s special relativity theory, the definitive and unwavering speed limit of the universe. An epic about measuring the above Calculating the speed of light has been one of the great sagas of science. After the philosophical debates of ancient Greece and an ingenious but failed attempt from Galileo using lamps between distant hills, the first estimate came in 1676. Observing the eclipses of ío, one of Jupiter’s moons, the Danish astronomer Ole Rømer noticed that they had a different duration According to the time of the year. He deduced that it was due to the additional time that the light took to cross the orbit of the earth when our planet moved away from Jupiter. Rømer estimated the speed of light in 220,000 km/s, a surprisingly close figure for the time. Half a century later, in 1728, the English physicist James Bradley He refined this measure using a different method: the aberration of stellar light. He noted that the apparent position of the stars changed slightly due to the speed of the earth in their orbit. Something similar to how rain seems to fall at angle when we run. From this effect, it calculated a speed of 301,000 km/s, a value with an error of just 1%. Michelson’s experiment. Image | Popular Science (1930) It was not until 1887 that scientists discovered the most surprising aspect of the speed of light. Albert Michelson and Edward Morley tried to detect the “luminous ether”, an invisible half assumption that, according to the belief of the time, filled the space to allow the propagation of light. With Your experiment They hoped to measure a difference in the speed of light depending on whether it moved in favor or against the “ether wind” created by the movement of the earth. However, they found no variation at all. Sometimes, scientific progress does not come from finding what is sought, but of accepting the evidence that hits old certainty. This was how this failure It became one of the most important results in the history of physics. He showed that the speed of light was constant regardless of the observer’s movement, knocking down the ether theory and laying the empirical bases for the revolution that Einstein would unleash later. What is a light year and what is used for Since 1983, the speed of light is no longer something that scientists try to measure with increasing precision. Its value was set with such accuracy which is now the meter itself that is defined according to the light. One meter is “the length of the path traveled by light in a vacuum during a time interval of 1/299792458 seconds.” This change hides a deep truth: the constancy of the speed of light is a more fundamental property of our universe than our own units of measure. We no longer use meters to measure the speed of light, we use the speed of light to define the subway. And this is how one of the largest units of measure we use is born, and that has been crucial to understand the immense scales of the universe. Although your name includes the word “year”, a light year is not a measure of time, but of distance. In a nutshell, a light year is the distance that a ray of light travels in a vacuum during the course of a terrestrial year. That is, in 365 days. Given the incredible speed at which the light travels, it is an astronomical distance, of approximately 9.5 billion kilometers. We use the light years because the distances in space are so huge that measuring them in kilometers would be totally impractical. For example, The exoplanet closest to EarthNext Centauri B, is about 4.2 light years away. In kilometers, that figure would be almost 40 billion, a much more difficult number to handle and contextualize. How a light year is calculated in kilometers A laser indicates the center of the galaxy … Read more

For years we were condemned to physical travel agencies. The English Court is investing millions in demonstrating otherwise

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The English Court has renewed 60 of its 430 travel officesand plans to reform another 44. The idea is to implement open spaces, sofas, digital screens, previous appointment and advisors with “emotional connection.” Why is it important. The message to be sent is that the physical store has not died, but only needed a new experience. In perspective. It is the classic play of retail Traditional: redesign the spaces to sell a transformation that between, especially, by the eyes. Along the same line as the changes applied to the low floors – the accesses – of some of its stores, modernizing the bookstore or giving more weight to the section Gourmet. EITHER The premiumization of its supermarkets. What is at stake is the role that a traditional physical agency can play in the Skyscanner era, Google flightsAirbnb and Booking. What is happening. Travel El Corte Inglés is more profitable (More than 100 million euros from Ebitda8% more than a year ago), but loses in volume against its great rival, Ávoris (Barceló Group). To renew your offices is a way to reaffirm as a premium brand and differentiate in a world in which the average customer has become accustomed to organizing their vacations from your mobile. The physical network is reduced to transform. Personalized attention is insisted as an advantage over the digital model. Between the lines. The reform is real estate, but first of all it is a way of sustaining the story: we are not a vestige, we are a luxury; We are not an agency, we are a space of inspiration. From store a Boutique. The passage of time will tell us if this is a real modernization or if it is rather an attempt to keep the physical channel alive. The company has not gone wrong: after years seeing how the environment rewarded its new competitors, the English Court is still alive despite insistent rumors of serious crisis. There is also the doubt of the long -term value of that “human contact” as a differential pillar. He is seductive, but difficult to climb. Yes, but. The new model has a very good press, but with the unknown of whether there is insufficient demand. There are still many clients who continue to go to a physical office, but they are increasingly minority. And those who do it, often look for something very concrete: custom trips, honey moons, large budgets. Can you sustain an entire model so capillary around those profiles? In addition, post-pandemic tourism has recovered, but It has also changed. The traveler has become accustomed to certain flexibility levels, price comparators, online opinions, immediate decisions. All of that has a difficult fit in an agency by appointment. The decision to invest in so many offices sends a message: trips El Corte Inglés remains convinced that there is a place for physical agencies if they become experiences. It is quite possible that it is right, although it is a commitment against the direction in which the future of the sector seems to go. In Xataka | Spain has become a country addicted to something that some years ago enjoyed little prestige: the white brand Outstanding image | El Corte Inglés trips

Spain wanted to turn the train into the great alternative to travel in summer. Renfe never had so many dissatisfied customers

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13 hours stopped in the middle of the field. That has been the last great controversy in the Spanish railway sector where, among accusations crosses, hundreds of passengers saw how high speed was paralyzed in southern Spain. High speed that should be the great alternative to the car. But there is a fact: there were never so many unsatisfied customers. The last. On June 30, late in the afternoon, High speed collapsed In southern Spain. Just when summer displacements begin, The tension drop in a catenary He left hundreds of travelers thrown along the way. In the worst case, the trip became a nightmare that lasted 13 hours and ended with a hospitalized old woman. Of course, it seems complicated that users of that same train do not climb to the car of the dissatisfied with the delays that, every time, They are more common in Renfe trains. Folding the data. Practically, one in 10 Renfe high speed travelers are dissatisfied with the punctuality of the service. Specifically, 8.5%, according to the study of Household Panel that CNMC performs and in which satisfaction is collected with the services provided in Spain. The data does not take into account the latest incidents of A very moved 2025 since they are the first semester of 2024. The CNMC only collects satisfaction with the railway services the first semesters of each year but the data are very worrying. In 2020, only 4.8% of customers were dissatisfied with punctuality. Neither bird nor avlo. There are more reasons to worry. In 2020, only 0.6% of customers were “nothing satisfied” with the punctuality of the service. Today that data is 4.2%. And of 11.8% who were not “satisfied or dissatisfied” has passed to 19.1%. That is, the balance has leaned towards discontent. Especially if we take into account that 36% of AVE customers in 2020 were “very satisfied” with punctuality. Today that data is 22.5%. But, in addition, discontent is triggered among Avlo customers. In that case (there are only data from 2024) dissatisfaction is 13.1% although 23% of train users consider that they are “very satisfied” with the arrival in trains. That is, the bird data is very slightly improved. And the new operators? It is what should worry the most. The CNMC encompasses Ouigo and Iryo in the same table but points out that dissatisfaction with these companies is 8%. A very similar fact if it were not because the “very dissatisfied” client is found in 2.2%, almost half than the bird. In addition, 13.2% of customers say they are dissatisfied with the prices of Ouigo and Iroy but the figure is triggered at 23.3% in the case of avlo and up to 31.3% in the case of AVE. Only one section. There is only one section where the AVE expires new competitors and is in the state of trains. The dissatisfaction in this case is 8.3%, for 9.8% of Ouigo and Iroy trains. Of course, Avlo shoots up to 12.2% of dissatisfied customers. In the rest of the questions, which refer to the overall state of the stations, the price, the frequency, the time of path and the punctuality, ouigo and Iryo they always exceed what is offered by Renfe, both by AVE and by Avlo, which records but is general results. Alternative? Perhaps the biggest problem for the government is that it wanted to make the train a real alternative to vehicles by road. In 2021 The possibility of prohibiting domestic flights between cities that had a high speed alternative that had less than two and a half hours of journey was already touched. The last offensive To stop domestic flights is trying to prohibit their advertising. But in the practical field, in Spain free train fertilizers have been subsidized (including high speed partially) Since 2022. Following him German example that filled the trains As a measure to alleviate the effects of the Ukraine War, the Spanish Executive has maintained public transport aid that have sustained until this year. Can work … If you meet what is expected. In fact, high speed between Galicia and Madrid has shown that the train can be a Very interesting alternative to domestic flights But it is essential that it works quickly, punctuality and security. However, in ABC They point out that the continuous problems in trains have returned to some passengers to airplanes in Sevilla-Madrid. An example of what the continuous delays in rail services that, on average, In 2023 they almost reached 30 minutes. Photo | OUIGO AND NELSO SILVA In Xataka | The bird to Galicia has achieved what seemed impossible in a Santiago-Madrid: airlines that throw the towel

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