Türkiye

bring 30,000 drivers from Türkiye

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The road transport sector in Spain faces a serious generational change problem which puts the movement of goods at risk. Logistics companies are looking for creative ways to keep everything moving. A recent initiative promises change this trend and import talent from another country with many more professionals available: Türkiye. Spain runs out of drivers. Spain has more than 30,000 jobs for truck drivers that it cannot meet, a demand that represents almost 10% of the sector’s total workforce, made up of some 390,000 professionals. These vacancies complicate the daily operations of companies, which struggle to find enough hands to maintain their supply routes. Far from being a “temporary blip”, the sector is experiencing a progressive aging of its staff, and the majority of current drivers are between 45 and 55 years old. A third of them will retire in the next 10 years and there is no generational replacement to take their place. Only 5% of Spanish truck drivers are under 25 years old, which shows the lack of generational change in this demanding profession. The agreement with Türkiye. In this context, the Andalusian transport association Usintra and the Córdoba Campus Foundation they have reached an agreement collaboration with the Ministry of Labor and Social Security of Türkiye with the aim of recruiting drivers in that country who are willing to come to work in Spain. ​In Türkiye there are more than 300,000 truck drivers looking for work, a figure that contrasts with the shortage of drivers that Spain suffers and opens the door to a practical solution. The objective is for the General Directorate of the Turkish Employment Agency to select these professionals in Turkey, and bring the candidates to Spain to fill the vacancies in Spanish logistics companies. Homologation of permits. Drivers recruited in Türkiye will receive additional training at the Córdoba FP Campus in order to approve the necessary permits to transport goods in Spain and they will learn Spanish. During all this training time, the entities involved will offer them accommodation and food. Afterwards, their documents will be legalized so that they can start working in logistics companies in Spain. Search for talent in Spain. In addition to looking outside, the government has launched the Reconduce Planin which 500,000 euros will be allocated for subsidies of up to 3,000 euros per person to finance and encourage courses and exams to obtain the necessary permits to be a truck driver and transport goods. A measure that from the sector is considered insufficient to alleviate the personnel deficit and the serious problem of generational change that the sector is suffering, greatly affected by the low salary and long hours away from home. The Community of Madrid offers free training for the Certificate of Professional Aptitude (CAP) with 6.48 million euros between 2026 and 2027, aimed at those over 21 years of age with a B card, to train about 1,200 applicants. In Xataka | That Japan has 100,000 people over 100 years old explains a problem: they are literally running out of drivers. Image | Unsplash (Gabriel Santos)

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

Some fishermen have found a drone of Ukraine loaded with explosives. The problem is where: in Türkiye

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At the beginning of September he turned on a flame that has not yet turned off. In the War of Ukraine we had seen drones throwing drones To tear down other drones, drone swarms stopping and prisoners To recruits, even drones acting practically on your own Thanks to the AI. But never that a drone lost the course and ended up arriving as far as Estonia. That is why what has happened now is unusual: they have arrived in Türkiye. An unexpected finding. The discovery of a Ukrainian naval drone Magura Loaded with explosives in front of the Turkish town of çarşıbaşı, 1,500 km from kyiv territory, it has highlighted both the scope of these weapons and the collateral risks of its employment. The artifact was towed by local fishermen to the port, which had to close while displacing artifiers to neutralize it. It was a Magura V5 modeleasily identifiable for its electrooptic turret and satellite antennas, but without the additions of some recent prototypes, such as FPV drone pitchers, machine guns or missile rails. The scene illustrates How these mills, initially conceived as naval kamikazes, can become dangerous drifting objects if they lose contact or fail their guidance systems. The evolution of magura. From his Appearance in 2022the Magura have gone from being simple suicidal boats to versatile platforms. Gur, Ukrainian military intelligence, has experienced aerial drone releasesautomatic armament and even With air-air missiles. In December 2024, a Magura V5 managed to demolish A MI-8 helicopter Russian with an adapted R-73, a world milestone in the use of naval drones. In May 2025, another V7 variant, equipped with two Sidewinder AIM-9he killed Two SU-30 Flanker fightersdemonstrating that a non -manned surface vehicle could deny airspace. These advances confirm that the border between naval, aerial and land war is blurred in the same modular system. Strategic impact We have counted before. The Ukrainian campaign with naval drones transformed maritime balance. After The attack on Sebastopol In October 2022, the USV forced Russia to retreat large units of its fleet, limit operations in the northwest of the Black Sea and assume a constant risk even in eastern ports. Despite not having a conventional navy, Ukraine has managed to contain one of the world’s greatest armed through drone swarms. This has had a direct strategic effect: Crimea, core of the Russian naval presence, has remained More isolated and vulnerableand Moscow has been forced to reinforce coastal defenses, disperse ships and display additional surveillance means. Captures, losses and a race. Not all magura reach their goals. Some have been recovered intact, such as the one found by Russia in Crimea In November 2023which opens the door to the analysis and the possible reverse engineering. The images of these captured specimens show the rapid evolution of the design, with improvements in optics, antennas and autonomy. The risk It is double: On the one hand, Russia can learn to interfere with your communications or copy technologies; On the other, propaganda uses these findings to show supposed Ukrainian weaknesses. The drone found in Türkiye, regardless of its characteristics, becomes a symbol of the limits of this new form of war: the sea can return these mills to unexpected places, with unpredictable consequences. The Naval War of the future. He Turkish episode confirms that naval drones have arrived To stay. Their low cost compared to a war ship, their ability to operate without crew and their flexibility to carry different weapons systems make them a decisive actor. The Ukrainian case demonstrates that a conventional nation can harass and condition a much higher adversary. At the same time, ask questions about International Maritime Securityneutrality of third countries and technological proliferation. If a fisherman can find an explosive drone in a Turkish port, the line between Combat and Civil Space front becomes increasingly dim, anticipating a future in which the seas will be the scene of wars Invisible Libradas by clear flag machines. Estonia was The first noticeand now they have arrived in Türkiye. Image | X In Xataka | Ukraine has invoked what Russia vetoed since the beginning of the war. And he told the US to tighten the button: Tomahawk In Xataka | An unusual plan is touring Europe: lift a wall that protects the entire continent, but instead of concrete, drones

The entire planet looks intrigued at the cars factories of China and Morocco. Meanwhile, another power grows in the shadow: Türkiye

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The European Union has more than A year applying the “compensatory rights” to the Chinese electric vehicles. This rate really applies to all manufacturers they produce in China and then bring their cars to European soil. The goal? That companies manufacture in Europe. But if all eyes point to China, other countries make their way. Morocco is not the only one that is consolidating as the springboard Star to Europe: Türkiye is asking for a step. And it is not something that are taking advantage of Chinese brands: also European. Trampolines. The Chinese automotive industry has a simple objective: to conquer the world with its electric cars. Companies have experience, technology, ships to transport thousands of cars of a tacada and are leaders in the manufacture of the most important: The batteries. China has launched some strategies to meet that plan, such as expand its factories in Europe, associate with European companies and create Kits that are manufactured in ChinaThey are transported disassembled and remembered in the final car on European soil. But, they are also taking advantage of “empty” in those compensatory rights. The combustion car is its ‘Trojan horse’but also countries like Morocco and Türkiye. In both, the labor is cheaper than in Europe and most importantly: they have commercial treaties with the EU, which allows those ‘tariffs’ to skip. Touchstone. It is calculated that The investment in Morocco is about 10,000 million dollarsa figure that contemplates not only manufacturing, but also the exploitation of key minerals for battery production. Morocco has huge deposits and China does not want to miss another portion of a chain that dominates with iron fist. In the case of Türkiye, there are examples like Chery investing $ 1,000 million for a plant in Samsun that will have a production capacity of 200,000 electric and hybrid vehicles every year. SWM Motors too will open A plant in Eskisehir to create hybrids and gasoline, and Byd will have one of its biggest factories In the West in Manisa. Besides, Not only will they be dedicated to manufacturing: In the case of Byd we also talk about an R&D center. Not only China. But it’s not just that China looks at Türkiye: Europe does not lose sight of them either. Brands like Renault and some from Stellantis produce There models for both the local market and Europe (The new Clio, for example). Moreover, the European Union, through funds such as Horizon Europe, intended 1,000 million euros in the 2021-2027 framework for the development of the automotive sector in Türkiye, especially for electric mobility, the development of load infrastructure and initiatives such as the manufacturing and recycling of batteries. Win-Win. Obviously, the situation is beneficial for all parties. On the one hand, China wins a springboard to European soil and the possibility of introducing their cars at very attractive prices in a local market that is upwards. The estimate is that Türkiye is the Major Market Fourth of electric cars for sales in Europe during the first half of 2025, only behind Germany, the United Kingdom and France. This is something favored by the State thanks to reductions and a series of advantageous tax conditions and tax exemptions if an electric car is purchased. And Türkiye, with that money, promotes the transformation of the sector with new R&D centers and strategic agreements with Europe to further reinforce its position. Toggg. And eye, Türkiye, Following The example of Europe put an aggressive tariff on Chinese electric cars, but with a condition: if manufacturers began to invest in local production facilities, they would be exempt from that import tax. But in all this there is an asterisk: Chinese companies, with their high capitalization and strong technology, can offer advanced vehicles at very competitive prices that overwhelm local producers like Toggg. There are already those who points That this competition, instead of healthy, could suppress the growth of the local ecosystem, being a danger if, at some point, Chinese companies decide to leave the market. And the United States? Apart from this issue, it is evident that the country is playing its letters well as the “bridge” between the East and West is, also in terms of critical raw materials to create batteries –part of the rare earth that China controls-. And, if you are wondering what happens to American companies, the truth is that their giants are not investing directly in Türkiye, but they are doing it through the calls Joint Ventures. They do not want to make too much outside the United States (something that recent tariff Otosan to create cars on Turkish soil and sell them both in that market and in the Middle East. In the end, as they say, a scrambled river, fishermen’s gain. And everything indicates that Morocco and Türkiye are those fishermen. In Xataka | Family and friends keep asking me if “it is worth buying a Chinese car.” This is my answer

After the hair industry, Türkiye is becoming a power of something much more extreme: paying to grow

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In a hotel on the outskirts of Istanbul, a man listens to the alarm of his phone and smiles. It is time to turn the key that separates the metal rods embedded in their femards. The procedure seems taken from a medieval dungeon, but for Frank – 38 -year -old patient – it means approaching, millimeter to millimeter, to his dream: stop feeling low. According to The Guardianeach turn causes intense pain and, nevertheless, insists on doing it more times than recommended to win a few extra centimeters. Türkiye, the new Mecca of the centimeters. The country was already famous for Medical tourism of capillary grafts. Now adds something much more extreme: leg elongation surgery for aesthetic purposes. What was born as a technique to correct bone deformities today attracts patients from Saudi Arabia, Japan, Australia and all of Europe. According to the Wanna Be workshop clinicThey come willing to pay tens of thousands of dollars for the promise of growing. In an extensive report for The Guardian They quoted an Indian consultant who projects that the global market will reach 8,600 million dollars within five years. Türkiye’s appeal lies in its price, since with $ 32,000, it includes hospitalization and months of physiotherapy, compared to $ 50,000 to $ 150,000 that can cost in the United Kingdom or the United States. Dr. Kevin Debiparshad, founder of the Limbplastx Clinic in Las Vegas, I told GQ that the business has shot from the pandemic, with up to 50 new patients a month. Its customers include Google, Amazon and Microsoft engineers, in addition to executives, doctors and even celebrities. The last acceptable prejudice: be low. Why risk everything for a few centimeters? The testimonies collected by different media always point to the same direction: height remains a social stigma. In an article for vice, A 17 -year -old summed up without surroundings: “The only reason why someone would lengthen their legs is for women.” Another patient assured in The Guardian that “being low is the last acceptable prejudice in modern society.” Evidence supports these sensations. An Australian study of 2009 collected by GQ He showed that low men earn less than their high classmates and have less job promotion options. In the Netherlands, another investigation revealed that only 7.5% of couples the woman exceeds the man. Even Tinder came to try filters of height, According to The Guardian. And it is that obsession can become pathology. Elaine Foo, Interviewed by the BBChe confessed that since adolescence he suffered a fixation: “Being higher means more beautiful, more opportunities.” Psychiatrists call it body dysmorphia: a fixation with defects imagined in appearance. A brutal procedure itself. Although today it is sold as an aesthetic procedure, the technique originated in the 50s in the Soviet Union. The surgeon Gavriil Ilizarov devised a method to repair fractures and correct deformities. The beginning, As Mayic explainsis the osteogenesis by distraction: cut a bone and gradually separate it so that the organism generates new tissue that fills the void. The process begins with an osteotomy, the surgical cut of the bone, generally femur or warm. Then, the surgeon places an elongation device: an external fixative (a visible frame subject with bone nails) or an internal magnetic nail (inserted into the bone and controlled by a control). From there, the daily routine is to extend the device around one millimeter per day. The body responds by filling that space with new bone. The hard lengthening phase of two to three months. Then comes the consolidation phase, when the bone hardens, which can take another three. In total, complete recovery easily exceeds a year. During all that time, patients should use crutches or wheelchairs, undergo intensive physiotherapy and support constant pain. When growing almost costs life. Not everyone achieves their goal. How do you collect in The GuardianFrank’s case that traveled in the hope of moving from 1.70 to 1.75 meters. In the process he suffered a pulmonary embolism caused by a blood clot and was about to die. In the end he had to stop the elongation in 7.3 centimeters, without reaching his goal. The same medium reported the death of a Saudi patient at 16 days of the operation, also for a clot. However, Elaine Foo’s story is even more extreme. According to BBC, After paying 50,000 pounds to a private clinic in London, he suffered successive complications: a metallic nail crossed his femur, the bones did not consolidate and ended up undergoing eight surgeries in different countries. Eight years later, drag mobility problems, permanent scars and a post -traumatic stress disorder. Complications are not rare. Risks include infections in nails or incisions, nerve injuries, joint stiffness, chronic pain and insufficient bone consolidation, According to Cleveland Clinic. Self -esteem, the most fragile bone. Beyond the operating rooms, the question is what pushes so many men – and some women – to undergo such brutal surgery. Dr. Dorr Paley, pioneer in this field, He summarized it for vice: “It took us a long time to discover what plastic surgeons always knew: they were dealing with body image problems.” The background is really a crisis of self -esteem. The Guardian He recounts How Frank felt “almost damn” for his low stature, convinced that society favors the highs. In GQ, John Lovedale explains that he did it because “the highest people seem to have the world at their feet.” Most patients are men, crossed by an idea of masculinity associated with size. However, As the British media remembersthere are also women who resort to the procedure: some to lengthen and others, in very rare cases, to shorten their legs. Between secret and status. Interestingly, despite sacrifice and spending, many patients prefer to hide it. According to GQ90% does not reveal anyone who operated. Invent stories: a ski accident, a fall in the bathtub, a hip fracture. But others begin to exhibit it as a sign of status: an Asian youtuber paid for the operation with Bitcoins and documented the process … Read more

Spain has been an untouchable power of Mediterranean tourism for years. A country steps on your heels: Türkiye

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With tourism recovering (and even overcoming) the pulse I had before the pandemic, Spain is not the only country that seeks break records and crowned at the top of the podium of international destinations. About 2,500 kilometers from the Iberian Peninsula there is another country, also bathed in the Mediterranean, with a powerful offer of beaches, culture, heritage and gastronomy that struggles for Get a hole in it World top 3 of tourism, a select club now basically reserved to France, Spain and the US. Which? Türkiye. All this accompanied, of course, of a powerful flow of billions of dollars in income for the sector. A for the Top 3. Türkiye is determined to increase at the top of the world tourism ranking. He left it Of course in April his minister of the branch, Mehmet Nuri Ersoyduring a forum organized in Eruzurum, northwest of the country: “In 2024 we managed to become one of the four largest tourist economies in the world, but we will not stop there. Our goal is to be among the first three countries in tourism.” Same message He movedThese days Mehmet İşler, vice president of the Turkish Hotel Federation (Türofed), insisting that the “objective” of the sector is to turn the nation into “one of the three main” powers in the sector. “We have gone from being an affordable holiday destination to be a recognized tourist center,” He claimed in statements collected by Hürriyet Daily Newsthe oldest newspaper in Türkiye. How many tourists do they receive? According to The data Disseminated by his Ministry of Tourism and Culture, in 2024 Türkiye received 62.3 million visitors who translated into income from value of 61.1 billion of dollars. The figure however has a “but”: those 62.3 million include both the 52.6 million of international tourists who passed through the country during the year as the nearly 10 million Turks residing abroad and visited their homeland. The nuance does not mean that the trend of international tourism has been clearly positive in Türkiye. Those 52.6 million foreign visitors suppose A historical record and Improve 9% The result of 2023. The rise also moved to the money generated by the sector: the 61.1 billion dollars registered by the Turkish Statistical Institute (Tüik) reflect an year -on -year increase of 8.3%. And how is 2025? The year has also started with the occasional joy for the Turkish industry, although with nuances. The income flow grew 5.6% during the first quarter to place in 9,450 million Of dollars, but the general balance of visitors was not so good: it stayed at 6.7 million foreign tourists, 5% less than last year. The objectives for this year are ambitious, according to Hürriyet Daily: reach 65 million visitors and shoot the billing at 64,000 million dollars. Expanding the photo. To appreciate the growth of Turkish tourism, however, to take perspective and follow its evolution over the last years. He Historical record De Türsab show that in 2017 the country received around 32.4 million foreign visitors. In 2024 they were 52.6 millionso the increase was 62% in less than a decade. In cash and sound money, that boom resulted in an increase even greater of income Climbing in the ranking. Thanks to this growth Türkiye sneaked first in the Top 10 of the great international destinations and climbed positions in that table. The World Population Review website places it in The sixth place In 2024, behind France, Spain, USA, China and Italy. In other classifications (2023) occupies the fifth. It would actually be various criteria When ordering destinations, such as the flow of international travelers, the weight of the tourism sector or the volume of income. During Your intervention In Erzurum, Ersoy claimed that Turkey managed World Tourism Organizationhe trusted to be fourth in 2024. Important how much … and where. The growth of Turkish tourism does not respond only to the attractiveness of Istanbul or Capadocia, its landscape and gastronomy or the government’s commitment to boost the sector. 2024 data show that it has managed to become strong in certain key markets, such as Russian or Iranian. The first, who now see their flights to Europe for The answer From the West to the war in Ukraine, they grew 6% to add 6.7 million of travelers, almost 13% of the total. Iran received about 3.2 million tourists, 31% more than the previous year. Other key markets were the German, the second main issuing market, with 6.6 millionthe British (4.4 million) or the Bulgarians (2.9), also of course from the Turkish citizens who live outside the country and fly to visit their nation. In 2024 they touched the 10 million. In the first three months of the year the demand punctured in the Russian, German and Iranian markets, so Türsab trusts in alleviating its fall with China, Germany or the United Kingdom. The figures import (all). Turkey tourist emerge is interesting because it has not only translated into more visitors. That trend has come accompanied by greater income flow in a country that, Recognize Ersoyit has been proposed to “prioritize quality over quantity”. “The objective is not only to increase the number of visitors, but go to tourists with high expenses not related to accommodation.” For now, 2025 would have started with an increase in almost 5% In the average spending per traveler. And how does Spain affect? Spain and Türkiye may be separated by thousands of kilometers, but in a way they point to the same markets thanks to their heritage offer, Sun and beach. Although their sector drinks largely from Russian and Iranian markets, Turkish hotels have attracted an intense flow of German and British travelers, very relevant markets for Spanish tourism. Only in 2024 both countries added 20% of foreign demand. Turkish growth in those key points could threaten that of Spain, which It goes now Towards the barrier of 100 million of foreign travelers. In his favor Türkiye has another great asset: prices. Although the fees of their hotels … Read more

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