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Mexico has turned the opening of the World Cup into its greatest showcase. A wave of protests threatens to turn him against him

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Welcome the inauguration A World Cup is always a guarantee of something: visibility. There are few ‘showcases’ comparable to being the city in which the ball of a FIFA tournament begins to roll, something that will happen tonight (peninsular time) in Mexico City. What is not so clear is what the rest of the planet will see through that showcase: the Government hopes to offer a great sports festival, but there is seven protests summoned that threaten to spoil the day and leave a very different image. The World Cup ball is not the only one that rolls. And the day came. If you like sports (and if you don’t, too) it is likely that you had March 11 marked in red on your calendar. Barring an unforeseen catastrophe, this afternoon, at 9:00 p.m. peninsular time, the teams of Mexico and South Africa will play the opening match of the 2026 Soccer World Cup. They will do so in the Azteca stadium from Mexico City, after an opening ceremony in which several artists will participate and which will experience its climax when Shakira and Burna Boy perform the song of the World Cup, ‘Dai dai’. More than football. The normal thing on a day like today is that the host country of the World Cup dedicates itself to talking basically about football. Mexico knows it well, which has experience in the matter: this will be the third time in which it hosts the World Cup tournament, something it already did in 1970 and 1986. Today, however, the Mexican authorities (especially those in CDMX) are awaiting something else: half a dozen calls of protests that will start from different points of the city towards the vicinity of the stadium where athletes, authorities and fans will meet. What protests? The diary The Universal speaks of at least seven calls confirmed and organized by groups of transporters, health workers, peasant associations and pensioners who basically want to take advantage of two things: the media attention generated by the World Cup and the Government’s interest in avoiding any conflict that tarnishes the FIFA tournament. There are two mobilized groups that stand out above the rest due to the exposure they have achieved in recent weeks. The first are the ‘seeking mothers’that they cry out for justice for your missing relatives. The second, the teachersorganized in the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE) and who have been demanding labor improvements for some time. Although the Executive has tried until the last moment reach an agreement with them to deactivate today’s protests, both parties (Education and CNTE) remain very distant. Claudia Sheibaum’s team does has been luckier with the farmers, who also threatened to mobilize. @lajornadaonline Hours before the soccer festival begins, the pain of the families of missing people is manifested in Mexico City. Collectives of searching mothers walk towards the Mexico City stadium, but the capital police prevented them from passing through Tlalpan. ♬ original sound – lajornadaonline – lajornadaonline “They want to provoke us”. The conflict does not catch the Government by surprise. The CNTE it takes months showing its discomfort and its relationship with the Sheinbaum Government has been strained in recent weeks, which has even led some of its members to break into the headquarters of the Ministry of Public Education. The most critical episode occurred a few days agowhen a teacher lost an eye after being hit by a rubber bullet while participating in a march. Incidents like this are the ones that now, a few hours before the start of the World Cup, the Government wants to avoid at all costs. “There are groups that want to provoke us, and they are not necessarily teachers. In other words, what they are looking for is repression, I say it clearly. What they are looking for is that before the opening of the World Cup the international note is: ‘The Government of Mexico represses teachers’. That is what they are looking for, but they are not going to have it,” Sheinbaum assured on Monday. The scenario is not simple. Both the president and the Government of CDMX assure that will respect the right to protest, but at the same time they are taking measures to shield the Azteca and prevent the protests from altering the World Cup agenda. “National Security Facility”. The Secretary of Government of CDM, César Cravioto, it was very clear about it on Tuesday: the capital’s stadium, he warned, “is already a national security facility.” Hence, access controls and protection have been reinforced. “They will have to understand that in less than 48 hours the World Cup will open here, in the stadium, and we have to protect it.” Cravioto insisted also that fans are “guaranteed” access to the Azteca, although he asked them to arrive “early” to avoid “complications.” ABC assures that there are professionals (journalists, stadium workers, sponsors…) who are already considering heading to the area at seven in the morning, six hours before the opening match starts. The focus is not only on the Azteca. The Secretariat of Citizen Security has also deployed a special device on the perimeter of the Mexico City International Airport to anticipate the arrival of CNTE protesters. Of laws and pensions. In the background is the clash between the Executive and the teachers represented by the CNTE, who on May 1, Labor Day, presented a document with their requests to the Government. In general lines propose eliminating the ISSSTE law of 2007, changes in educational reforms, recovering a solidarity pension system for teachers and a salary improvement. For now, and despite the eight-hour meeting held in extremison the eve of the World Cup, there has been no agreement with the Government, which maintains that the change in pensions would skyrocket its cost. The teachers’ protests will match today with those of the ‘seeking mothers’, who have been demanding that the Executive not forget the tens of thousands of people with unknown whereabouts that Mexico accumulates. Before, the group has … Read more

OpenAI wants to turn ChatGPT into a super app. Users fear the worst

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Internal statements cited in The Financial Times reveal how OpenAI is preparing what could be the biggest change for ChatGPT since its launch in November 2022. The company It already has 1,000 million users of the free version of its models, but wants to increase the number of those who pay, and the key is the change of approach. chat is dead. The summary of the approach is in the phrase “Chat is dead”, uttered by a senior company official under anonymity. Keeping 1 billion users using the chatbot for free requires enormous computing power and therefore money. That does not seem to have a clear return at the moment, so the company no longer sees ChatGPT as the final product, but as a gateway to hook the user and gradually convince them to use the company’s paid services, such as ChatGPT Plus. A super app on the horizon. The objective, say sources close to the company, is to launch a super app that combines both programming tools and AI agents, which will make it possible to add paying subscribers to a platform that needs to eat income. Especially considering that its IPO is imminentjust sent documentation to the SEC to prepare for that move. Codex as the center of everything. The idea here is to turn Codex into that revenue engine that ChatGPT has not been. Following the launch of the desktop application in February 2026, Codex has already multiplied its weekly active user base by six, and now exceeds 5 million. While ChatGPT has a small proportion of paying users, the vast majority of Codex users pay a subscription. Third-party apps and services. The ChatGPT interface redesign is expected to begin rolling out in the coming weeks on both the web and mobile apps. In a first phase ChatGPT will “direct” users to third-party services such as Canva or Booking, they say in the FT. The idea is that over time OpenAI will get rid of prompts so that its models understand the intention of their users when they use the website or the app. Agents in power. The new approach considers that the real value of the market is not in writing poems or summarizing texts, but in using agents that help us both personally and professionally. According to those responsible cited in the newspaper, the classic distinction between a web search engine, a chatbot and an AI agent for programming will disappear so that the future ChatGPT will be crazy without us realizing it. Thibault Sottiaux, who did speak officially, confirmed that they were preparing “a personal agent who is capable of helping you in any facet of your life, whether personal or professional.” Reasonable criticism. Photo users like Reddit They have reacted with clear criticism to this news. Existing ChatGPT Plus subscribers enjoy nearly unlimited conversational access and, separately, “credits” via the Codex programming API. If everything is merged into a new super app, these users fear that this theoretical unified agent will end up consuming an account’s tokens much faster and the pay-per-use model will harm them all. If the evolution of these models has taught us anything, it is that In fact, agents have made using AI (quite a bit) more expensive for intensive users. Mass adoption is no longer enough. When the AI ​​race began, OpenAI seemed to be happy to attract the largest possible volume of users even at the cost of putting revenue at risk. They believed that they would end up capturing that part sooner or later, but Anthropic appeared on the scene. Amodei’s company has managed to attract paying users – business users – and now OpenAI sees how its initial strategy does not seem to work. In Xataka | Anthropic’s IPO is very similar to the one Netscape carried out in 1995. That is worrying

There are a lot of people who want to turn potato omelette into the “new pizza”

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The potato omelette is almost certainly the most ‘homemade’ dish in the Spanish recipe book. In fact, more than a ‘dish’ it is a ‘symbol’ of traditional cuisine, of all life. And yes, it’s true: it has always been available in bars, cafes and restaurants; but the queen of tortillas was (proudly) something that was made at home. But not anymore. When one stands in front of the Navarra factory of Natural Prepared (the manufacturer of the 60 million tortillas that Mercadona sells each year) it is inevitable to think that this train has already passed. As they say in DAP, the industrial process is fascinating (each tortilla is fried at a different temperature!) and, at the same time, it is a clear piece of how the industry is betting everything to ensure that Juan Roig’s vision comes true: let’s stop cooking. And the tortilla is the battlefield. We will return to the Mercadona tortilla, but it is not the only actor at play. Martinuca was born just after the pandemic and, with the impetus of Maria Pombohas achieved a turnover of more than seven million euros for its premium tortillas at home in 2025 alone – more than double that of the previous year. And that’s only with four locations in Madrid and Barcelona. Its objective is quite clear: “elevate the Spanish tortilla to a global icon, as the Italians did with pizza“. And the reference is interesting because, de facto, the tortilla is following a ‘pattern’ similar to the one that pizza followed 20 or 30 years ago: the sector is growing in the hypermassive industrial product and in the premium (with a huge step in delivery). And why now and not 20 years ago? First of all, for a technical issue. As our colleague Miguel Ayuso explainswe are talking about the first fresh tortillas that hit the shelves. “Until then there were only tortillas that were pasteurized in their own packaging and the juiciness was greatly compromised,” Sergio Beni told DAP. Since Palacios/Fuentetaja began to grow the market a decade ago, until Elaborados Naturales has managed to become the first player at a national level, the technical, logistical and distribution revolution has been enormous. But “being able to do it” has only been part of the process. The other is that we have stopped cooking. We are doing it, in fact. According to the report “Convenience, the super power that changes everything” that has just been published, the average daily time spent cooking has fallen to 24.5 minutes, 41% of consumers usually eat in a hurry and ready-to-eat dishes grew by 55% between 2022 and 2025. Mercadona takes a third of that pie. What’s interesting is that, for the first time, respondents say they go to these products for price. It is not clear that this is true because the prices are high compared to food prepared at home; but even if it were a simple rationalization, it is interesting. It is not in vain that the majority of Spaniards continue to say that they like to cook. But weren’t we wanting to stop cooking? In DAP, Beni explained that “people no longer want to cook at home. They want to cook as a hobby, but you want that time you use to cook for your things, to play paddle tennis, to go to the gym, to read a book, to study or to make your life. You don’t want to spend that time cooking. Before our mothers spent two hours cooking and we don’t want that anymore, we want to spend that time on other things and products that are good and that are good.” However, even though There is a lot of data that proves them right.this is still a business story. “Cooking” is becoming “plating things.” It is true that the 20th century has been a century in which more and more stages of food processing have been taken outside of domestic kitchens. Today, our country only 28% of Spaniards cook from fresh foods. In fact, if we go to the dataWe can see that millennials eat 30% more often in restaurants than any other generation; When they cook, they spend less time (one hour less per week than Generation It’s US data, but we can find a similar process in all Western countries. That is to say, the discourse that kitchens are going to disappear is the framework for the next step of integration between the agri-food industry and domestic kitchens. A regulative ideal, a scenario that helps normalize what we already do (but without feeling bad about it). Will they be successful? Nobody knows, but it is clear that they are going to try hard. The Spanish tortilla is the best example. Image | instagram / Miguel Ayuso In DAP | We visited the Navarra factory where Mercadona’s potato tortillas are made: they make one and a half per Spaniard per year

Waymo’s ambitious plan to turn its batteries into gigantic solar powerbanks

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The electric car industry has been grappling with an elephant in the room for years: what to do with the millions of battery packs that, while no longer useful to power a vehicle, still retain enormous energy capacity. Now, the answer could come with autonomous driving. Waymo has formalized a strategic agreement with the company B2U Storage Solutions to give a “second life” to the spent batteries of their robotaxis, preventing them from ending up directly in recycling plants to convert them into gigantic solar energy storage systems. The paradox of the robotaxi. To understand why this movement is so relevant, you have to understand how an autonomous car ages. As detailed Wall Street Journalthe life of a robotaxi is nothing like that of a private car. While our personal vehicles spend most of the day parked, Waymo vehicles operate as high-use shared assets. In statements to the financial newspaper, Adam Lenz, director of sustainability at Waymo, explained that this high utilization causes its cars to accumulate kilometers at a dizzying rate, forcing the batteries to be removed from commercial service much earlier than usual. According to data from Geotaba consumer electric car loses just 2.3% of battery capacity per year, retaining more than 81% after eight years of use. Robotaxis, however, suffer much more rapid degradation. But just because a battery no longer offers the range needed to safely carry passengers doesn’t mean it’s dead. The new business model seeks to squeeze the residual value of these batteries to use them in stationary applications, avoiding waste and taking advantage of critical materials that have already been manufactured. “Energy sponges.” When Waymo vehicles can no longer perform, B2U removes the batteries, tests their performance, and packages them in large metal cabinets about 2.7 meters high, similar to small shipping containers. Each of these containers houses dozens of units. From there, they function as true “energy sponges” for the electrical grid. During the day, when there is plenty of sun or wind and prices are low, the system absorbs and stores that electricity. It then injects that energy back into the grid during nighttime demand peaks, just when solar production drops. The economic and energy impact is notable. Freeman Hall, CEO of B2U, details that each reused battery can add between $8,000 and $10,000 in electrical value. Additionally, a single storage container has enough capacity to supply an average home for up to three months. Although Waymo has not specified an exact number of units, the goal in the long term it is to deploy “hundreds of megawatt-hours” of capacity, concentrating initial efforts in California and Texas, two states with great dependence and growth in renewable energy. The figures of an unstoppable fleet. As detailed Ars TechnicaWaymo currently operates about 4,000 vehicles, mainly consisting of Jaguar I-Pace with 90 kWh batteries, to which are being added the new “Ojai” models from the Chinese manufacturer Zeekr, equipped with 93 kWh batteries. This fleet makes about 500,000 trips a week, a rate that will only grow: the Wall Street Journal cites Morgan Stanley estimate which predicts that autonomous journeys in the US will go from 15 million in 2025 to 36 million at the end of this year. However, Waymo’s purely “green” narrative has its chiaroscuros, and the specialized press does not ignore them. Ars Technica Enter critical and necessary information: Although the company assures that its electric fleet avoids 530 tons of CO2 every half a million trips, its recent landing in Austin (Texas) together with Uber raised blisters. There, they used mobile generators from the company L-Charge powered by natural gas to recharge the robotaxis, which generated neighborhood complaints about noise and highlighted the logistical difficulties of operating electric vehicles without adequate charging infrastructure. On the other hand, companies like Redwood Materials (backed by Waymo’s own parent company, Alphabet) are also launching their own second-life storage divisions. All this occurs in a context of absolute record: in the first quarter of 2026, the US installed 9.7 GWh of stationary storage, an increase of 32% year-on-year. Beyond the green posturing. In short, this agreement seals a perfect urban circularity. As Adam Lenz reflectsthe same batteries that today transport passengers through their streets, tomorrow will be supporting the local electrical networks of those same communities. However, behind the obvious environmental benefit is a movement of pure business strategy: this is not just green philanthropy. Waymo depends on the electrical grids of the cities where it operates to be stable and robust to be able to keep its fleets operational 24/7. In the age of mass automation, shoring up the electrical grid with batteries from your own retired cars is no longer just an ecological medal; It is a strict necessity of business survival. Image | Daniel Ramirez Xataka | A man ordered a Waymo to go to the airport. When he got there he ran into a problem: the trunk wouldn’t open.

“How do I turn off post-workout effort ratings on Apple Watch?”

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One of the directions that smart watch manufacturers are following to make their products more useful for our daily lives is to guide us in helping us with our exercises and workouts. But what happens if in their desire to give us all the information they end up bothering us? Sometimes they may show summaries related to our training which we prefer to deactivate. This is one of the questions that a xatakero asked us in our Discord who decided to take advantage The Officeone of the advantages of Xataka Xtraour subscription to access exclusive newsletters, raffles, promotions and other exclusive advantages. In this case, what we offer is a direct line with us to resolve questions like this. The xatakero who consulted us told us that his Apple Watch makes effort evaluations every time he finishes an exercise, and that he could not find the option to deactivate them. This is what I answered myself, and that, being an editor at Xataka Basics, I am very used to solving and guiding these types of problems. The question Hello. I need help setting up something on the Apple Watch. When I released the watch I configured a lot of aspects, as we all have done. One of them is the assessment of effort after performing an exercise (for example: after doing 30′ on a stationary bike). Well, it turns out that it becomes very difficult to make an assessment every time you finish the exercise. How can I eliminate that step and have the exercise end without further ado, without asking for an evaluation of the effort? Thank you. Our response Effort summaries are a relatively new option with which the Apple Watch tells you whether you have exercised hard or it was a lighter workout. The option to disable them is a little hidden, but we still gave it to you. The option that must be deactivated is “Effort reminder”. You will find it in the app watch of the iPhone where you configure the Apple Watch. Within this application, enter the section trainingwhich appear with the icon of a running person. Once you are inside, go to the section Reminders and deactivate the option Effort reminder. Do you have more questions like this? The subscribers of Xataka Xtra You can send us your questions and our team will respond personally. And if you are already a subscriber, remember this advantage and that you can ask us whenever you want.

Elon Musk not only wants to reach the Moon, he also wants to turn it into a factory for satellites launched with catapults

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What do they have in common ChinaSpaceX, Auriga Space and Electromagnetic Launch? Well, possibly several things, but one of them is that they have expressed interest in using mass cannons to launch from the Moon. Said to very roughlywant to use electromagnetic catapults loaded with satellites or construction materials to other points in space. Today, existing technologies are not optimized to launch large loads, but with so much power involved it would not be strange if it were finally achieved. The ethical implications would be many even if they only focused on science and communications. However, it could be even worse; Well, according to the analysis recently published by an expert, the arrival of the military applications It would only be a matter of time. From moon rocks to nuclear warheads. The idea of ​​the lunar mass cannon He initially proposed it a scientist named Gerard O’Neill in the 70s. His idea was to use them to extract minerals from the Moon and launch them into space to build space colonies with them. Over time, many space agencies, public and private, have become interested in its use. For this reason, the independent analyst specialized in cislunar security Andre Sonntag just published a report in which he recounts the risks that these catapults would entail. If the necessary technology is optimized to launch large payloads, they could be used to launch probes aimed at destroying satellites, inert projectiles and even ships loaded with nuclear warheads. Furthermore, if launches are made from the Moon they may be more difficult to detect by conventional early warning systems, so many attacks would go unnoticed. An ingenious design. Mass cannons are actually very interesting systems for space launch. They consist on a track in which one electromagnet is placed after another. A metal cart is circulated above and is attracted by said magnets. Each of these electromagnets is activated just when the car passes over it, giving it a new impulse, so that it accelerates more and more. The goal is to reach 2.4 kilometers per second, since this is the speed necessary to escape from the Moon. When this is achieved, the cargo on board the car is launched into space. In short, it is possible to catapult what is inside the car without having to consume propellant. Better on the Moon. This system has historically been proposed for use on the Moon for two reasons. To begin with, unlike what happens with a conventional rocketa very high speed is reached very quickly. If the process were done on Earth, the rocket would reach the atmosphere so quickly that it would catch fire due to friction when crossing it. On the other hand, there is no classical atmosphere on the Moon. On the other hand, since gravity on the Moon is much lower, a lower speed is needed than what would be needed to escape through this system on Earth. The case of Elon Musk. In his report, Sonntag has not mentioned any company or agency. However, it is well known that Elon Musk speak of the use of these mass cannons last February. He has been expressing his interest for a long time establish data centers in space and manufacture AI satellites directly on the Moon. This would avoid the energy, thermal management and launch logistics limitations that Earth poses for its ambitious plan. The vacuum of space would serve as a coolant and solar energy could be used to obtain electricity. The release waiting listIn addition, it would be much clearer than on Earth. In order not to have to carry large amounts of fuel to the Moon, their idea is to launch these satellites directly from our satellite. That is why he has already mentioned electromagnetic catapults on several occasions. There is legislation, but it is difficult to ensure. The United Nations Outer Space Treaty strictly prohibits the construction of military installations on celestial bodies. It also prohibits nuclear launches from space. However, Sonntag points out in his report that it would be quite difficult to verify. Therefore, he is concerned if these types of systems advance, given the interest of tycoons like Elon Musk. The payloads that could be launched with current technologies are minuscule. In fact, launching functional satellites directly with one of these cannons is science fiction. However, technology will advance. By then, we must be prepared, because those who have no scruples on Earth will not have them in space either. Image | SpaceX/xAI In Xataka | We knew there was water on the Moon, but not why some craters were empty. Finally we have the answer

If the question is who can turn Amancio Ortega into his personal tailor, we already have an answer: Bad Bunny

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The launch of the joint capsule between the Galician giant Inditex and the Puerto Rican artist marks an unprecedented milestone in the industry. This long-awaited collection of 150 pieces, baptized as “BENITO ANTONIO”has landed this May 21 just in time to become the official uniform of his imminent I SHOULD TAKE MORE PHOTOS Tour for Spain. If the videos of “Get Ready With Me” (GRWM) flooded the networks looking for the perfect look for Rosalía’s concerts, with Bad Bunny the phenomenon will be very different. Given its 12 dates in Spain and 600,000 tickets sold, the stylistic dilemma has already been resolved in one fell swoop. As explained esquire, this capsule is not the typical merchandising on tour, but a democratization of the artist’s closet. There is no longer a need to invent or imitate your style: now your followers can directly wear your same aesthetic universe and street sensibility. Behind the alliance. Far from being a simple commercial move, choosing a security firm fast fashion to dress a global superstar hides a deep social message. Bad Bunny launches a declaration of rebellion against the inaccessible standards of the industry: good taste and style go beyond spending thousands of dollars on luxury brands. This phenomenon has been baptized by experts as a true “change of power.” As Professor Andrew Groves points out from the University of Westminster, wearing a Zara suit to events the size of the Super Bowl or the MET Gala conveys authority, but “that authority comes from Bad Bunny’s cultural standing, not a luxury house’s seal of approval.” The message beyond. Beyond fashion, the message is sociological and political. Choosing Zara (a Spanish brand with global reach) for the Super Bowl halftime or the MET Gala, an event historically dominated by Anglo-Saxon culture, was a declaration of intent. Bad Bunny uses his influence to tell the world that the Latin and working class identity no longer needs to ask permission or dress in Parisian haute couture to sit at the table of the most powerful. With this on the table, Inditex has not limited itself to hiring the face of a celebrity for a seasonal campaign. The final result shows that it was the artist himself who has adapted all of Zara’s machinery to his universe, his instinct and his identity. Strengthening the Galician firm as its head. The construction of this alliance has been a careful chess game designed over the last few months, evidencing Marta Ortega’s firm intention to strengthen her brand in the US market under the concept of fast couture or “affordable luxury”: The first advertisement in Super Bowl LX: In February, Benito performed before more than 100 million viewers wearing a tailored outfit (bespoke) cream color designed by the Spanish firm. Zara preferred intangible prestige to mass sales, refusing to commercialize the design, although it did have a close gesture by giving away exact replicas of the garment to the workers at its headquarters in Arteixo. The transformation at the Met Gala 2026: The next coup de effect It happened at the so-called fashion Oscars. The Puerto Rican braved the red carpet with a black double-breasted tuxedo custom made by Zara. The suit, sober and elegant, gave all the attention to a hyperrealistic makeup with prosthetics created by Mike Marino, which added “53 years” to the artist to adapt to the theme of the event about the aging body and discuss the social fear of mortality. He teaser by Marta Ortega: To confirm the rumors of the collection in an organic way, the president of Inditex herself wore it at the Longines Global Champions Tour in Madrid a new green cap with the embroidery “Benito Antonio”, advancing the news before the official statement. The soul of Puerto Rico spun into 150 garments. Developed side by side with its creative director Janthony Oliveras, the collection completely escapes tropical caricature. The specialized newspapers agree in praising the authenticity of the proposal, highlighting a design and aesthetics that, as it points esquiremoves between relaxed tailoring, artisanal textures, a great weight of color and basic garments oversizeideal for withstanding the heat of the imminent concerts. Added to this careful preparation is a rich graphic imagery created together with the prestigious M/M Paris studio. The visual identity of the clothing takes direct references from urban infrastructure, electric poles and everyday elements of the streets of San Juan, a decision that should not be interpreted as an exoticization of the Caribbean, but as a demonstration of a deep sense of belonging. Finally, as a definitive detail of loyalty to its roots, L’Officiel remember that Zara decided completely redesign its Plaza Las Américas store in San Juan, Puerto Rico, turning it into an immersive space to debut this capsule exclusively with its compatriots before making the final leap to the rest of the world. A commercial and identity milestone. With this collection, Zara and Bad Bunny have not only signed the most astute agreement of the year, but they have changed the rules of musical fashion. When thousands of fans fill the Metropolitan Stadium dressed in ‘Benito Antonio’ ​​basics, it will be demonstrated that the luxury of our era is not exclusivity, but the ability to make an entire stadium dress with your own identity. Image | Zara Xataka | Zara dressed Bad Bunny at the Super Bowl. That says much more about Zara’s plans than about Bad Bunny

As towns dry out and the desert advances, women in Morocco climb the mountains to capture the fog and turn it into drinking water

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A chance experiment took place in the 1980s. Some researchers working in the Atacama Desert accidentally left a simple metal mesh exposed to wind at night. The next morning they discovered that it was covered in water droplets in one of the driest places on the planet. That seemingly trivial scene ended up inspiring an idea that decades later would change the lives of entire towns. Capture the fog before it disappears. As the desert slowly advances over southwestern Morocco and traditional wells begin to dry up, several villages in the Aït Baâmrane region have found a solution which seems closer to a science fiction image than to conventional hydraulic infrastructure: capture the fog from the mountains and convert it into drinking water. For generations, the women of these communities spent up to four hours a day walking to remote wells and returning carrying barrels weighing almost 25 kilos on their heads. That routine organized the entire life of the villages, kept many girls out of school and reflected the extent to which the lack of water conditioned any daily activity on the edge of the Sahara. Giant nets convert air into water. The change began when huge polymer networks They appeared on the slopes of Mount Boutmezguida, at more than 1,200 meters above sea level. The idea is surprisingly simple: take advantage of the moisture from the Atlantic fog that regularly passes through the Anti-Atlas mountain range. The tiny droplets become trapped in the mesh, condense and end up descending towards deposits connected to kilometers of pipelines by gravity. Without complex pumps or large industrial infrastructure, the system manages to carry water directly to homes using only wind, altitude and ambient humidity. Thanks to the advances in materials engineeringthese modern networks are much more efficient than the experiments carried out decades ago in countries like Chile, Yemen or Eritrea. And the fog reached the tap. When the system went live, neighbors gathered to see something they had never seen before: water coming directly from a faucet inside a home. That “fog water”as they began to call it, quickly transformed the daily life of the villages. Women stopped spending part-time carrying water and many girls were able to attend school regularly again. The project, promoted by the NGO Dar Si Hmadnot only modified water management, but also the social balance of communities where transporting water had been an exclusively female responsibility for centuries. The cultural challenge of drinking water that did not touch the ground. The technology worked from the beginning, but convincing everyone was much more difficult. Some inhabitants they distrusted of a water that had never passed through the earth and that, as they believed, lacked minerals and “life”. The fog represented something ambiguous, almost unreal, too far from traditional sources. Over time, the rejection disappeared as the families verified that the water was safe and constant. The transition also forced us to work unexpected social issues: Some women felt that they were losing part of their central role in the home by no longer being in charge of fetching water. That is why the project ended up incorporating literacy, technical training and community management along with hydraulic infrastructure. Finding water is impossible. The UN has recognized this May 2026 that the Moroccan system is one of the more interesting examples of climate adaptation against desertification. The project shows that some extremely dry regions can still take advantage of invisible resources which until now were hardly used. However, it also makes clear that does not exist a universal solution: capturing fog only works where mountains, ocean humidity and very specific atmospheric conditions coincide. Still, the image is powerful for a planet increasingly affected by water scarcity: as wells empty and temperatures rise, there are entire communities in Morocco that have literally begun to harvest clouds to survive. Image | Aqualonis In Xataka | Satellite images leave no room for doubt: it has rained so much that Morocco has not looked so green for a decade In Xataka | France and Morocco have teamed up to flood Europe with green ammonia. And they compete directly with Spain

ships that turn off their location and sail “like the Vikings”

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In 2017, several merchant ships sailing near the Black Sea they began to detect something impossible on their screens: dozens of ships appeared sailing over a Russian airport located inland. For days, captains and maritime analysts tried to understand what was happening until a suspicion arose: someone was deliberately manipulating GPS signals on one of the busiest shipping routes on the planet. The ghost fleet of oil. we have been counting for months. Western sanctions against Russia, Iran and Venezuela have ended up creating something that just a few years ago seemed like something out of maritime espionage novels: a gigantic “ghost fleet” of aging tankers crossing entire oceans hiding your positionfalsifying documents and surfing foutside normal systems of control. It is estimated that more than a thousand vessels already participate in this opaque trade in sanctioned crude oil, a global network where ships constantly change flag, owner and operating company as they transport millions of barrels away from Western surveillance. The result is a parallel maritime world made up of rusty oil tankers, shell companies, cryptocurrency payments and crews recruited almost blindly to work on increasingly dangerous routes. The Financial Times said The most striking thing is that the business has forced the recovery of navigation practices that seemed buried by modern technology: there are ships that deliberately turn off their location systems and cross entire areas practically “in the dark”, guiding themselves with radar and manual calculations as if they had gone back centuries in time. Sail like ghosts. One of the most surprising details of this clandestine business is the way in which many oil tankers voluntarily disappear from the map. To avoid being tracked, ships they disconnect their transponders AIS, the system that automatically reports your position to other ships and maritime authorities. some even they falsify coordinates to appear browsing in completely different places. Crew members of these tankers they explain that it is common to see “ghost” ships on screens… vessels that apparently are there, but that in reality do not exist where their signs indicate. Others disappear completely for days on end while loading oil at Iranian terminals or carrying out secret crude oil transfers on the high seas. In some cases, GPS interference near Iran literally force sailors to navigate “like the Vikings”, using radar, experience and basic calculations to move authentic floating cities hundreds of meters in length with hardly any reliable references. The Bella 1 and the Atlantic chase. The history of Bella 1 It perfectly sums up how far this parallel world has come. The enormous supertanker, old, rusty and managed by practically invisible companies, ended up becoming the protagonist of a transatlantic chase with the US Coast Guard. The crew had been recruited through normal maritime employment advertisements and many they didn’t even know that the ship was linked to sanctions related to Iran. The situation exploded when they discovered that the real destination was not the Dutch Caribbean, but Venezuelaand that the ship planned to change flag in the middle of the trip to protect itself under the Russian flag. From there it began a surreal escape across the North Atlantic as the Bella 1 tried to escape from US authorities, with the crew trapped in the middle of an international operation that seemed like a mix of a geopolitical thriller and a military video game. A business built on old boats. A large part of this clandestine fleet is made up of oil tankers that should be on their way to scrapping. Many far exceed the twenty years of service recommended for this type of boats and present extremely precarious conditions. The sailors describe corroded decks, dilapidated cabins, broken systems and equipment that works thanks to improvised repairs made during the voyage. However, it is precisely these old ships that end up fueling sanctioned trade because They are cheap to buy and easy to hide behind networks of shell companies. The problem is that deterioration greatly increases the risk of accidents, fires, groundings and spills, especially when these vessels sail without recognized insurance and constantly operate at the limit to maximize profits. The war has reached the sea. The pressure on the ghost fleet has grown brutally since the outbreak of the Ukrainian war and the escalation with Iran. The United States has gone beyond simply imposing sanctions to directly intercept suspicious oil tankers even on the high seas. Europe start doing the same with ships linked to Russian oil. At the same time, Ukraine has taken the maritime war a step further using naval drones to attack oil tankers linked to Moscow’s energy revenues. The iimages of burning ships off Turkey, Malta or Novorossiysk are increasingly frequent. The sea has become another front of the global economic conflict: it is no longer just about blocking exports, but about physically pursuing the ships that keep this clandestine trade alive. Sailors trapped in the gray zone. The most striking thing is that many crew members are not spies or criminals, but ordinary sailors trapped inside a sgigantic and opaque system. He explained in his report on the FT that most accept these jobs looking for quick promotions or better job opportunities, without really knowing who controls the ship or what cargo they will end up transporting. some discover too late who are working for networks linked to sanctioned oil, Iranian militias or companies indirectly associated with Russia. And when things go wrong, they are the ones caught between governments, intelligence services and special forces. The Times remembered that the final scene of Bella 1 sums up perfectly that reality: American commandos boarding the oil tanker in the middle of the North Atlantic while the sailors, locked up under armed guard, played cards and watched movies with American soldiers in a situation as absurd as it was revealing. Ocean increasingly opaque. The situation reflects a much deeper change in maritime trade global. Massive sanctions have created enormous incentives to build parallel networks of transportation outside the traditional … Read more

The list of the richest in Spain has taken an unexpected turn but there is something that has not changed at all: Amancio Ortega

by

The great fortunes in Spain have been booming for five years in a row. As the global economy grapples with wars, inflation and political uncertainty, the heritage of the richest in Spain It hasn’t stopped growing. The last year was especially striking because the group of the hundred largest assets in the country increased their fortune by 14.3%, reaching an unprecedented figure: 373,450 million euros. What makes the 2026 edition of the annual list especially interesting that elaborates The Worldis that the distribution of that wealth presents notable surprises: there are names whose assets have grown stratospherically, new faces who enter the billionaires’ club for the first time, and one that has been around for decades at the top without anyone being able to displace him. Record in joint assets. The sum of the hundred largest fortunes in the country reached the impressive sum of 373,450 million euros in 2026, compared to the 326,720 million attributed to them in 2025. This implies that the group of the richest people in Spain has increased their assets by 14.3% in just 12 months. The main reason for this growth is due to the behavior of the Spanish stock market: the Ibex 35 appreciated by 50% in a single year, boosting the value of the shares of those who have its listed companies. However, the stock market boom does not fully explain this phenomenon. The companies of some of the people who appear at the top of this list are not listed, such as Mercadona or Mango, but they also had record years. Few movements at the top. The list of millionaires in Spain in 2026 does not present significant changes in the names that make it up, especially in the top positions, where Amancio Ortega, Rafael del Pino and Juan Roig lead the list easily. However, there have been some changes that do not imply a loss of assets as such, but rather respond to the fact that some fortunes have had explosive growth, while in others it has been more progressive.The most relevant movements of the year have the Puig and Daurella families as protagonists. The Puig family, driven by the listing of the cosmetic group that bears their last name and the possible integration with Estée Lauderrises to fifth place, overtaking to Sol Daurellaheir to the empire of the world’s leading Coca-Cola bottler, which is relegated to sixth place. For its part, the Entrecanales family rises from tenth to eighth place, increasing its assets by 66.93% from 5,035 million to 8,405 million euros in 2026, while the brothers Francisco and Jon Riberas Mera lose one step and remain ninth with 6,845 million, despite managing the largest industrial conglomerate with Spanish capital and have increased your assets by 1,040 million euros in the last year. More millionaires and with more millions. Within this general upward trend, the list prepared by The World It highlights that 66 of the 100 fortunes grew at a double-digit rate during the last year. The result of this acceleration is that the number of billionaires in Spain It has gone from 59 to 76 families in a single year, almost double that of a decade ago. In the same way that the volume of each of the fortunes grows, the bar for entry to the list has also become more expensive, and for enter that Top 100 millionaires In Spain, the minimum assets rise to 765 million euros, compared to the 420 million that were needed ten years ago to belong to this select group. In fact, the segment that is growing the most is precisely that of fortunes between 2,000 and 5,000 million euros, followed by the range between 1,000 and 2,000 million. That is, the second and third tranches have pulled the rest upwards, while in the tranches between 750 and 1,000 million and less than 750 million, there are now fewer millionaires than in 2024. Amancio Ortega remains immovable on the throne. Having just turned 90, Amancio Ortega continues to be the undisputed number one on the list, and with a wide distance from the second largest fortune in the country. The assets of the founder of Inditex grew by 4.9% during the last year, a rate clearly lower than that of the rest of the list, which grew by an average of 20%, accumulating some 40,000 million more euros in a single year. However, this lower percentage growth does not imply that its financial movements have been wrongit has just had more financial movement than usual. The founder of Inditex has had a very active year in the real estate field and between 2025 and 2026 he has changed the entire structure of Pontegadea, placing Luxembourg as a base of operations from which it controls all its assets in Europe, the US, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Half or more of its real estate portfolio already passes through the Grand Duchy, where it shares a fiscal neighborhood with the Del Pino family, the Álvarez Santaló, Víctor Madera or Sol Daurella, with whom it also shares a presence on the list of the greatest fortunes in Spain. The most spectacular climbs and the newcomers. Among the most striking promotions of the year, Florentino Pérez stands out, whose fortune grew by 156% thanks to ACS’s stock market peak in recent months and the company’s awards in data center construction projects. In four years, the president of Real Madrid has multiplied his assets by four and is closer than ever to the top 10 on the list. Another meteoric rise has been that of Madrid-born David Ruiz de Andrés, whose fortune increased by 214% thanks to Grenergy, a company that is leading the construction of an 11,000 MW gigabattery. in the Atacama desert. The businessman in the energy sector went from having a net worth of 580 million euros in 2025, to adding more than 1,825 million, which represents a net worth increase of 214.66% in just 12 months. The Spain of the clans. … Read more

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