Valencia

We have been at Roig Arena, the stadium that the owner of Mercadona will open in Valencia. If you don’t have more screens it is because they can’t

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He already owns The most successful supermarket chain in the countryhas a foundation known for the Valencia Marathon Sponsorshiphas Your own startup accelerator And it is even owner of a basketball team. He only lacked the stadium. We talk, of course, Juan Roig. The owner of Mercadona has been embarked on the construction of the pavilion that bears his name and will be the new home of Valencia Basket, in addition to a space for concerts and shows. We have been visiting the works and if we had to summarize it in a word we are clear: screens. 1,700 square meters of screens, to be exact. The eye. Before entering we find a screen giving us welcome. They call it “the eye” and measures 10 meters high by 48 wide. Like the other screens, it has installed it LG that tells us the challenge that has meant such a large panel, resistant to the outside and also looks when the sun affects it. It is on the northwest facade of the enclosure and just at the time that there will be many events (about seven or eight in the afternoon) the sun will be putting on. This screen we have not been able to see it on because they were still installing it, so we cannot judge how it looks. Visuals will be projected in it to announce which event or game will have that day. Screens inside and out The videomarker. Within the sand is the jewel of the crown: a videomarker with 250 square meters of surface that, according to LG, has the highest resolution in Europe. It is in the center of the pavilion and forms four screens, but as it has the rounded edges and the image they project is continuous, it gives the feeling that it is a single panel that wraps the entire structure. In addition, in the inner face there are two more screens in which information will be seen from the basketball matches that are held. More screens. There is no thing left, the interior of the Roig Arena is literally lined on screens (see the first photo). There is a kind of band that they call ‘Ribbon LED’ that surrounds the stadium and separates the lower stand from the superior. And there is even more. Inside is also the largest videowall in Europe, with an area of 500 square meters. Both the Videowall and the Ribbon and the videomarker do have seen them on and has surprised us with the sharpness and luminosity. Folded and deployed bleachers Two ages. The enclosure has a particularity and that is that the capacity is variable. You can house 15,600 people in Basket mode and up to 20,000 in concert mode. This is achieved with a retractable bleachers system in the first level. In a basketball game they will be deployed, creating one more level of seats that extend to the edge of the field, while in the concerts they will fold them so that they are hidden on the sides and the track is larger. Investment. The idea of making a new pavilion for Valencia Basket years ruminating And finally Juan Roig confirmed that he would build an enclosure with a capacity for about 15,000 people. In 2018 He traveled to Berlin to know the Berlin Arenastadium in which the project was inspired, and the works began in 2020. The total investment in the enclosure will be, according to its general director, more than 300 million euros And there is already date for its inauguration: on September 6. Basket and more. In addition to being the new home of the Valencian team, which leaves the mythical (but quite outdated) La Fonteta PavilionRoig Arena was also conceived as a space for concerts and shows. In fact, although it does not open until September, they already have confirmed concerts for all next year, Many of them with Sold Out. Images | Xataka, Roig Arena In Xataka | Juan Roig believes that cooking at home has no future. There are eight million Spaniards who are already giving the right

They are manufactured by an anonymous company in Valencia

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If (like who writes), some cana already most likely remembers names such as Frigopie, Mikobruja, Mikopete or Colleaget, among a long list of ice cream brands that you recognized with the naked eye on the posters of the beach beach bar. Today The kingdom of Spanish ice cream It is quite different. Reigns the white brand, which monopolizes 70% of the market, and with it they gain weight in the freezing freezers almost unknown to the general public. The best test leaves Mercadona. The rematch of the white mark. It is nothing new. Nor exclusive to the ice cream industry. For a long time, Spain’s supermarkets see how the white brand monopolizes more and more space In its lines and is done with a larger hole in the shopping baskets. There are data that demonstrates it clearly. Last year Kantar published A report which reveals that in just five years, between 2018 and 2023, the presence of white brand products has increased by 13% In the big supermarkets. Opposite direction have followed the goods of “brand of the manufacturer”, whose weight in the linear was reduced about 23%. “There are no brands”. In some national chains that loss of land of the “manufacturer brands” would have even been greater. According to Kantar’s calculationsin Dia and Mercadona the assortment was reduced more than 40% during the same period, in Eroski the decrease exceeded 30% and in Carrefour and Alcampo approached 20%. The result? In a good part of the categories of supermarkets, house brands already represent the vast majority (65%) of the assortment. “There are many in which there are no brands. It is not less, it is that there is,” summed up A year ago in the Bear Consumption Director, César Valencoso. Goodbye Frigopie, Hello landowner. In that context surprises less Another recent report of Kantar that focuses the focus on a very concrete niche: that of ice cream. After examining sales, the consultant found that the brands associated with the distributors have imposed on others recognizable and with a long journey in the sector, such as Frigo, La Milk, Maxibon or Häagen-Dazs. And there is a fact that demonstrates it roundingly. According to the consultant’s records, the first, the teachings of the chains themselves (landowner, eroski or auchan, to name three example) they are already monopolized 68.5% of the market value. That growing weight of white brands responds to several reasons. The main one, the price. In many cases, the chains have been able to offer their clients white brand brands similar to those of the competition, but at more tight prices. And that is a fundamental advantage. In 2024 AECOC elaborated a survey that shows that rates remain the decisive factor for 73% of consumers. A name: Estiu. That growing role of white brands in the refrigerator industry has led to a peculiar situation: one of the great ice cream manufacturers in Spain is unknown to most of its customers, who can consume their cakes, Mochis and sandwiches daily without ever heard its name. The reason? When they buy them in the boxes there is another brand that is recognizable for them, landowner, the food firm of Mercadona. Last year Juan Roig’s chain remained the main supermarket operator in Spain, with a 26.6% market share in food distribution. Beyond that figure, if the company stands out for something, it is for its commitment to white brand items, including landowners. A quick search in Your online catalog It shows however that their articles come from other manufacturers, such as Aiadhesa (Alicante), Lacrem (Barcelona) and above all Ice cream Estiua company founded in 1983 based in Ribarroja del Túria, Valencia. Their names do not appear large on the front of the boxes (there is the brand of Mercadona), but it is found on the back. A fact: 8.8 million. The weight of Mercadona and the pull of white brands, among other factors, has allowed ice cream to close 2024 with a balance more than acceptable despite being located in an area punished by the Dana. According to The data That he has just published and that Europa Press revealed a few days ago, last year the firm sold about 45 million liters of ice cream and reached a turnover of 150 million euros. Its benefits account stood at 8.8 million. The Mercadona supplier has also seen how its workforce increased by 8% and mobilized investments worth almost seven million euros, raising the total amount of the last five years above the 43 million. Although your case is especially interesting, it’s not The only Spanish ice cream manufacturer that has supported part of its production in the supply for white brands. Image | Liam Shaw (UNSPLASH) In Xataka | Is it healthy to eat an ice cream each and every day of summer? Science already has an answer

The domino effect of tariffs is also being felt in Valencia. Specifically, in the Ford factory

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Ford has drastically trimmed the production forecasts of the new bronco in its Almussafes plant. Of the 300,000 units initially planned, the figure has fallen to 209,000, as published Digital economy citing their own sources. Why is it important. This 30% cut reflects how Trump’s tariff policies are already moving chairs in the European industry before applying. The accuracy of the new figure – 209,000 units compared to the 300,000 round rounds – lets read a very specific calculation between a very specific projected stage between the lines. Between the lines. Suppliers openly speak of the “Trump effect” by explaining these changes. The most important reduction affects precisely the volume allocated to the United States: from 91,000 units per year provided for a much lower but not even pointed out. Ford is adjusting its transatlantic export plans in the face of tariff uncertainty. And that is felt in the Valencian economy, whose GDP depends by approximately 10% of this factory. In detail. The effect on the supply chain is, the redundancy, in chain: Suppliers have to recalculate investments. Prices should be modified based on a lower production volume. Lower production means less industrial capacity required. And that facilitates the transfer of suppliers outside the Almussafes environment. Yes, but. Trump will end his mandate in 2028, but bronco production is planned between 2027 and 2035. That is, three quarters of the manufacturing will be done without him in the presidency. But the car is an industry without much flexibility to modify the decisions that are made now. The threat. Reduce estimates during the award of limited pieces future expansions. If suppliers dimension their capacity for 209,000 vehicles, then increase production will be more complex and expensive. It is not easy to undo steps and make them again. The industry is creating a productive roof based on the most pessimistic stage. Deepen. Ford He is at the same time intensifying his presence in Moroccoparticipating in the Automotive Tangier meetings with the presence of the Moroccan monarch. Its sponsorship contrasts with brands such as Stellantis or Renault, which already manufacture vehicles in the African country, which gives clues of a geographical diversification of the productive strategy. In Xataka | One of the most mythical cars in the history of cinema can be “copied” by anyone. And that has consequences for the industry Outstanding image | Luke Scarpino in Unspash

The secret formula of Coca-Cola is in a safe of a town in Valencia. The same one that claims its authorship

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The history is written by the victors (Or that’s what we think). Perhaps the phrase would have to be changed to the story being written who has the best story and, in the commercial world, which knows how to sell its product better. And if there is a universal product that is the same image of globalization and proper name of one of the most powerful corporations in the worldthat’s the Coca-Cola. The story that John Stith Pemberton He is the father of the Coca-Cola and who, after some failed attempts, in 1886 found the formula of the drink Based on coca leaf, kola nut and carbonated water. It is not that it would bring him good luck, since shortly after he died in absolute poverty, taking a secret more powerful than that of his drink itself. The secret of whether he invented it or whether Coca-Cola is a plagiarism of a Spanish drink that was presented in the United States in 1985. Do not say Coca-Cola: Say Kola Coca In its origins, Coca-Cola was not a soda: it was a tonic. In fact, a “miraculous tonic” who cured headaches, relieved exhaustion and calmed his nerves, like Pemberton himself promoted. It was everything, also a “delicious, refreshing, cheerful, stimulating and vigorizing” drink. With cocaineIt wasn’t for less. It was not a success and its creator never saw the real potential of the drink. It was after selling his product to businessman Asa G. Gamdler when the brand exploded and The Coca-Cola Company became the giant that is today. But there are those who think that this position in history does not belong to Gandler or, above all, Pemberton: it belongs to the Valencian people of Malferit’s. In 1880, Bautista Apartici, Ricardo Sanz and Enrique Ortiz founded the Liquor Factory of Aielo. They began to create products and to present them at fairs in Europe. APARICI was the ‘commercial’ of the company and the person in charge of showing its products by the different countries, being the coca kola one of them. Kola nuts Your ingredients? Coca leaf, Kola nut and water. Very similar to those of the subsequent Coca-Cola. In 1885, Appear took the Kola Coca to a fair in Philadelphia, where he presented it and distributed some samples to local commercials. At present, that would be done with a product already patented so that no one can raise your idea, but it was not the practice more than a century ago. A year later, Pemberton presented in Atlanta its coca leaf formula, kola and water nut. Carbonated, where appropriate. Chance or plagiarism? Ayelo distillers itself leaves the question on its website. “In 1885, the Kola-Coca travels to the United States and, just a year later, the pharmacist John Steve Pemberton launched in the United States the famous Coca-Cola Answering the question is complicated, especially when we talk about an era in which the information was not transmitted with the same speed as now and it should be assumed that the connection between Pemberton and some of the commercials that received the cola coca sample. From Ayelo distilleries, they are clear. Juan Micó is the last owner of Ayelo distilleries and, as we read in ABC Newsconsiders that Coca-Cola was invented in Aielo. “At that time it was easy to copy a drink. The patents were only recorded if the product was successful,” he says, stating that when they patented the Kola Coca formula in Spain in 1903, the Coca-Cola already had a way won to become an icon. And Coca-Cola appeared Decades after patenting the drink, it was Coca-Cola who was interested in the one prepared in Aielo. The multinational wanted to enter Spain with a factory in the 40s, but could not do it directly due to the laws of registered trademarks because there was already a registered tail. That of Aielo. As we read in SpiegelCoca-Cola executives visited Malferit in 1953 and closed an agreement to acquire the rights of the name to Joaquín Juan Sanchis, who was the owner of the factory at that time. And, that same year, Coca-Cola began the conquest of the territory from its bottling company in Barcelona. There are no official records of the agreement, but there is talk of a sum between 30,000 and 50,000 pesetas to exploit the brand in Spain. A lot of money for the time, as Micó said, but a misery if compared to how things would have been, instead of money, they had accepted shares or a small percentage of sales. “We would be millionaires,” says Juan. And at that time of the firm it was when Distillerías Ayelo stopped preparing his ‘syrup’. At least the alcohol without alcohol, since that market belonged to Coca-Cola. The one they continued preparing was Kola coca nut With alcoholic content. 21st, specifically, and in Your description A “will” be or not be the origin of the Coca-Cola? “ Today, Micó’s family directs the business, and does so for a romantic issue, so as not to let that curious story die that will survive forever. The Valencian municipality is clear that Coca-Cola was invented there and, as we read in The countryIn 2018, Mayor José Luis Pinter commented that they had sent a letter to the multinational to use the link between Malferit and Coca-Cola’s year to take advantage of it. “Our goal is to see this project willingly, so that the people are known. We do not pursue anything else,” said the mayor of the town. Therefore, economic rights were not requested, but to take advantage of that link to underpin the story about the relationship between the municipality and the Coca-Cola. From the company they responded, but surely not the way in which the neighbors would have liked. They just said that the brand has transcended so much that “It is property of everyone” and that it is a pride that there are similar stories in different parts of the world. I do not know if … Read more

IBM closed its factory in Valencia 30 years ago. Now he has returned with AI and technology talent formation under his arm

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Thirty years after close your historic factory of electronic circuits in La Pobla de Vallbona, IBM has announced his return to Valencia with a renewed and strategic commitment. The technological multinational has created a “Digital Sales” center in the Innovation Incubator The terminal hubin the Navy of Valencia. The new IBM initiative in the city of Turia is raised as an “erasmus” for the acceleration of the New technological talent of the company in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Although the space allows to house 250 employees, the company will begin this new stage with the creation of one hundred new direct jobs for the implementation of an international training program for young professionals of the technological firm. The number of employees will increase in the future, but IBM has not advanced any concrete figure. The new IBM stage in Valencia IBM has decided to return to Valencia with a completely different vision from that of three decades ago. If its presence was linked to the manufacture of hardware, now the company is committed to advanced services and commercial management of technological solutions Based on artificial intelligencestorage, cloud services and automation. As its name affects, the new “Digital Sales” center will focus on promoting the skills of its employees of the Departments of Commercial Relations and Sales, integrating into the area of ​​influence of The Terminal Hub. Horacio Morell, president of IBM Spain, has indicated the importance of returning in an enclave full of incubators and innovation nurseries, consolidating the city as A pole of attraction For him International Technological Talent. “From these facilities, we will connect talent, technology and ecosystem to help companies accelerate the adoption of avant -garde solutions in AI, cloud computing, cybersecurity and automation,” Morell stood out in the presentation of the project. An international “erasmus” of technological talent The great novelty of this center is its approach to the Talent formation and acceleration international. IBM has launched a program that selects young professionals in their countries of origin and Transfer to Valencia for a year of training Intensive in new technologies. During this period, participants not only receive theoretical training, but also actively work with real clients, acquiring practical experience and key commercial skills. According to Gabrielle Crisman, director of the center, “the objective is to train the new IBM sales executives that will offer customer and agile experiences promoted by technology.” “After that period, most will return to places of origin to develop their work,” Morell said. The mayor of Valencia, María José Catalá, highlighted the importance of this program for Youth employment: “Young people need to find quality work and projects like this help us to achieve this goal,” collected The Spanish. In addition, the company has remarked that the center represents “an opportunity to newly titled young peopleprofessionals with experience in technology and digital sales experts who wish to develop their career in a global company, without leaving Valencia. “ IBM has bet again on Valencia for this strategic project for several reasons. Among the most outstanding factors are excellent living conditions and climate of the city as an incentive for the participants in the training program. On the other hand, from IBM the institutional support of the City Council stands out, the Chamber of Commerceuniversities and other business organizations. “The election of Valencia, by IBM, shows that Valencia has established itself as the technological hub par excellence in Europe,” declared to the The economist Mayor María José Catalá. In Xataka | IBM fired 8,000 workers to replace them with AI. What I did not expect was to hire many others … for the AI Image | The Terminal Hub, IBM

An urbanization was deserted in Valencia after the real estate bubble. Some geniuses have made it ‘Call of Duty’

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The real estate bubble It has had, at least, a positive effect: abandoned residential areas are born to be born a sudden and sporadic new life when they are assaulted by groups of Airsoft fans, a kind of ‘Call of Duty’ in real life that could not aspire to more colorful and appropriate scenarios than those of site as seven waters. What is Airsoft? An activity that Simulates tactical fighting using reprisons of firearms that trigger small plastic balines. These weapons are Real -scale replicas but they do not entail danger (they cannot even be manipulated to become real weapons). The objective is to meet missions or eliminate the opposite team, and over time this hobby has diversified in different styles, ranging from the Recreation of historical battles to modern war clashes that remind it of ‘Call of Duty’. The unusual clash between the Airsoft and the real estate bubble. Airsoft is played in closed environments, which can range from areas specially designed to it to more open but security controls. For example, abandoned industrial areas or empty peoples are used. On many occasions the associations that organize Airsoft games run into legal requirements that require the delimitation of the pitch so that the balls do not exceed their limits or the express permit of the land owner and the corresponding licenses. Therefore, an area like seven waters is especially appreciated by fans. What is seven waters? Seven waters is A municipality in the province of Valencia54 kilometers from the capital and surrounded by a mountain natural environment. It has 1279 inhabitants and a remarkable story with vestiges of the Muslim era, but the most interesting for Airsoft practitioners is an unfinished urbanization where only the streets and about 50 homes were built. The constructions (whose future plans included 684 villas, a shopping center, a hotel and a golf course, all with US financing) They were paralyzed in 2007 for the outbreak of the real estate bubble, and although it is not the only area around seven waters that are abandoned (there are An empty village very close, the reatillo), is the only one that has been recycled for Airsoft practice. Legal Airsoft. The treatment that has reached the Airsoft Plairsoft association and the owner of the urbanizations It is simple and benefits all those involved: the area is rented as a space for sports use, which prevents cases of occupation and vandalism; The owner puts the basic elements of security and surveillance, and the nearby seven waters receive a thrust in its economy and dynamization of other activities (in the area It is practiced mountaineering, riding, Mountain Bikeparagliding and hiking), which take advantage of the natural environment. Zombi attraction park. In 3Dguegosour partner Rubén Márquez compared the reuse of this space to what a few years ago He could see in Detroit: a city with neighborhoods so abandoned that in its day the possibility of recycling them was raised as Zombi theme attraction park. That did not set to curdle, but it is inevitable to think of projects like that when we see men disguised as soldiers with plastic guns, in environments that could have been very close to habitability, with villas that on the outside seem almost functional. A zombie amusement park, but where the guns do not kill. Header | Plairsoft In Xataka | A new movement has emerged in the US: Current people with AR-15 rifles preparing for a social collapse

Valencia tested the four -day work week. A town of Cádiz of 1,355 inhabitants has been the first to implement it

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Zahara de la Sierra, a municipality of just 1,355 inhabitants in the province of Cádiz, has decided to step forward in the Organization of your work day and rise as the first session to adopt the four -day work week and face the challenge of the reduction of the day that is currently located Parliamentary process. Inspired by the pilot experience carried out in Valencia, the City Council of this picturesque Cadiz people have implemented the four -day work week For its municipal staff. The news has generated great expectation, not only for the novelty of the measure, but for the enthusiasm he has aroused among the employees themselves. Zahara de la Sierra adopts four days. The City of Zahara de la Sierra has decided to reduce the working day of its 32 public employees of the current 37.5 hours per week in five working days, to a 35 -hour day distributed in four days per week. Thus, this small population located in the limits of the Natural Park of the Sierra de Grazalema becomes the first public body to adopt that day model. The mayor’s initiative. The implementation of the four -day working hours arises at the initiative of the mayor, such as conciliation measure For public employees of your City Council. The reduction will be implemented voluntarily and will allow workers to fight one day a week, either on Monday or Friday, rotatingly. To complete the remaining hours until adding 35, they will have to work or on Tuesdays or Thursdays in the afternoon. As Mayor Santiago Galván explains in statements to The country: “It’s totally optional. If you have children, enter at 9, no and you like to get up early, enter at 7:30”. This flexibility aims to adapt to the conciliation needs of each employee without affecting the attention to the public that is covered five days a week by rotating shifts. “In the end, the work has to be as a goal, that of being encapsulated in hours is a fatal mistake. That does not benefit anyone, I prefer flexibility,” said the mayor. An agreement with the union support. Beyond being a pioneer initiative in public administration in Spain, the mayor has had the consensus of workers and the CSIF union, a majority in public administrations. According to collect Diario de Cádizthe officials union positively value the measure, considering it “the starting point for all local municipalities and entities to take it as an example.” Francisco Silvestre, head of Local Administration of CSIF Cádiz, explained that “municipal staff deserves the improvement of their working conditions, facilitating, among other issues, family conciliation; but also, by optimizing resources, citizenship care schedules can be expanded and, consequently, also improve the service offered”, so the measure will not only benefit employees, but also result in the citizenship. Learning others’ head. Despite being a pioneer initiative in a public organization, There are already private companies That they have adopted this model of day, so the Consistory can take advantage of that previous experience to solve possible problems that may arise. In addition, the pilot program of the four -day working hours that took place In Valenciaalready advances the benefits that can be expected in that small Gaditano municipality. The different tests performed all over the world They agree to aim an almost immediate improvement in the well -being of the workers, Reduction of labor casualties and an increase in commitment. In addition, a Fall in productivity attributable to the change in the working day model. Valencia and Iceland tests reported that the adoption of four -day work week encouraged local consumption and economy due to the increase in the free time of workers. These data reinforce the idea that four -day work week can be a viable and beneficial formula for different sectors, among which is the public sector, although it is not viable in all companies. In Xataka | Not everything is 38.5 hours a week: the formulas for a waiter or temporary to benefit from the reduction of day Image | Wikimedia Commons (80 km/h)

Valencia feared that the housing market sink into the areas devastated by the DANA. The opposite has happened

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The Dana that He hit the province From Valencia in October it was so violent, it caused so many damage and affected so many people, that in the real estate agencies of the area they feared that the market was upside down. “It was thought that it was going to sink into the most devastated areas,” Recognize The sector. Reality has been another. The region has not only maintained The tension Between supply and demand suffered before the Dana, but has added an extra factor: Damage who suffered hundreds of households. The Association of Real Estate of the Valencian Community (ASCival) has published A report It helps to better understand how the market has responded. “We saw that the demand was strong”. Nora García Donet, president of ASCival, acknowledges that the market response after the Dana has even surprised the sector. After the rains they feared a puncture in the market, but reality has been quite different: the demand remained high while the offer (which in many cases was already subject to intense pressure before disaster) It was marked by the loss of households razed by rain and mud. “In the first moments it was thought that the market was going to sink into the areas most devastated by the Dana, but soon we saw that the demand was strong in a context in which many homes had been inoperative, and this trend is the one that has been maintained over time,” Donet points out. That equation has ended up moving to another key element: prices. A percentage: 18%. The report Ascival provides a fundamental fact to understand the drift of the market: the price of housing has increased by 18% in the municipalities hit by the DANA. More specifically 18.8% in the sale market and 18.1% in the lease. Translated to counting and sound money that means that houses for sale in the affected areas cost 171,428 euros while the rentals are around 800. The provinces has deepened Something else and calculates that a floor for sale in the towns razed by the downpours has increased, on average, about 32,000 euros. In the case of homes for rent, the price increase would be at 145 euros per month. All compared to the values ​​of seven months ago. What is the reason? The same that usually causes price increases in normal conditions: the imbalances between supply and demand. In Your study Ascival indicates a growing decoupling between both both in the sale market and in the rental. In the first case, the association calculates that the demand for houses for sale has shot 22% while the offer has fallen by 31.3%. In the second case, that of the Property Market to lease, the demand has shot 27.1% with the offering supply (38%). “Little more than six months after the devastating consequences of the DANA, the real estate situation in the affected municipalities follows the same trend of price and demand and contribution trend and contrition of the housing supply as in the rest of the Valencian territory,” Point out As a conclusion the Asicval report. That reality is verified by the region’s own agencies. More than half (54.3%) ensures that the supply of housing for sale has decreased and almost 90%(87.5%) have noticed price orange blossom. 58% also believe that there is more rental demand, while 96% consider that the supply has been maintained or dropped. The role of the Dana. The report It does not detail to what extent the increase can be related to the effect of the DANA or its influence on supply and demand, although it does slide some interesting data. The main one is that most people interested in buying or renting a house in the affected municipalities are locals. This is perceived at least by the agencies, which also ensure that customers do not seem especially interested in knowing whether or not the properties are in flood areas, but they do prefer apartments in height buildings. The tension in the market is not new, nor has it emerged after the October disaster. In 2024 Idealista published A report in which he already pointed out that the district with the greatest pressure in the demand for housing in Spain was in the Central-Horte de Trenor area, in Torrent. During the last months the house It has become more expensive Also in the whole of the province of Valencia, not only in the areas affected by the DANA. What the torrential rains did was sweep hundreds of homesdamaging them or leaving them temporarily uninhabitable. Image | Manuel Pérez García and Estefania Monerri Mínguez (Wikipedia) In Xataka | An old dream is injured in Barcelona: the idea of ​​”a house for a lifetime” without fear of move

In Valencia the shepherds resist the disappearance of their trade, so they have had an idea: to turn it into “career”

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When Antonio Miguel (grandson, son and nephew of shepherds) began to take care of cattle in Side of Los Olmosprovince of Valencia, lived with 64 other colleagues. Today there are so few that you can count on your fingers. Recently He reported in The provinces They are just ten. And at 63 he will soon fall out of the list. Your goodbye will aggravate the situation of a falling layer sector in Valencian lands, where the number of professionals He has sunk In just a few decades. To cut that trend and claim the profession, there are those who are trying to move forward an idea in other regions of Spain: A SCHOOL OF PASTORS. A sector in low hours. Beyond testimonies such as Antonio, data draw a complicated panorama for Valencian grazing. Let’s see. Some estimates They estimate that around 1,500 shepherds worked in the community. Today they would be just over 300. Together, the INE shows that the Valencian territory has lost about 30% of its territorial agricultural livestock capacity throughout the last decade. The problem is not much less exclusive of the Valencian Community (occurs in other parts from Spain), but it does paint a future with clouds. A protagonist: Opem. With that backdrop, a few years ago Paco Rubio, livestock, pastor and technician Alicante, joined other colleagues to create the Mediterranean Extensive Pastoralism Observatory (Better known for their acronym: Opem), which basically aspires to “empower” the extensive shepherds and ranchers in the region, give them greater visibility and help them maintain their farms. Throughout the OPEM years he has moved several initiatives, but there is one (in very initial phase) that has achieved a special impact: the organization wants Mediterranean Center. Neither simple, nor limited to Spain. Your goal It is that in the center the concepts of veterinarian are taught, future shepherds are taught how they should treat animals, different types of land and their peculiarities and the way of acting before fires, animal attacks or any other unforeseen event. The trade is not simple (cattle must be taken 365 days a year, without exceptions), but offers a job departure, helps to set population and also has its own horizon, beyond the Spanish field: in Switzerland or Austria professionals are demanded to work during certain months a year. And at what point are they? The idea is not exactly new. Carries on the table now Some years. But Opem has been working on it and especially moving to make it known throughout the region. With the support of the Diputación, he has studied the needs of the territory and organizes informative talks on the “activation of the Valencian School of Pastors”. His desire, he insists, is “to form new generations of farmers, encourage generational relief and promote a model that combines food production, conservation and environmental sustainability.” In recent months he has talked about her in FencedXàtiva and Tuéjar. From ideas to classrooms. In An interview recent with The countryRubio acknowledges that he still works ahead to reach the ambitious project to which the OPEM aspires. The objective, of course, is clear: open in the region of Ademuz corner A school focused on shepherds with facilities, professionals, sheep and land. Much of that already have it. To shape it, however, a budget of 600,000 euros. As for how OPEM would work, the OPEM manager is in favor of a mixed model, with public financing and private management that even allows him to take him to the Balearic Islands. “There is potential”. “There is interest and there is even structure. And we are seeing that it is profitable. But it is an even more complicated sector than that of agriculture because tradition was lost a little earlier,” Comment to The avant -garde Ruth Carbonell, project technician in OPEM. In its favor the collective has the strategic value of grazing, especially in the rural one, where it helps to set population and keeps the fields clean to prevent forest fires. “We trust that there is a potential of people who would and would fill in a hole that is not being covered,” emphasize Rubio on the project. A not so new idea. Although Opem’s idea has generated expectation In the Valencian Community, the truth is that it would not be the first grazing school in Spain. Moreover, they recognize that they are being set in other institutions distributed by the country, such as The Estivein Huesca. In the Valencian Community they have offered courses On grazing and livestock. “We are seeing how Aragon models work and Cataloniawhich are semi -public. In Andalusia there are school of shepherds, but it is public “, Rubio points out. “And then there are private models such as the Basque or Extremadura, where an NGO is responsible and does not receive money from the administration, but a return from who enrolls.” Images | Manel (Flickr) and Gutifoll (Flickr) In Xataka | During the gold fever, California needed sheep. The most unexpected ranshening came to the rescue: the Basques

Every week, millions of flies are released on the Valencia Community and, although it does not seem like it, it is a sensational idea

by

The Valencia war against the Mediterranean fruit fly dates back more than thirty years and is A constant reminder That going to war against an insect is never easy. It is not a reminder that is needed, the truth. Hundreds of regions around the world fight their particular conflicts with All kinds of insects, fungi or bacteria. If Valencia is important, it is something else. For a factory in caudete of the sources. An army of flies. Since at least 2017, the one we know today as Valencian Center for Genetic Fight It has been releasing hundreds of millions of flies weekly to combat pests. The technique is not new, but in this Valencian municipality they have led it to its maximum expression. Not for nothing is the largest bioplant in Europe and the second largest in the world: a reference in what is called “sterile insect technique”. Sterile insect? Yes, it is “a method of biological pest control that is based on raising males of the same species to fight that they are sterilized by irradiation.” These sterile males They are released to the fieldwhere they compete with wild males due to mating with females, “reducing plague levels by not giving rise to offspring.” Is a solution that “has been used in agriculture of multiple countries and in various flies and beetles. In addition, it is studied to fight against mosquitoes, in particular the Aedes“vectors of diseases such as dengue and chikungunya.” And is it viable? According to the Valencian example, it seems that. Although the regional government Spend about eight million Of euros a year, it has become a key piece in the defense of a sector that moves more than 10,000 million only in the region. As explained in the country: “In recent years there has been a very pronounced decrease in hectares of citrus treated with chemicals through aerial media (from about 330,000 at the beginning of the 21st century to just a few thousands of hectares today).” That is, it is a relatively cheap and quite effective project that also allows Very specific interventions And safe: “Since sterile males generally only appear with females of their own species, little effect on ecosystems is expected, unlike insecticides, which are toxic to many different species.” An increasingly present future. A few years ago, Manuel F. HerradorProfessor of the UDC Civil Engineering School, he said that in the future, they will be horrified how much of our way of building was summed up in two words: brute force. Something like this will happen when technology historians look at how we cultivate during the 20th century. Now, little by little, we are recovering (and creating) other ways to intervene in the nature much more intelligent, powerful and effective. Font caudete is just the beginning. Image | AlvesGaspar | THAT In Xataka | These mosquitoes are genetically modified to resist the four dengue virus serotypes and avoid their propagation

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