Valencian

Using facial recognition to hunt for copycats seemed like a good idea. This Valencian university has just discovered that it was not

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Educational centers that decide to do online exams face a challenge: without being able to monitor students in person, how do you ensure that they do not copy? A Valencian university found the solution with a sophisticated video surveillance and facial recognition system. Well, the joke has paid off. Resolution. In the summer of last year, the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) filed a complaint against the International University of Valencia o VIU for the use of facial recognition and recording to conduct online exams. As reported in À Puntthe resolution has already arrived and the VIU is going to have to pay 650,000 euros The system. In the VIU evaluation regulationsit is detailed that a “facial recognition technology system” will be used in the online tests. This system consists of the use of two cameras (which the student must provide), one to monitor the student and another for the environment, ensuring that there are no other people in the same room. The software is constantly capturing and analyzing images in real time to verify the student’s identity through AI. At the same time, the program is responsible for controlling the screen and even the devices connected to the computer with which the test is carried out. Two fines. The 650,000 euros are actually the sum of two fines. The first, of 300,000 euros, is for having failed to comply with the article 9 of the GDPR which prohibits the processing of biometric data with few exceptions. The second, which amounts to 350,000 euros, is due to a breach of the article 5.1c of the GDPRwhich maintains that personal data must be “adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary.” The AEPD considers the use of facial recognition for this purpose to be disproportionate. Consent discarded. One of the exceptions to article 9 of the GDPR and which the VIU tried to rely on is that “the interested party gave explicit consent.” It is true that the students had agreed to use this control system, the problem is that they were not given any alternative: either they accepted, or they did not take the exam. The AEPD does not “consider the mandatory acceptance of general conditions upon registration to be valid consent”, which is why it rules it out in its resolution. The VIU also tried to take refuge in the “essential public interest”, another of the exceptions of article 9, but the AEPD has rejected it because there is no specific law for the processing of biometric data in the educational context. The university invoked the university law that says that universities must verify that students have acquired a series of knowledge, but the AEPD has also rejected it as insufficient. Wow, we have to pay. It’s not just the VIU. There is other universities such as the European University, Isabel I, La Rioja or Burgos that also use similar systems that combine cameras and facial recognition. During the pandemic there was no choice but to opt for online training and this prompted the appearance of video surveillance systems in exams, which raised the eyebrows of the AEPDwhich in 2021 already warned that biometrics could not be used to monitor exams. This resolution is the first that imposes a large fine, so it is assumed that universities will make changes if they do not want to go to the cashier’s office. Open door. The AEPD does not close the door to the use of biometrics as fraud prevention in the educational field, including AI systems. However, he points out that according to the European Union AI Regulationbiometric data is considered high risk, which does not prohibit its use, but does not give express permission to use it in this context. In Xataka | I’ll take the exam online for €20: the new student situation is an open bar for cheating Images | VIU, Pexels

In Spain to talk about “white label” is to talk about the Valencian chain

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In Spain, buying in the supermarket is equivalent (increasingly) to buy white label. And buying white label means (also increasingly) doing so at Mercadona. That is the conclusion left by the latest studies on the sector and that basically ratify the double trend that has been marking the sector for years. retail homeland First, the unstoppable advance of the Valencian chain. Second, how the distribution brand has become a pillar of baskets of the purchase. Both trends complement each other and have allowed Juan Roig’s company to achieve a milestone in the sector: hoarding half the business of the white label. A percentage: 50.4%. The news the newspaper has advanced it theEconomist. Mercadona said goodbye to 2025, reaching a key milestone: it already covers more than half of the market share in the distribution brand business. To be more precise, your ‘footprint’ on the lucrative (and growing) The private label business grew several tenths last year to stand at 50.4%. The data is based on a study by the consulting firm Worldpanel by Numerator and confirms that Juan Roig’s firm has not yet found a ceiling in its struggle to dominate one of the businesses. juicier for supermarkets: the sale of their brands, such as Hacendado (Mercadona) or Auchan in the case of Alcampo. Market share on private labels (2025) Mercadona 50.4% Lidl 13.1% Carrefour 8.2% Day 5.9% Eroski 3.1% Alcampo 1.8% Others 14.3% What exactly does that mean? theEconomist assures that 50.4% corresponds to Mercadona’s “quota” on the total value of the distribution brands. Even if the data refers only to food, leaving aside other sections of mass consumption, it would represent an astonishing percentage. It means that a little more than half of the money we spend on the white brands that fill our refrigerators and shelves come from Mercadona. Growing… and with ample advantage. That 50.4% is not the only striking percentage in the Worldpanel study. There are two others just as curious. The most surprising is the one that reveals the considerable advantage that Mercadona has over its direct rivals. The second chain with the largest market share in the private label business is Lidl, with ‘barely’ 13.1% of the pie. It is followed in third place by Carrefour (8.2%), Dia (5.9%), Aldi (3.3%) and Eroski (3.1%). In addition to consolidating itself in first place, the Valencian chain has managed to expand its footprint: in 2024 that same share was 50.2%, two tenths below what it registered in 2025. Lidl and Aldi grew at the same rate and Dia expanded its total share from 5.5 to 5.9%. Carrefor stepped back slightly. Other percentage: 46.6%. That Mercadona has taken half of the market share is curious, but the data would not go beyond a simple statistical curiosity if the general market for private labels was shrinking in Spain. He Worldpanel study by Numerator reveals that this is not the case. On the contrary. We Spaniards buy more and more items from Hacendado, Auchan, Seleqtia and the rest of the brands directly linked to supermarkets, which are gradually imposing themselves on the pulse that they have had for years with the brands associated with large manufacturers outside the distribution channel. If in 2021 the private label had a market share (in terms of value) of 35.8%, in 2023 it already exceeded 40% and last year it stood at 46.6%. Why’s that? The million dollar question. And there is no simple answer. The expansion of white label in Spain probably responds to a combination of factors, including its lower cost (often the chains themselves they favor them on its linear lines) and the makeover that they have experienced in the Spanish market. In a short time, the distributor’s brand has managed to shake off the stigmas that associated it with the idea of ​​’cheap’, ‘mediocre’ and ‘doubtful quality’ to compete face to face with large brands from external manufacturers. A perfect symbiosis. That the white label is becoming so strong in Mercadona or Lidl is not a coincidence either. Both commercial chains are (along with Aldi and Dia) the ones that have opted the most for this type of products. another study from Wordlpanel reveals that last year Mercadona’s white brands (with Hacendado at the helm) represented 77.8% of all its sales. At Aldi that percentage was 74.5%, and at Dia it was 65.1%. Lidl dominates, with 80.7%. Many of these companies fit into what is called ‘short assortment chains’supermarkets with a limited selection of products and a clear commitment to their own genre. The customer has fewer options when choosing (there are not dozens of brands of oil, just one or two), but in exchange their experience is simplified and, above all, they can benefit in price. The formula works so well that (coincidentally or not) Mercadona, Lidl and Aldi are precisely the chains that more have been expanding its influence on the market. Image | M. Peinado (Flickr) In Xataka | The white label has been conquering supermarkets for years. It has done so well that it is now the pillar of the Spanish diet

In 2025, the salary of 6,800 Valencian civil servants depends on an Access form. Only one person knows how it works

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According to has revealed According to the Audit of personnel expenses of the Generalitat Administration prepared by the Sindicatura de Comptes, the Valencian Community is experiencing a situation that is torn between the surreal and the negligence: two computer systems on which the payrolls of almost 6,800 civil servants and public employees depend cannot exchange data. The only way to achieve this is through an application made in Microsoft Access by a single person who would also be the only one who knows how to maintain and update it. SIGNO and GESPERJU2 do not speak to each other. He SIGN program (Integrated Payroll Management System and Others) is the internal computer system of the Generalitat Valenciana used for the management, calculation and payment of payrolls of civil servants and labor personnel of the Valencian Administration, including education, health and other services, allowing procedures such as direct debits and registrations or cancellations of employees. On the other hand, the GESPERJU2 program is a platform that manages the labor files of the personnel at the service of the Justice Administration of the Valencian Community, in processes such as the management of payrolls, permits and other administrative and human resources situations of its staff of judges, magistrates and Justice officials. What is expected is that the platform that manages payroll and the one that manages whether employees are on leaveon vacation or have requested a leave of absence were connected. To the surprise of the auditors of the Sindicatura de Comptes, these two platforms cannot exchange data. An “improvised” connection. As and stood out The Economistthat the officials of the Department of Justice of the Valencian Community receive their payroll on time and without errors depends only on a “patch” in the form of an application created with Microsoft Access. That’s not the auditors’ most surprising discovery, however. The person who created this application is the only one capable of updating the salary tables and other parameters necessary so that the officials’ payrolls are processed without problems. According to the Syndicate reportthis disconnection between platforms has left the Administration in a situation of “absolute dependence on a person”, in addition to “posing a high risk of continuity of operation if this person could not use this parallel application.” We imagine that at this moment, that person will be the best protected official in the Valencian Administration. Two platforms and end up doing it by hand. Another derivative is added to this unprecedented fact. The Access application has its limitations, so some payroll incidents must be done by hand by an official, so that they are reflected correctly. As the audit report noted, “the calculation of certain payroll incidents is carried out manually (arrears, three-year terms previously consolidated in General Administration positions, salary supplements for vertical replacements or guards), which increases the possibility of errors.” As described in the report, the integration problem would not be limited to Justice. Also mentioned is the risk that, due to a lack of communication between platforms, the same person who has had their position changed or promoted, could “collect two salaries simultaneously” (in the old position and in the new one) without being detected. TALIA: the great promise. TALIA is the new personnel management application that is proposed to replace the current ones and whose first phase has already would be tendered and awarded. The promise of TALIA is that personnel information and payrolls of Administration personnel will no longer live on separate and unconnected islands. However, its deployment is planned for years to come (if deadlines are met), and the precedent of delays and cost overruns in implementations like the one suffered with NEFIS in 2019. Until then, someone in the Valencian Administration will ensure that paid for the Office license. In Xataka | Companies bet everything on returning to the office. The public administration has an ace up its sleeve: teleworking Image | Unsplash (Rafael Oliveira)

What if we have made a mistake with the orientation of the panels? Two projects in the Valencian Community are testing it

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For decades, solar panels have looked to the sky with an almost religious inclination. But, what if the error was precisely that? What if the future of solar energy lies in putting them on their feet? Position is everything. The Norwegian company Over Easy Solar and its Spanish partner Albricias Energía have installed the first two vertical solar systems in the Valencian Community: one in the Elche business park and another on the roof of a residential building in Bétera. The idea of ​​raising the panels is not only aesthetic: it responds to a practical need. In cities there are more and more flat roofs and fewer sloping roofs, and in the countryside, agrivoltaics seeks to free up soil for crops. In this context, verticality is becoming a solution that is as logical as it is efficient. The logic behind the vertical panel. Its promise is as simple as it is disruptive: assembly in 15 minutes per kWp, without tools or ballasts, and with a design that does not pierce the roof or alter its tightness. The panels, manufactured with heterojunction (HJT) cellsreach an efficiency of 22% and a bifaciality of 92%, that is, they capture solar radiation on both sides. In addition, being in a vertical position, they dissipate heat better, which translates into better thermal performance. At the Elche facilitythe modules were placed with an east-west orientation, so that one side receives the morning sun and the other the evening sun. That generates two daily production peaks —one around 10:00 and another around 8:00 p.m.—, just when domestic electricity demand is usually highest. While traditional panels reach their maximum at noon and fall when more energy is needed, the vertical ones fill those production “valleys”, reducing dependence on batteries or the electrical grid. Production curves of the Elche facility Source: Over Easy Solar Beyond the angle. Furthermore, their shape and geometry make them almost immune to dirt, hail or wind, and as they do not require screws or ballasts, they can be easily dismantled if the roof requires maintenance. The Fraunhofer ISE Institute has endorsed that this configuration does not compromise structural stability, which reinforces its technical feasibility. According to Over Easy itselfvertical solar installations are becoming a value option for both urban rooftops and large-scale or agrivoltaic projects, and offer competitive capture rates and payback periods compared to conventional photovoltaics. The vertical spin expands. It is not an isolated idea. In California, the Sunstall company has developed Sunzauna system of vertical bifacial panels designed to combine agriculture and energy. The project, installed in a vineyard in Somerset, uses modules that generate electricity on both sides and allow cultivation under partial shade, reducing UV stress on the plants and taking advantage of the land for both uses. The principle is the same: more usable surface area, less heat, less maintenance and a more stable production curve. And, furthermore, with added value: keeping the land available to produce food. In urban environments, verticality also makes its way. The Canadian Mitrex SolarRail has launcheda bifacial solar railing system that turns balconies into small energy generators. With transparent and opaque versions, these modules integrate photovoltaics into the architecture without altering the design of the building or taking up additional space. The technology that makes it possible. With twist or without it, all recent proposals point in the same direction: bifaciality. HJT (heterojunction) cells combine crystalline and amorphous silicon to make better use of reflected light and reduce temperature losses. This symmetrical structure allows energy to be generated from both the front and rear of the panel, something essential for vertical systems or systems integrated into facades. And it doesn’t stop there. New advances, such as bifacial perovskite panels developed by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Dharwad, could make these solutions even cheaper and better. Will the future be vertical? Verticality does not seek to replace traditional photovoltaics, but rather to complement it. It allows energy to be produced when it is needed most, reduces the visual footprint and increases generation on already saturated roofs or in buildings without inclination. In the words of Pablo Sánchez-Roblesfounder of Albricias Energía: “Over Easy systems can complement already executed installations, increasing generation without changing the inverter.” Maybe in a few years we will look at the sloping roofs and think that the panels always wanted to be standing. After all, the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Image | Over Easy Solar Xataka | Quantum find in Cambridge points to solar ‘Holy Grail’: single-material solar panels

The Valencian Community has a single inhabited island. And when summer comes tourism is the slightest of its problems

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Tabarca is a special island for many reasons. By its sizejust 1,800 meters long, a few hundred meters wide and an area of 0.3 km2. For its condition of Only inhabited island from the Valencian Community, although its census barely goes from half a hundred of neighbors. And for the particular situation that lives in the tourist stage of the Costa Blanca. Although in summer Tabarca receives thousands of visitors a day, its main problem with tourism is not the massification but The deficiencies suffering from the archipelago and worsens with the arrival of heat. Tabarca is a unique island. And not always for good. In a place in Alicante … Tabarca is a small island on the Alicante coast, located scarce Eight kilometers from the port of Santa Pola. And the “little” is more than justified. The island is around 0.3 km2 and the entire archipelago barely passes from 1,800 m long and 400 wide, which can travel from top to bottom in A small walk. Its size and their population, of just over fifty people (According to the INE There are 34 men and 25 women censored there) they make it an exceptional case. It often presents itself as The only one Populated Island of the Valencian Community and The smallest of the country with permanent population. Its location, beaches and landscapes also make it something else: a busy destination in summer. A figure: 10,000. One thing is the autumn tabarca, winter and the principle of spring and a very different summer tabarca. When the heat arrives, the island becomes a defendant destination. Both in fact that the transfer of bathers and families multiplies exponentially. Some estimates talk that in summer peak days exceed 5,000 visitors. Others raise it to 10,000. It is good for one or another figure, in October that translates into a tourist pressure that far exceeds its register. The figures handled by the local press do not always coincide, but are equally blunt. Some estimates point to more than 150,000 visitors during the summer months or even 230,000 Throughout the year. The influx of tourists also concentrates on a Very concrete season: The drip begins towards Holy Week, with the arrival of retirees of the Imserso, continues among the ends of spring and the beginning of summer with the schoolchildren and intensifies in the warmest months with visitors attracted by the beaches. Is it a problem? The tide of tourists has sneaked into the public debate of Alicante, with Voices in favor to control access to the island and apply “limits to the number of visitors” daily, a measure that already applies in other parts of the country, such as in the CIES, in Galicia. At least a year ago the Almeria City Council It was not shown However, too supportive of afor and restrictions. Others bet on DestationalizeThe demand for the bulk of tourism not to concentrate in the summer months. “The island needs a more balanced approach that considers not only beach tourism, but also ecotourism and cultural tourism, which can help distribute the load of visitors more uniformly during the year,” he said In 2024 Alejandro Triviño, from the University of Alicante, to Information. In his favor Tabarca has more than beaches. It is considered Marine reserve Since 1986 and enjoys an interesting story that links it to Berber pirates and Genoese fishermenin addition to A rich heritage which includes The wall or the Church of San Pedro and San Pablo. Something more than massification. However, the big problem of Tabarca is not the massive influx of visitors, but how they arrive and what they are once land. I explained it yesterday The country in An article Remember that the main challenge of the island in tourism is the deficiencies that it drags, a few deficiencies is that they become even more visible when the heat comes. “The problem is not tourists,” Recognize to the Diario Carmen Martí, president of the neighborhood association. “We need a comprehensive plan that condition the island for inhabitants and visitors.” The reason? In summer Tabarca receives a tide of travelers willing to spend the day on their coasts, but unlike what happens in other Arenales of Alicante, on the island –Martí complaint– They do not have some basic services. “Public toilets, shadow areas, tourist attractions such as the church or the vaults of the wall are closed, the tower is in ruins …” insists The neighborhood leader before adding one more task to the list: regulate displacements and a public transport service. “How 40 years ago”. Martí is not the only one who thinks like that. The owner of one of the island’s restaurants Recognize to The country That Tabarca has gone from being a small community that basically lived from fishing to a hyper tourist destination, but that transformation has not come accompanied by changes that make it more assumed for the locals. “Many people come and we are like 40 years ago,” Reflect. “We need a larger port, to separate the tourist from goods ships and more cultural activity so that the visit is not only sun and beach.” The list of resident requests is wide. They talk about transport, pricing disparity with which visitors are and the cost assumed by those who work on the island, of public services as basic as medical assistance or public spaces (picnic or even shadow areas) in which visitors can protect themselves during the warmer afternoons of the summer. Is it something new? No. It comes a quick search to verify that the complaints of the neighbors are not new. A year ago, during An interview In Onda Cero, Martín explained that the Island supports a tourist pressure similar to that of “any tourist area of ​​the Peninsula”. “The problem is that it is not prepared to welcome with guarantees the numerous visitors who agglomerate mainly during the months of July and August,” warns the representative of the neighbors, who regrets that “the impression that … Read more

A Valencian politician has decided to celebrate a wedding to marry with himself. There is a word that explains it: Sologamia

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A few days ago Stephane Soriano, Benaguasil Councilor (Pp) and general director of the Diversity area of the Generalitat Valenciana, brought together friends, family and colleagues in a luxurious estate located 25 kilometers from Valencia to share with them Your wedding. And as in every Bodorrio that boasts there were gala costumes, emotional moments, photos, laughs and even launch of the bouquet and alliance. What there was not was a couple to share the famous “Yes, I want.” Soriano He married himself. And in doing so he joined a trend that has been gaining adherents and above all visibility: The Sologamia. “Celebrate family, friends and love”. The announcement has been in charge of doing so Stephane Soriano himself Via Instagramwhere he has also published some photos of the celebration. In them he is seen suit, dancing, hugging friends, family and colleagues, speaking to the guests and even throwing a bouquet of flowers. “There are days in life that are marked and yesterday is. Celebrate family, friends and love is to celebrate life,” wrote. “I fulfilled my word”. Not just that. The politician of the Mazón team has also explained why and at what time he decided to celebrate a wedding with himself. History, Explainstarted in 2023, during a visit to Ballastar Molíthe farmhouse in which a few days ago he celebrated his Self -in. He liked the environment so much that Soriano asked that same day to be reserved for a date for a ceremony. The fact that I had no partner or wedding plans was the least. “I would find it,” he jokes. The fact is that time passed, the appointment agreed with the management of the farm and the leader was found without a couple who promises eternal love. “I didn’t find her, but they called me to remind me that I had the reservation and decided to move on,” He recounts in statements collected by The world. Thus, Soriano asked for two au Soriano promises Deliver tomorrow to your partner, if it arrives. “It was half jokingly, but if one day I find the right person, I will give it to him.” Something more than congratulations. Soriano’s decision did not take long attract attention of the press and generate a cascade of comments. Some positive. Others not so much, as Recognize the leader Valencian in networks. “Narcissism? Performance? Callas? I have read many things these days. Some criticisms have made me smile, others have made me think. But they all confirm something: there are still those who are uncomfortable when someone leaves the script,” Reflect. “It was not a literal wedding. It was a party. An excuse. A symbol. A promise I made two years ago when I reserved a beautiful place to celebrate love, the one that arrives, the one that is already, the one that is built with friends, with family, with oneself,” Soriano claims. “If this gesture serves to open questions, question molds or inspire someone to live with more freedom, it will be worth it. And yes: I will continue to defend that in diversity there is also the game, the joy and the right not to ask permission to be happy.” Media yes, unique no. The Valencian politician is not the first to “yes (me) to himself. Moreover, with its gesture it adds to an increasingly visible current both inside and outside Spain: The Sologamiaa practice that basically consists of claiming the commitment and love that a person feels towards himself. The key is that it is also made in an active, public and visible way, reaching the point of celebrating a symbolic ceremony in which this feeling is celebrated with family and friends. The trend about a year ago It was already news Because three Asturian decided to celebrate similar weddings in Gijón: they surrounded themselves with friends and family and gave themselves a “yes I want.” The person who was in charge of officiating the “wedding” had already done something similar years agowhen he celebrated an act in which he claimed himself as “a complete orange”, not waiting for his other half. “It’s hard to explain”. Vanessa García, 37, one of the women who spent that day through the “altar”, Recognize that feeling “is difficult to explain.” “It’s like being alone, but keep being with yourself. When you travel with your partner or pet you feel that you have someone there with you. This is the same, but that other person is you,” He recounts. On the day of his wedding he “reaffirmed as a person who has self -love”, he loves, respects and cares. “The ceremony is a way of deceiving the brain and making it tangible,” duck. Curiously, neither Vanessa nor her other two companions close to have partners in the future. In fact they have already experienced what life is to share with another person. Its position is different from that of We aged themwho choose to live alone, without boyfriends or spouses, and rule out committing. Neither so new nor so strange. Cases such as Vanessa or Stephane give visibility every so often to Sologamia, but the reality is that the trend is neither new nor is it as uncommon as it may seem. Its origins can be traced to 1993When Linda Baker, a Los Angeles woman, decided to organize a wedding in which “husband and wife.” All this surrounded by friends and family and with a trustworthy person who worked as a officiant. A quick search on Google throws More cases Throughout the following years despite the fact that those who participate in links We sológo They lack some of the practical advantages of traditional weddings. For example, the act does not have a binding character or entitles a 15 -day permission. That has not prevented that over the last years more and more people have decided to emulate Linda or Vanessa. How exactly it is not easy to specify it because there are no official records, but in 2024 The world He slid … Read more

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