young

pay young people for dating apps

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To desperate problems, desperate solutions. In full demographic debaclethe authorities of Kōchi (a prefecture in southern Japan) have decided to help their young people find a partner a peculiar shape: paying for their subscription to dating apps. The aid is only aimed at residents under 40 years old, cannot exceed 20,000 yen (110 euros) and is limited to a list of certified social networks, but it gives an idea of ​​the extent to which the Administration is determined to reverse the birth crisis that is clouding the future of the country. That it has focused the focus on apps is not a coincidence either. Help to flirt. Japan is not willing to sit idly by while its birth rate declines at a rate record speed and the country is moving deeper and deeper into a demographic catastrophe of unpredictable consequences. Over the last few years, the Japanese authorities have launched millionaire programs to activate their birth rate, which includes from numerous ‘baby checks’ to job improvements that facilitate conciliation. In few places, however, have they been as imaginative as in Kōchi Prefecture. There the Government has decided help your young to pay dating apps. “Helping singles”. Kōchi’s idea is as simple as it is shocking. a few days ago the prefecture announced a “subsidy program to cover app usage fees.” Said like this, it may not seem too interesting, but things change when you go down to detail. Its objective is very specific: to lend a hand to young people in the region who want to register on dating platforms and, ultimately, “to help singles who want to meet someone or get married.” With small print. The measure, of course, has fine print. Only Kōchi residents between 20 and 39 years old can apply and must prove that the app began to be used on April 1. In fact, the aid is designed to pay for subscriptions between April 2026 and March 2027. Its amount is also limited: in no case can it exceed 20,000 yen, about 110 euros. The curious thing is that Kōchi is not the first to use this trick. In the region of Miyazaki They also launched a similar program in 2025, although with an aid of only 10,000 yen per year, and in Tokyo they have even promoted a dating app focused on a very specific user profile: people looking for a stable partner. Is any application worth it? No. That is another of the peculiarities of the Kōchi initiative. The prefecture subsidizes only subscriptions to certain apps preselected, although among them is Tapple, a platform very popular among singles in Japan. Curiously, just a year ago it incorporated a function that allows its users to verify officially their marital status, which allows the rest of the people in the network to know if they are married or not. In the list from Kōchi also includes Pairs, D3 or Omiai, among others. A well-calibrated bet. That the Kōchi authorities have decided to bet on dating apps is no coincidence. A few years ago the Government carried out a survey in which, among other questions, he asked the Japanese how they had met their partners. A quarter (25%) of those who had gotten married acknowledged that they contacted their better half through dating apps, which makes them the great matchmaker in the country. 21% said they had met their spouse at work and 10% at a school. How much does it cost to flirt? It is also no coincidence that Kōchi has set its subsidy at 110 euros per year. “The current price of annual membership fees is just over 20,000 yen, so we set the amount to cover most of it,” explains an official to The Sankei Shimbun. Those who benefit from the measure will only have to cover the rest of the costs. In its efforts to make it as easy as possible for singles, the prefecture even has a specific program which helps those who move to Kōchi to look for a boyfriend or girlfriend. Again it may seem like a strange initiative, but in Japanese society only a tiny percentage of babies are born out of wedlock. If Kōchi (or any other region) wants more children, it first needs more couples. Goal: more babies. Although Japan is not the only country suffering the effects of demographic winter, the situation there is particularly worrying. Their multiple efforts to reactivate their birth rate do not seem to be giving results (unlike what seems to happen in South Korea) and in 2025 the country recorded its tenth consecutive year of decline, reaching a new historic floor. The outlook is so discouraging that Japan is moving at a minimum demographics I didn’t expect to see until the 2040s. Kōchi is no exception. Macrotrends shows that takes years losing inhabitants. Images | Kochi Prefecture Victoriano Izquierdo (Unsplash) In Xataka | Japan wanted to know what bothers its citizens most about tourism. The answer is extremely Japanese

Inheritances have become the key for young people to buy a home. In Galicia they are giving them up

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The data is shocking. In a country where inheritances and donations have become the ‘key’ that allows thousands of young people to acquire their own homes, something difficult to consider without that family support, in Galicia a curious phenomenon is being recorded: a record of inheritance renunciations. Just last year almost 4,000 people They said ‘no’ to the possibility of receiving the legacy that their parents, grandparents, uncles or any other relative had left them when they died. Nor is it a new phenomenon Nor is Galicia the only region in which resignations growbut his case is paradigmatic: those 4,000 cases mark a historical maximum. The question is… Why the hell are inheritances rejected? What has happened? That at a time when inheritances have become the “ticket” that allows many young people take the leap from tenants to owners of their own home, a curious record has just been recorded in Galicia: a historical maximum of heirs renouncing their family legacies. The data has advanced it Vigo Lighthouse. In 2025, almost 4,000 people in the region said ‘no’ to the assets left to them by their deceased relatives. The media cites statistics from the Notarial College of Galicia, which also shows that the current volume of resignations far exceeds that of a few years ago. Why do they do it? The big question. As it reflects a recent report of ARAG, Galicia is one of the autonomous communities that offer a more attractive tax framework for inheritances between descendants and spousesat least those that do not exceed one million euros. There are other taxes that come into play, such as municipal capital gains that can be applied to urban properties, but it does not seem that this is the reason that explains the trickle of inheritance renunciations. What is it then? The reality is that there is no single answer. One of the reasons that most influence resignations is (as ironic as it may sound) the inheritances themselves. Its nature. When we think about them, money accumulated in savings accounts, farms, houses and vehicles comes to mind. The reality is that in many cases legacies are ‘poisoned gifts’. What does that mean? That legacy properties don’t just add up. They also ‘subtract’, either because they arrive accompanied by unpaid mortgages, loans or guarantees or simply because the value of the inheritance does not compensate for the cost of assuming it. The latter may sound strange, but it can occur in inheritances from uncles to nephews or between brothers. Bonuses aside, if the value of the legacy is not high, it may not be worth paying capital gains, notary and registrar. Year pure renunciation Resignation in favor of another person (translative) 2011 18,933 800 2012 23,235 777 2013 28,783 689 2014 34,340 741 2015 37,623 756 2016 38,826 687 2017 43,001 776 2018 46,684 826 2019 47,421 818 2020 44,582 745 2021 55,576 1,124 2022 55,509 1,099 2023 56,179 1,117 2024 54,866 1,273 2025 (until October) 46,265 1,041 Are there more reasons? Yes. Like a good part of Spain, Galicia is a territory in full change: its population tends to concentrate and uninhabited areas increase. In practice, this means that part of the inheritances left in the community are simply rural or forest properties with difficult (or no) access, buildings in ruins and plots reduced to their minimum expression in a land characterized precisely by his smallholding. In short, properties of low value, off the market and that may even entail liabilities, such as keep them clean to avoid fires. It is also not unusual for inheritances to include plots whose ownership is fragmented among different family members, sometimes unrelated to each other. Lighthouse explains People also come to the offices of notaries who want to renounce legacies simply because they had no relationship with the deceased or want to avoid family problems that could lead to lawsuits. ccaa RESIGNATIONS IN 2024 RESIGNATIONS IN 2011 Andalusia 10,889 2,443 Aragon 1,229 505 Asturias 2,033 713 Balearics 1,526 728 Canary Islands 2,123 645 Cantabria 712 210 CASTILLA AND LEÓN 3,347 1,358 CASTILLA-LA MANCHA 2,123 592 Catalonia 9,672 4,815 VALENCIAN COMMUNITY 5,502 1,615 Estremadura 1,209 311 Galicia 3,859 1,051 COMMUNITY OF MADRID 5,687 2,050 REGION OF MURCIA 1,752 390 Navarre 744 207 the Basque Country 1959 1,103 Rioja 500 197 Is it just a matter of inheritances? No. Other factors are added to the above, such as the lack of liquidity of the heirs at the time in which they must receive their legacy or simply the increase in inheritances processed in life. In the end, resignations are increasing, but so are agreements between living relatives who anticipate the process to avoid conflicts or benefit from tax advantages. In the background there is also a purely demographic component: as societies like the Galician one age deaths increasewhich in turn leads to more inheritances and the possibility of increased resignations. Is it something new? No. Nor does it only happen in Galicia. A quick search in the newspaper archive shows that rejections of inheritances have been increasing for some time and they are not rare in other autonomous communities either. just a year ago The Country revealed that the proportion of rejected inheritances had risen considerably to reach historic highs in the historical series. Their percentages must be handled with some caution because they are based on statistics in which resignations are equated with renunciants when in reality a legacy can fall on several people who do not accept it. In any case the data of the General Council of Notaries are eloquent: if in 2011 the organization recorded 18,933 resignations (“pure and simple renunciation of inheritance or legitimate”), in 2016 there were already 38,826 and in 2024 (last annual data closed) 54,866. The 2025 results are still partial, but show about 46,300 rejections through October. Why is it so shocking? Partly because of the context. The General Council of Notaries itself published a report at the end of 2025 which shows that “donations … Read more

After 16 years, Mexico has managed to get a millionaire to pay his taxes. And they are going to use them to help young people

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One of the richest men in Mexico has been litigating for two decades to avoid paying what he owes to the treasury. In an unexpected turn of events, that money that was owed has ended up financing scholarships, soccer fields and cultural centers for young people at risk of falling into drug trafficking violenceat least that is what the Mexican Government has assured. President Claudia Sheinbaum has presented the social program “Young People Transforming Mexico” aimed at distancing young people from the influence of drug trafficking networks. During the explanation of the measures that includes the program, the president was very direct about the origin of the project’s financing: “Where does this resource come from? All this resource for young people, well, from the payment of a person who finally paid his taxes.” Sheinbaum was not referring to just any citizen, it was a direct reference to businessman Ricardo Salinas Pliego, owner of TV Azteca, Elektra and Banco Azteca, who at the end of January settled the largest individual tax debt in the history of Mexico. The largest payment in Mexican tax history The conflict between Salinas Pliego and the Tax Administration Service (SAT) dates back to 2009, when the Treasury concluded that the Elektra Group, owned by Mexican millionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego, with a estimated fortune at $5.8 billion, it had declared non-existent tax losses to artificially reduce its bill between 2008 and 2013. As explained in the specialized medium LexLatinFor 16 years, the businessman used a strategy of systematic delay, filing appeals in multiple judicial instances and requesting recusals of judges in order to prolong the lawsuits that demanded payment of his tax debt. In the Supreme Court alone, the seven main trials generated 100 secondary processes, the majority at the initiative of the Salinas Group. The turning point came in October 2025, when Congress approved a reform of the Amparo Lawwhich limited the possibility of challenging already final tax rulings. In November, the Supreme Court used this new law to resolve the seven trials, confirming sanctions of more than 48,000 million pesos (about 2,367 million euros), including one of more than 33,000 million pesos (about 1,627 million euros) from the 2013 fiscal year. What began in 2009 as the claim of a tax debt of about 38,000 million pesos (around 1,874 million euros) had already exceeded 74,000 million pesos (about 3,649 million euros) due to accumulated interests, surcharges and penalties. On January 29, 2026, Salinas Pliego made a first disbursement of its tax debt with a payment of 10,400 million pesos (about 513 million euros), which were deposited that same day into the Treasury. The total debt finally recognized has amounted to 32,132 million pesos (the equivalent of 1,584 million euros), with the remaining balance to be settled in 18 monthly payments. This final amount represents a discount with respect to the 51,000 million pesos (about 2,515 million euros) that the Mexican treasury had initially set, since Salinas Pliego took advantage of the benefits of the Tax Code, which in this case represented a 37% reduction of the debt through voluntary payment. As and how I collected The CountrySheinbaum He did not hide his satisfaction after knowing the sentence. “It is the largest payment that has ever been made for a case of this type. And it is really good that he decided to pay it!” The president recalled that “for many years, based on negotiations and agreements, taxes were not paid. When President Andrés Manuel López Obrador arrived, the remission of taxes was prohibited in the Constitution.” A plan against youth violence As Sheinbaum pointed out at the presentation event, the money collected from taxes owed for years by one of the largest fortunes in Mexico was going to be used to finance the program “Young People Transforming Mexico“. This project includes the construction of new educational facilities, more places in secondary and higher education, as well as the expansion of the Gertrudis Bocanegra Scholarship for one million students. In the sports field, 4,208 football fields will be rehabilitated, 100 community centers will be created in high violence areas with capacity for 1,000 young people each, offering sports, cultural workshops, mental health and addiction prevention. The objective of all these measures is to offer educational opportunities, social support and leisure to prevent young people at risk of social exclusion and without professional opportunities from falling into the networks of the Mexican drug cartels. “That young people stop any activity that has to do with criminal groups,” the president stated Mexican. In Xataka | The chances of two superyachts colliding are few, but never zero: “You won’t believe it, but our yacht was hit” Image | Wikimedia Commons (JGTorresH), Unsplash (Jesus Herrera)

In South America there is a bird that camouflages itself as a piece of wood. And a young Uruguayan has insisted on finding him

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In the depths of the South American forests lives a bird that has inspired legends, myths and night terrors and is called the ‘ghost bird’, although his real name is urutaú. At first glance it is just a piece of wood that acts as an extension of the tree on which it perches like a chameleonbut behind this mimicry lies a biology that makes many scientists very curious to see it live even if it is really complicated. An ornithologist. The urutaú is not a bird that one finds by chance, but one must know how to look. Mauricio Silvera, a young Uruguayan amateur ornithologist who has been observing birds since he was five years old, knows this premise well, and according to a recent report from the BBCMauricio has turned observing this elusive species into a true passion. In popular culture, the melancholic song of the urutaú has fueled all kinds of folklore and rural legends in South America. However, for observers like Silvera, the true “magical power” of this species is not in the myths, but in its plumage and its peculiar way of ‘hiding’. A chameleon. It is no wonder, since we are not talking about it going slightly unnoticed, but rather its ability to imitate the bark of trees It is so perfect that sighting records on scientific platforms often require exhaustive photographic confirmation. And it is no wonder, because without this evidence it is difficult to convince the experts that they are not looking at a simple branch and a small irregularity that corresponds to this bird. How he does it. Disappearing in broad daylight is not something easy to achieve, but here science has different answers that go far beyond the simple color of their feathers. The key is in visual crypsis, where research shows that these birds not only have a plumage pattern that blends with the environment, but also make active decisions about where to perch in trees. And it is that a 2017 study on the choice of backgrounds showed that these birds carefully select the place where they rest to maximize the coincidence of patterns with their environment, which increases the survival rate against predators. And if they don’t see it, they can go completely missing. Modify your smell. Beyond the visual, researchers were able to see in a fascinating 2022 study that these birds have the ability to change your scent profiles in different seasons to prevent predators from being able to smell them. Echolocation. Unlike most birds, owls have developed this system, emitting acoustic signals to navigate in the darkness of Venezuelan and South American caves, similar to bats. Furthermore, their role in the ecosystem is vital, since research into the “secret life” of these birds reveals that they are formidable seed dispersers. They spend entire days in the trees regurgitating the seeds of the fruits they consume, acting as true foresters who maintain the ecological connectivity of Neotropical forests. A story of the search. As we see, it is not easy to find this bird and that is why Mauricio Silvera relates that finding it is “an adrenaline rush like in the chest of not knowing what to do: whether to scream, take the photo and tell someone.” Even this biology student makes a very comical simile when he sees that it is “almost like looking for Pokémon and seeing how many little birds you find and if you find the rarest one.” Your adventure always begins with a location or a photo that indicates that the bird may be present in a specific place. But due to its great ability to hide, it means that your trips do not always end with a photograph of this bird, much to your misfortune. Images | Wikipedia In Xataka | “Emergency room mentality”: the Dutch philosopher convinced that saving snails is saving ourselves

young people are alone and no longer want to flirt like before

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I’ve never been much into dating apps. I tried it once—shortly, just enough—and it overwhelmed me. Too many faces, too many conversations started at the same time, too much feeling of choosing men as if they were menu options. I closed the app and thought maybe the problem was mine. For years, that feeling seemed to remain in the minority. The dominant narrative was different: if you weren’t in the apps, you were missing something. He matches as a gateway to an active, modern and socially validated sentimental life. But something has begun to break in that story. And it is not their critics who say it, but the companies themselves that built the business of swipe. Today, dating platforms recognize that young people still want to love, but they feel less and less capable of starting a relationship. Not because of a lack of desire, but because the process has become emotionally burdensome, socially exposed, and psychologically demanding. In the midst of a hyperconnected generation, the result is not more love, but more loneliness. According to a report Elaborated by Match Group with Harris Poll and The Kinsey Institute, 80% of Generation Z believe they will find true love one day, more than any other generation. However, only 55% feel ready for a relationship right now. This distance between desire and action is what the company has called the readiness paradoxor “paradox of readiness.” Contradiction is key to understanding the current moment. Young people want relationships, but they don’t know when—or how—to start them. The same report notes that almost half of Generation Z say they are not ready for a relationship right now and that 75% are in no rush to get into one. As I explained to Fortune Chine Mmegwa, head of strategy at Match Group, the process becomes a cycle that feeds on itself: very high standards of emotional preparation lead to waiting; waiting, loneliness; loneliness, to the desire for connection; the desire, the fear of not being ready. The result is not detachment, but paralysis. Hyperconnected loneliness This paralysis does not occur in a vacuum. It occurs in a context where youth loneliness has skyrocketed, even among people with an active social life and constant presence on networks. a study published in PLOS One defines this phenomenon as a “social ambivalence”: young people surrounded by people who, even so, feel deeply alone. In Spain, data from the State Observatory of Unwanted Loneliness show that Almost seven out of ten young people admit to having felt lonely recently, regardless of the number of friends or followers they have. The amount of interaction does not compensate for the lack of emotional depth. Have likes It is not equivalent to feeling accompanied. The Match Group Report confirms this feeling where more than 50% of Generation Z say they feel lonely despite having online connections. And, unlike previous generations, many admit that they seek connections not so much for love as to avoid loneliness, something that later generates guilt or the feeling of entering a relationship “for the wrong reason.” The fear is not of the appointment, it is of public failure Added to this emotional fragility is a decisive factor: social networks have changed the very way of starting a relationship. An appointment is no longer requested. Instagram is requested. And many times, everything stays there. Follow each other, watch stories, react with an emoji, observe for weeks—or months—without taking a clear step. A permanent phase of trial and error that reduces risk, but also blocks progress. When a relationship seems to be moving forward, the pressure doesn’t go away; moves to the public showcase. According to data collected by Fortune From Match Group reporting, nearly half of Gen Z’s relationships begin with a soft launch on Instagram —an ambiguous photo, a story without context— compared to 27% of the population as a whole. He hard launchon the other hand, is perceived as a serious commitment by 81% of those who have done it. Making a relationship official is no longer just another phase, it is experienced as a symbolic contract. Fear of public failurehaving to delete photosmanaging explanations, exposing oneself to judgment—works as a brake before even starting. Better not to start anything than to have to undo it in front of everyone. Match Group describe this climate as a real “performance pressure” applied to one’s love life. This retreat is not exclusive to dating. As we already analyzed in XatakaGeneration Z is consciously reducing their public exposure on social media: fewer posts, more private messages; Less footprint, less risk. This climate is reinforced by a change in the ways of dating. How to collect Business Insidertraditional flirting is on the decline: asking for a profile has replaced asking for a coffee. Dating apps and the pandemic have weakened the “muscle” of talking to strangers in person, creating more social anxiety. The result is not rejection of contact, but rather a passive, prolonged and unresolving approach. Some experts clarify, however, that it is not so much a loss of skills as a code change. Generation Z is more direct with its boundaries and expectations, and less tolerant of prolonged ambiguity. The indefinite is tiring. The confusing is exhausting. That fits with report data Year in Swipe 2025 of Tinder, where there is a growing rejection of “minimum effort” and ambiguous signals. Trends like clear-coding or the loud looking —explicitly saying what you are looking for and from where—reflect that desire for emotional clarity in an ecosystem that, paradoxically, pushes us to say nothing and wait. Apps adapt: ​​less pressure, more context Faced with this scenario, dating applications have decided to change their approach. They no longer sell the promise of hooking up quickly, but rather on reducing the anxiety of the first contact. Tinder, owned by Match Group, has been the most explicit in this turn. Last year he launched Modesa system that allows you to choose how and from where to meet people: classic mode, … Read more

148 elderly for every 100 young people

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Spain may move in record numbers of population, but that does not mean that its demographic engine is oiled. On the contrary. If the census grows it is thanks to immigration. The latest INE studies show that every time fewer babies are bornexactly the opposite of what happens with life expectancy (continuously increasing) and deaths (stagnating). With these data on the table, the latest red light that has been lit in the national demographics is less surprising: the aging index has risen so much that it already marks a historical fact. This is not good news for the country’s labor market. What has happened? That Spain is increasingly a country of elderly people. It is no surprise, but that does not mean that the data that just published Adecco Foundation is striking. In its report ‘Aging and occupational ageism’ it reveals that in 2025 the “aging index” climbed to 148%. What does that mean? That in Spain there are now 148 people over 64 years of age for every 100 under 16. Just a year ago that same index was 14.23% and if we go to the end of the 90s it was at 99.8%, which means that almost the same proportion of elderly people resided in our country as those under 16 years of age. Is it important information? It is certainly illustrative. Both for its most obvious reading (148 people over 64 years of age for every 100 young people), and for the trend it suggests. Between 2024 and 2025, the index grew 5.7 percentage points, the largest increase since Adecco studied the phenomenon. As if that were not indicative in itself, the 2025 result shows that the country is still deep in the aging curve that it has been tracing for years. Between 2003 and 2009 (coinciding with a period of intense migratory flow, prior to the financial crisis) the proportion of children and adolescents over the elderly seemed to recover, but this trend soon stopped and has not been corrected. Is this a surprise? No. The Adecco study is new, but it is based on previous data from the INE that already suggested the same idea. In November the statistical institute published a balance on ‘Natural Population Movement’ in which three major trends were made clear. The first, the decline in the birth rate. In 2024, 318,005 births were registered in Spain, 1% less than in 2023 and far from the 427,595 recorded by the INE in 2024. On the contrary, life expectancy has continued to grow since the pandemic to stand at 84.01 years. If we add to the above that the number of deaths has also remained stable, the conclusion is clear and connects with Adecco’s calculations: fewer young people, more old people, greater imbalance, tipping the balance in favor of the latter. If at the beginning of the century there were practically the same number of people of retirement age as there were young people under 16, today it is much easier to meet the former on the street than the latter. Does it happen throughout the country? No. Not at least with the same intensity. Adecco has dedicated itself to calculating the aging index of each autonomous community and its results demonstrate the profound differences that exist at the territorial level. The oldest region is Asturias, with an indicator of 265.3%. That is, there are 265 people over 64 for every 100 under 16. Galicia (231.6) and Castilla y León (230.7) follow in the ranking. At the opposite pole are Melilla (60.4), Ceuta (74.5) and Murcia, which debuts in the ‘red zone’ with an index of 102.7%. And what does it matter? With the index Adecco does not want to cover only a statistical curiosity. Its objective is to launch a warning that directly affects the economy and the productive capacity of Spain: the pool of young population, who is about to join the labor market or will do so in the short or medium term, is increasingly lower compared to the sector of the population about to retire or who is already collecting their pension. And that is a problem. “Spain faces a structural paradox: while the population ages and the workforce becomes older, the labor market continues to underutilize professionals over 45 years of age and perpetuate the barriers that limit their employability,” warns Adecco Foundationwhich recalls that long-term unemployment affects 34% of the unemployed in Spain, a percentage that skyrockets to 48.5% if we talk about those over 45 years of age. To do? The organization is clear: rethink deep-rooted ideas. “The aging rate does not stop growing and this demographic reality places our country before a structural challenge that does not allow further delays,” reflect Francisco Mesonero, general director of the Adecco Foundation. “In this context, occupational ageism is revealed to be an obsolete phenomenon and a profound contradiction. Spain cannot afford to do without millions of older professionals.” There are those who warn in any case that Adecco’s calculations must be handled with some caution for a simple reason: it is based on two very large, different population groups and in which diverse realities are mixed. “We have a new old age that is neither short nor homogeneous and it must be conjugated in the plural because we cannot put a 64-year-old and an 85-year-old in the same bag, just as a 15-year-old cannot be equated with a 35-year-old,” commented recently in The Vanguard Dolores Puga, demographer and CSIC researcher. Images | Mark Timberlake (Unsplash) and Adecco Foundation In Xataka | After years of Japanization, in Spain there is already a generation on the verge of an uncertain scenario: old age without children

The “pop” Catholicism of Hakuna and Llamados is filling pavilions with thousands of young people. The problem: they seem evangelical

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Two Catholic events in Madrid in just 48 hours, making a couple of undeniable circumstances very clear. First, the Catholic faith has taken root among the youngest people speaking in their same language: with mega concerts and massive events. Second, behind this apparent en bloc following lie different trends that threaten to break up the crowded world of Spanish faith, overflowing with interests that pull in opposite directions. The events. On Monday, January 13, the Movistar Arena welcomed 6,000 people in ‘Llamados’, a prayer meeting organized by the Parish of Santo Domingo de la Calzada (Algete) and Alpha España (Spanish branch of Alpha International, a method of evangelization born in the 70s within Anglicanism and that explores faith in an informal environment). The next day, the Vistalegre Palace gathered 12,000 attendees at the Hakuna Group Music concertthe Catholic group fashionable in Spain. The debate. What has ignited the debate is the group’s presence in ‘Llamados’ hillsong as opening act This Australian evangelical group, a Protestant icon, is a clear example of some “evangelical ways” that radically depart from historical Catholic practices and discourses. Contemporary music with rock instruments, giant screens, an abundance of emotional personal testimonies, moments of worship with raised hands… and all in spaces more associated with concerts than with traditional liturgical celebrations. His actions are controversial among the most traditional sectors of Catholicismbut the discussion now reaches Spain. The context. Hakuna Group Musicthe Catholic youth movement founded in 2013 by Father José Pedro Manglano has become the emblem of this new trend of transforming faith into a mega-conceit. Their song ‘Huracán’ surpassed two million views on social networks after the September 2022 concert in Vistalegre, which brought together 8,000 people, figures within the reach of successful traditional pop groups. The precedent. This Spanish phenomenon has its clearest precedent in the United States. In July 2024, more than 50,000 Catholics gathered at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis for the National Eucharistic Congressan event that marked a turning point and where catholic bishops sang ‘How Great Is Our God’, the characteristic hymn of Elevation Churchone of the most influential evangelical megachurches in the world. For many faithful, this phenomenon represents “a new ecumenical liturgical movement“which is not based on the harsher and more inaccessible Catholic tradition, but on shared music and common experience. And the truth is that this drift towards pop is normal: after all, traditional sacred music is not designed for crowds of tens of thousands of people. In other words, it does not have choruses or lololós. The CWM. The music that plays in ‘Llamados’ and in Hakuna’s concerts falls within a specific genre: Contemporary Worship Music (CWM), born in American Pentecostal and charismatic churches since the 1960s. It is now a global industry that moves millions of dollars. Among its characteristics are lyrics focused on direct praise to God and written in the first person, simple and repetitive melodic structures designed to be chanted, and instrumentation typical of pop-rock bands. The goal: an immediate emotional experience. The criticisms. Some critics draw parallels of this movement with the prosperity gospel or prosperity theology, an evangelical current that teaches that God rewards faith with material success and health. Magazines like the Jesuit La Civiltà Cattolicaapproved by the Vatican, warned in 2022 that elements of this theology had penetrated Catholic communities, especially through the charismatic movement, transforming the traditional understanding of redemptive suffering. That is to say, the loss of the traditional penitential component of Catholicism, to which the Latin faction is so closely related, is perceived. In Spain, the Church has welcomed with open arms the avalanche of young faithful brought by these concerts and events. But there are dissident voices: the Catholic School of Apologetics speaks of ‘12 Reasons why it is not good to listen to Protestant music‘, and warns about the “tyranny of feeling” that prioritizes “feeling” over “believing”, as these songs often enunciate. At Catholic.net they talk that this type of music can inject Protestant beliefs into the Catholic faith, and there are numerous isolated voices that warn of the danger of these mass events. All with Calls. However, the advancement of phenomena like Llamados is important. Organizers have explicitly positioned it as a model of mass evangelization ahead of the Jubilee of Redemption in 2033, which will commemorate the 2,000th anniversary of the death and resurrection of Christ. With the religious practice in free fallevents like these are one of the few phenomena capable of massively mobilizing young people towards explicitly Christian experiences. But is it a renewal or just a youth fever, in line with the cycles of action and reaction (now that more conservative winds are blowing) that we have always experienced? In Xataka | A blessing that drives likes and sales: “x-ray of chic Catholicism”

30 years ago a young Chinese man set up an ice cream stand. Now he leads an emporium with more stores than McDonald’s

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It’s hard to believe in a world dominated by big brands and multinationals, but there is a hospitality chain with more stores than McDonald’s and Starbucks that you’ve probably never heard of. His name is Mixue (Mìxuě Bīngchéng) was founded in the late 90s by a university student from Zhenghou, China, and today it is considered the largest food and beverage chain in the world. This is how it is recognized, for example, by the magazine TIMEwhich has included it in your listing of the 100 most influential companies of 2025. It is estimated that it has more than 46,000 stores spread throughout Asia, Australia, the Middle East and South America, a vast network of stores offering a menu based on ice creams, smoothies, coffees, traditional teas and bubble teas. Bigger than McDonald’s? Yes, if we talk about the number of establishments. The benefits already they are something else. While McDonald’s boasts of having more than 43,000 restaurants spread across more than a hundred countries and Starbucks managed 40,576 stores At the end of the first quarter of fiscal year 2025, Mixue surpasses (and quite comfortably) both figures. A few months ago the magazine TIME assured that the chain has more than 45,000 spread mainly throughout mainland China, although it also operates in other regions. Do you have so many stores? Yeah. Fortune calculate which exceeds 46,000 points of sale throughout Asia, Austria, the Middle East and South America. Other sources speak of more storesraising the total network to 53,000 points selling. Beyond these dancing numbers, one thing is clear: Mixue is normally considered the food and beverage chain with a greater deployment of establishments in the world. In addition, its branch network continues to expand to good If in the West its brand is less known to us than McDonald’s or Starbucks, it is because (despite the international jump that has given in recent years) most of the Mixue stores they remain focused in China. The firm also has another handicap that helps understand its global expansion: while in the case of Starbucks more than 50% of the stores are in the hands of the company itself, in Mixue practically all They operate through franchises. What is your story? Mixue’s is the typical story of improvement and accelerated growth that gives shine to the classes of coaching business. The father of the company is Zhang Hongchao, who laid its foundation almost 30 years ago from scratch. Your story starts in 1997in Zhengzhou, when Zhang, then a university student, managed to get his grandmother to lend him 3,000 yuan ($420) to set up a small slushie and soft drink stand. Despite the challenges that were encountered along the way (and some other business failure), Zhang moved forward, managed to adapt to the changes in Zhenghou, reinvested in machinery and found the key to creating a million-dollar business. Sam Tang account that his first success came in 2006, when he launched ice creams for one yuan. In 2014, its brand already had 1,000 stores. In 2020 there were 10,000. And how has it succeeded? The big question. Mixue’s business model has several clear characteristics. The first, its commercial approach. The chain basically sells ice cream. soft servesmoothies, tea drinks and bubble teasalthough in your menu coffee and Fortune assures which in the future plans to expand its offering with beer. The other great features of your menu are the affordable priceswith ice creams for less than one euro. Other peculiarities of the company are its commitment to dominate the supply chainits commitment to a clearly identifiable brand thanks to symbols such as its mascot (Snow King) and, above all, an expansion through franchises. In a report from a few months ago the company itself recognizes that almost all of its stores (99%) are opened and operate through franchises. Mixue is responsible for supervising businesses, choosing locations, decoration and assessing the capacity of the staff. For her, the business is not so much in the fee that those stores then pay as in the equipment, merchandise and packaging that she sells to them. And the future? It doesn’t look bad. In spring the company went public in Hong Kong and managed to raise nearly 450 million of dollars, starring in one of its best premieres of the first half of 2025. The company seems willing also to get into the powerful (and disputed) US market. According to precise Fortuneduring the first half of the year the company reached a revenue volume of 2,000 million dollars (40% more than in 2024) with profits of 370 million. Despite its humble origins, its founder and his brother now manage a fortune of billions of dollars. Images | Choo Yut Shing (Flickr) 1 and 2 and Jeremy Thompson (Flickr) In Xataka | One of the biggest wine critics is French and has toured China. There is no good news for French wine

the paradox that has trapped 69% of young people

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We usually imagine the loneliness as total isolation: an empty room and a phone that doesn’t ring. Seeing a person who is surrounded by people and with an active social life seems like they cannot feel loneliness, but the reality is very different in Spain, where studies suggest that we have never been so connected and at the same time so alone. And young people are the ones who bear the brunt. The problem in Spain. A recent study published in PLOS One has just named a phenomenon that defines generation Z already the millennials younger: social ambivalence. And it is not that the youngest in our society lack friends or plans to make on a daily basis, but it shows that the amount of social interactions does not guarantee optimal emotional well-being. Having dozens of ‘likes’ for a publication on Instagram does not mean being accompanied. Something that the data of the report made by SoledadES in Spain has confirmed, since its conclusions indicate that we are experiencing a silent epidemic where 69% of young people admit to having felt alone. And all this regardless of the number of followers on social networks or friends they have by their side on a daily basis. Change of concept. For decades, sociology assumed that loneliness was simply the lack of social contact seen in people who did not go out and interact with anyone. In this way, the equation seemed quite simple: the more friends you have, the less loneliness you have. But this is no longer the case as it has been seen in adults ranging from 18 to 29 years old. Here it has been seen that people who have a high social connection are accompanied by a simultaneous feeling of loneliness. The most affected. The studytitled “Lonely and Connected in Emerging Adulthood”points out that this social ambivalence It occurs especially in moments of life transition. Young adults go through a period of instability, such as changing residence to go to study, entering the labor market or ending their studies. This only breaks support networks, for example losing contact with the friends they make at university or the need to have to meet new people at work. That is why the conclusion is quite clear: having a full social agenda does not protect against feelings of isolation if the interactions lack depth or if the young person feels that they do not fit into the environment that has changed. Radiography in Spain. He “Study on youth and unwanted loneliness in Spain”promoted by the State Observatory of Unwanted Loneliness (SoledadES) of the ONCE Foundation, gives us information that sets off our alarms. In this case they point out that 25.5% of young Spaniards between 16 and 29 years old claims to feel alone at present. But if you broaden the focus, almost 7 in 10 young people feel alone now or have felt that way at some point recently. Its duration. In this report, the quantity may not be the most important, but rather the duration, since this feeling is becoming chronic in the young people of our country. According to the data, three out of every four young people who suffer from this loneliness have been in this situation for more than a year. But almost half still feel like this for more than three years. Something that completely passes the critical phase of adolescence. Because. Among the reasons that try to justify this feeling, the one that gains the most weight is instability. This is something that can be seen in those changes of environment due to studies or work that force us to make new relationships, breaking the original ties where there was greater trust. In Spain, this is aggravated by socioeconomic factors. The difficulty of emancipation, job insecurity and uncertainty about the future make it difficult to create quality ties, which are what truly combat loneliness, unlike the mere “quantity” of social interactions. And here it stands out that it is not important to have a large number of friends, but that even if they are few, they are of quality. And this is the quality that is sometimes missing to be able to be 100% transparent with other people that does not make us feel so alone for not being able to express our concerns and keep them to ourselves. Images | Mert Uner Şahin Sezer Dinçer In Xataka | Loneliness is now a public health issue. We have more and more evidence that animals help us appease it

Researchers removed Instagram and TikTok from 300 young people to see if their anxiety decreased. The results speak for themselves

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The debate about whether social networks are the new tobacco for the mental health of the generation Z It’s been on for years. There are many young people who They can’t go without watching TikTok completing the streak with their friends, uploading stories of what they eat to Instagram or simply away from the cell phone. And this is something that can be tremendously harmful. What we knew. Until now we could make one of them, and parents undoubtedly remember this message when they spend many hours in front of the phone. Even companies offer the tools to be able to limit the amount of time that we spend in an app and it even applies limits to us. With numbers. But now science has shed light on this problem with a published study in JAMA Network Open that provides concrete data. The premise was simple: ask a group of young adults (ages 18 to 24) to reduce their consumption of social networks this week. Once done, we wanted to see if the symptoms of anxiety, depression or insomnia were reduced. And it is precisely the excessive use of social networks is related to depressionsince it generates social isolation, low self-esteem, cyberbullying or even physical disorders due to the effects of blue light from the screen. So… Does giving up the cell phone also improve the quality of life of young people? The study. To do so, they not only focused on what users said they did with their mobile phones, since lying can be very easy in this case. What they did was passively record what was done with the phone through the ‘digital phenotyping‘. In total, there were 373 participants in this study, of which only 295 were able to complete the intervention, which was completely voluntary. They only had to reduce consumption for one week of the main social networks: Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and X. The results. Simply put, the results showed significant clinical improvement across key areas after just seven days. The data indicated that depression symptoms were reduced by 24.8%, anxiety by 16.1% and sleep problems fell by 14.5%. Interestingly, the study found that the effects were much more pronounced in those participants who already had symptoms of moderate or severe depression at the start of the experiment. Don’t let go of your cell phone. A priori, one might think that when a young person automatically leaves social networks aside, their cell phone will be of absolutely no use to them. But nothing could be further from the truth. He digital phenotyping revealed that although social media use fell from about 2 hours a day to just 30 minutes, total screen time increased slightly by 4.5% and participants spent 6.3% more time at home. In this way, users replaced the infinite scrolling of TikTok with other digital activities such as messaging, browsing the internet or even playing games. However, despite still being glued to the screen, mental health improved. This reinforces a theory that is gaining weight among experts: the problem is not the screen itself, but how we use it. The study points out that objective use time has a weak association with mental health, since what is really harmful is “problematic use”, such as negative social comparison or emotional addiction to platforms. Easier apps to leave. We can all have more ‘affection’ for a specific social network, which is surely more difficult to stop using. In this case, it was seen that it was easier for users to reduce the time they spent on TikTok or X. But Instagram or Snapchat were the “hard bones” to beat. Specifically, 67.8% of Instagram users and 48.8% of Snapchat users failed to comply with the reduction and continued to use them significantly during the detox process. It is not a treatment. Although the percentages sound like a victory, it is necessary to maintain the usual scientific skepticism. Dr. John Torous, co-author of the study, warns in statements collected for him New York Times that reducing networks “would certainly not be your first or only form of treatment (for mental health problems),” although it is worth experimenting with. This focuses on the fact that the study has some limitations such as the lack of a reference control group and it was not seen how long the detoxification process from social networks lasted. But what did not improve was loneliness, since eliminating these social networks in people can have the opposite effect by also cutting the connection link that unites them with other people. Images | Panos Sakalakis Vitaly Gariev In Xataka | Social networks were once a place to tell our lives. Now the trend is different: “zero posts”

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