https://feeds.thelocal.com/ Read the latest news and views from Spain in English en-us news@thelocal.com (TheLocal) webmaster@thelocal.com (TheLocal) TheLocal RSS Feed The Spanish government has proposed a new draft bill which aims to regulate the influx of new data centres and force companies such as Meta, Amazon Web Services, Blackstone and Google to generate their own energy. https://www.thelocal.es/20260925/why-spain-and-big-tech-are-at-odds-over-power-sucking-ai-data-centres Fri, 25 Sep 2026 11:32:35 +0200 why-spain-and-big-tech-are-at-odds-over-power-sucking-ai-data-centres Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Monday joined a chorus of calls to regulate AI as safety fears around the technology escalate, warning of potentially "devastating" consequences. https://www.thelocal.es/20260921/spains-pm-says-unregulated-ai-could-be-devastating Mon, 21 Sep 2026 13:39:53 +0200 spains-pm-says-unregulated-ai-could-be-devastating With the rise in popularity of AI smart glasses, such as Meta's Ray-Bans, we look at whether or not you're legally allowed to use them to film in public in Spain. https://www.thelocal.es/20260921/are-smart-glasses-legal-in-spain Mon, 21 Sep 2026 11:30:39 +0200 are-smart-glasses-legal-in-spain The European Union will ban social media for children under 13 and allow only limited, supervised access until the age of 15 under plans unveiled Wednesday by EU chief Ursula von der Leyen. https://www.thelocal.es/20260916/europe-has-power-to-act-eu-to-ban-social-media-for-under-13s Wed, 16 Sep 2026 11:27:10 +0200 europe-has-power-to-act-eu-to-ban-social-media-for-under-13s A Spanish union demanded Tuesday that a court cancel the redundancies of more than 2,000 staff who worked for a company tasked with moderating content for Meta. https://www.thelocal.es/20260916/meta-faces-lawsuit-in-spain-over-mass-content-moderator-layoffs Wed, 16 Sep 2026 09:05:27 +0200 meta-faces-lawsuit-in-spain-over-mass-content-moderator-layoffs Calls are growing louder in Europe for action against "pervert" smart glasses after secretly filmed footage of girls and women appeared online -- with a petition in Britain demanding a ban on their sale. https://www.thelocal.es/20260912/europe-eyes-battle-over-pervert-ai-glasses Sat, 12 Sep 2026 14:35:38 +0200 europe-eyes-battle-over-pervert-ai-glasses If there is an industry for it, there will be a lobby group representing its interests in Brussels, home to the European Union's institutions. But which companies or lobby groups splash out the most on seeking to influence EU policy? https://www.thelocal.es/20260911/big-tech-to-banking-which-companies-spend-the-most-on-eu-lobbying Fri, 11 Sep 2026 13:02:18 +0200 big-tech-to-banking-which-companies-spend-the-most-on-eu-lobbying If you like and trust The Local's coverage you can easily add us as a preferred source on Google to make sure our articles appear in your searches. https://www.thelocal.es/20260216/how-to-make-the-local-your-preferred-source-on-google Mon, 16 Feb 2026 14:02:08 +0100 how-to-make-the-local-your-preferred-source-on-google The EU said Thursday it expects Meta to address "addictive" features of its platforms in Europe, after the tech giant agreed to sweeping limits on teen use of Facebook and Instagram in some US states. https://www.thelocal.es/20260827/eu-demands-meta-to-protect-our-kids-after-us-settlement Thu, 27 Aug 2026 16:13:17 +0200 eu-demands-meta-to-protect-our-kids-after-us-settlement The EU's tech chief called on Meta and TikTok to "act decisively" to stem disinformation at times of crisis, saying the European Commission held talks with both platforms Friday following last week's Ceuta migrant surge. https://www.thelocal.es/20260808/eu-tells-meta-tiktok-to-boost-monitoring-fact-checking Sat, 08 Aug 2026 16:00:28 +0200 eu-tells-meta-tiktok-to-boost-monitoring-fact-checking Could some online administrative processes in Spain actually be more prone to system errors because you're using a Mac or iOS instead of Windows or Android? The evidence suggests so, so here are some potential solutions. https://www.thelocal.es/20260806/why-doing-official-processes-on-a-mac-in-spain-gives-so-many-problems Thu, 06 Aug 2026 09:34:49 +0200 why-doing-official-processes-on-a-mac-in-spain-gives-so-many-problems AI watermarking and deepfake labelling will soon be required by law in the EU as the transparency part of the bloc’s sweeping AI Act comes into force on August 2nd. https://www.thelocal.es/20260727/explained-eus-new-rules-on-ai-deepfakes-and-chatbots Mon, 27 Jul 2026 11:38:09 +0200 explained-eus-new-rules-on-ai-deepfakes-and-chatbots The European Union will from Sunday have the power to enforce landmark artificial intelligence rules and hit any companies breaking the law with fines. https://www.thelocal.es/20260801/eu-gets-new-powers-over-powerful-ai-from-sunday Sat, 01 Aug 2026 16:30:47 +0200 eu-gets-new-powers-over-powerful-ai-from-sunday What does Artificial Intelligence think about Spain's property market and is it predicting prices will decrease? From Gemini to ChatGPT, the world's most popular AI models seem incapable of agreeing on what awaits homebuyers. https://www.thelocal.es/20260722/ai-unable-to-agree-if-spains-property-prices-will-drop Wed, 22 Jul 2026 12:26:31 +0200 ai-unable-to-agree-if-spains-property-prices-will-drop Lawmakers in France are scheduled to vote on Tuesday to ban social media for under-15s -- one of 20 countries worldwide to have proposed or introduced such measures, with many of them in Europe. https://www.thelocal.es/20260713/eu-to-limit-childrens-access-to-social-media Mon, 13 Jul 2026 12:02:47 +0200 eu-to-limit-childrens-access-to-social-media The European Union demanded Thursday that Google share data with other search engines and open up its Android system to rival AI services, but the US giant said the measures would put privacy at risk. https://www.thelocal.es/20260716/google-accuses-eu-of-undermining-privacy-of-millions-of-europeans Thu, 16 Jul 2026 16:10:36 +0200 google-accuses-eu-of-undermining-privacy-of-millions-of-europeans The European Union is moving closer to creating a digital euro as an alternative payment system for Europeans. But why are lawmakers so keen to create a virtual currency and how would it work for EU residents? https://www.thelocal.es/20260623/europeans-are-fully-awake-why-the-eu-is-pushing-for-a-new-digital-euro Tue, 23 Jun 2026 09:28:04 +0200 europeans-are-fully-awake-why-the-eu-is-pushing-for-a-new-digital-euro As Europe pushes for more tech sovereignty, social network W believes it has the X-factor to win users away from other platforms: it's European. https://www.thelocal.es/20260618/forget-x-heres-w-the-new-european-social-network-to-take-on-musk Thu, 18 Jun 2026 11:50:29 +0200 forget-x-heres-w-the-new-european-social-network-to-take-on-musk Madrid will soon see its first self-driving taxis, with the Spanish capital set to get a fleet of 'robotaxis' by late 2026. https://www.thelocal.es/20260605/self-driving-taxis-given-green-light-in-spains-capital Fri, 05 Jun 2026 09:47:43 +0200 self-driving-taxis-given-green-light-in-spains-capital A new report has revealed just how transformative Artificial Intelligence could be for the Spanish job market over the next 10 years, with millions of jobs expected to be destroyed and new ones created. https://www.thelocal.es/20260505/how-ai-will-transform-spains-job-market-over-the-next-decade Tue, 05 May 2026 11:11:16 +0200 how-ai-will-transform-spains-job-market-over-the-next-decade