All posts by Carmen Gomaro

Carmen Gomaro - leading international news and investigative reporter. Worked at various media outlets in Spain, Argentina and Colombia, including Diario de Cádiz, CNN+, Telemadrid and EFE.
SPAIN

Vox, objective 8-O: will seek to lead the opposition to the amnesty after the investiture

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Low profile and a containment measure until October. Vox is keeping its best weapons against the amnesty for at least one more week and will let the – predictably failed – investiture of Alberto Núñez Feijóo pass before turning to its strategy to capitalize on the opposition to the Government's roadmap and establishing itself as the only party that defends equality between Spaniards and compliance with the law. A plan that the formation plans to execute at three levels: from the political platform, from the courts and from the street.

At the Vox headquarters they are aware of the urgency and seriousness of the moment, but they consider that going up a gear right now may not be very fruitful, since the political and media protagonist of the week is inevitably the Popular Party after the massive concentration of this weekend and the complex investiture session that Feijóo faces.

The calculations carried out in Vox predict that next week, already in October, the PSOE will change its pace with respect to the amnesty and will seek an express investiture of Pedro Sánchez. It will be then, with the social clamor on the rise and the PP having declined after not having achieved the confidence of the Chamber, when Vox activates its offensive against what they already define as “a historic attack that will lead to the destruction of the rule of law.”

Demonstration in Barcelona

Thus, Vox's objective is to concentrate its forces and begin to lead the political discourse against the pardon measure – in a tone, moreover, much harsher than that expressed by Feijóo and the PP last Sunday -, at the same time that the party turns to Barcelona in the demonstration called by the Catalan Civil Society on 8-O, which is the Sunday of that first week of the month.

This Monday, the general secretary of Vox, Ignacio Garriga, announced that his party will be “at the side of the Spaniards to defend the unity of the country, prosperity and equality,” but he considered, in contrast to the PP act, that a call for A civic platform like the one on 😯 will have many more attendees.

Today it will be Santiago Abascal himself who will defend Vox's position in the investiture. Although the party will vote in favor of Feijóo, it will be forceful with both the left and separatism as well as with the popular ones and the double standard with which, they say, they conduct politics.

In this sense, Vox applauds and calls on Feijóo to strengthen collaboration and do so in the image and likeness of his regional and local pacts, but he is displeased by the informal contacts maintained by the party leadership with formations such as Junts while at the same time crying out against amnesty. Likewise, Bambú does not like the figure of Borja Sémper, on whom Vox has focused a good part of its criticism.. Just yesterday, Garriga urged the popular party to “disavow” their national spokesperson for calling Abascal's people “radical.”

Despite everything, Vox's yes to Feijóo is guaranteed in this investiture session to which the PP, despite not being given the numbers, arrives launched after the success of the historic rally called on Sunday in the center of Madrid. An act that, as this newspaper reported, went beyond the popular acronyms and also brought together Vox voters and former socialist sympathizers.. At Vox they deny that the success of the event has harmed them electorally and they trust that the protest in Barcelona will multiply attendees, at the same time that it will serve to put Spaniards at the center and not the acronyms.

SPORTS

Arteta's idea to remove "stress" from Arsenal players: a dog inside the locker room

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“She's beautiful!”, “Oh! I'm joining Arsenal right now”, “dogs are really incredible” and so on a million comments and affectionate emoticons. A few weeks ago, in 'X', the house of hate, Arsenal published the official photo of this season's team and it was all love. Because? Because in front of the players and the coach, the Spanish Mikel Arteta, was 'Win', the Labrador retriever who has accompanied the team since last spring.

At Arteta's own request, 'Win' lives in the sports city of London Colney, north of London, so that players like Martin Odegaard, Aaron Ramsdale or Bukayo Saka can “develop a family atmosphere among themselves” and “reduce their level of stress”, according to the technician. The idea seems brilliant. A recent study from the University of Lincoln, precisely in the United Kingdom, showed that levels of cortisol – the stress hormone – dropped considerably in adolescents who attended dog therapy even when they had only completed one or two sessions.. But there is a but. Or a few.

“The relationship with dogs is very romanticized. The mere presence of a dog does not create an effect. It seems easy, 'I put a dog in a locker room and the atmosphere relaxes', but it doesn't work like that. The dog is a tool to work on objectives in a different way, there must be a professional behind it, the results must be evaluated and you have to think about the health of the animal,” explains Mireia Bosch, psychologist, director of Entrelazadogs and coordinator of the master's degree in Assisted Therapy. with animals from the Higher Institute of Psychological Studies (ISEP) of Barcelona. Although the best-known therapies with animals are accompanying horses or dogs to elderly people or minors with autism, for years they have also been used for 'business coaching' and group management, the branch that Arsenal is now discovering.

Win, on his throne. THE WORLD

According to Bosch, in these cases, “the aim is to break with hierarchies and relax the environment.”. In the eyes of a dog there is no coach, no captains, there are no ranks and furthermore a player should not always appear strong, I can be as I am. “That's very useful in a locker room.”. “The problem is that in the case of Arsenal it does not seem that there is a professional to conduct these sessions,” says Bosch and he is right.

Based on the information provided by Arsenal, Arteta chose 'Win' herself as the team's mascot and she “lives with a member of the London Colney staff”. In fact, since the goodbye of David Priestley, who was at the club since 2014 until the arrival of the Spanish coach, the official team has not made public whether or not it works with a therapist.. “We always talk about being a family and being united. I really feel like we are a family and we needed a mascot to represent that. I chose Win carefully and, in my opinion, she is the perfect representative of who we are now. His name is Win and he needs a lot of love: to win you always need a lot of love,” Arteta commented to the Gunner website in May.

“It is a problem if there really is no professional in charge. To reduce stress in a group, continuous sessions must be organized in which the dog is the protagonist, even if it does not have an active role.. It shouldn't be a circus, an entertainment, you have to know what each moment demands,” analyzes Bosch with a final concern: Who takes care of Win?

“Win must have his breaks”

“It is possibly the most delicate matter. A Labrador is probably very calm, but she will still need a guide to help her.. You must have your breaks, your unloading walks, a protocol to de-stress…. In a post-match, for example, you experience really powerful things and any dog is a channeler of emotions.. I have seen animals with epileptic seizures from working long hours with many people, animals with diarrhea after an argument or an episode of tension…. The initiative of incorporating a dog into a sports locker room is super interesting, very cool programs are being made in many areas, but it has to be done well,” concludes Bosch, who calls for an exercise of responsibility

“She's beautiful!”, “Oh! I'm joining Arsenal right now”, “the dogs are really incredible”, read in 'X' under the official Arsenal photo this season with Win at the helm and it was all love, but there are a few buts.

INTERNATIONAL

Between heaven and earth: the garden of memory above Dutroux's dungeon of horrors

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Who. Marc Dutroux, the most hated murderer and pedophile in Belgian history, kidnapped, tortured, raped, recorded and killed six girls and teenagers in the mid-90s.

That. Belgian authorities have demolished several of his properties, where he committed the crimes and buried the bodies.. A white and green garden has now been built on the ruins of their house in Marcinelle, with a mural in tribute to Julie and Melissa.

It's a garden. A small garden, very simple, minimalist, elevated a few meters above the street, an ordinary avenue in an ordinary neighborhood of the sad town of Marcinelle, just a stone's throw from Charleroi.. It is next to the train tracks, on a corner between three-story houses, brick and asphalt.. A few green meters of hope, with two or three trees, some flowers and an enormous white wall in which the giant fresco of a baby playing with a kite stands out, hurtfully.. They inaugurated it a few days ago, baptizing it Between heaven and earth, but knowing what it is, what it was, it is difficult not to think of that sanctuary as the passage between heaven and hell.

On June 24, 1995, Julie Lejeune and Melissa Russo, two girls just eight years old, were kidnapped by Marc Dutroux and locked in a cell on one of his properties.. Dutroux, the name that will forever be associated in Belgium with absolute evil, was a known criminal who managed to twist the crooked lines of the Belgian administration to collect a disability pension while stealing cars and selling drugs.. He was sick, depraved, a narcissist, a psychopath, an abuser and manipulator, an unfortunate man who abused and raped girls, who recorded all kinds of pornographic videos and who had no problem, along with his wife, an accomplice, in leaving them. starve rather than confess.

In that house in Marcinelle, Dutroux and another of his cronies had built and used a cellar. Barely two meters long, one meter wide and just over one and a half meters high. Well protected behind a bookcase and a door weighing hundreds of kilos. There he held, tortured and let the two girls die, two of his victims, neither the first nor the last, but the youngest.. Two girls who spoke out asking for help, whom the Police even listened to during a search, without realizing what was happening.

That corner has been cursed ever since, it is where God died and the rage of a nation was born.. The house was demolished, like the others where he committed his crimes and buried the victims, but the families wanted a memory, so that history does not forget their daughters, but also so that the city, the country, does not try to forget its history.. The garden has now been built on the ruins of the cellar, bathed in light against the memory of darkness, but preserving the cave, the typical basement of Belgian homes.. The unthinkable happened there and no destruction can erase it.

The opening ceremony was discreet, extremely sad. Just three dozen people in chairs in front of the garden. Everything in silence and white, as it could not be otherwise. Blanca was the march that in 1996 shook the country like never before. Hundreds of thousands of people marching together, in white, without slogans, without shouts. Only applause, silence, bitterness and a lot of pain. “Talking with the parents we decided that this place should be bathed in light. It had to be white, according to them, it was the color that best represented this tragic event,” explains Georgios Maïllis, the architect in charge of raising hope on the ruins of hell.

“This is being a man: full-on horror / Being – and not being – eternal, fugitives / Angel with great wings of chains!” wrote Blas de Otero. This is pure horror, a girl, alone, playing with a kite. Two girls, totally alone, who just wanted to continue playing.

INTERNATIONAL

Fear of ethnic cleansing accelerates the flight of thousands of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh

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“We are proud that Azerbaijan has triumphed in such a short time,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan celebrated this Monday in view of Azerbaijan's recent military victory in Nagorno Karabakh.. The “triumph” alluded to the military offensive launched by Baku in this territory, officially part of Azerbaijan but populated mostly by Armenians, which has an autonomous government not recognized by any country.

The operation, which began last Tuesday, barely lasted twenty-four hours until the Karabakh authorities accepted disarmament in exchange for the cessation of hostilities.. Since then, uncertainty and fear have reigned in this region of 120,000 inhabitants, now in the hands of Baku.. They fear ethnic cleansing by the Azerbaijani authorities and since Sunday night, thousands have fled to Armenia by road. As of noon on Monday, 4,850 Armenians from the Karabakh region had crossed the Armenian border, authorities in Yerevan announced.

On the western Armenian border, Erdogan visited this Monday his ally and president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev. The meeting took place in Nakhchivan, an autonomous enclave of Azerbaijan located between Armenia, Iran and Turkey. The visit took place on the occasion of the inauguration of a gas pipeline that connects Igdir, in Turkish Eastern Anatolia, with the enclave of Nakhichevan.. It had been fourteen years since Erdogan had set foot in the enclave and the meeting was loaded with symbolism and parallels between the isolation of Nakhchivan and Azerbaijan's recent victory in Karabakh.

During the press conference. Aliyev attacked Armenia, accusing it of “blocking” gas supplies to Nakhichevan for decades and calling the country an “occupier”. Aliyev and Erdogan also agreed to build a military equipment factory in the city and celebrated the collaboration between both countries in defense matters.. In 2020, Azerbaijan won the war in Karabakh and took much of the region under its control thanks to the support of Turkish military drones. Although Turkey has not been deployed on the ground in the latest offensive, Aliyev noted that “Azerbaijan will never forget Turkey's moral support.”. Aliyev also once again celebrated “the surrender of the Armenian army” and reiterated that Azerbaijan will guarantee humanitarian aid to the Karabakh region.. “Regardless of their ethnic origin, the people living in the Karabakh region are Azerbaijanis, so they will be protected by the state,” he assured.

However, the reality on the ground is very different.. According to Karabakh authorities, thousands of people are fleeing to Armenia for fear of revenge by the Azerbaijani army.. “We haven't taken everything with us in the hope of returning one day, although I doubt it will be soon,” explains Vadim, a carpenter and tour guide in Stepanakert, the unrecognized capital of Karabakh.. “We go to Goris (Armenian city near the border with Karabakh) because we have family there. We don't know if the Government will offer houses,” he explains.

His son is waiting for him in Goris, who studies in Yerevan and whom he has not seen for almost a year, due to the blockade that Azerbaijan began nine months ago on the only road that connects Armenia with Karabakh, preventing the entry of civilians and the transportation of food, medicine and even gasoline. For his part, the Armenian prime minister announced last week that they could care for 40,000 refugees from the Karabakh region, although he has not given details of how they will manage it at a logistical level.

Armenia has called for the immediate deployment of a United Nations mission to the region to maintain the security of ethnic Armenian citizens who decide to stay in the territory.. Yerevan says more than 200 people were killed and 400 injured in last week's military offensive. Baku, for its part, denies the figures.

On the other hand, in Yerevan more than 140 people have been arrested in recent days in protests against Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, whom they accuse of making too many concessions to Azerbaijan. Pashinian, for his part, assures that unidentified groups seek to fuel a coup against him.

ECONOMY

European governments agree to relax Euro7 regulations for car emissions

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The governments of the 27 have agreed this Monday in Brussels to try to soften the conditions and the entry into force of what is known as “Euro 7” regulations to reduce polluting emissions from cars, vans and trucks. “The automobile industry is facing unprecedented challenges related to the consequences of the war in Ukraine, limited access to raw materials and the significant increase in energy prices,” explained the Minister of Industry, Héctor Gómez. , who was in charge of directing the session when Spain held the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU. “Taking these factors into account, it has been particularly important to find a middle ground between the need to improve air quality and protect human health, on the one hand, and ensuring that the European automobile industry remains competitive on the global stage, on the other,” explained Gómez.

Today's guidance from ministers does not prejudge the final result, because the process is still underway. The details being discussed are essentially technical. But the background couldn't be more political.. In the EU the process is not like in a country. The European Commission, which has the legislative initiative, is the one that makes the proposals for directives, and the one that presented its ideas in November to update the Euro 6 regulation and move to Euro 7. From that moment on, two procedures began in parallel.. On the one hand, the Council, that is, the ministers of the 27 countries, began to debate among themselves to establish their own position. On the other hand, MEPs do the same. Today, the ministers of the sector have agreed on a line, which advocates delaying the entry into force of these regulations from 2025, which was originally on the table, to 2027 in the case of cars, and to 2029 for trucks.. And when the European Parliament closes its own position, the so-called 'trilogues' will begin, the final negotiation to give the green light.

In general terms, the 27 maintain the guidelines proposed by the European Commission. And furthermore, the objectives that were agreed at the time for the gradual reduction of emissions and the definitive ban on the sale of combustion vehicles in 2035 are maintained.. What is being fought over, between industry and NGO pressures, is the path, certain thresholds, dates and issues such as new particle limits for brakes and tires to mitigate CO2 emissions from vehicles and the release of polluting particles, something that will continue to be essential beyond 2035.

The initial proposal presented by the European Commission was strongly opposed by a block of eight countries (France, Italy, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia), which, in response to the requests, demands or complaints of the Industry and its powerful lobby denounced that the additional costs of this regulation would be very harmful. Especially since the transition to meet the ultimate goal within 12 years was already complicated. So these countries advocate not putting additional obstacles that could distract from the most important goal..

The proposed Regulation for the approval of motor vehicles and engines, and of systems, components and independent technical units intended for such vehicles, covers passenger cars, vans and heavy vehicles for the first time in a single legal act. The overall approach of ministers' agreement maintains existing emissions limits and testing conditions for light vehicles. In the case of heavy vehicles, the emission limits are lower and the test conditions are slightly adapted compared to the Commission proposal.

The Council suggests a series of “pragmatic changes”. Thus, it maintains “the existing testing conditions and emissions limits” according to what was already established by Euro 6, for private cars and vans.. For M2 and M3 vehicles (buses and coaches), and N2 and N3 vehicles (heavy commercial vehicles), the emission limits would be somewhat lower and the test conditions would be “slightly adjusted, compared to Euro 6/VI”, says what was agreed. “It also sets clear deadlines for the adoption of implementing acts (by the Commission) in order to provide economic operators with clarity and legal certainty,” say the ministers.

According to the Spanish presidency, in the words of Héctor Gómez, the agreed text enjoys a “carefully balanced commitment” between protection of the environment and health and industrial competitiveness. The next phase will be in a few weeks or months, no longer under the Spanish presidency, with the hope of reaching an agreement before the end of the European legislature in the spring, just before the June 2024 elections..

ECONOMY

Heads and tails for delinquency in banks: it remains at a minimum of 3.5% but the mortgage rate rises to 2.49%

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Heads and tails in the banks' bad debt balance. The sector managed to maintain the general default rate at 3.5% in July, a minimum level that it already reached the previous month and which is still below the 3.59% in May. However, non-payments grew in June in credit intended for the acquisition and rehabilitation of housing for households to 2.49%, above the 2.38% at the end of March.

This is reflected in the data published this Monday by the Bank of Spain, according to which delinquency in the financial sector – deposit institutions and financial establishments – remained stable, although it remains at minimum levels since 2008..

The balance is not trivial taking into account the context of inflation and rate increases by the European Central Bank (ECB).. In fact, compared to July 2022, the month in which the Eurobank began to increase the price of money, the delinquency rate has decreased by 0.35 points, to 3.85%.

The total count of loans considered doubtful – with at least three consecutive unpaid installments – stood at 41,774 million in the seventh month of the year, 0.9% less than in the previous month, which translates into 399 millions more. In an annual comparison, doubtful loans decreased by 11.9%, with 5,661 million less.

However, defaults on mortgage loans have been increasing throughout the year, as they went from 2.37% at the end of 2022 to 2.38% in March and now to 2.49%.

The delinquency of bank credit for consumption also rose, going from 4.35% at the end of March to 4.38% in June.

In the case of delinquency on loans granted to the development and real estate sector, it rose in the second quarter of the year and stood at 3.46% at the end of June, compared to 3.44% in March.

HEALTH

Can you hunt in a national park in Spain? Monfragüe opens a new gap with the Government

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In a week, hunting will return to the Monfragüe National Park. The president of the Government of Extremadura, María Guardiola, has decided to apply this measure to maintain the ecological balance in the area, but has encountered opposition from the acting Minister of Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, who, however, did not oppose to the same measure that the government of socialist EmilianoGarcía-Page will apply in the Cabañeros National Park.

The objective, as Guardiola announced on September 17, during the Badajoz Hunting and Fishing Fair, is to prevent damage to the flora and fauna, and to protect livestock from wild boars, which can transmit tuberculosis and cause serious health problems. public. But the minister replied the next day on X, formerly Twitter: “Good afternoon, president. The law prohibits hunting activity in national parks. The deadlines for the entry into force of the ban, approved by M Rajoy. I don't know if it refers to changes in the management plan, which must be compatible with the law and with everyone's ok. All the best”. To which Guardiola responded two hours and 19 minutes later: “Good afternoon, Minister. Yeah. We will allow hunting activity in Monfragüe. And we will do it within the law. Hunting for population control, and without commercial or sporting purposes, is compatible with state and regional regulations.. You should know.”

Apparently he didn't know. It is true that the regulations of the Extremaduran park, in accordance with Law 1/2007, of March 2, explicitly prohibits sport and commercial hunting.. And that at the state level, the National Parks Law 30/2014 established that hunting activity was incompatible in these spaces.. Although there is a reservation in article 7.3.a): “The managing administration of the national park may program and organize population control and habitat restoration activities in accordance with the objectives and determinations of the Master Plan and the Master Plan for Use and Management”.

To know more
Estremadura. Monfragüe: the Extremaduran 'Doñana' that the PSOE does allow to damage
  • Editor: DAVID VIGARIO Serradilla (Cáceres)

Monfragüe: the Extremaduran 'Doñana' that the PSOE does allow to damage

Animal welfare. They denounce the use of trap cages to trap deer after the end of hunting in Monfragüe
  • Editor: DAVID VIGARIO Mérida

They denounce the use of trap cages to trap deer after the end of hunting in Monfragüe

In turn, guideline 3.2.3.d) of the Master Plan of the National Parks Network specifies the guidelines under which hunting could be carried out: “It may be authorized under conditions based on scientific data and strictly supervised by the Administration, and when there is no other satisfactory solution.

The law and Twitter seemed on Guardiola's side, but there was something worse: the situation was exactly the same as that experienced this spring, when the ministry itself and the García-Page government decided that this October, the hunting at Cabañeros National Park. The objective does not differ too much from that of Monfragüe. Reduce the overpopulation of ongulates (deer, wild boar, mouflon and fallow deer), which apparently is annihilating the park's flora.

It is necessary to clarify that, in the case of Cabañeros, the National Park report does not explicitly talk about hunting: “Currently, the valuable Mediterranean ecosystem is in a situation of imbalance due to the high densities of ungulates present and the absence of predators (…) To reverse this situation and begin, in some way, a passive restoration of ecosystems, it is required that man be part of future management to correct what was not done adequately in recent years”. For environmentalists, there is no difference between hunting, population control or human correction, and a dozen environmental NGOs have already spoken out against the return of hunting to both scenarios.

Ecologist in Action does not believe that the situation is dramatic in Cabañeros, where the Government plans to eliminate more than 4,000 deer and almost 2,000 wild boars per year for three years, extendable to a fourth.. And he accuses the Autonomous Agency of National Parks and the Government of Castilla-La Mancha of having refused to allow a multidisciplinary scientific team to assess the situation.

SEO/BirdLife and the Extremaduran PSOE also request a technical-scientific report that justifies the action in Monfragüe. And for Ecologistas en Acción, their reports do not add up: “There is no overpopulation of ungulates, no significant damage to the vegetation can be seen on the routes open to the public, which any visitor can easily verify, and recent data show a density in July 2023 of 8.66 deer per square kilometer.”

The “excuse” of pathologies does not fit either, “when we are perhaps at the moment with the lowest incidence, the prevalence of tuberculosis has decreased to the current 4% compared to 13% from 2011 to 2015.”

Until now, population control was carried out with cages and fences, something that for the General Directorate of Sustainability of Extremadura “did not respect the animals.”. As defended by the Extremaduran Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Sustainable Development, Mercedes Morán: “We have never agreed with the massacre that they represent…. “Traditional practice is less harmful to the species.”. So far in the 2022/2023 season, with three months remaining, these methods have captured 32% of the expected deer and 73% of the wild boars to maintain balance in the park.

The Ministry of Ecological Transition has warned the Extremaduran Board that they will be “vigilant” in case this interest in “controlling the species” in this protected enclave, of 18,400 hectares, between the cities of Plasencia, Trujillo and Cáceres, overflows.

The hunts in Extremadura, which have not been done since February 2021, will be without dogs and will be carried out by local hunters, belonging to the municipalities of Monfragüe, Guardiola has specified.. The demolished pieces, given the illegality of marketing them, will be donated to NGOs.

Between 345 and 290 million euros

It cannot be said that Teresa Ribera has had the affection of a sector that in Extremadura has 200 companies, and moves between 345 and 390 million euros per year, according to data from the Board. In 2018, the minister acknowledged in an interview on Onda Cero that if she could prohibit this activity she would do so: “I like live animals and I am not a big fan of bulls or hunting (…) My option is to enjoy the live animals and I have always found it very striking that there are people who enjoy seeing animals die or suffer. The truth is I do not understand”.

But the political battle does not stop there. From the left and environmental groups have criticized María Guardiola for having bowed to the interests of the hunters, but above all from Vox, who instead of appealing to the conservation of the Park, have appealed to themselves: “This measure has been adopted precisely because Vox is part of the government and it is one of the conditions that were agreed upon,” said the president of the Vox Parliamentary Group, Ángel Pelayo Gordillo.

HEALTH

Lowering the toilet seat is a health issue

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In many homes, a fairly common reason for discussion is leaving the toilet lid up after having used it.. I do not have scientific data to corroborate this statement, but it is all about getting involved and doing the study.. But what we do have verifiable data on is the dangers of flushing the toilet with the lid up.. If you want to know more about the problems they can pose for your health, I invite you to continue reading.

Is there a study on this?

It's totally true. A group of American researchers from the University of Colorado set out to measure the impact of flushing the toilet with the toilet lid raised.. In reality, the idea was to know if the coronavirus could be transmitted by aerosols generated in bathrooms with contaminated feces.. To carry out the study they used two lasers, a toilet and measurement and analysis chambers.

What conclusions did they reach?

The results, published in the journal Nature, surprised even the researchers themselves.. They expected that when flushing the toilet, by the force of the water in the cistern, small drops of water would fly out and float around the bowl.. But what they found was that they were ejected with great force up to a height of 1.5 meters, and also traveling at speeds that exceeded two meters per second.

Why can it be dangerous?

The largest droplets, the ones we see with the naked eye, fall quickly and close to the toilet, but the small ones remain floating in the air for several minutes.. The problem is that these water droplets are contaminated with pathogens such as E-Coli, Clostridium difficile, norovirus or adenovirus, all of which come from our feces and urine.

Can we become contaminated with these pathogens?

These viruses and bacteria, which as we have seen remain floating in our bathroom for minutes, will end up stuck to the walls or the floor, but also to the towels, the faucets or even our toothbrush.

So do they stay stuck to the lid?

Correct. By lowering the lid we will not prevent the contaminated droplets from flying out, but they will remain stuck to the inside of the lid. It will be enough to properly clean and disinfect this surface frequently.

What can we do to avoid contamination?

The main thing is to lower the toilet lid before flushing, and if we have to use it again, wait a few minutes before lifting the lid again. Another interesting action would be to ventilate the bathroom as much as possible, either by opening a small window or using an air extraction system.

And in public bathrooms that don't have a lid?

There are many public bathrooms that do not have a lid to be able to lower it. In this case, and if there is no choice but to use them, the only thing we can do is leave the bathroom as soon as possible as soon as you flush the toilet.