Growing up in Aragon does not mean having the same economic opportunities. Nearly one in four children under 18 live in households with incomes below 60% of the national median, making children the age group most exposed to low income levels in the region, according to 2024 data from Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE).
Heart failure has become the leading cause of hospital admission in Internal Medicine departments. This chronic disease occurs when the heart cannot pump blood effectively enough to meet the body’s needs and mainly affects older people. It is highly prevalent, affecting around 10% of adults over 70 and 25% of those aged 75 to 84.
The Holy Grail returns to Aragón with Aragón TV. The regional broadcaster premieres the third episode of "The Holy Grail Trail" this Monday, October 26, at 10:50 p.m. The five-part documentary series investigates the history of one of the best-known relics. Presenters Darío Español and Lluis Cascant will continue following the clues surrounding the Holy Chalice in an attempt to discover whether the cup currently kept in Valencia Cathedral is truly the one used by Jesus Christ during the Last Supper.
Starting a business and becoming an entrepreneur is still not the most common path for young people. Taking that step means assuming risks, starting from scratch and trying to establish a foothold in a competitive market. That was precisely the path chosen by Zaragoza native Marta Izquierdo, who at just 23 decided to create her own real estate agency in the Las Fuentes neighborhood, IRA Inmobiliaria (Avenida Compromiso de Caspe, 107). The young businesswoman had been working in the real estate sector for several years when she decided to take the plunge and create her own business to develop her “own ideas.” “Vertigo” and “fear” were present from the beginning, but they were not enough to stop her. “What I found hardest were the days before opening IRA Inmobiliaria, because I was afraid of not knowing whether I was doing the right thing, whether I was making a mistake or whether I was too young to do it,” Izquierdo admits. And so, in September 2025, she opened her company. During this time, the Zaragoza native has faced several difficulties, especially in the first few months. “It was a priority for me to start the business with a physical office, and I couldn’t find any assistance as a young entrepreneur to cover the first months of rent,” Marta explains. The real estate sector also has a particular feature: income does not arrive immediately, as a transaction can take several months to close. “You can sell an apartment, but you have to wait for the deed to be signed and for the buyer to secure a mortgage. During those three or four months, you are working but have not yet received any profit,” she explains. Although she says that difficulty is now behind her, she remembers that initial period, when expenses continued to pile up while income took time to arrive, as “overwhelming.” There were also other costs, such as real estate listing portals and internet service. Aside from the financial difficulties, Marta has also had to face prejudices linked to her age. “Unfortunately, it does matter because, after all, you are selling homes, which are a person’s most valuable asset,” she explains. She acknowledges that some clients are initially surprised to discover that she is only 24, although she says that initial distrust disappears as the professional relationship develops. “It’s not just about selling a house, but about knowing the entire process, from pre-sale to after-sales service and tax procedures,” she says. ACCOMPANIMENT AND TRANSPARENCY AS DIFFERENTIATING FACTORS In an increasingly competitive sector, Marta was clear from the outset that she wanted IRA Inmobiliaria to stand out through personal attention and transparency. “I didn’t want it to be just about selling an apartment; I wanted people to feel they had a source of support here,” she explains. She applies this philosophy both to young people looking for their first mortgage and to owners or investors who need guidance throughout the process. That differentiation also involves explaining to clients why a property is valued at one amount rather than another. The businesswoman criticizes the fact that some agencies sometimes inflate valuations solely to secure a property listing. “A person can go to one real estate agency and have their apartment valued at 200,000 euros, then go to another and be offered 10,000 or 15,000 euros more simply to win the listing,” she says. In response, her company bases each valuation on data such as the price per square meter, the area, the specific location within the neighborhood and the property’s features. “We like to work with complete transparency, so the seller knows why they are selling the property at that price,” she says. She complements this approach by assisting with other housing-related procedures, such as tax filings and inheritance advice. YOUNG PEOPLE ARE INCREASINGLY UNABLE TO AFFORD A HOME Based on her day-to-day experience, Marta says one of the biggest difficulties in today’s market is young people’s access to housing. “Young couples or young people come in looking to rent, and they cannot find anything,” she explains. When they consider buying, the main obstacle is usually the savings required upfront to qualify for a mortgage. “There are people who can easily afford the monthly payment, but they are asked to have between 20% and 30% of the property’s price saved,” she says. For a home costing 100,000 euros, that can mean having between 20,000 and 25,000 euros available before starting the process. “It is very difficult for someone to save those amounts, even with a comfortable salary,” she adds. According to her, this difficulty does not affect only this group, but also older people who have spent years renting and who, when the time comes, are likewise unable to buy. For Marta, rising sale and rental prices are making “accessing a home increasingly difficult.” “IT’S NORMAL TO START A BUSINESS AFRAID” Marta acknowledges that fear is part of the entrepreneurial process and considers it normal to feel it before taking the plunge. “It’s normal to do it afraid, and if you are not afraid, then you are being reckless,” she says. However, she believes the decision must be accompanied by planning and a certain financial cushion to get through the first few months without income. “If you do it with fear and a savings plan to know how long you can go without making a profit, everything eventually works out,” she explains. Her experience has also led her to encourage other young people who feel the urge to become entrepreneurs: “I would like young people to start businesses again, like our parents’ generation did, and not be the only one,” Marta emphasizes.
Zaragoza’s Expo grounds became a major meeting place this Sunday to champion a barrier-free society. Hundreds of people took part in the 26th Inclusion Festival organized by Fundación Dfa, a day combining sport, music, culture and activities for all ages around a shared goal: defending the rights of people with disabilities and highlighting the importance of ensuring their full participation in society.
Autumn is offering Aragon another break from the cold. After several days of falling temperatures, readings will rise again on Monday, October 26, especially in Zaragoza, where highs of up to 26°C are expected. The unusually warm conditions for late October will be accompanied by mostly clear skies and no rain.
Mushroom season draws many enthusiasts into Aragon’s forests, but picking them requires knowing the rules in each area. The National Police assigned to the Autonomous Community of Aragon has reminded the public that personal-use picking is limited to three kilos per person per day in unregulated and non-reserved forests, provided no other restrictions apply. In regulated areas, however, a permit is mandatory even when collecting a smaller amount.
The grounds of Zalfonada Public School became a space for protest this Saturday. More than 150 members of the school community gathered for a popular vermouth event to demand the return of the school’s on-site kitchen, which currently operates under a cook-chill system. Families have been making the demand to the education authorities for years, but it remains unresolved.
Nearly one in ten municipalities in Aragon falls within Spain’s lowest income bracket, with average annual income of up to 13,407 euros per person. Another 27.5% is classified as lower-middle income, meaning 38.2% of Aragon’s municipalities are in the two lowest tiers, according to 2024 data from the INE’s Household Income Distribution Atlas.
Children undergoing surgery at Zaragoza’s Hospital Clínico Universitario Lozano Blesa now wake up in a more welcoming environment. Cruz Roja Juventud and nine local artists have transformed the pediatric bays in the Post-Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU), known as the recovery room, into a forest filled with animals and fantasy elements. The initiative is part of the “Humanizing the pediatric surgical environment: a more welcoming PACU” project, developed alongside hospital professionals.
For many, the weekend is the perfect time to meet family and friends for a good vermouth and tapas. Zaragoza is a paradise for tapas lovers. From gildas and pickled skewers to croquettes and torreznos, these charming bars offer delicious bites with wine, beer or vermouth, as well as a chance to fill your stomach.
One of the most common questions every autumn returns with the time change. The days are getting shorter, daylight is fading and the calendar is approaching one of those small rituals that comes to our homes every year: changing the clocks.
The doors of the Federico Ozanam Foundation’s Rastrillo Aragón opened shortly after 11 a.m. amid great anticipation, with numerous visitors rushing in to be the first to find the best bargains. This marked the start of the 39th edition of the Rastrillo, which will remain open through November 2, every day from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
The doctors' strike in Aragon is entering a decisive phase. Aragon's Health Minister, Ángel Sanz, said Friday that the two main points of contention with doctors—on-call pay and level 4 of professional career progression—have been agreed, and called for a swift return to normal operations.
Recognizing cardiac arrest, quickly calling 112, starting cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and using a defibrillator can mean the difference between life and death. Hundreds of people learned these techniques on Friday at workshops held on the University of Zaragoza’s San Francisco Campus to mark World Cardiac Arrest Day.
As of Friday, Jaca has had an Advanced Life Support (ALS) ambulance with a doctor on site 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Until now, the service had no doctor at night from Monday to Thursday, a situation corrected after the 061 Aragon staff was consolidated.
The Government of Aragon plans to allocate around €550 million in its own funds to social services in 2027, a 20% increase on the last budget. The rise will amount to around €90 million and strengthen funding for older people, people with disabilities and those requiring long-term care.
Cheating in an exam no longer involves merely hiding a crib sheet or secretly checking a mobile phone. Academic fraud has also evolved alongside technology and artificial intelligence, creating new challenges for teaching staff. To address them, the University of Zaragoza will offer its faculty online training sessions designed to prevent, identify and respond to potential cases of plagiarism and fraud in assessments. The Group of Nine Universities (G-9) is responsible for promoting this training program, aimed at faculty members of the universities that belong to the alliance. The initiative was proposed during a meeting of the G-9 Sectoral Committee on Digital Transformation, held this week at the University of Zaragoza's Paraninfo and chaired by Ramón Gonzalo, rector of the Public University of Navarre. The proposal follows a presentation by David Asiain, a professor at the Polytechnic University School of La Almunia, which is affiliated with the University of Zaragoza. During the session, he demonstrated various technological devices and tools that can be used to cheat in exams and explained how teaching staff can detect such practices.
Corn cultivation in Aragon is losing ground and profitability. Asaja Aragon and Asaja Huesca estimate that the 2026 campaign will generate around 40 million euros less in income for farmers due to declining production. The agricultural organization warns that high costs and pest damage threaten the crop’s future and calls for urgent measures to prevent more producers from abandoning it.
Aragon’s hospitality industry has received a new international accolade thanks to Francisco Martínez Becerra, a native of Sabiñánigo (Huesca), who was crowned world champion in the Table Service category at the Maîtres d’Hôtel World Championship, held this October in Tokyo, Japan. Horeca Zaragoza congratulated the Huesca-born professional on the achievement, which has placed Aragon in a leading international competition and highlighted the work of front-of-house professionals, a fundamental part of the restaurant industry.
