Move over Tuscany, because these days Malaga’s mango country is having its big moment. Netflix has just premiered Mango, a romantic drama shot entirely in the sun-drenched hills of the wonderful Axarquia region. That’s where Europe’s sweetest mangoes grow.

Directed by Danish filmmaker Mehdi Avaz, the film stars Dar Salim (Game of Thrones) and Josephine Park (The Nurse). And it tells the story of an ex-lawyer who escapes tragedy to live on a struggling mango farm. The twist? A hotel manager arrives with plans that could change everything. Cue love, conflict, and plenty of Mediterranean light.

A cinematic postcard from Axarquia

But Mango isn’t just another Netflix love story. It’s a cinematic postcard from southern Spain. Velez-Malaga, Frigiliana and a mango plantation in Benamocarra all take centre stage in the production. And they’re captured during the real mango harvest last September. 

The backdrop belongs to Eurofresh, an organic producer whose orchards stretch across 40 years of history and now, onto the global streaming screen.

More than a simple movie for Axarquia

Local producer María Cabello, from the Malaga-based company Anima Stillking, says the project was special for more than one reason. “We wanted it to feel authentic. The heat, the harvest, the community. Everyone who wasn’t Danish was from Malaga. That’s something we try to sell to every production that comes here.”

Filming wasn’t easy: August sun, steep Frigiliana streets, and gear carried by hand through pedestrian lanes. But the payoff? “We ate a lot of mangoes,” Cabello laughs.For the Axarquia, Mango is more than another movie.  It’s a celebration of the place, of the beauty of this area. After years of being Spain’s quiet agricultural powerhouse, the region is finally shining on screen. Under the bright Andalusian sky, even the fruit tells a story of resilience, flavour and love.

Read here more news from Axarquia.

Madrid City Council has officially opened applications for its new financial support scheme aimed at boosting birth rates in the Spanish capital. Since Tuesday November 5, parents will receive €500 for their first child, €750 for the second, and €1,000 for the third and any subsequent children.

Announced last October as part of Mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida’s (PP) wider natality plan, the subsidy is compatible with other regional or national support programmes. The deputy mayor highlighted that the goal is to offer real, practical help to families who choose to have children.

Applications must be submitted through a form available on the City Council’s website and can be filed either online or in person at any municipal registration office. Parents have two months from the day after the birth or adoption to apply. Those who welcomed a child from 1 June onwards also have a two-month window starting from today to complete the procedure. In cases of multiple births or adoptions, a separate application can be submitted for each child.

Madrid sets the pace with the most proactive city-level birth support scheme

With this incentive, the local government hopes to slow down the demographic decline. In 2024, 26,213 babies were born in Madrid, around 500 more than the year before, but still far from the 36,663 births recorded in 2008, before the financial crisis.

The City Council has allocated €17.3 million to this first round of grants, although the budget may increase if demand exceeds expectations.

This initiative is just one of 50 measures included in Almeida’s natality strategy, which totals €675 million of public funding. Among other actions, the plan also includes the opening of the eighth Family Support Centre, where families can access social, psychological, legal and mediation services designed to help prevent and resolve conflicts, and support parents in their daily responsibilities.

Spain combines national and regional aid to support new parents

Spain offers a wide range of financial incentives to encourage families to have children, combining state benefits with regional subsidies. National support includes a one-off payment for births or adoptions in specific cases such as single-parent households, large families or when one of the parents has a recognised disability. Families may also benefit from tax deductions that can reach up to €1,200 per year for children under the age of three.

Andalucia and the Valencian Community offer some of the highest payments

Some of the most generous subsidies are found in Andalucia and the Valencian Community. In Andalucia, families can access monthly support of €600 for a third child under the age of three, along with additional grants for multiple births or adoptions, which in some cases exceed €4,000. The Valencian Community offers payments starting at €600 for a first child, €750 for the second and €900 for the third or subsequent children, in addition to municipal support in certain cities.

Balearic Islands and Murcia expand incentives with additional grants

The Balearic Islands and the Region of Murcia also provide financial incentives to encourage birth rates. The Balearic Islands offer direct grants for newborns and specific aid packages for families with lower incomes. In Murcia, parents may receive a one-off payment of €1,000 for births or adoptions in large families, single-parent households or when one of the parents has a disability, subject to income criteria. With each region offering its own incentives, families in Spain can often combine several grants to help with the costs of welcoming a new baby.

Financial aid per child places Madrid ahead of other Spanish cities

With this move Madrid is positioning itself as a frontrunner among Spanish cities when it comes to encouraging birth rates through direct financial support. While other regions across Spain have launched schemes to promote family growth, Madrid stands out for applying a structured, city-level programme with clear payment tiers and an accessible application process.

By offering financial aid per child and complementing regional and national subsidies, the capital aims not only to ease the economic burden on new parents but also to reverse the decline in local birth figures. Madrid’s approach marks a significant step in urban family policy, placing the city at the forefront of innovation in natality support.

Read more news from Madrid here.

It seems everyone’s jumping on the AI bandwagon – and OpenAI has just proved it. The company behind ChatGPT has announced that more than one million businesses are now paying customers, making it the fastest-growing business platform in history.

From Cisco and Morgan Stanley to Booking.com, Lowe’s, and Target, global firms are putting AI to work in everything from customer support to software engineering. And with adoption rates like this, the question really is: who isn’t using ChatGPT these days?

OpenAI says the momentum has been driven by everyday users who were already familiar with ChatGPT. With over 800 million people using the tool each week, companies find it far easier to roll out AI internally.

Smarter tools and faster workflows

To help companies move from experiments to real results, OpenAI has launched a wave of business-ready features, including:

• Company Knowledge – lets ChatGPT securely access internal tools like Slack, SharePoint, and Google Drive to give better answers.
• Codex for developers – firms like Cisco are cutting code review times by 50 per cent.
• AgentKit – makes building custom AI agents practical. The Carlyle Group says it’s halved development time and boosted accuracy by 30 per cent.
• Multimodal models – from Sora 2 for video creation to Realtime API for live voice agents, helping teams work seamlessly across text, images, and sound.

Businesses report big returns on AI

A recent Wharton study found that three in four enterprises are already seeing a positive return on AI investments, while fewer than five per cent report losses.

Real-world examples include:

• Indeed, which saw a 20 per cent rise in job applications using OpenAI’s tech.
• Lowe’s, where a ChatGPT-powered in-store app now helps 1,700 shops deliver expert advice.
• Intercom, which cut product development cycles from months to days.
• Databricks, integrating OpenAI’s models directly into its enterprise data systems.

Building the next generation of business apps

OpenAI says the next step is all about building with AI, not just using it. Companies such as Canva, Figma, and Spotify have integrated directly into ChatGPT, while Shopify and Etsy are experimenting with conversational shopping via the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP).

In OpenAI’s words, there’s a huge opportunity to “rethink the operating system for work” – and the world’s biggest brands seem keen to help write it.

For locals and expats running businesses in Spain, Europe or beyond, this milestone shows how quickly AI is becoming part of everyday operations. From automating admin tasks to managing customer queries, tools like ChatGPT are rapidly becoming as standard as email.

It’s less about whether to use AI and more about how quickly you can put it to work.

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