Global roundup: Dubai tourism incentives, Spain octopus farm halt, and quirky records

Dubai offers up to $816 to lure visitors after missile attacks slashed hotel occupancy, while Spain drops an octopus farm plan, Australia uses recycled glass on crops, Japan adds facial-recognition to Pokémon pop-ups, and Mexico sets a Guinness record with a massive torta.

Dubai’s tourism sector has been devastated since Iran launched missile attacks in March, with hotel occupancy falling from 80 % to an estimated 10 %; the emirate responded by offering incentive packages of up to roughly $816 to anyone who convinces a loved one to visit, after welcoming 19.59 million international guests last year. In Spain, a proposed €74.5 million octopus farm on Gran Canaria was cancelled after a protracted five-year court battle over its potential environmental impact.

Australian growers in Queensland have turned to an unconventional method, spreading pulverised glass made from recycled bottles—produced at a $4 million Brisbane plant—onto fields to promote crop vigor. The Pokémon Company in Japan launched a facial-recognition system in five pop-up shops aimed at deterring repeat customers, timed with the release of a Rayquaza-themed Storm Emeralda set. Mexico City’s annual Torta Fair saw a 328-foot, 3,460-pound sandwich set a new Guinness World Record for the longest continuous line of sandwiches. These disparate stories highlight creative economic incentives, legal environmental challenges, novel agricultural practices, tech-driven retail strategies, and record-setting culinary feats across the globe.