They first appear in the fossil record hundreds of thousand of years ago and, at their peak, dominated a wide range, spanning Britain and Iberia in the west to Israel in the south and Uzbekistan in the east.
The Spanish 10-year bond yield was at 5.32% Wednesday, well below its November peak in the 6.7% range and the 7% threshold which has been unsustainable for other countries in peripheral Europe.
And sat atop the range like a rocky prong is the peak of Naranjo de Bulnes, its shape more akin to the mountains in the windy wilds of Patagonia than the northern coast of Spain.
So far, the company's seeing peak rates of around 40Mbps and 50Mbps (down), with average download rates hovering in the 5Mbps to 12Mbps range and upload speeds falling between 2Mbps and 5Mbps.