GRE双语趣味阅读 西班牙马德里臭气熏天

2017年01月04日15:27 来源：互联网

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Madrid——Stinky

马德里：臭气熏天

Cleaners on strike in Spain's capital

西班牙首都马德里的清洁工罢工了

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THE paint is fresh at Creme Delacreme, a chic new restaurant on the fringes of Madrid's bustling Chueca district. But a rancid, shoulder-high pile of rubbish blocks the pavement across the narrow street as the Spanish capital buckles under the weight of a cleaners' strike that started on November 4th. Monica Garcia, the boss, had originally planned to open days after the strike began, but is glad she did not. “Imagine having people sitting at the window tables, looking out at that filth,” she says. But when, she worries, will Madrid be clean again?

这是一家时髦的新餐馆奶油小屋门口的照片。奶油小屋位于马德里繁华的楚埃卡区的边缘。但是11月4日开始的清洁工大罢工让马德里深受其苦，而这条小街道的人行道上也堆满了一人多高的垃圾，散发出阵阵恶臭。奶油小屋的老板，莫妮卡·加西亚原打算在罢工开始后开张，但现在她很庆幸自己没有这样做。她说，“想象下人们坐在窗边，看到外面那堆垃圾的情景”。但是她也在担心，何时马德里才能再次恢复整洁?

The rubbish strike has seen unions and contractors tussle over proposals to change working conditions and lay off 1,400 cleaners. The city recently renewed its cleaning contracts, boasting of a 10% saving. Now, to the dismay of a city hall headed by Ana Botella, the mayor from the centre-right Popular Party, three of the four companies involved want to fire workers. Rather than tidy up, some now prowl the city at night, emptying bins onto pavements.

这场垃圾罢工源于工会和承包商拒绝了清洁工改善工作环境的提议并解雇了1,400名工人。马德里市最近更新了其清洁合同，减少了10%的开支。目前，令来自右翼民众党的现任市长安娜·波特利亚深感沮丧的是，四分之三的清洁公司都想解雇工人。现在，清洁工不但不不工作了，甚至有些晚上会偷偷溜出来，把空箱子扔到人行道上。

The strike is a symptom of wider malaise in the city. Madrilenos are glum about losing, in September, yet another bid to host the Olympics. Since 2008, as Spain's most indebted city reined in spending, they have put up with dearer public transport, higher taxes and service cuts. And even though Spain is timidly emerging from double-dip recession, scavenging and begging are on the rise.

这场罢工预示着马德里市不断加大的不安感。九月，马德里人一边患得患失一边又申办奥运会。自从2008年马德里成为西班牙负债最高的城市以来，马德里人不得不忍受越来越昂贵的公共交通费用，税收增加和服务削减等。即使西班牙正缓慢地从双底衰退的境况中渐渐走出来，但是拾荒者和乞讨者人数却在上升。

Madrid's attraction as a tourist destination, drawing visitors to its famous museums and nightlife, is fading. Visits were down by 10% in the summer months, whereas tourism boomed across the rest of cheap-rate Spain. Officials blame high airport fees and fewer long-haul visitors thanks to the airline mega-merger between Iberia and British Airways. But there is more underused, high-cost infrastructure, such as a network of new toll roads that is struggling as cash-strapped drivers stick to clogged-up, but free, routes into Madrid.

马德里市是一个旅游胜地，吸引世界各地的游客参观其博物馆，感受其丰富多彩的夜生活。然而，现在它的魅力逐渐减少。夏天，马德里游客数量减少了10%，而其他消费水平较低的西班牙城市的旅游业呈现出一派欣欣向荣的景象。政府官员们抱怨高额的飞机费用，而长途的游客们也非常不喜欢西班牙国家航空公司与英国航空公司并购。此外，马德里还有大量未充分利用的、昂贵的基础设施，比如，尽管新的收费公路网免费，但去往马德里的路上却常常遇到交通堵塞，因为司机们都想省钱。

Officials claim Madrid is already noticing last quarter's uptick in Spain's economy. There is an increase in new firms, requests for planning permission are up and the city recently sold 128m($172m) of housing rental units to Magic Real Estate Blackstone, a private-equity firm. Unemployment is still a shocking 20%, but below the national average of 27%. With her stringent austerity policies, Ms Botella is not popular: polls suggest that the city will swing left for the first time in 25 years in elections due in 2015.

政府官员发表声明说，马德里已经注意到最后一个季度西班牙经济有所上升。新公司的数量有所增长，而建筑许可的需求也有所增加。此外，马德里市最近向一家私募股权的公司，魔法房地产百事通售出了价值一亿两千八百万欧元(折合一亿七千两百万美院)住房租赁单位。马德里的失业率仍然是让人触目惊心的20%，但低于比全国平均27%的失业率低。由于安娜严苛的紧缩政策，她不大受人们欢迎：民调显示，在2015年的竞选中，马德里人可能会倾向于左派政党，这是25年以来的第一次。

Sheldon Adelson, an American gambling billionaire, wants to build a huge Las Vegas-style complex just outside the city. That will create welcome construction jobs. But bishops warn that becoming Europe's gambling capital will also bring organized crime and prostitution.

一位美国靠赌博发家的亿万富翁谢尔登·阿德尔森想在马德里市外建一座大型的拉斯维加斯式的综合区域。这会产生大量的建筑工作，但是西班牙主教提醒说马德里将会成为欧洲的赌博首都，并带来一系列有组织的犯罪和卖淫活动。

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