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Madrid
馬德里
Stinky
臭氣熏天
Cleaners on strike in Spain's capital
西班牙首都馬德里的清潔工罷工了
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 García, 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?
這是一家時髦的新餐館奶油小屋門口的照片。奶油小屋位于馬德里繁華的楚埃卡區(qū)的邊緣。但是11月4日開始的清潔工大罷工讓馬德里深受其苦，而這條小街道的人行道上也堆滿了一人多高的垃圾，散發(fā)出陣陣惡臭。奶油小屋的老板，莫妮卡·加西亞原打算在罷工開始后開張，但現(xiàn)在她很慶幸自己沒有這樣做。她說，“想象下人們坐在窗邊，看到外面那堆垃圾的情景”。但是她也在擔(dān)心，何時馬德里才能再次恢復(fù)整潔？
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.
這場垃圾罷工源于工會和承包商拒絕了清潔工改善工作環(huán)境的提議并解雇了1,400名工人。馬德里市最近更新了其清潔合同，減少了10%的開支。目前，令來自右翼民眾黨的現(xiàn)任市長安娜·波特利亞深感沮喪的是，四分之三的清潔公司都想解雇工人。現(xiàn)在，清潔工不但不不工作了，甚至有些晚上會偷偷溜出來，把空箱子扔到人行道上。
The strike is a symptom of wider malaise in the city. Madrile?os 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.
這場罷工預(yù)示著馬德里市不斷加大的不安感。九月，馬德里人一邊患得患失一邊又申辦奧運會。自從2008年馬德里成為西班牙負債最高的城市以來，馬德里人不得不忍受越來越昂貴的公共交通費用，稅收增加和服務(wù)削減等。即使西班牙正緩慢地從雙底衰退的境況中漸漸走出來，但是拾荒者和乞討者人數(shù)卻在上升。
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.
馬德里市是一個旅游勝地，吸引世界各地的游客參觀其博物館，感受其豐富多彩的夜生活。然而，現(xiàn)在它的魅力逐漸減少。夏天，馬德里游客數(shù)量減少了10%，而其他消費水平較低的西班牙城市的旅游業(yè)呈現(xiàn)出一派欣欣向榮的景象。政府官員們抱怨高額的飛機費用，而長途的游客們也非常不喜歡西班牙國家航空公司與英國航空公司并購。此外，馬德里還有大量未充分利用的、昂貴的基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施，比如，盡管新的收費公路網(wǎng)免費，但去往馬德里的路上卻常常遇到交通堵塞，因為司機們都想省錢。
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.
政府官員發(fā)表聲明說，馬德里已經(jīng)注意到最后一個季度西班牙經(jīng)濟有所上升。新公司的數(shù)量有所增長，而建筑許可的需求也有所增加。此外，馬德里市最近向一家私募股權(quán)的公司，魔法房地產(chǎn)百事通售出了價值一億兩千八百萬歐元（折合一億七千兩百萬美院）住房租賃單位。馬德里的失業(yè)率仍然是讓人觸目驚心的20%，但低于比全國平均27%的失業(yè)率低。由于安娜嚴苛的緊縮政策，她不大受人們歡迎：民調(diào)顯示，在2015年的競選中，馬德里人可能會傾向于左派政黨，這是25年以來的第一次。
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 organised crime and prostitution.
一位美國靠賭博發(fā)家的億萬富翁謝爾登·阿德爾森想在馬德里市外建一座大型的拉斯維加斯式的綜合區(qū)域。這會產(chǎn)生大量的建筑工作，但是西班牙主教提醒說馬德里將會成為歐洲的賭博首都，并帶來一系列有組織的犯罪和賣淫活動。譯者：毛慧 校對：周雨晴
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