美国国家公共电台 NPR Conflict Continues In Spain Between Catalan Government And Madrid

Conflict Continues In Spain Between Catalan Government And Madrid

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

In Spain, another day, another step toward independence by the northeastern region of Catalonia and another step toward conflict with the national government in Madrid. In the Catalan capital, Barcelona, the regional Parliament voted to declare independence. That was after opponents of secession had walked out in protest. The declaration was applauded by a crowd of pro-independence demonstrators outside the Parliament building. But in Madrid, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy in a televised speech rejected the Catalan declaration. He fired the Catalan government, dissolved the Catalan Parliament and called a new election for the region on December 21.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRIME MINISTER MARIANO RAJOY: (Speaking Spanish).

SIEGEL: Rajoy said, "we believe it is urgent to listen to Catalan citizens, all of them, so that they can decide their future and nobody can act outside the law on their behalf." All of them was a reference to those Catalans who did not take part in the independence referendum earlier this month. Independence won easily, but many opponents of secession boycotted¹ that vote.

Well, joining us from Barcelona near the Parliament building is reporter Lucia Benavides. And, Lucia, first, what else did the prime minister announce tonight? And what reactions to it have you heard in Barcelona?

LUCIA BENAVIDES: Yeah, so the prime minister, on top of saying that he would dissolve the entire Catalan government, he called for a snap election as well. He also said that he would replace the supervisor² of the local Catalan police force. So that means that the local police force will have to adhere to Spanish control. He said that this is a peaceful and moderate answer to dissolve threats to the democracy. And there are - there's still talk about the Catalan president, Puigdemont, being arrested for rebellion, which would mean up to 30 years in prison.

SIEGEL: Will the Catalan government - say, the chief of police - do we expect them to comply with the order from Madrid and leave office or try to remain in power?

BENAVIDES: We'll still have to see if they're going to try to protest that. Many believe that they are going to, you know, adhere to the calls to dissolve the government because yesterday the Catalan government had actually said that they would dissolve their own government and they would call for snap elections on December 21 if Spain agreed to halt the procedure which would take away the autonomy from Catalonia. Spain said that they would not halt it, and so that's why the Catalan government decided³ not to dissolve the government and call for a snap election.

So basically the Spanish government is doing now what the Catalan government said they were going to do yesterday. But it had a little bit different dynamic to it because they were doing it on their own instead of doing it under the rule of the Spanish central government.

SIEGEL: You're in downtown Barcelona, where there have been protesters out all day. And it's always a busy city. Do people - do pro-independence Catalans sound more emboldened⁴ today after this or somewhat worried given the word from Madrid?

BENAVIDES: There's definitely worry. There's mostly worry that things could get violent. That's what everyone keeps coming back to. There is a lot of people chanting things like libertad in Catalan, which means liberty. I was walking down the street earlier and there was actually a woman who presumably was pro-Spain or anti-independence, and she started screaming very aggressively at a man that was wearing a Catalan flag as a cape⁵. People are very tense right now, whether they're excited or scared or just are - have no idea what's going to happen.

SIEGEL: The top official of the European Union, Donald Tusk⁶, said today that he hoped there'd be no violence. But there's no indication of any change in the European Union's attitude toward Catalonia. Does that deter⁷ any of the pro-independence demonstrators whom you talked to when you were covering this story?

BENAVIDES: Yeah, a lot of them are saying - I mean, they really believe that the European Union needs Catalonia because Barcelona is a huge tourist spot. Catalonia is a big economic hub. So their argument is, there's no way the EU is going to let us go. It's not to their convenience to lose such an important region. So there is some hope that as time goes on that maybe the EU will step up and say, what's going on isn't fair and, you know, to show support. But it's hard to know what's going to happen at this point.

SIEGEL: That's reporter Lucia Benavides in Barcelona. Lucia, thanks for talking with us.

BENAVIDES: Thank you so much.

1 boycotted   

抵制，拒绝参加( boycott的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Athletes from several countries boycotted the Olympic Games. 有好几国的运动员抵制奥林匹克运动会。
• The opposition party earlier boycotted the Diet agenda, demanding Miyaji's resignation. 反对党曾杯葛国会议程，要宫路下台。

2 supervisor   

n.监督人，管理人，检查员，督学，主管，导师

参考例句：

• Between you and me I think that new supervisor is a twit.我们私下说，我认为新来的主管人是一个傻瓜。
• He said I was too flighty to be a good supervisor.他说我太轻浮不能成为一名好的管理员。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 emboldened   

v.鼓励，使有胆量( embolden的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Emboldened by the wine, he went over to introduce himself to her. 他借酒壮胆，走上前去向她作自我介绍。
• His success emboldened him to expand his business. 他有了成就因而激发他进一步扩展业务。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

6 tusk   

n.獠牙，长牙，象牙

参考例句：

• The wild boar had its tusk sunk deeply into a tree and howled desperately.野猪的獠牙陷在了树里，绝望地嗥叫着。
• A huge tusk decorated the wall of his study.他书房的墙上装饰着一支巨大的象牙。

7 deter   

vt.阻止，使不敢，吓住

参考例句：

• Failure did not deter us from trying it again.失败并没有能阻挡我们再次进行试验。
• Dogs can deter unwelcome intruders.狗能够阻拦不受欢迎的闯入者。