VOA标准英语2011--Spaniards Protest High Rate of Foreclosu

Spaniards Protest High Rate of Foreclosures, Debt

Europe is suffering from its worst ever real-estate market. And one country that seems to be pushing back hard at its government is Spain. More than two months after Spain's so-called "indignados" began occupying city squares to protest high unemployment and perceived government corruption¹, they have turned to a new target: Spanish banks. Protesters say Spain's banking² laws - some of the strictest in the world - leave mortgage borrowers with too much debt.
The Spanish protesters who first took over Madrid's central square in May are back again, this time with a new target: Spain's banking laws, which are some of the strictest in Europe, particularly when it comes to mortgages.
In Spain, if the bank forecloses on your home, you are still liable for your mortgage debt. That means people who have lost their homes are saddled with mountains of debt as well.
It is a predicament that has happened to more than 300,000 Spaniards since the housing bubble burst in 2008. And it is something protesters like Susana Garcia do not like.
"This is a big, big shame. Because people have no houses, and big debt for the rest of their lives," said Garcia. "It's like a crime. It's state terrorism."
Garcia and other protesters find out where the next housing eviction⁴ will be, and go to the house. Often they form a human chain around the property, blocking bank officials from entering and serving foreclosure papers.
"Shame, shame!" they chant at bank officials trying to evict³ mortgage defaulters from their home. The protesters are also circulating a petition calling on the Spanish government to change local mortgage laws.
"Ask to erase⁵ that debt. You keep the house. So let me live with nothing, but at least not with a debt for 100,000 euros or dollars," added Garcia.
"The first thing you're going to try to do is sell the house yourself, so you get the cash and you used that cash to pay your debt with the bank," explained an economist⁶ at Madrid's Elcano Institute. "But once you've been forced to give your house to the bank, you still have a debt, which then goes to a judiciary procedure - in which I think it's not that clear cut, what's the amount, if the bank sells the house, you're going to receive or be relieved of the debt."
At a time when more than one in five Spaniards is out of work, these laws make people angry. They are unhappy to see Spanish banks faring better than the average worker in the economic crisis. Only two small Spanish banks have gone out of business in recent years - unlike many American banks, for example, which needed a government bailout.
Jesus Encinar is the founder⁷ and CEO of Idealista, Spain's biggest real estate website.
"In Spain, the banks didn't need any kind of government money to stay alive or to survive, as they did in the U.S. The Spanish banks have actually done very well," of Encinar.
Approaching an election in the coming months, the Spanish government has been eager to try to be receptive to the protesters demands. Earlier this month, the government changed some of the rules about how mortgage defaulters' debt is calculated, and how much banks can deduct⁸ from debtors⁹ paychecks.
But Garcia says that is not enough. Foreclosures continue, at a rate of around 300 a day across Spain. She wants a temporary freeze on all evictions, at least during the economic crisis.
"We're just asking, erase those debts and at least stop, for the moment, the evictions. We, all of us, are affected¹⁰ - in all the world," Garcia added.
While some of the protesters are focusing on Spain's banking system, others say the whole European economic system is the problem. A group of demonstrators left Madrid on Tuesday to march to Brussels, to make their views known there.

1 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

2 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

3 evict   

vt.驱逐，赶出，撵走

参考例句：

• The lessor can evict the lessee for failure to pay rent.出租人可驱逐不付租金的承租人。
• The government always says it's for the greater good when they evict farmers from their land.当政府把农民从他们的土地赶出去的时候，总是号称是为了更大众的利益。

4 eviction   

n.租地等的收回

参考例句：

• The family have won a temporary reprieve from eviction.这个家庭暂时免于被逐出。
• He claimed damages for unlawful eviction.他要求对非法驱逐作出赔偿。

5 erase   

v.擦掉；消除某事物的痕迹

参考例句：

• He tried to erase the idea from his mind.他试图从头脑中抹掉这个想法。
• Please erase my name from the list.请把我的名字从名单上擦去。

6 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

7 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

8 deduct   

vt.扣除，减去

参考例句：

• You can deduct the twenty - five cents out of my allowance.你可在我的零用钱里扣去二角五分钱。
• On condition of your signing this contract,I will deduct a percentage.如果你在这份合同上签字，我就会给你减免一个百分比。

9 debtors   

n.债务人，借方( debtor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Creditors could obtain a writ for the arrest of their debtors. 债权人可以获得逮捕债务人的令状。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Never in a debtors' prison? 从没有因债务坐过牢么？ 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

10 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。