美国国家公共电台 NPR Unlike Elsewhere In Europe, The Far Right In Spain Stays On The Fringe

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

And I'm Steve Inskeep with the story of what makes Spain different. If you look at the past few years in Spain, you might expect politics there to resemble the rest of the continent because Spain has been through the same shocks as other parts of Europe. There was a devastating¹ economic crash and an influx² of migrants and corruption³ scandals. But unlike other countries in Europe, Spain has no far-right movement. Reporter Lauren Frayer has been trying to figure out why.

(SOUNDBITE OF INTERCOM ANNOUNCEMENT)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (Speaking Spanish).

LAUREN FRAYER, BYLINE⁴: About a half hour by train, south of Madrid's grand boulevards, San Cristobal is another world - a warren of drab concrete apartment blocks, Muslim headscarves, Africans playing cards in the street. This area is about half immigrant. Most residents are either retired⁵, unemployed⁶ or in the country illegally.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: (Speaking Spanish).

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #2: (Speaking Spanish).

FRAYER: In a local bar, white, native-born Spaniards bemoan⁷ their barrio's decline. The only local industry was construction, and that collapsed⁸ when the crisis hit. Immigrants have filled cheap, half-built homes.

CARMEN ACERO RODRIGUEZ: (Speaking Spanish).

FRAYER: Carmen Acero Rodriguez, age 82, says her neighbors are now strangers. She was recently robbed by a Moroccan immigrant she hired to clean her house.

ACERO RODRIGUEZ: (Speaking Spanish).

FRAYER: (Speaking Spanish).

ACERO RODRIGUEZ: (Speaking Spanish).

FRAYER: I've interviewed people like Carmen across Europe - Britons who voted to leave the European Union, Dutch voters fed up with immigration. In Spain, some of those feelings are the same. But the political reaction is very different.

ACERO RODRIGUEZ: (Speaking Spanish).

FRAYER: "I'm a lifelong socialist," Carmen declares. "Why on earth would any working-class person vote for the right wing?" she asks.

MARIA ASCENSION: (Speaking Spanish).

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: (Speaking Spanish).

FRAYER: Picking up her kids from school nearby, Maria Ascension calls herself unemployed and angry. But she won't take that out on immigrants. Many of her own relatives spent the 20th century immigrating⁹ to northern Europe fleeing the Spanish dictator General Francisco Franco.

ASCENSION: (Through interpreter) We had nearly 40 years of a repressive right-wing dictator. That's why we don't have far-right parties like that of Marine¹⁰ Le Pen in France. We have nothing so radical¹¹.

FRAYER: Only on the left have radical new political parties flourished in Spain. Madrid city hall is now draped in a refugees welcome banner. And Spain's second city, Barcelona, sounded like this last month...

(SOUNDBITE OF PROTEST)

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Chanting in Spanish).

FRAYER: ...As thousands marched in favor of accepting more refugees. Spain is where many Arab and African migrants land when they paddle boats across the Mediterranean¹² to Europe. And yet, unlike elsewhere...

CARMEN GONZALEZ-ENRIQUEZ: This hasn't provoked rise a rise on xenophobic, specifically Islamophobic, feelings.

FRAYER: Carmen Gonzalez-Enriquez at Madrid's Elcano think tank says Spaniards sympathize with immigrants because most, until now, have been from Latin America or Romania. They've integrated easily in terms of language, religion and race. Nobody complains about immigrants on welfare here because Spanish government benefits are pretty scant¹³ anyway. Benefits, instead, have come from the EU. And Spaniards are more pro-EU than any other members, Gonzalez-Enriquez says.

GONZALEZ-ENRIQUEZ: (Through interpreter) The Franco dictatorship left Spain isolated¹⁴ and underdeveloped. Spaniards felt inferior to the rest of Europe and wanted to join the club for economic reasons but also to recover national pride.

FRAYER: One tiny far-right party was founded in Spain three years ago. It's called Vox. Back in the San Cristobal bar, I asked 82-year-old Carmen about it. After all, the elderly are its target demographic.

ACERO RODRIGUEZ: Como?

FRAYER: Vox.

ACERO RODRIGUEZ: Vote (ph)?

FRAYER: Vox.

ACERO RODRIGUEZ: Vox?

FRAYER: She's never heard of it, she says. Spain's only far-right party got 0.2 percent of the vote in last year's election.

For NPR News, I'm Lauren Frayer in San Cristobal de los Angeles, Madrid.

1 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

2 influx   

n.流入，注入

参考例句：

• The country simply cannot absorb this influx of refugees.这个国家实在不能接纳这么多涌入的难民。
• Textile workers favoured protection because they feared an influx of cheap cloth.纺织工人拥护贸易保护措施，因为他们担心涌入廉价纺织品。

3 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。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

6 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

7 bemoan   

v.悲叹，哀泣，痛哭；惋惜，不满于

参考例句：

• Purists bemoan the corruption of the language.主张语文纯正的人哀叹语言趋于不纯。
• Don't bemoan anything or anyone that you need to leave behind.不要再去抱怨那些你本该忘记的人或事。

8 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

9 immigrating   

v.移入( immigrate的现在分词 )；移民

参考例句：

• I have to tie up loose ends before immigrating to America. 移民美国前，我先要处理手头上的一些琐事。 来自互联网
• Marrying an American citizen is a guaranteed ticket to immigrating to America. 与美国公民结婚是移民美国最佳的门票。 来自互联网

10 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

11 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

12 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。

13 scant   

adj.不充分的，不足的；v.减缩，限制，忽略

参考例句：

• Don't scant the butter when you make a cake.做糕饼时不要吝惜奶油。
• Many mothers pay scant attention to their own needs when their children are small.孩子们小的时候，许多母亲都忽视自己的需求。

14 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。