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Spain and the Catalans

西班牙和加泰羅尼亞

Scandal in Catalonia

加泰羅尼亞的緋聞

Jordi Pujol's confession undermines Catalans' hopesof independence

Jordi Pujol的懺悔摧毀了加泰羅尼亞人獨立的希望

IT IS not the narrative that Catalan separatistshoped for as they face a stand-off with the Madrid government over a planned independencevote in November. Instead of a debate about evil Castilian conquistadors, their cause has beenovershadowed by a scandal over a fallen hero, Jordi Pujol, who served for six terms as leaderof Catalonia.

加泰羅尼亞的分裂主義者希望能夠通過11月計劃的獨立投票脫離馬德里政府，這并非是道聽途說。但是，人們并未聲討邪惡的卡斯提爾征服者，他們的注意力全被墜落的英雄人物—Jordi Pujol的丑聞吸引了。Jordi Pujol曾是加泰羅尼亞連續六屆的領導人。

Four weeks ago Mr Pujol admitted that his family had hidden money in Switzerland for the past35 years. “We never found the right moment to declare it,” he said breezily. The confessioncomes at an awkward time. Mr Pujol's hand-picked successor as head of his Convergence andUnion (CiU) group, and Catalonia's current leader, Artur Mas, has promised a referendum onNovember 9th. Spain's prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, will ban it. Separatists hoped this wouldswell their ranks. But now all the talk is of the 84-year-old Mr Pujol, a political giant in hisregion.

4周前，Pujol承認其家族在過去的35年內一直在往瑞士的銀行里藏錢。他輕聲說：“我們一直找不到適當的時機宣布這一事情”。他在一個尷尬的時刻發表了這個聲明。Pujol精挑細選的繼任者，匯合黨的主席和加泰羅尼亞目前的領導人Artur Mas之前承諾將于11月9日發起公民投票。西班牙總理Mariano Rajoy馬里亞諾·拉霍伊·布雷將禁止這一活動。分裂主義者希望這能夠提高他們的排名。但是現在所有的話題都集中在該陣營的政治巨擘，84歲的Pujol身上。

The man who set Catalonia on a path from no self-government to an annual budget of 25.5billion ($33.9 billion, about half of Ireland's) liked to be called “president” or “the mosthonourable”. A foundation bearing his name specialises in ethics. In 23 years as presidentuntil 2003, he became a master at persuading Catalans that they were victims of Madrid. Thebattle cry of the independence campaign is that the rest of Spain steals Catalan taxes andwastes them on lazy southerners. Now Mr Pujol himself has been found hiding his own stash ofcash.

這個創立了加泰羅尼亞的人見證了加泰羅尼亞從無政府一直到年均255億歐元預算案(339億美元，約有愛爾蘭一半的產值)更多地被稱為“總統”或“最尊貴的人”。一個專門研究倫理道德的基金會以他的名字命名。截止2003年為止長達23年總統任期使他非常擅長說服加泰羅尼亞人讓他們相信自己是馬德里政府的受害者。獨立運動的呼聲主要是西班牙的其他地區偷了加泰羅尼亞的稅收并浪費在了懶惰的南方人身上。而今卻發現Pujol自己偷偷地藏錢。

Other family members are under investigation. A son, also called Jordi, goes before a judge inmid-September to answer questions about tax fraud and money-laundering after a girlfriendaccused him of carrying bags of 500 notes to Andorra. Another son, Oriol, has quit assecretary-general of the senior partner in the CiU group, Catalan Democratic Convergence: aninvestigating judge suspects him of taking bribes. A legion of longtime Pujol-haters in Spain aredancing on the dynasty's political grave and hoping that this may kill the referendum.

Pujol其他的家人正在接受調查。兒子Jordi在女友控訴他將價值500歐的包包票據送往安道爾市后，將于九月中旬前在法庭上對稅收貪污和洗錢的罪行進行辯解。另一個兒子Oriol辭了加泰羅尼亞民主黨派，匯合黨高級領導人秘書的職位：調查的法官懷疑他受賄。眾多長期反對Pujol的西班牙人在Pujol王朝的政治墳墓上跳舞，希望這能扼殺加泰羅尼亞的公民投票。

The scandal will hurt Mr Mas, but it does not sink separatism. He is being tugged in oppositedirections by his referendum pledge. His more moderate coalition partner, Democratic CatalanUnion (UDC), has threatened to quit. The ardently separatist Catalan Republican Left (ERC),which props up his minority government, wants him to defy Madrid by calling an illegalreferendum if need be. It also demands an inquiry if Mr Pujol does not appear before theCatalan parliament.

這一緋聞確實會影響Mas，但卻不會扼殺獨立主義。他在公投的請求下已經轉到了對立面。其較為溫和的政黨聯盟，加泰羅尼亞民主聯盟(UDC)威脅棄權。支持其少數政黨的激進的分裂主義政黨——加泰羅尼亞民主共和黨(ERC)希望能夠通過非法的公投公然反抗西班牙政府。它也要求如果Pujol未出現在加泰羅尼亞的議會上的話，就進行調查。

Mr Mas may hold an early election that serves as a proxy for a vote on independence. CarmeForcadell, leader of a Catalan pressure group that has driven the separatist surge, insists onthis if Mr Rajoy blocks the referendum. But opinion polls show CiU trailing ERC. The Pujol affairwill damage it further. If the UDC walks out, Mr Mas's party may be hammered.

Mas可能會舉行一個前期選舉以選出獨立的代言人。推進分離主義的加泰羅尼亞壓力集團的首領CarmeForcadell 堅信這一點(如果Rajoy阻礙公投的話)。但民意調查顯示匯合黨遠遠落后于加泰羅尼亞民主共和黨。Pujol事件對其傷害更深。如果UDC退席，Mas政黨的發展將遇到巨大阻礙。

A test of separatist feeling will come on September 11th, Catalonia's national day. In previousyears Ms Forcadell's group has called out millions to demand an independence vote. Thisyear's protest may be less impressive. Those who want a new deal with Spain but dislike fullindependence may stay away. Anger about the economy, a source of many gripes, isdimming, but the Pujol scandal will spread disillusion. The man who built up Catalan nationalpride is now undermining it.

9月11日，加泰羅尼亞的國慶日將測試分裂主義者對此事的態度。前些年Forcadell的政黨可以召集起幾百萬的人要求獨立公投。今年的抗議力度可能會減弱。那些希望能與西班牙有一個新的解決方案，但不希望完全獨立。導致許多牢騷的對經濟的憤怒已經開始減弱，但Pujol事件可能會讓人們更加失望。曾經造就加泰羅尼亞輝煌的人現在在毀滅它。

【重點解析】

1.serve for 充當;用作

例句:This box will have to serve for a table until thefurniture arrives.

在家具運來之前,這個箱子可以當桌子用。

2.accuse of 控告;指責

例句:I hate it when people accuse us of that.

我討厭別人就那件事指責我們。

3.prop up 支持，資助

例句:If you have difficulty sitting like this, prop up your back against a wall.

如果這么坐著有困難，就背靠墻坐吧。

4.stay away 離開，缺席

例句:Take my advice and stay away from him!

聽我的，離他遠遠的!