介绍:
So somewhere near a million people were rallying in the streets of Barcelona last night. It was the annual holiday in Spain's autonomous northeast region of Catalonia. But this year, the festival turned into a giant separatist rally ahead of an independence referendum that is coming next month. Lauren Frayer reports from Barcelona.
LAUREN FRAYER, BYLINE: The atmosphere was both festive, with marching bands roving through a sea of yellow separatist jerseys, and also solemn, as elderly Catalan sang nationalist hymns that were banned in their youth under General Francisco Franco. Catalonia has its own language and culture repressed under the dictator through the 1970s. But more recently it's become Spain's richest region, with the tourist hub Barcelona as its capital.
MERCEDES RAMOS: We want to be free because we think we can live better.
FRAYER: Mercedes Ramos says she doesn't want her taxes to keep subsidizing poorer parts ofSpain, especially after such a punishing economic crisis.
RAMOS: Because they don't recognize our deficit from economic — in the balance in Spain, weput a lot of money and they don't return.
FRAYER: Catalonia's economy is bigger than that of Finland. It has its own political parties andvery little support for the conservative government in Madrid, which has had some high-profile corruption scandals. Separatist parties rule the Catalan regional legislature and have passed local laws establishing an October 1st referendum on independence. Spain's highest court struck down those laws. But in his holiday address, Catalonia's President Carles Puigdemont insisted the referendum would go ahead.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT CARLES PUIGDEMONT: (Speaking Catalan).
FRAYER: He says because the regional parliament approved it, it doesn't matter what the central government says. He no longer recognises its authority. Over the weekend, Spanish civil guards raided printing offices in Catalonia, seeking to confiscate ballots. Catalans say that's a bad image in a democracy. Polls show a majority of them want to vote but they're actually split 50-50 on the question of independence.
(SOUNDBITE OF RALLY)
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (Speaking Catalan).
FRAYER: A few blocks from the separatist rallies, Javier Castellanos refused to participate. He wants to stay part of Spain and says the separatists are just more vocal.
JAVIER CASTELLANOS: And this is something that bothers me. There is hint of supremacism, and we have a lot of politicians that have been judged for corruption, like in — like in Madrid. I mean, we are not better.
FRAYER: Many Catalans do see themselves as closer to northern Europe than to Spain. But if this October 1st referendum goes ahead and leaders declare independence, a new country of Catalonia is not likely to be recognized either by Spain nor by the European Union. For NPR News, I'm Lauren Frayer in Barcelona.
昨晚，近100万人在巴塞罗那街头举行集会。当天是西班牙东北部自治区加泰罗尼亚一年一度的节日庆典。但是，由于加泰罗尼亚下个月即将举行独立公投，所以今年的庆典演变成了一场独立主义者大游行。劳伦?弗莱尔将从巴塞罗那带来报道。
劳伦?弗莱尔连线：现场的气氛既欢庆又庄严，游行乐队穿插在众多身着黄色衣服的独立主义者中间，营造出欢庆的气氛；而年长的加泰罗尼亚人在高唱民族主义赞歌时又展现出了庄严的气氛，在弗朗西斯科?佛朗哥将军统治时期，也就是这些年长者的青年时代，这些赞歌是禁止演唱的。加泰罗尼亚拥有自己的语言和文化，该地区在上世纪70年代处于独裁者弗朗西斯科?佛朗哥的压制之下。不过，最近这一地区成为了西班牙最富有的地区，其首府是旅游圣地巴塞罗那。
默西迪丝?拉莫斯：我们想获得自由，因为我们认为我们可以生活得更好。
弗莱尔：默西迪丝?拉莫斯表示，她不希望她交的税款继续补贴给西班牙的贫穷地区，尤其是在经历了令人筋疲力尽的金融危机之后。
拉莫斯：因为他们不承认我们的财政赤字，为了西班牙的平衡，我们投入了很多钱，可是他们却并没有归还。
弗莱尔：加泰罗尼亚的经济超过了芬兰的水平。该地区拥有独立的政党，几乎没有人支持保守的西班牙政府，这一政府曝出了几起引人注目的腐败丑闻。独立主义政党管理加泰罗尼亚地区立法机构，而且已经通过了地方法律，确保10月1日举行独立公投。西班牙最高法院撤销了这些法律。不过，加泰罗尼亚大区主席卡洛斯?普里格迪蒙特在庆典上发表讲话时坚称，公投将如期举行。
（录音档案）
卡洛斯?普里格迪蒙特主席：（用加泰罗尼亚语讲话）。
弗莱尔：他表示，因为地区议会已经批准，所以无论中央政府说什么都无关紧要。他不再承认其权威。上周末，西班牙公民警卫队突袭了加泰罗尼亚的印刷厂，试图没收公投的选票。加泰罗尼亚人表示，这是民主国家展现出的坏形象。民调显示，大多数加泰罗尼亚人希望进行投票，不过在独立问题上，支持者和反对者的比例各占一半。
（游行现场录音）
身份不明的男性：（用加泰罗尼亚语讲话）。
弗莱尔：哈维尔?卡斯特利亚诺斯离独立主义者的集会地只有几个街区远，但是他拒绝参加。他想留在西班牙，他说独立主义者只是说得好听。
哈维尔?卡斯特利亚诺斯：这是困扰我的问题。现在出现了优越主义迹象，我们有很多政治家因腐败受审，就像马德里的那些政治家一样。我的意思是，我们的情况并没有好到哪里去。
弗莱尔：许多加泰罗尼亚人认为，相比于西班牙，他们和北欧更靠近。但是如果定于10月1日的公投能如期举行，且领导人宣布独立，那独立之后的加泰罗尼亚既不可能获得西班牙的承认，也不可能得到欧盟的承认。NPR新闻，劳伦?弗莱尔巴塞罗那报道。
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