西班牙市長成羅賓漢帶頭搶超市劫富濟貧

中國日報網 2012-08-15 08:48

Juan Manuel Sanchez Gordillo (C), mayor of Marinaleda and member of the regional Andalusian parliament representing the United Left (IU) party, talks with activists on August 8, 2012, east of Sevilla, between the towns of Osuna and Ecija. (Agencies)

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A left-wing mayor of a small town in Andalusia has become a modern-day Robin Hood, organizing robbing raids on local supermarkets to feed the poor of his community.

Juan Manuel Sanchez Gordillo has, over the past week, led several raids on supermarkets around the town of Marinaleda, near Seville in southern Spain, arguing that “someone has to do something so that families can eat.”

Sanchez, 53, a man with a bushy gray beard who has been mayor for 33 years and a member for the regional parliament of Andalusia for the United Left party (IU), did not take part in the raids themselves but stood outside the supermarkets directing his “comrades” over a megaphone.

At one Carrefour supermarket on Tuesday around a dozen carts were filled with staples such as milk, sugar, oil, pasta, before being wheeled through the checkout without payment.

Another similar looting, at a Mercadona in the neighboring town of Ecija occurred later the same day and Sanchez vowed the raids would continue.

“There are people who simply don’t have enough to eat,” explained Sanchez, describing the raids as a symbolic and peaceful reaction to the government’s handling of the economic crisis.

“We’ve decided to expropriate basic foodstuffs and give them to the soup kitchens, which are struggling to provide for everyone because demand has increased.”

The major political parties have condemned the raids, which come at a time when Spain is grappling with deep austerity cuts and a nationwide unemployment of nearly 25 percent.

In the Andalusia region, where the collapse of the construction industry has hit particularly hard, the unemployment rate has soared to nearly 34 percent.

Five people have been arrested for taking part in the raids but police have not arrested Sanchez because of his position as regional MP. Instead, he has been asked to give a statement in front of an investigating magistrate.

Sanchez’s actions have led him to be dubbed in the nation's press as “the Robin Hood of Spain” and “the revolutionary of Andalusia.”

Marinaleda, a town of 3,000 residents run by Sanchez since 1979, has attracted people from across Spain to join its farming cooperative and municipal housing program.

(Read by Rosie Tuck. Rosie Tuck is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)

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(Agencies)

安達盧西亞地區一個小鎮的左翼市長成了現代版的羅賓漢，竟糾集民眾搶劫當地的超市接濟社區貧困者。

馬里納萊達鎮位于西班牙南部的塞維利亞附近，在過去的一周內，胡安?曼紐爾?桑切斯?戈迪略數次領導民眾搶劫該鎮周邊的超市，并稱“必須有人來做些什么，這樣人們才有飯吃。”

現年53歲的桑切斯蓄著一臉濃密的花白胡子，他已經做了33年的市長，是聯合左翼黨安達盧西亞地區議會的議員。不過，他本人并未直接參與搶劫，而是站在超市外面，通過擴音器指揮他的“同志們”。

周二在一家附近的家樂福超市，十二輛購物車沒有付款就沖出了收銀臺，車中裝滿了日常必需品，如牛奶，糖，油，還有意大利面。

當天晚些時候，相鄰的埃希哈鎮內一家梅爾卡多納超市也同樣遭遇打劫，桑切斯還發誓襲擊仍將繼續。

“還有人連飯都吃不飽。”桑切斯解釋道。據他描述，這些搶劫只是象征性的，是對政府處理經濟危機不力的一種和平的抗議方式。

“我們已經決定征用基本食品，并將它們捐贈給粥廠，由于需求增加，那里正在竭力為每個人提供食物。”

西班牙各主要政黨紛紛譴責搶劫行為，此時的西班牙正努力應對深度緊縮性削減，全國失業率幾近25%。

安達盧西亞地區受建筑業崩潰的沖擊尤其大，當地失業率曾一度飆升至34%。