To buy houses in Spain

在中国买不起房？不如去西班牙买个村吧

Zài Zhōngguó mǎibúqǐ fáng？Bùrú qù Xībānyá mǎigè cūn ba

To buy houses in Spain

来自英国的买家正在西班牙农村大肆抢购房产,因为这里的价格是英国半独立式房子均价的五分之一.这些投机房产的商人正在利用西班牙经济危机,购买当地人已买不起的房产.

British buyers are snapping up entire villages in Spain for a fifth of the price of the average semi-detached home here. Property bargain-hunters are making the most of Spain's economic crisis to buy homes locals can no longer afford to keep.

很多小村庄的房子已经在一个家庭的手中保留了好几代了,但是很多情况下,他们的居住者都已经搬迁到了城市中,而那些房子很多都年久失修了.由于支付不起维护或是维修费用,这些房子很多都正在被低价挂牌出售.地产代理商说百分之八十的房子都被外国人购买了,而其中三分之一是英国人.

Most of the tiny villages have been in the hands of the same families for generations, but in many cases their inhabitants have moved away to urban areas and the houses have fallen into disrepair. Unable to afford to maintain or restore them, they are being sold at knockdown prices. Estate agents say 80 per cent are being bought by foreigners--- and a third of buyers are British.

尼尔•克里斯蒂是两个孩子的父亲,他在西班牙农村西北部的一个具有田园诗意的地区买下了一处叫阿鲁纳达的村庄,只花费了4.5万欧元,即3.9万英镑（约为36万人民币）.根据最新的房产注册部门统计,这个价格只有英国半独立式房子平均价格的五分之一,在英国半独立式房子的价格为20.1万英镑.即使在他已完全翻修后,他预计在这个项目中的花费仍旧没有超过1.4万英镑.

Father-of-two Neil Christie bought the hamlet of Arrunada in an idyllic corner of rural north west Spain for just 45,000 euros---or £39,000. That is just a fifth of the price of the average semi-detached house in Britain, at £201,427, according to the most recent Land Registry statistics. Even after he has totally renovated the four dilapidated properties, he expects to have spent no more than £140,000 on the project.

地产代理商拉斐尔•卡内尔说,买家一般都是一些五六十岁的中产阶级夫妇,他们正在为他们退休后的生活寻找一些房子.他的商业伙伴佩佩•雷迪奥说,西班牙的家庭正在卖掉他们的房子,因为他们已经没有足够的钱去维持这些房产,而且这些已经搬去城市的家庭认为搬回乡村就是在"退步".他说："外国人正在填补这些空缺.我很高兴看着这些已经倒下的村庄又重新被修补.因为看到他们变成废墟会让我很伤心."

Buyers tend to be middle class couples in their 50s or 60s looking for somewhere for their retirement, said estate agent Rafael Canales. His business partner Pepe Rodil said Spanish families were selling up because they no longer had the money to maintain the properties and because who had moved away to towns and cities saw returning to the countryside as 'a backwards step'. He said, "Foreigners are filling the gap. I'm happy to see villages which were falling down being renovated. It makes me sad to see them in ruins."

词语解释：

当地人 （dāngdì rén） reverse

失修 （shīxiū） disrepair

统计 （tǒngjì） statistics

中产阶级 （zhōngchǎn jiējí） middle class

废墟 （fèixū） ruins

(Source: myechinese.com)