马德里——西班牙议会将于周五开会，旨在应对全国住房可负担性危机的一揽子紧急措施将接受表决，而持续不断的抗议活动正要求议员采取行动帮助租房者。在此背景下，西班牙政府看来将输掉通过这些措施所需的两张关键票。
MADRID — Spain’s government looks set to lose two key votes it needs to ratify a package of emergency measures aimed at tackling the nation’s housing affordability crisis when Parliament convenes on Friday amid continued protests demanding that lawmakers act to help renters.
对批准两项政府法令至关重要的加泰罗尼亚分离主义政党Junts周五上午发表声明称，将投票反对这两项法令。
The Catalan separatist party Junts — essential for the approval of the two government decrees — said in a statement Friday morning that it will vote against them.
这些措施旨在平息公众的强烈不满。此前，上周马德里一名87岁老人的驱逐事件经电视报道后引发抗议；自那以来，抗议者一直驻扎在该市最重要的广场上。除非出现意外情况，否则首相佩德罗·桑切斯领导的进步派联盟将遭遇一次代价惨重的立法失败，这很可能进一步激化抗议活动。
The measures were intended to quell a public uproar following the televised eviction of an 87-year-old woman last week in Madrid that sparked protests and a camp-in that has occupied Madrid’s most important square ever since. Barring a surprise, the progressive coalition of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez will suffer a costly legislative defeat that will likely fan the flames of the protests.
这位因被驱逐而引发抗议的老人玛丽卡门·阿瓦斯卡尔，已成为这个南欧国家降低住房成本诉求的象征。在那里，许多人无力购房，狭小的租赁市场也使他们承受着巨大的住房压力。
The elderly woman whose eviction sparked the protests, Maricarmen Abascal, has become a symbol for the fight for lower housing costs in the southern European country where many people are priced out of buying a home and are being squeezed by a small rental market.
本周，在公众和政治压力的巨大冲击下，驱逐她的公司终于让步，并表示她可以返回公寓。阿瓦斯卡尔被担架从家中带出后，目前正在医院接受治疗，但她的律师表示，她得知自己将回家后感到高兴。西班牙议会有350个席位，将于上午11时开始会议。
The company that evicted her finally caved under immense public and political pressure this week and said that she can return to the apartment. Abascal is currently in a hospital since being removed from her home on a stretcher, but her lawyer said she is happy to know she will be going home. Spain’s 350-seat Parliament will start its session at 11 a.m.
第一项法令旨在禁止驱逐阿瓦斯卡尔等弱势群体，增加房地产投机难度，收紧短期租赁限制，并提供税收优惠，以鼓励租房和住房建设。
The first decree is meant to stop evictions of vulnerable people like Abascal, make real estate speculation harder, impose tighter restrictions on short-term leases and provide tax incentives to encourage renting and the construction of housing.
第二项法令更具争议。它提议租约到期时自动续租，实际上将使租约无限期延长。房东如果要解除合同，就必须向租户支付相当于12个月租金的赔偿。
The second decree is more controversial. It proposes to make leases automatically renew when they are set to expire, essentially making them indefinite. A property owner would have to pay a tenant 12 months of rent to break the contract.