但是由于当地的居民在政府支持不住的时候挺身而出，希格拉德拉塞丽娜镇在西班牙声名大增。加西亚说，经常有其他镇子的官员打来电话向自己讨教是怎么做到这些的。加西亚没有薪水可领，其他两个选举出来的官员也是一样。他们甚至放弃了工作中配备的公车和电话。
“We lived beyond our means,” Mr. García said. “We invested in public works that weren’t sensible. We are in technical bankruptcy.” Even some money from the European Union that was supposed to be used for routine operating expenses and last until 2013 has already been spent, he said.
加西亚说：“我们入不敷出，在公共事业上的投资并不理智，技术也十分欠缺。欧盟的借款本应用于正常政府运作，并维持到2013年，可是即使这些钱都已经花光了。”
Higuera de la Serena, a cluster of about 900 houses surrounded by farmland, and traditionally dependent on pig farming and olives, got swept up in the giddy days of the construction boom. It built a cultural center and invested in a small nursing home. But the projects were plagued by delays and cost overruns.
希格拉德拉塞丽娜镇有大约九百户民宅，周围是耕地，一直以来，小镇靠养猪以及种植橄榄维生。在建筑热潮风靡的日子里，小镇也受到了热潮的席卷。镇上建立了一个文化中心，投资了一家小型疗养院。但是这些项目却面临搁置以及成本超支的困境。
The cultural center still has no bathrooms. The nursing home, a whitewashed building sits on the edge of town, still unopened. Together, they account for some $470,000 of debt owed to the bank. But the rest of the debt is mostly the unpaid bills of a town that was not keeping up with its expenses. It owes for medical supplies, for diesel fuel, for road repair, for electrical work, for musicians who played during holidays.
文化中心还没有洗手间。粉刷成白色的疗养院坐落于小镇的边缘，至今还没有开放。这两个项目加起来共拖欠了银行470，000美元。其他的债务主要是小镇入不敷出造成的，这些开支包括医疗供应、燃油、公路维护、电力供应以及那些在节假日表演的音乐家们。
Higuera de la Serena is not completely without workers. It still has a half-time librarian, two half-time street cleaners, someone part-time for the sports complex, a secretary and an administrator, all of whom are paid through various financing streams apart from the town. But the town once had a work force twice the size. And when someone is ill, volunteers have to step in or the gym and sports complex — open four hours a day — must close.
希格拉德拉塞丽娜镇并不是一名工人也没有。它有一名半工半薪的图书管理员，两名半工半薪的道路清洁工，一名在体育中心兼职的工作人员，一名秘书和一名管理员。他们的薪水都来自小镇外的其他渠道。但在此之前，镇子里的工人数量是现在的两倍。体育中心每天开放四个小时，现在只要工作人员生病，志愿者们就必须接手体育中心的工作，否则体育中心必须关闭。
（责任编辑:admin）
