The Economist bilingual: Where is the "end of the world"?
Original title:
The train in Spain
To the end of the earth
Spain’s high-speed network reaches far-off Galicia
Trains in Spain
Until the end of the world
Spain's high-speed rail network extends to as far away as Galicia
Which was already doing rather well
It's been done pretty well
[Paragraph 1]
FOR CENTURIES the main way to Galicia, Spain’s north-western corner, was on foot, on the pilgrims’ trail to Santiago de Compostela.
For centuries, the main way to galicia in the northwest corner of Spain was on foot, which is the route pilgrims take to Santiago de Compostela.
Poor roads meant that, until a decade or two ago, the drive from Madrid took nine hours.
Poor road conditions mean that ten or twenty years ago, it would still take 9 hours to drive from Madrid.
Recent improvements have cut the trip to the closest Galician city, Ourense, to about five.
Recent improvements have reduced the journey to the nearest Galician city of Ulens to around 5 hours.
[Paragraph 2]
Now the journey can be made in two hours and 15 minutes thanks to Galicia’s first connection with Spain’s enviable high-speed railway network.
Now, thanks to Galicia's first connection to Spain's enviable high-speed rail network, the journey takes just 2 hours and 15 minutes.
Next year the line should be extended to Santiago, the regional capital, and A Coruña, its biggest city.
Next year, the line will extend to Santiago, the regional capital, as well as to the largest city, A Coruña.
“Cinderella can now travel in a bigger and more comfortable car,” said Ourense’s mayor, Gonzalo Pérez Jácome, using his nickname for his city, which he says is treated like an unloved stepchild.
Gonzalo Pérez Chacomb, mayor of Ulens, said: "Cinderella can now travel in a bigger and more comfortable car." He called the city by his nickname, saying the city of Ulens was treated as an unloved stepson.
No one wants to be left out of the system—Spain has the biggest high-speed rail network in the world after China’s—but he doubts that the new extension will bring dramatic changes.
Spain has the world's largest high-speed rail network after China, and no one wants to be excluded from this system. But he doubted whether the new railroad expansion would bring about drastic changes.
[Paragraph 3]
Spaniards have long been leaving poorer rural areas for better opportunities in richer cities.
For too long, Spaniards have left poorer rural areas to seek better development opportunities in wealthier cities.
Politicians in rural areas lament this. But it is not obvious that pricey infrastructure will do much to curb it.
Politicians in rural areas have some complaints about this. But whether expensive infrastructure can play a big inhibitory role is unclear.
Mr Jácome notes that Zamora, until recently the high-speed trains’ last stop en route to Galicia, has gained weekend tourists but continued to lose population since their arrival in 2015.
Mr Chacomb noted that until recently, the last stop on the high-speed rail to Galicia, Zamora, was built, and while the number of weekend tourists has increased, the population has continued to decline since 2015.
[Paragraph 4]
In any case, Galicia has been doing well. It was once a byword for isolation and poverty, “the end of the world”, as the name of its westernmost point, Cape Finisterre, indicates.
In any case, the Galicia region has been doing very well. It used to be synonymous with isolation and poverty, as the name of its westernmost point, Cape Finisterre, suggests, the "end of the world."
So many Galicians emigrated that gallego is still synonymous with “Spaniard” in parts of Latin America.
So many Galicians emigrated that in parts of Latin America, Gallego remained synonymous with "Spaniards."
But GDP per person, 66% of the national average in 1955, is now 92% of it.
But GDP per capita, which was 66 percent of the national average in 1955, is now 92 percent.
Ángel de la Fuente of FEDEA, an economic think-tank, points to fish processing, carmaking and clothing (Inditex, the parent company of Zara and other brands, is based there) and reasonably business-friendly politics, though he says a single cause of its catch-up is hard to identify.
Engel de la Fuente of fedea, an economic think tank, said that while it was difficult to identify a single reason for the economy to catch up, he pointed to the fishing processing, automobile manufacturing and apparel industries (where Zara's parent company, Inditex, and other brands are located) and reasonable business-friendly policies as some of the influencing factors.
[Paragraph 5]
Another fix for Spain’s regional disparities has been proposed by the Socialist-led national government: opening new state bodies outside the capital.
The Socialist-led national Government has proposed another solution to the regional disparities in Spain: the establishment of new state institutions outside the capital.
Many bigwigs in the conservative People’s Party (PP) say this would be pointless.
Many big figures in the conservative BJP say it will be meaningless.
Galicia’s leader, the PP’s moderate Alberto Nuñez Feijóo, has a warmer reaction, noting that it makes little sense to put the country’s Institute of Oceanography in landlocked Madrid.
The leader of the galicia province, alberto Núñez Feyo, a moderate of the People's Party, reacted more warmly, noting that there was no point in locating the country's oceanographic institute in the landlocked city of Madrid.
Once, people would have said the same about putting world-conquering companies and ultra-modern trains in Galicia.
Once this is the case, the same will be said of the great companies that built the conquest of the world in Galicia and the ultra-modern trains.
(Congratulations on reading, this English vocabulary is about 472)
Originally from: The Economist Europe section, January 8, 2022.
Intensive reading notes from: The Path to Free English
Translation of this article: Fei Min
This article edited proofreader: Irene
For personal English learning communication only.
【Supplementary Information】
Galicia:
【Key sentences】(3)
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