It was billed(被宣传为) as one of the largest real-estate(房地产) events in Europe, attracting as many as 15,000 people ranging from investment firms to developers. But as the District trade show(欧洲大型房地产展会) and summit got under way last week in Madrid, housing campaigners from 140 organisations across the globe turned up, intent on holding their own “counter-summit(反峰会)” to push back against(抵制、反击) the idea of housing as a financial asset(金融资产).
这场活动被宣传为欧洲最大的房地产盛会之一，吸引了多达1.5万人，从投资公司到开发商不一而足。但上周，当“District”贸易展暨峰会在马德里拉开帷幕时，来自全球140个组织的住房活动人士也现身会场，决心举办自己的“反峰会”，以抵制将住房视为金融资产的主张。
Many of the campaigners arrived in the Spanish capital as Maricarmen Abascal, an 87-year-old woman who uses a wheelchair, was being evicted(被驱逐) from the apartment where she had lived for seven decades. As anger over the eviction gave way to days of protests and an encampment in the heart of Madrid, the presence of campaigners from Italy to Ireland was a poignant reminder of the global dimension of the crisis.(随着驱逐事件引发的愤怒演变为连日抗议和马德里市中心的露营地，从意大利到爱尔兰的活动人士的到场，令人心酸地提醒人们这场危机的全球性。)
许多活动人士抵达西班牙首都之际，87岁的轮椅使用者玛丽卡门·阿瓦斯卡尔正被驱逐出她居住了七十年的公寓。随着驱逐事件引发的愤怒演变为连日抗议，并在马德里市中心形成露营地，从意大利到爱尔兰的活动人士齐聚于此，令人心酸地提醒人们这场危机的全球性。
The eviction underscored how brutal access to housing had become for so many around the world, said Teresa Mamede, a housing campaigner from Lisbon who travelled to Madrid for the counter-summit.(来自里斯本的住房活动人士特蕾莎·马梅德说，这起驱逐事件凸显了住房问题对全球许多人而言已变得多么残酷。) “Nobody among us is safe from having this happen to them.”
来自里斯本的住房活动人士特蕾莎·马梅德专程前往马德里参加反峰会，她说，这起驱逐事件凸显了住房问题对全球许多人而言已变得多么残酷。“我们当中没有人能保证这种事不会落到自己头上。”