Riding out the crisis on Spanish surf 西班牙人靠衝浪度過經濟危機

Rather than mope around at home, legions of unemployed Spaniards are riding out the economic crisis on some of the best waves in Europe, driving a surf boom on the country’s northern breaks.

與其成天在家裡落寞終日，大批失業的西班牙人乾脆利用全歐最佳的海浪協助他們度過難關，也在西國北部的衝浪勝地掀起一股衝浪熱潮。

With one in four now out of a job in Spain, surf professionals say the number of surfers has jumped these past two to three years on the stretch of rugged coastline from western Galicia to the border with France.

西國目前有4分之1的人失業，衝浪業者表示，自西部加利西亞到法國邊界之間這段崎嶇海岸線的衝浪人口在過去兩三年內暴增。

"I think people are taking their unemployment money and just deciding to surf as much as they can," said Michael Dobos, who runs a surf school in the village of Mundaka, home to some of the continent’s most sought-after waves.

「我想大家都是拿著失業救濟金，決定儘可能地多去衝浪，」在擁有全歐最熱門海浪之一的小村子蒙達卡開設衝浪學校的多伯斯說。

"Since the crisis broke there are three times more people in the water," said Federico Ibazetor, who runs a surf school in nearby Plentzia. "They don’t have work, so they have more time to surf. They are mainly young because it is easier to lay off young people than older ones," he added.

在鄰近的普倫特西亞經營衝浪學校的伊巴澤托也說，「經濟危機爆發後，來衝浪的人多了三倍。」「他們不必工作，所以更有時間衝浪。衝浪的人多半是年輕人，因為年輕人比年長者更容易被解雇，」他說。

For the last two summers schools say classes were not only full, but business continued right up to and past, the mid-Autumn holidays, as cash-strapped families apparently decided to take domestic holidays rather than travel abroad.

這些學校表示，這一兩年夏天的衝浪課不但額滿，而且生意旺季一直持續到八月中的假期以後，因為許多手頭拮据的家庭顯然決定放棄到國外旅行，改留在國內渡假。

School managers also say surfing in Europe -- long associated with drug-taking, skipping school and generally lazing about -- has ditched that negative image. Instead, surfing manages to combine the image of a healthy, nature-oriented sport, and one that still gives off "cool" vibes. （AFP）

學校主管還說，在歐洲，衝浪長期以來都被人和吸毒、曠課及遊手好閒等聯想在一起，現在卻已拋開了這種負面形象。相反地，衝浪似乎結合了一種健康、愛好自然的運動，以及一種依舊散發出「酷」氛圍的形象。（法新社）

新聞辭典

ride something out：片語，原指船隻安渡風暴，引申為指忍受逆境、克服難關，如It was a nasty situation, but the mayor tried to ride it out.（雖然情況非常不利，但市長仍試圖克服困難。）

mope：動詞，指憂鬱、意志消沈或沒精打采地閒蕩，如Since her dog ran away, she mopes around all day.（自從她的狗走失後，她整天都鬱鬱寡歡。）

vibe：名詞，非正式用語，指某事或某人所引起的氣氛或感受，如I didn’t like the place - it had bad vibes.（我不喜歡這個地方，它讓人有種不祥的感覺。）