《经济学人》双语：全球数字游民给拉丁美洲带来的好处多？还是坏处多？

原文标题：
Remote workers
Digital nomads are a force for good in Latin America
It is unfair to blame remote workers for gentrifying neighbourhoods and raising rents
远程工作者
数字游民是拉丁美洲的一股积极力量
将社区改善和房租上涨的问题归咎于远程工作者，这是不公平的

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IN A CAFÉ in Mexico City, Itandehui Ruíz rolls her eyes. Her chilaquiles(fried tortilla chips in salsa) are missing something: spice.
在墨西哥城的一家咖啡馆里，伊坦德惠·鲁伊斯翻了个白眼。她的汁拉贵司（墨西哥玉米饼配莎莎酱）似乎少了点什么——少了香料。

“The foreigners can’t handle it,” says a waiter. Some locals blame outsiders for diluting not only condiments but culture, and making life unaffordable.
服务员说："外国人受不了香料的味道”。一些当地人指责外来者不仅冲淡了调料，还冲淡了文化，使生活变得难以负担。

Mexico City was Latin America’s most expensive city in 2022 and 2023, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit, a sister company.
根据姊妹公司经济学人智库的数据，墨西哥城是2022年和2023年拉丁美洲最昂贵的城市。

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Digital nomads are remote workers from rich countries who move every few months in search of tropical climes, cultural experiences and cheaper living.
数字游民是指来自富裕国家的远程工作者，他们每隔几个月就会更换居住地，寻找热带气候、文化体验和更便宜的生活体验。

During the pandemic these travellers, often working in tech, flocked abroad.
在疫情期间，这些从事科技行业的旅行者纷纷涌向国外。

Top destinations are in Asia and Europe, but Latin America holds its own.Mexico City was the seventh-most-popular place in 2023.
最热门的目的地是亚洲和欧洲，但拉丁美洲也有其独特之处。墨西哥城是2023年第7大最受欢迎的城市。

In 2022 there were 263 nomads for every 100,000 inhabitants in Medellín in Colombia, more than any other Spanish-speaking city, according to Nomad List, a website.
根据Nomad List网站的数据，2022年，哥伦比亚麦德林每10万居民中就有263名游民，比任何其他讲西班牙语的城市都多。

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The authorities are keen. We want to be “a global player among digital nomad cities”, says José Alejandro González, Medellín’s tourism secretary.
政府对此表现出浓厚的兴趣。麦德林旅游局长何塞·亚历杭德罗·冈萨雷斯表示，我们希望成为“全球数字游民城市中的一员”。

Over 20 countries in the Americas now offer a digital nomad-friendly visa.
目前，美洲已有20多个国家推出了针对数字游民的友好签证政策。

These short-stay permits usually require a minimum salary and health insurance, and often exempt the holder from paying tax for a period.
这些短期居留签证要求申请者持有最低薪资和医疗保险，并且在一定期限内可以享受免税优惠。

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But many residents are less convinced. They see wealthy workers living like kings and pushing up prices.
但许多居民对此并不买账。他们观察到富有的远程工作者们过着国王般的生活，还推高了物价。

In Cuauhtémoc, a municipality of Mexico City home to hip neighbourhoods, rents rose by 35% between June 2022 and 2023, compared with 14% for the city as a whole. “Gringo go home” is scrawled across a wall.
以墨西哥城的一个时髦街区库奥特莫克为例，在2022年6月至2023年期间，该地区的租金上涨了35%，而整个城市的涨幅为14%。“老外滚回家”的涂鸦甚至出现在了墙上。

In Medellín the number of short-term rentals in the hillside area of El Poblado leapt by 46% in the two years to the end of 2023, according to AirDNA, a data firm.
据数据公司AirDNA的数据，在麦德林，到2023年底，该市埃尔波布拉多山坡区的短租数量在两年内激增了46%。

The newcomers added pressure to an already overburdened housing market, says Luis Miguel Peláez of Acrecer, a property company.
房地产公司Acrecer的路易斯·米格尔·佩拉兹表示，这些新来者的涌入进一步加剧了本已紧张的住房市场压力。

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Cultural complaints follow. Sceptics often equate foreigners with drugs and sex tourism.
随之而来的还有文化方面的抱怨。一些持怀疑态度的人经常将外国人等同于毒品和性旅游。

They see tech bros spreading their homogenous global taste for exposed-wood coffee shops and co-working spaces. Many speak only English, which can annoy and alienate locals.
他们认为科技界人士将他们对裸露木质咖啡馆和共享办公空间的全球同质化品味带到了这里。许多人只会说英语，这可能会惹恼和疏远当地人。

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Yet demonising nomads is wrong-headed.
然而，将数字游民视为洪水猛兽是错误的。

Rent rises are largely thanks to other factors.Medellín needs around 14,500 new homes this year, but is building only some 2,000, according to Camacol Antioquia, a trade body.
房租上涨主要是其他因素造成的。据安蒂奥基亚商会称，麦德林今年大约需要14,500套新房，但只建造了约2,000套。

The link between short-term rentals and the distorted housing market is overblown, says Eugene Towle of Softec, a Mexican research firm.
墨西哥研究机构Softec的尤金·托尔说，短期租赁与扭曲的住房市场之间的联系被过度夸大了。

Airbnb takes up just 3% of the capital’s rental housing. New construction permits in Mexico City fell by two-thirds between 2018 and 2022.
爱彼迎只占首都租赁住房的3%。2018-2022年间，墨西哥城的新建筑许可数量减少了2/3。

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Overall, like other immigrants, nomads bring more benefits than downsides.Teleworkers plough their earnings into the local economy.
总体而言，数字游民和其他移民一样，为当地带来的好处多于坏处。远程工作者将他们的收入投入当地经济。

In Medellín, they spend $1,400 a month on average, compared with $575 for a local.
在麦德林，他们平均每月花费1400美元，而当地人则只花费575美元。

Josh, from Scotland, says he spends $1,500 on rent and another $800 a month on a chef, kick-boxing instructor and salsa teacher.
来自苏格兰的乔希说，他每月交1500美元租房，另外还要花800美元请厨师、拳击教练和萨尔萨舞老师。
 
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Businesses are benefiting. Profits have risen, says Pedro Echavarría of Pergamino, which runs a café chain in Medellín.
商家们也从中受益。麦德林咖啡馆连锁店的老板佩德罗·埃查瓦里亚说，利润增加了。

He adapted the spaces to suit remote workers—and runs Instagram campaigns about etiquette (packed lunches are a no-no).
他对咖啡馆进行了改造，以满足远程工作者的需求——并在Instagram上发起了关于礼仪（禁止自带午餐）的宣传活动。

In Mexico City, Iván Sánchez, the manager of Taquería Orinoco, a taco shop in Roma Norte, says he has never paid for marketing because nomads queuing around the block do the job.
在墨西哥城，罗马北区的塔可里亚·奥里诺科玉米卷饼店的经理伊万·桑切斯说，他从未花一分钱做营销，因为远程工作者们在店外排起了长队，就是最好的营销宣传。

Mexico City’s government reckons remote workers contributed 9.3bn pesos ($532m) to the economy in 2021, 15% of that year’s tourist revenues.
墨西哥城政府估计，远程工作者在2021年为该市经济贡献了93亿比索（约合5.32亿美元），相当于当年旅游收入的15%。

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Highly-skilled immigrants, as most digital nomads are, boost innovation too.
大多数数字游民与高技能移民一样，他们也推动了创新。

Newcomers’ ideas help develop products and introduce their host cities to global markets.
新来者的创意有助于开发产品，并将所在城市推向全球市场。

In Medellín, Joel Elster, a Brit, trains locals in sales. One of them now earns $5,000 a month, he claims.
在麦德林，英国人乔尔·埃尔斯特对当地人进行销售培训。他称，其中一名当地人现在每月可以挣到5000美元。

And it is hard to pin cultural decline or crime on nomads. “They don’t come to destroy the city because they live here,” says Mr González.
很难将文化衰落或犯罪归咎于数字游民。正如冈萨雷斯先生所说：“他们来这里不是为了破坏这座城市，而是因为他们自己也选择在这里生活。”

After decades of isolation and drug wars, remote workers are helping Antioquia, the region around Medellín, to boom.
经过数十年的孤立和毒品战争之后，远程工作者正在帮助麦德林所在的安蒂奥基亚省实现经济繁荣。

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Officials like Mr González see their job as showing locals the benefits and managing the downsides.
冈萨雷斯先生等官员认为，他们的工作重点在于向当地人展示数字游民带来的积极影响，并有效管理可能的负面影响。

In Medellín the city is linking businesses with nomads. The authorities have clamped down on people illegally subletting their flats.
在麦德林，市政府正在积极促进企业与数字游民之间的合作与联系。同时，当局也在严厉打击非法转租公寓的行为。

Developers are building sleek “co-livings” (apartment blocks with in-house shared working spaces) outside residential zones.
开发商正在住宅区外建造时尚的 “合租公寓”，也就是内部有共享工作空间的公寓楼。

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Mexico City, which was brimming with global talent long before the laptop crowd turned up, is taking a more laissez-faire approach.
墨西哥城早在笔记本电脑人群出现之前，就已经是全球人才云集之地，如今它采取了更加放任自流的态度。

Foreigners made Mexico’s capital vibrant throughout the 20th century.
整个20世纪，外国人让墨西哥城充满了活力。

The remote-work tribe could do the same for other regional cities in the 21st century—even if the insipid salsas get some folk hot under the collar.
而在21世纪，远程工作族也有可能为墨西哥的其他地区城市带来同样的繁荣景象——尽管无味的莎莎酱会让一些人火冒三丈。

（恭喜读完，本篇英语词汇759左右）
原文出自：2024年9月28日《TE》The Americas版块

精读笔记来源于：自由英语之路
本文翻译整理: Irene
本文编辑校对: Irene
仅供个人英语学习交流使用。

【重点句子】（3个）
Digital nomads are remote workers from rich countries who move every few months in search of tropical climes, cultural experiences and cheaper living.
数字游民是指来自富裕国家的远程工作者，他们每隔几个月就会更换居住地，寻找热带气候、文化体验和更便宜的生活体验。

But many residents are less convinced. They see wealthy workers living like kings and pushing up prices.
但许多居民对此并不买账。他们观察到富有的远程工作者们过着国王般的生活，还推高了物价。

Overall, like other immigrants, nomads bring more benefits than downsides.Teleworkers plough their earnings into the local economy.
总体而言，数字游民和其他移民一样，为当地带来的好处多于坏处。远程工作者将他们的收入投入当地经济。