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THE UNITED NATIONS does not view Spain’s separatist-ruled Catalonia region as having the right to self-determination, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said in an interview published yesterday.
“Spain is an independent and sovereign country that includes the Catalan region,” Ban told four Spanish newspapers, El Pais, El Mundo, ABC and La Vanguardia.
“It is in this way that it was admitted to the United Nations and acts within the international community,” he said, according to a Spanish translation of his comments published by El Pais.
Pro-independence parties in the wealthy northeast Spanish region are seeking to pass a resolution in the Catalan parliament in early November announcing the formal start of secession from Spain and the formation of a new republican state within 18 months.
The separatists won a majority of seats in the Catalan parliament in Barcelona for the first time in elections last month.
But Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said Friday that Spain’s main parties will work together to defend national unity against the independence drive.
Ban said the UN did not recognise Catalonia as a non-autonomous territory that should be able to claim the right to self-determination.
“When one speaks of self-determination, certain areas have been recognised by the United Nations as non-autonomous territories. But Catalonia does not fall into this category,” he told the Spanish press.
“A positive aspect of Spain is that there is respect for diversity: the culture, the languages, the traditions,” he added.
While they now control a majority of seats in the regional parliament, the Catalan separatists won less than half of the vote in last month’s elections, raising questions over the legitimacy of their latest push for independence.
Ban expressed hope for “a consensual solution” for Catalonia, “based on dialogue and conforming to the democratic tradition”.
“I ask leaders and the Catalan people to engage in the dialogue,” he said, ahead of general elections due in Spain on December 20.
Catalans’ longstanding demands for greater autonomy have intensified in recent years, in tandem with the country’s economic crisis.
Home to 7.5 million people, Spain’s richest region has its own widely spoken language and distinct culture.
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Since when are big bag of cans with the lads classed as groceries?
@I Crow: They’re more than groceries , they’re staples!!!
I’m basically 95% Bulmers and 5% Iceberger these days.
That’s hilarious. Heatwave- buy extra groceries, clothes, furniture, toys…. Poor weather conditions- buy extra groceries, clothes, toys. Buy buy buy!
Where do kantar get these figures ? How accurate are they. Dunnes, lild and Aldi are private companies and don’t give out this information.
@Martin Sinnott: from the named research firm in the article. You are very suspicious. Hope you haven’t had a bad experience in the past making you not trust people.
@Martin Sinnott: private companies supply data all the time for many reasons , they want to know how they are performing in market share ? They want to compare how their competitors are performing , research is conducted all the time for all kinds of data , mobile companies want to know their market share , car companies the list is endless , being private companies doesn’t mean they won’t share performance information , most industries have some credible source , in this case kantar are the reputable research company and as they monitor the data ongoing basis you can sure it is pretty accurate actually
@Dave Hammond: Lidl/Aldi are on top now with 23.1% and they are the best.
@Martin Sinnott: They give a sample audience scanners and pay them to record their weekly shopping (you can apply for those positions), that data is used for the trends and market share projections.
Only part of the data is made public, the specifics are sold back to the supermarkets.
The price of a bottle of sunscreen is just amazing €10 to €15 on average!
Previously for at home in Ireland one bottle of factor 15 would still have a good bit left in it for at least 2 or 3 years…
@Dotty Dunleary: try Aldi’s sunscreen
@Dotty Dunleary: I wonder what street it is you’re buying your sunscreen on, because it’s not the same street as I’m buying my sunscreen on. Down to Lildi with ya.
@Dotty Dunleary: I paid €30 for a bottle in the Dominican Republic last year, €10-15 is cheap in comparison!
@DaisyMay: If I wanted to end up like a lobster attracting flies I will! :-D
@Sam Harms: Big windows in that shop for tourists I’d say!
I thought the country was broke?
@The Bull McCabe: your about 7 years behind , nearly a full employment now.
SuperValu dying a slow death. No value= lower sales. They been slipping constantly on this market research but done nothing about it?
@Artur Gurta: not what i read recently. Ill try and find the article for you
How can four million people spend twenty seven pounds on groceries
@Peter Murphy: bags of ice probably account for 12 million
They normally wait outside the doors of these supermarkets to ask buyers for their receipts for to do the market research.
How can Supervalue sales only go up 0.1% and all others roughly 2.5 %?
@Kevin Cashin: because they’re expensive and they’re products have gone downhill
@Me_a_monkey: *their
No thanks to the propaganda spread by some media outlets.
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