Elena Gocmen Rueda
SHE holds the title of the fourth oldest person in the world, and the third in Europe and this week, Maria Branyas reached the grand old age of 115.
She marked the occasion by blowing out candles on the birthday cake at the nursing home in Catañunya’s Girona where she has lived since her mid-nineties.
Born on March 4 in 1907, Maria has lived through two world wars, the Spanish Civil War and ensuing 36-year fascist dicatorship of General Francisco Franco, aswell as two global pandemics.
She lived through first the Spanish Flu and more than a century later she survived coronavirus, which she caught as the virus swept across Spain during the first wave in March 2020.
Photos of Maria blowing out her candles were were shared by the Santa Maria del Tura residential care home where she lives.
“I want to thank everyone for having shared with me the joy of 115 years,” said Maria in a quote sent out to the media with the photos.
She is the mother of three children, eleven grandchildren and thirteen great-grandchildren.
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