Europe’s oldest woman has died a month and a half after celebrating her 116th birthday.
Spaniard Ana Vela, the third oldest woman in the world, died in her sleep on Friday at a retirement home in Barcelona where she lived.
The former dressmaker moved to Catalonia from her home town of Puente Genil near Cordoba, southern Spain, in the 1940s.
The grandmother-of-four, who also had several great-grandchildren, lived longer than two of her four children.
One of her children, a daughter aged 90 who has the same name as her mum, lived with her at the retirement home called Residencia La Verneda were she had been permanently based for the past nine years.
Spaniard Ana Vela, pictured here on her 110th birthday, died aged 116. She was Europe’s oldest woman, and the third oldest woman in the world
Ana, who became Europe’s oldest woman on April 15 when Italian Emma Morano died aged 117, turned 116 on October 29. She was 116 and 42 days old when she died.
Only Japanese pair Nabi Tajima, who is 117 years old, and Chiyo Miyako, who will turn 117 next May, were older than her.
Ana, who was in a wheelchair and suffered dementia, was last pictured in public blowing out the candles on her 110th birthday cake.
She celebrated her last birthday with an intimate family get-together. La Verneda director David Gonzalez described her at the time as being ‘as strong as ever.’
He told a Spanish newspaper: ‘She doesn’t look 116. We have younger residents who seem older than her.
‘We treat her just like the other residents here. She’s special to us but she doesn’t receive any special treatment.
‘She eats the same as the others. She gets up at 10am and has breakfast, she has a siesta and then a snack before her dinner.’
Her daughter told Spanish daily El Pais last year: ‘She likes a glass of semi-sweet wine with her meal but she doesn’t drink a lot.
‘When it comes to food, she eats everything, meat, fish, vegetables. She has a very normal diet with homemade food. When she was younger she had a voracious appetite.’
She lived with her 90-year-old daughter in a care home in Barcelona and had four children, four grandchildren and several great-grandchildren. She enjoyed a daily glass of sweet wine
Another Italian, Maria Giuseppa Robucci who turned 114 in March, now becomes Europe’s oldest woman.
The world’s oldest man, Spaniard Francisco Nunez Olivera, celebrated his 113th birthday on Wednesday.
The retired farmer who has four children, nine grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren, began the day with his traditional sponge cake and glass of milk for breakfast before opening letters of congratulation from around the world.
The widower’s daughter Maria Antonia, 82, was among those who spent the anniversary with him at his home in the village of Bienvenida in Badajoz, south-west Spain.
Francisco, who has two siblings aged 97 and 93, became the world’s oldest man after the death of Polish-born Israeli Yisrael Kristal on August 11.
Italian Maria Giuseppa Robucci, who turned 114 in March, is now Europe’s oldest woman