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Spain’s oldest person becomes oldest survivor of coronavirus at 113

The Local Spain
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Spain’s oldest person becomes oldest survivor of coronavirus at 113
Photo by Inma Raventós

María Branyas at the grand old age of 113 has become the oldest person known to have survived the coronavirus.

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The great-grandmother, who was born in March, 1907, already holds the title of Spain’s oldest citizen but can now officially be known as the oldest Covid-19 survivor too.

Originally born in San Francisco in the US where her father was working after a stint in Mexico, the family returned to Spain by boat in 1915 during the First World War.

She survived the Spanish flu pandemic that killed an estimated 50 million people and lived through the Spanish Civil War and ensuing fascist dictatorship of General Francisco Franco.

She married a doctor in 1931 and the pair settled in Girona province in Catalonia where they raised their three children.

Branyas has spent the last two decades in the Santa Maria del Tura residential care home which like many elderly care homes across Spain has been hit by the coronavirus.

At least two residents have died in the home from covid-19 and Branyas was among 17 residents who tested positive to the virus and were isolated in the rooms, although she has now been given the all clear.

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Now a grandmother of 11 grandchildren and 13 great-children, she is reportedly looking forward to a time when family visits can again resume as she hasn’t seen any family members since she celebrated her 113birthday on March 2.

One of her daughters, who has set up a Twitter account for Branyas, told La Vanguardia: "Now that she is well, she is wonderful, she wants to speak, to explain, to reflect, she is herself again.”

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