World's oldest man dies in Spain

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Saturnino de la Fuente on his 110th birthday

Photo: Ayuntamiento de Leon / dpa

The oldest man in the world has died in Spain at the age of 112.

The life of Saturnino de la Fuente was "extinguished like a candle within a few seconds" in the city of León on Tuesday, the Europa Press news agency and other media quoted relatives of the man as saying.

He died in León, about 300 kilometers north-west of Madrid, in the house of one of his daughters.

The 1.50 meter tall Spaniard had only been listed as the oldest man on the planet by the Guinness Book of Records since September 10 last year - after the death of Puerto Rican Emilio Flores.

In less than a month, on February 12, he would have turned 113.

Three of his eight children died before him.

"Pepino" survived house collapse after plane crash

De la Fuente was in relatively good physical and mental condition until the very end. It was said that he had been through a lot in his long life and survived a lot. His worst experience is reported to have been in 1937, when he survived the Spanish Civil War under the rubble of a house that had been completely destroyed when a German Condor Legion fighter plane crashed. At that time, the Condor Legion supported the putschist leader and later dictator Francisco Franco.

The trained cobbler and longtime owner of a shoe factory was a die-hard soccer fan, former player and honorary member of the soccer club Puente Castro FC.

"Pepino", as De la Fuente was called by relatives and friends, was also the first person to be vaccinated against the corona virus in the province of León at the end of 2020.

col/dpa