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 Spaniard, who is only 1.50 meters tall, 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.
Been through a lot, survived a lot
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 right-wing national putschist leader and later dictator Francisco Franco.
Die-hard football fan
The trained cobbler and longtime owner of a shoe factory was a die-hard football fan, former player and honorary member of the Puente Castro FC club. “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.
Source: Nachrichten
