After the death of Sister André at the age of 118 on January 17, Maria Branyas Morera became the new dean of humanity. This American-Spanish is 115 years old.

From the top of her 115 years, here she is at the top of the world. After the death of the French sister André, at the age of 118, on January 17, Maria Branyas Morera is now the new dean of humanity. This American-Spanish was born in the United States on March 4, 1907 in San Francisco. In 1915, her parents decided to return to live in Spain, where she still spends peaceful days today in a retirement home, at the Residència Santa María del Tura, located in the city of Olot, in the northeast of Spain. ‘Spain. “It is an honor to be able to continue to accompany her and take care of her” also explains the establishment in a publication on social networks, which also explains that she is today “in good health”.

Peaceful indeed, his life was not. In 1915, when her parents decided to return to live in Spain, Maria Branyas Morera lost her father to tuberculosis during the trip that took her and her family to Europe. The trip was particularly harmful: during the crossing, Maria Branyas Morera lost hearing in one ear. Today, at 115, the new dean of humanity still has health problems in her ear. The American-Spanish arrives in Spain with her family in the dismal theater of the First World War. It will also go through the Spanish Civil War (1936 – 1939), the Francoist dictatorship (1939 to 1977) and the Second World War. In the Catalan News, she thus describes wars “very harmful in Europe”. She also has “very bad memories” of the civil war.

“A New Year is a Gift”

In 1931, she decided to marry Joan Moret, a doctor with whom she would have three children, who in turn would have 11 grandchildren.

Her husband died at the age of 72. It was also struck by the COVID-19: “This pandemic revealed that the elderly are the forgotten of our society,” she said. The company, moreover,, the American-Spanish will have seen it transforming over the decades with the arrival of the Internet and its social networks which allow it to stay in touch with its family and even to tweet. The retiree notes, however, that people lived “more peacefully and happier” at the beginning of the 20th century.

And his secret for such longevity? Maria Branyas Morera says she is used to eating “little but everything”, and that she has never followed a diet. The dean also thinks “that longevity is also about being lucky. Luck and good genetics.” She prefers to favor “order, tranquility, a good connection with family and friends, contact with nature, emotional stability”. And to conclude: “Life is not eternal for anyone […] At my age, a new year is a gift, a humble celebration, a new adventure, a beautiful journey, a moment of happiness. Let’s enjoy life together. »

This article is originally published on nouvelles-dujour.com

If things go as planned, the SNCF will soon no longer be the only company to depart trains from Tours station. This Monday, January 23, the private company Le Train confirmed its wish to launch two rail lines between cities in the Great West, without going through Paris: Bordeaux-Nantes and Bordeaux-Rennes. Two connections that would serve Tours-Centre station.

The idea would be to offer 5 daily rotations, with part of the journey on the Tours-Bordeaux high-speed line which is not yet at maximum capacity.

If the travel times, schedules or ticket prices are still unknown, we know a priori in what type of train these trips will be made: those of the Spanish manufacturer Talgo which already equips the equivalent of the SNCF in Germany (Deutsche Bahn ) and in Spain (Renfe). The trains would include 350 seats but above all up to 40 places for bicycles, which is not at all the case today for SNCF TGVs. They would also be fitted out with a single class.

The project should be completed in

2025, three years later than expected because Le Train had to revise its battle plan. He finally buys new trains because he is unable to obtain second-hand trains, despite his requests to the SNCF (there would be in particular a problem with machine components, deemed dangerous, and prohibiting their resale). That said, if the situation is unblocked, the company claims to be able to start its activities at the end of 2023. It would already have all the necessary authorizations (it currently has 150 employees).

If Le Train manages to launch, it would be the first new private company to invest in the high-speed train market in France, the other competitors of the SNCF being backed by large national companies. Ultimately, its objective is to offer several lines between regions.

It should also be noted that Tours could be served in the future by other lines of private rail operators with, for example, links to Normandy. There was also talk of the launch of a luxury train by Puy du Fou which would stop at the Château de Chenonceau.

This article is originally published on info-tours.fr

There is no doubt that the takeover of Air Europa by Iberia creates competition concerns. On many routes, it even reduces it to nothing. If we exclude Ryanair’s lower category product, which does not go to the same public, many travelers on Spanish domestic flights will be left without alternatives (Iberia and Air Europa, one step away from closing the operation).

Future of Air Europa

However, it is also true that since the future of Air Europa is very complicated due to the debt load it carries, it is better that its buyer be from the country. For Spain it would be very problematic if Air France kept it. As a strategy for Barajas and for Spain, the solution before us is the best.

The most important routes, those in Latin America, continue to have competitors, either Latam, Avianca, Air France or even in some cases even Lufthansa, offer alternatives. Also TAP, while still independent, does the Atlantic crossing. It is on these routes that fusion is strategically vital.

In the short radius, however, it is likely that the authorities have, should and will say something. Although Ryanair is now forced to grow in Spain, it is true that the offer and competition are limited. At the time Easyjet wanted to enter our country and even created some routes to Bilbao or Mallorca, but finally it chose to focus on France and Italy and more recently on Berlin. It would have been the solution: low cost, but higher level than Ryanair.

So there will be surprises on domestic flights, which could be good news for Volotea, which is financially very unstable today.

In any case, Spanish domestic flights are today an opportunity for new initiatives that probably either have to emerge or appear from other countries.

This article is originally published on preferente.com