Spain’s richest woman emerges

SANDRA ORTEGA MERA has become Spain’s richest woman after inheriting her mother’s stake in the world’s largest clothing retailer Inditex.

She received around 90% of Rosalia Mera’s fortune, and has a net worth of $7.3 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Her riches have also made her the 182^nd richest person in the world and the youngest female European billionaire on Bloomberg’s ranking.

Inditex, whose brands include Zara, Pull & Bear and Bershka, operates more than 6,000 stores worldwide.

The group has increased its net income by at least 10% per annum in each of the past three years.

It was set up by Mera and her then-husband, Amancio Ortega in 1963. The first Zara store opened 12 years later.

Find out who else is escaping economic woe here.