Maria Amelia Lopez

Madrid, May 22 (Reuters): A Spanish great-grandmother whose blog attracted tens of thousands of readers from around the world has died aged 97 in the northern Spanish province of La Coruna.

Maria Amelia Lopez charmed readers with a homely mix of memories and chat athttp://amis95.blogspot.com/, including stories of a long life that witnessed Spain’s Civil War and years of dictatorship under General Francisco Franco.

Lopez, who dictated her entries to her grandson Daniel because she suffered from cataracts, became a nationally loved figure in Spain and met Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

“My grandson gave me this blog when I was 95 on December 23, 2006, and my life changed,” reads one of her entries. “Since that day I’ve had 1,570,784 visits from bloggers from 5 continents who have cheered up my old age.”