Zara's success was in part due to its strategy of imitating popular fashions and quickly making them for sale at inexpensive prices.

[1] The company also owns the retailers Bershka, Massimo Dutti, Oysho, Pull & Bear, Stradivarius, Uterque and Zara Home.

[7][8] According to the 2013 Forbes billionaire list, Mera was the world's wealthiest self-made female entrepreneur, with a net worth of over $6 billion.

Mera opposed conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's plans to make Spain's abortion laws more restrictive.

She had been transferred by plane to the port city and then by ambulance to the Hospital San Rafael de A Coruña where she later died of complications.

[10][11] Inditex confirmed Mera's death on 16 August 2013,[12] stating "The group wishes to send its sincere condolences to her loved ones and friends at this extremely difficult time, after the loss of a person who contributed so much to the origins and development of the company.