Mari Ángeles Mazo: The Madrid native who stole the hearts of a Malaga village

The 44-year-old Madrid native moved to the northern corner of Malaga province five years ago to make a radical life change. Leaving her job as a retail assistant in a Madrid shopping centre, she bought an old guesthouse - originally the village doctor's residence half a century ago - and renovated it largely with her own hands to open her own bed and breakfast.

In just five years, Mari Ángeles built a deep network of close friends who became her chosen family in Andalucía. "I'm in shock; I'm talking about her and I still can't believe I'm never going to see her again," says her friend Juan Jesús, who exchanged text messages with her moments before she boarded the ill-fated Renfe AVE service on Wednesday morning. Their plans to attend a local village festival together this Friday were tragically cut short.

When news of the catastrophic derailment near Urda broke, her friends desperately tried to reach her mobile phone, but messages failed to deliver. After hours of ringing hospitals across Castilla-La Mancha, the tragic confirmation arrived at 4am on Thursday when her sister called to confirm her death.

Local residents remember Mari Ángeles as an "all-rounder" and a "ray of light" who quickly integrated into village life. Passionate about nature, yoga, and skating, she actively volunteered with a local animal welfare association and took part in community events.

"She was kind to everyone and had that rare gift for dealing with people," recalls her friend Carmen. "If she hadn't died in that crash, she would have been out there at the wreck helping take people out like there was no tomorrow."

Today, the front door of her guesthouse remains quietly closed as Cuevas de San Marcos mourns a woman who travelled 500 kilometres from the capital to start anew, only to become the very heart and soul of the village.