Mandas has a new centenarian: Olga Spano Lallai, daughter of Mandas railway worker Battistino Spano and his wife Francesca Lallai.
Born in Cagliari on August 11, 1925, during one of her father's "railway" stops, the grandmother has been living in Alghero for some time with her youngest daughter, Tiziana Pitzalis. The mayor of Mandas, Umberto Oppus, traveled to the northern Sardinian town on an official visit to congratulate the centenarian on behalf of the municipal administration and the entire community. "Aunt Olga is very attached to her memories of Mandas," says Oppus.
As a child, she lived on Via Scalas with her family, then married Mandas policeman Ilvo Pitzalis, with whom she had four children. In addition to the commemorative parchment marking the important milestone of her 100th birthday, the mayor of Mandas donated some of the books she had written, containing biographies of her father, a Knight of Vittorio Veneto, the history of the railways, and many other anecdotes related to the Spanos, the Lallais, and other families of her relatives and ancestors. "Even the Sardaras," Oppus emphasizes, "Olga is a first cousin of Stefano Sardara's father, the president of Dinamo Sassari, who is also of Mandas origin."