Rosalía Mera Goyenechea (28 January 1944 – 15 August 2013) was a Spanish businesswoman and entrepreneur. At the time of her death, she was the richest woman in Spain^[1] and the world's richest self-made woman.^[2] In 1975, she co-founded the Zara retail chain with her then-husband Amancio Ortega Gaona. The company grew to become the world's largest fashion retailer.^[3]

Rosalia Mera Goyenechea was born in A Coruña, Galicia, Spain on 28 January 1944.^[3] She dropped out of school at age eleven to work as a sales assistant in a clothing shop.^[1][4]

Mera began designing gowns and lingerie in her home with her then-husband, Amancio Ortega Gaona. The couple opened the first Zara store in 1975 in A Coruña.^[4] Eventually the couple parlayed their work into a multi-billion dollar enterprise. Zara's success was in part due to its strategy of imitating popular fashions and quickly making them for sale at inexpensive prices.^[3]

Ten years after the opening of the first Zara store, Inditex was established as a holding company for the couple's businesses.^[4] Inditex now comprises multiple fashion companies, of which Zara is the flagship.^[1] The company also owns the retailers Bershka, Massimo Dutti, Oysho, Pull & Bear, Stradivarius, Uterque and Zara Home.^[5] Inditex now has over 6000+ stores in over 86 countries^[3] and over 120,000 employees.^[5] Despite her 1986 divorce from Ortega,^[1] Mera retained a 7% stake in the company.^[6]

Mera also owned interests in a company which made fingerprinting identification kits for newborns^[7] and another company, Zeltia, which carries out research into cancer fighting compounds of both synthetic and natural origin and particularly those bioactive compounds originating in the ocean.^[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. She was the second-wealthiest person from Spain,^[7] second only to her ex-husband.

Mera opposed conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's plans to make Spain's abortion laws more restrictive.^[5] She also opposed austerity cutbacks to Spain's national healthcare and education programmes.^[5]

Mera established the Paideia Foundation which works with groups in risk of social exclusion.^[7][9]

Mera married Amancio Ortega Gaona in 1966.^[4] The couple had a daughter, Sandra in 1968.^[4] and also had a son, Marcos in 1971, who was born with cerebral palsy.^[7] The couple divorced in 1986.

On 14 August 2013, Mera was admitted to a hospital in Menorca in an ‘irreversible situation’ after suffering a stroke. The family had been on holiday in Menorca. Mera died on 15 August 2013 in A Coruña. 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."^[1] She was buried in the cemetery of the church of Santa Eulalia of Liáns, in Oleiros (A Coruña).^[13]

Her daughter Sandra Ortega Mera inherited her wealth, and became Spain's richest woman with a net wealth of $6.1 billion.^[14]