2015 Miss World - Spain's Mireia Lalaguna Royo Wins Title in China Saturday Dec 19,2015

 

The finale of the 2015 Miss World contest came to a conclusion with Miss Spain Mireia Lalaguna Royo claiming the crown in Sanya, a coastal resort city in south China's Hainan province.

 

Miss World 2015 crowning moment #MW2015 #MissWorld #MissWorldTime #MissWorld2015 #Spain pic.twitter.com/b4h0wrKa10

— Miss World 2015 (@MissWorldTime) Dec 19,2015

Mireia Lalaguna, a 23-year-old medical college student and a pianist from Barcelona, obtained the title after beating 113 other contestants from around the world. Miss Russia Sofia Nikitchuk finished the runner-up and Miss Indonesia Maria Harfanti ranked the third, Xinhua reported.

Miss World 2015, Mireia Lalaguna Royo #MW2015 #MissWorld #MissWorldTime #MissWorld2015 #Spain pic.twitter.com/4ro7rugGB6

— Miss World 2015 (@MissWorldTime) Dec 19,2015

This was 65th Miss World contest and the 7th held in China.It is one of the three most publicised beauty contests in the world, alongside the Miss Universe and Miss Earth contests

China has hosted the competition 7 times, starting in 2003, as part of its attempts to project a more modern, outgoing image

The Miss World pageant, created in Britain by Eric Morley in 1951, is the oldest surviving major international beauty contest.

Miss World 2015, Mireia Lalaguna Royo #MW2015 #MissWorld #MissWorldTime #MissWorld2015 #Spain pic.twitter.com/1SJd8ykJ2V

— Miss World 2015 (@MissWorldTime) Dec 19,2015

 The victory marked the first-ever win for a Spanish contestant.

Spain's Mireia Lalaguna Royo was named the winner of the Miss World 2015 competition in the southern Chinese island resort of Sanya, an event dogged by controversy over China's refusal to allow Canada's entrant to attend.

Not present was Miss Canada, Chinese-born Anastasia Lin, who had been prevented from boarding her connecting flight to Sanya from Hong Kong last month after China refused her a visa.

Lin is an outspoken critic of Chinese religious policy and a follower of the Falun Gong meditation practice, which was outlawed by China in 1999.

She said that after she won the Canadian title, Chinese security agents visited her father, who still lives in China, in an apparent attempt to intimidate her into silence.

Sofia Nikitchuk of Russia was the runner-up and Indonesia's Maria Harfanti took third place in the Saturday night final following a lengthy competition featuring 114 women.