Noelia Castillo euthanasia case
2026 intentional death of Spanish woman
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Noelia Castillo Ramos (14 November 2000 – 26 March 2026) was a Spanish woman who died after receiving euthanasia. Her request for euthanasia became a landmark case in Spain on the application of the Organic Law Regulating Euthanasia in the country. At age 25, she was one of the youngest people to receive assisted dying after demonstrating chronic and irreversible pain. Her case garnered significant public attention due to a two-year legal battle, in which the High Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) had to intervene to validate her right against appeals filed by her father and the Christian Lawyers Association, who questioned her legal capacity.[2][3]
Noelia Castillo | |
|---|---|
Castillo in 2026, in her final interview | |
| Born | Noelia Castillo Ramos 14 November 2000[1] |
| Died | 26 March 2026 (aged 25) Sant Pere de Ribes, Catalonia, Spain |
| Cause of death | Euthanasia |
Background
When Castillo was 13, her parents lost their home, and she was taken into social care.[4] Castillo was diagnosed with obsessive–compulsive disorder and borderline personality disorder.[5] She was in social care from July 2015 to February 2019, when she voluntarily left as a legal adult.[6]
Castillo stated in an interview that she suffered from three incidents of sexual assault that she did not report and therefore were not officially investigated or judicially confirmed: one from an ex-partner, a second by a group of two males at a nightclub, and a third also at a nightclub by a group of three males.[6]
On 4 October 2022, several days after the second group assault, Castillo attempted suicide by jumping from a building.[6] Castillo survived, but the incident left her with irreversible paraplegia, accompanied by chronic physical pain, neurological damage, and severe psychological suffering.[7]
Campaign
Castillo formally requested euthanasia in 2024, invoking the provisions of existing Spanish law. The main obstacle was the opposition of her father, who, with the support of the Christian Lawyers Association (Asociación de Abogados Cristianos), initiated a series of legal appeals to halt the procedure. All courts rejected the request to stop the procedure and upheld Castillo's right to die.[8] The father argued that his daughter could not make her own judgements due to her personality disorder, and that the state had a responsibility to protect her.[9]
Despite having legal approval, the procedure was delayed for 601 days due to the protracted legal battle.[10] Her procedure was unanimously approved in July 2024 and was due to take place the next month, until her father appealed.[11] In March 2025, her father's appeal was rejected by a court in Barcelona that found that Castillo was not incapable of making a decision on euthanasia.[12]
An appeal to the High Court of Justice of Catalonia upheld the euthanasia in September 2025, but permitted an appeal to the Supreme Court of Spain.[13] On 29 January 2026, the father's appeal was rejected by the Supreme Court,[14] and his appeal to the Constitutional Court of Spain was dismissed as he did not specify how his human rights were violated.[15] On 10 March 2026, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg rejected the father's final appeal.[16]
In her final interview, broadcast on Antena 3's Y ahora Sonsoles on 25 March 2026, Castillo said that her decision to die was personal and she wasn't encouraging other people to request euthanasia.[17]
Reactions
British pianist James Rhodes, who lives in Spain and is a survivor of child sexual abuse, offered to pay Castillo's mental and physical healthcare.[18]
Castillo's euthanasia was debated in the Congress of Deputies. Politicians from parties including the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, Republican Left of Catalonia, Galician Nationalist Bloc, EH Bildu and Sumar spoke in support. The People's Party and Vox criticised the decision.[19]
Luis Argüello, archbishop of Valladolid and president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference of the Catholic Church, condemned the euthanasia.[20] José Mazuelos Pérez, Bishop of the Canary Islands, said the outcome was "another step towards a culture of death, throwing in the towel on the humanisation of medicine."[21] The bishops of the Subcommission for the Family and the Defence of Life said that the case exemplified "an accumulation of personal suffering and institutional shortcomings that calls the whole of society into question" (cf. Christianity and euthanasia).[21]
Death
On 26 March 2026, Castillo, age 25, underwent euthanasia at a healthcare centre in Sant Pere de Ribes in the Province of Barcelona. The procedure consisted of the intravenous administration of drugs that induced deep sedation and subsequent respiratory arrest, designed to prevent the patient from experiencing pain.[22][23] Her mother requested to be present in the room, but she chose to die alone.[24]
Castillo was the third youngest person to receive euthanasia in Spain. Of the 1,123 people who had received euthanasia, two people aged 22 and 23 were younger.[25]
Misinformation
Castillo's father's lawyers said that they had information from "a relative" that she was gang-raped by unaccompanied child migrants while in a care centre. This was then disseminated by Vox leader Santiago Abascal. Various fact-checking websites consider this to be misinformation: Castillo was 21 when she attempted suicide days after the group assault, and had left care over three years earlier. In her broadcast interview, she did not describe her assailants, and said the incidents happened at a nightclub.[6][26][27]
Castillo's euthanasia was also incorrectly reported as being granted due to her having depression, when it was granted due to chronic and irreversible pain from her suicide attempt.[6][26] Her father's lawyers also said that her euthanasia could not be suspended as her organs were already committed to donation, and that doctors had financial interests in the donation of her organs, both of which are legally false.[26][28]