Overview
- Noelia Castillo, 25, died by euthanasia at a sociosanitary residence in Sant Pere de Ribes on Thursday after judges rejected the last attempts to stop the procedure.
- She sought help to die in April 2024 and won unanimous approval in July 2024 from Catalonia’s evaluation commission, then her father and Abogados Cristianos filed appeals up to Spain’s Supreme and Constitutional Courts and the European Court of Human Rights, which refused a suspension in March.
- The case was delayed for 601 days because Spanish courts allow third parties with a claimed “legitimate interest” to challenge commission decisions, a path advocates say turns a personal right into a prolonged judicial process.
- In response to the delay, PSC, Comuns, ERC, Junts and CUP advanced a bill in the Catalan Parlament to require superior courts to resolve these appeals within 20 days, with a fast‑track push for an April plenary before sending the change to Spain’s Congress.
- Since Spain’s euthanasia law took effect in 2021, officials recorded 2,432 requests through December 2024 and 46% resulted in the procedure, with most beneficiaries over 60, which makes Castillo’s case unusually young.