Overview
- Noelia Castillo Ramos, paralysed after a 2022 suicide attempt following sexual assaults, died Thursday at a Barcelona care hospital after receiving doctor-administered life-ending medication.
- Her request was cleared by Catalonia’s expert review committee in July 2024 and later by Spain’s courts, with the Constitutional Court ruling in February 2026 that her rights were not violated.
- The European Court of Human Rights declined interim measures on March 10 to stop the procedure, and the conservative group Abogados Cristianos says its complaints against clinicians and Catalan officials continue.
- Her father, backed by Abogados Cristianos, argued her psychiatric diagnoses impaired consent, while her mother said she opposed euthanasia yet remained with her daughter through her final hours.
- Spain has allowed assisted dying since 2021 for adults with incurable or permanently disabling conditions that cause unbearable suffering, and this case intensifies scrutiny of how capacity is assessed and safeguards are enforced.