Spanish Woman's Euthanasia Journey Ends After Prolonged Legal Battle
In a deeply personal and poignant final act, Noelia Castillo chose to wear her prettiest dress and apply her makeup exactly as she liked it. She selected a room with no one present except a doctor, determined to look beautiful at the moment of her death. For the 25-year-old, this marked the end of years of relentless pain stemming from mental health struggles, sexual violence, and a paraplegic body. On a Thursday evening in a Barcelona hospital, she received three drugs intravenously, and within twenty minutes, her heart stopped.
"I want to go now and stop suffering, period. None of my family is in favor of euthanasia. But what about the pain I've suffered during all these years?" Noelia stated in her final interview. She elaborated on her wishes, saying, "I've told them how I want it to be. I want to die looking beautiful. I've always thought I want to die looking good. I'll wear my prettiest dress and put on makeup; it will be something simple."
A Childhood Marred by Trauma and Turmoil
Noelia's death, conducted under Spain's euthanasia legislation, followed a bitter and highly publicised legal dispute that reached the nation's highest courts and attracted international scrutiny. However, long before courtrooms and appeals, her life was shaped by profound trauma. She recalled warm childhood summers at her grandmother's house, fondly remembering fairs and outdoor dinners. "It was a very happy time," she reflected.
This joy dissipated when her parents divorced and lost their home due to financial difficulties. She described the joint custody arrangement as "unstable," noting that she and her sister would often wait until early morning hours in bars while their father drank. "After that, it was all bumps in the road, darkness, emptiness," she said. Subsequently, Noelia entered the care system after her parents lost custody because of addiction, mental health issues, and homelessness. She and her sister were placed under the guardianship of the Catalan government, moving through juvenile detention centres from age thirteen.
Mental Health Struggles and Severe Physical Injury
By her early twenties, Noelia had attempted suicide multiple times through drug overdoses and self-harm. "I had two suicide attempts with pills," she recounted. "Then my mother put me in a psychiatric ward. In the first one I self harmed. Then I drank a bottle of toxic cleaning solution. They had to wash out my stomach. In the second psychiatric ward I self harmed two or three times and I tried to kill myself twice." She was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder with paranoia and suicidal thoughts.
During this period, she was sexually assaulted by a partner of four years after taking sleeping pills and by two other men at an entertainment venue. In October 2022, at age twenty-one, Noelia was gang raped by three men in a nightclub, which she described as a turning point. Days later, on October 4, after using cocaine, she climbed to the fifth floor of a building and jumped. She survived, but the fall caused a severe spinal cord injury, leaving her paralysed from the waist down. She lived with constant neuropathic pain and incontinence, confined to a wheelchair and requiring catheters every six hours, with a 74% disability rating.
"I don't feel like doing anything: not going out, not eating. Sleeping is very difficult for me, and I have back and leg pain," she said in an interview with Antena 3 days before her death. Referring to her suicide attempt, she added, "My father saw me fall and couldn't do anything. But after everything he's done, I don't feel sorry for him anymore."
Legal Challenges and Family Conflict
By April 2024, after a year and a half of living partly paralysed, Noelia formally requested euthanasia through Catalonia's Guarantee and Evaluation Commission. Three months later, in July, her request was approved, but a legal fight ensued for over a year and a half. Her father, Geronimo Castillo, supported by the ultraconservative Catholic group Christian Lawyers, sought to block the procedure. He argued that her mental health impaired her ability to make a free and conscious decision and claimed there were indications she had changed her mind. He also contended that her condition did not meet the criteria for "unbearable physical or psychological suffering."
In a desperate attempt to keep her alive, he recorded videos of her walking to prove her capability. Footage released by Spanish outlet OK Diario showed Noelia using a walker and crutches, with her father encouraging her. Noelia was due to die in August 2025, but courts initially suspended the euthanasia after her father's efforts. Appeals moved through the Spanish legal system, and in March 2025, a judge ruled that her father was not authorised to decide for her. In September, the High Court of Justice of Catalonia upheld that ruling.
Castillo argued that his daughter suffered from a personality disorder affecting her judgement, emphasising "the obligation of the state to protect the lives of people, especially the most vulnerable, as is the case with a young person with mental health problems." Noelia told the court, "I want to finish with dignity once and for all." She claimed to have been "coerced" by religious groups and said people had filled a room in her care centre with "small pictures, crosses and religious symbols."
Final Legal Hurdles and Emotional Farewells
In January 2026, the Supreme Court refused to admit a further appeal, effectively backing her right to proceed. Another appeal was launched in February, citing "the violation of the right to effective legal oversight" and the right to life, but the Constitutional Court found a "clear absence of any violation of a fundamental right." Days later, the case was taken to the European Court of Human Rights, but on March 24, the Strasbourg court rejected the request to halt the procedure, clearing the last legal obstacle.
Noelia, who had followed every step of the battle, made a final appearance on Spanish television. "I've finally done it. Let's see if I can finally rest because I can't take this family anymore, the pain, everything that torments me from what I've been through," she said. "I don't want to be an example for anyone, it's simply my life, and that's all." Her relationship with her father deteriorated during the fight. "He hasn't respected my decision and he never will," she stated, accusing him of financial motives and emotional neglect.
Appearing with her in the interview, Noelia’s mother, Yolanda, criticised the lawmakers. "I've been praying and thinking maybe she will change her mind at the last minute... but if she doesn't want to live, what can I do?" she said. "And it isn't like I have a magic wand to stop this, because at the end of the day, some judge made a decision on the life of my child. These decisions are being made by people who did not even birth her." However, she affirmed she would "always be" by her daughter's side, despite disagreeing with the decision.
Broader Implications and Public Reaction
Spain's euthanasia law, introduced in 2021, permits adults of sound mind suffering from a "serious and incurable illness" or a "chronic and disabling" condition to request assistance to die, subject to strict safeguards, with costs covered by the public healthcare system. Government data shows 426 requests for assisted dying were granted in 2024, the most recent year available.
By the time of the final ruling, all legal avenues to stop Noelia had been exhausted. In her interview, she expressed feeling "always alone" and "never understood or empathised with." "Before requesting euthanasia my life was dark. My end was dark. I had no goals or objectives," she added. Teary-eyed protesters gathered outside the Sant Pere de Ribes assisted living facility where the euthanasia occurred. Her best friend, Carla Gutierrez, was denied a final visit, saying, "I wanted to see her to see if she changes her mind, or at least to say goodbye."
Jose Maria Fernandez, acting for Christian Lawyers, stated at the hospital doors, "The legal system has failed. The euthanasia legislation is being applied as an applied suicide law. The procedural system has failed, and there's been a failure in this country's health system. This is a young girl who has had a lot of problems, and obviously a very difficult life and we all regret this. But the only thing the health system has been able to provide her with has been death. We think Noelia should have received treatment a long time ago for her mental health problems." He added, "We hope this case will serve at the very least to prevent it from happening again so there are no more Noelia's."
Politicians in parliament lambasted the decision, with hard-right VOX MP Carlos Flores branding it an "execution." "A law designed to alleviate the suffering of terminally ill elderly people in the final stages of their lives is now going to be used to execute a 25-year-old girl," he said.
A Peaceful and Personal Finale
Before the euthanasia procedure, which began at 6:30 PM local time, Noelia asked her family to spend extra time with her. Loved ones were due to leave her alone with a medic who administered three injections at around 5:30 PM, but stayed for at least another half hour. She chose four photographs from her life to have with her when she died: one showing her painting a portrait of her mother, another of her childhood puppy Wendy, another from her first day of school, and one more picture from her early childhood. She was alone in the room when she died at her own request, apart from the doctor administering the injections. Noelia passed away approximately twenty minutes after receiving the first injection.
"The happiness of a father, a mother, or a sister," she had said before her death, "cannot be more important than the life of a daughter."
