A 25‑year‑old woman is set to become the first person in Spain to be euthanized on the grounds of mental health and depression when the procedure takes place later today (March 26, 2026).
According to reports, Noelia Castillo Ramos of Barcelona had been seeking medical assistance to end her life since 2024.
After a long legal battle, she was granted approval based on mental‑health criteria.
Reuters reports that Noelia had previously made several attempts to end her life following a traumatic event, one of which left her paraplegic.
Shocking accounts reveal that in 2022, while living in a state‑supervised center for vulnerable young people, she was the victim of a serious sexual assault involving multiple individuals.
After the attack, she attempted suicide by jumping from a building. She survived, but the fall left her paralyzed from the waist down. Since then, she has been diagnosed with several conditions, including depression, obsessive‑compulsive disorder, and borderline personality disorder.
Spain legalized voluntary euthanasia and assisted death in March 2021. Under the law, only adults with “serious and incurable” conditions causing “unbearable suffering” are eligible, and the process is limited to Spanish citizens. Voluntary euthanasia involves a doctor administering a lethal injection to qualifying patients.
Noelia was originally scheduled to undergo euthanasia one month after her application was approved in August 2024. The process was halted when her father filed a legal objection.
In March 2025, he appeared in court asking a judge to cancel the procedure entirely, arguing that his daughter’s personality disorder affected her judgment. His legal team claimed Noelia had changed her mind multiple times, suggesting she was not fully certain.
Noelia attended the same hearings. According to the BBC, she told the court: “I want to finish with dignity once and for all.”
The judge ultimately ruled in her favor. The Catalan government’s legal representatives stated that “no evidence of a scientific or expert character has been presented to contradict the many medical reports which support the decision.”
In a television interview with Televisión Pública Noticias earlier this week, Noelia said that none of her family members supported her decision.
“I am a pillar of the family. I am leaving them suffering,” she said. “But what about my suffering?”
She added, “No, I was very clear from the beginning. I simply want to go in peace, stop suffering, and that’s it.
“The happiness of a father or mother should not be above the happiness of a daughter.”
