Noelia Castillo wanted to die in her best dress, with makeup on, alone. After 601 days of waiting, she finally did. The 25-year-old Spaniard died by euthanasia on March 26 at a Barcelona hospital, ending one of the most protracted legal battles in Spain’s assisted dying history.
Her wish was approved in July 2024 after Catalan authorities determined she suffered from an “irrecoverable” condition causing “severe dependence, chronic and debilitating pain, and suffering”. But her father, Gerónimo Castillo, backed by the ultra-conservative Christian Lawyers organization, launched a legal crusade that wound through five courts, from Barcelona’s local court to the European Court of Human Rights.
Noelia’s story began long before her euthanasia request. She spent much of her childhood in care homes after her parents separated when she was 13. She was first sexually assaulted by her ex-boyfriend of four years after she took sleeping pills, and later attacked by multiple men in a nightclub.
In October 2022, days after the multiple assaults, she jumped from a fifth-floor window. She survived but became paraplegic, confined to a wheelchair with chronic pain she described as unbearable. She had been in psychiatric treatment since age 13, diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder and borderline personality disorder.
When Noelia formally requested euthanasia in April 2024, the Catalan Guarantee and Evaluation Commission, composed of jurists, doctors, and scientists, approved her case. Her first death date was set for August 2, 2024.
But her father, who had no contact with her before her decision, intervened. Represented by Christian Lawyers, he argued Noelia lacked the mental capacity to decide and that the state had an obligation to protect vulnerable young people with mental health issues.
What followed was a grueling 18-month judicial marathon:
A Barcelona court accepted the father’s request to suspend the procedure
The High Court of Justice of Catalonia upheld her right to die
Spain’s Supreme Court rejected the father’s appeal in January
The Constitutional Court declined to intervene
Finally, the European Court of Human Rights refused to halt the euthanasia, removing the last legal barrier
“In all instances, the justice system determined that Noelia maintained her mental faculties and that her decision was free, firm, and conscious,” Spanish news agency EFE reported.
Days before her death, Noelia appeared on the Spanish television program “Y ahora Sonsoles.” She was resolute.
“Nobody in my family is in favor,” she told the program. “Obviously, because I am another pillar of the family. I am leaving and you are staying here with all the pain. But what about me? All the suffering I have endured over all these years? I want to leave in peace and stop suffering. Period”.
She spoke about her father with a mix of understanding and frustration. “He hasn’t respected my decision and never will,” she said. “He’s a father and he doesn’t want to lose a daughter, but he doesn’t listen to me”. She added: “The happiness of a father, a mother, or a sister cannot be above the happiness of a daughter”.
Noelia made one specific request: she wanted to die alone. “I don’t want anyone inside, I don’t want them to see me close my eyes,” she said. “I’ll wear the nicest dress I have and put on some makeup”.
Her mother, Yolanda, disagreed with the decision but respected it. She was with Noelia at the Sant Camil hospital when she received the lethal injection at 6:00 p.m.. Outside, supporters of Christian Lawyers gathered in protest.
The case has divided Spain. The conservative People’s Party and the Catholic Church said the state failed Noelia. “The institutions that should have protected Noelia failed her,” wrote PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo. “I refuse to believe that the state did not have the tools to give her care”.
Others saw the case differently. Left-leaning El País wrote in an editorial: “The desire to put an end to her suffering by using the right to euthanasia was… sabotaged by a legal crusade that added nearly two years of pain to her existence”.
Christian Lawyers announced they would begin a campaign to overturn Spain’s euthanasia law, calling Noelia’s case proof of “serious flaws” in the legislation.
Spain legalized euthanasia in June 2021, becoming the fourth EU country to allow medically assisted death. The law requires patients to suffer from an incurable disease or a “serious, chronic, and disabling condition” that causes “intolerable suffering”.
Between 2021 and 2024, 1,123 people received assisted dying in Spain, 46 percent of applicants. Most were over 60 with neurological diseases or cancer. Noelia’s case was the first to go to court for a judge to decide.
“I don’t want to be a role model for anyone,” Noelia said in her final interview. “It’s simply my life. That’s all”.
