A 25‑year‑old woman is set to become the first Spanish citizen to undergo euthanasia on the basis of mental health and depression when her life is ended later today (March 26, 2026).
According to deeply distressing reports, Noelia Castillo Ramos, from Barcelona, has been seeking medical assistance to end her life since 2024.
After a long and difficult legal process, she was granted approval on mental‑health grounds.
Reuters reports that Noelia had previously made several attempts to end her life following a traumatic event, one of which resulted in paraplegia.
Shocking accounts reveal that in 2022 she was living in a state‑supervised center for vulnerable young people when she was subjected to a serious sexual assault involving multiple individuals.
Following 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. In March 2021, Spain legalized voluntary euthanasia and assisted dying. Under the law, voluntary euthanasia involves a doctor administering a lethal injection to eligible patients.
When the legislation passed—limited strictly to Spanish citizens—only adults with “serious and incurable” conditions causing “unbearable suffering” qualified.
Noelia was initially scheduled for euthanasia one month after her application was approved in August 2024. The process was immediately suspended, however, when her father filed a legal challenge.
He appeared in court in March 2025, urging a judge to halt the procedure entirely, arguing that his daughter’s personality disorder impaired her judgment. His legal team claimed that Noelia had changed her mind about euthanasia multiple times, suggesting she was not fully certain of her decision.
Noelia also attended the hearings. As reported by the BBC, she stated: “I want to finish with dignity once and for all.”
The judge ultimately ruled in her favor, with Catalan government lawyers noting that “no evidence of a scientific or expert character has been presented to contradict the many medical reports supporting the decision [to die].”
In a television interview with Televisión Pública Noticias earlier this week, the 25‑year‑old said that none of her family members support her choice.
“I am a pillar of the family. I am leaving them suffering,” she said. She later added: “But what about my suffering?”
“No, I was very clear from the beginning,” Noelia continued. “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.”
