Noelia Castillo Ramos dies by euthanasia after a legal battle
Noelia Castillo Ramos, 25, died on Thursday after euthanasia in Sant Pere de Ribes, Barcelona, after a legal battle lasting more than a year. Supporters gather outside Sant Camil hospital, where flowers were left. (EFE via Reuters Connect.)
This story is about suicide. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
Spain is grappling with the death of a 25-year-old woman from Barcelona who was euthanized after a series of tragic events, despite multiple legal challenges from her father.
Noelia Castillo Ramos’ case attracted international attention after her father, Gerónimo Castillo, launched a legal battle against several Spanish courts’ permission to allow his daughter to undergo euthanasia in 2023. Aided by Abogados Cristianos (Christian Lawyers), a conservative Catholic organization, Mr Castillo has exhausted all appeals in the Spanish courts.
The father argued that his daughter was not fully mentally capable of making a decision about euthanasia and that she needed better medical and psychiatric care. His legal battle was ultimately halted on March 10 by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France.
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Noelia Castillo Ramos is featured in the Spanish newspaper El País after her euthanasia last Thursday. (APTV)
The case of Castillo Ramos is only the latest in the number of deaths by euthanasia across Europe, but the Barcelona woman’s choice to die has inflamed passions across the country.
Castillo Ramos’ parents divorced when she was 13 and spent nearly four years in public custody centers when she was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD) – a serious psychiatric condition that often leads to severe depression, suicidal thoughts and a tendency toward addiction.
In her own words, in an interview she gave before she died from it Spanish TV channel Antena 3 she attempted suicide at least twice despite being under intensive psychiatric care. In her first suicide attempt, she swallowed several pills and swallowed a toxic car fluid, but was saved by her mother, who took her to the hospital for a gastrointestinal cleansing procedure.
Things got worse for her when she left home and was eventually sexually abused several times at the age of 20. First, she was sexually assaulted by an ex-boyfriend after taking sleeping pills. Shortly afterwards, two men attempted to rape her while she was at a nightclub, leaving her with deep scars, and as reports indicate, led her to a care home due to worsening psychiatric symptoms.
Several people pray at the entrance of Sant Camil Hospital, on March 26, 2026 in Sant Pere de Ribes, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The magistrate of the 20th Provisional Division of the Court of First Instance of Barcelona has denied for the third time the adoption of the precautionary measures requested by the Spanish Foundation of Christian Lawyers to suspend the application of euthanasia to Noelia Castillo Ramos from Barcelona. Castillo Ramos died on Thursday. (Lorena Sopena/Europe Press via Getty Images)
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There she was raped by three men. When her mental state deteriorated, she attempted suicide by jumping from the fifth floor of a building.
Multiple reports and social media posts originally indicated that the three rapists who attacked her were underage immigrants under the care of the state – something Barcelona-based newspaper El Periódico says is incorrect.
Many Spaniards have reacted angrily to the court’s permission to euthanize her, accusing the left-wing government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of failing to provide the girl with adequate medical care, opening the country to mass migration, lacking police supervision and ultimately allowing euthanasia as a solution to her case.
Several people pray at the entrance of Sant Camil Hospital, on March 26, 2026 in Sant Pere de Ribes, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The magistrate of the 20th Provisional Division of the Court of First Instance of Barcelona has denied for the third time the adoption of the protective measures requested by the Spanish Foundation of Christian Lawyers, which asked to suspend the application of euthanasia to the young woman from Barcelona, scheduled for this Thursday afternoon. (Lorena Sopena/Europa Press via Getty Images)
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Following her interview on Spanish television, several anonymous donors and public figures, including pianist James Rhodes, offered to finance her treatment and provide material assistance to her and her family if she decided not to undergo the procedure.
Noelia died at 6pm local time on Thursday at Sant Pere de Ribes hospital in Barcelona. She is the youngest person ever euthanized in Spain under the assisted dying law passed in 2021.
