Warning: This story contains references to sexual assault and suicide
A Spanish woman who has conducted a long legal battle with her father for the right to end her life died by euthanasia on Thursday.
Barcelona resident Noelia Castillo, 25, was left paraplegic due to injuries suffered when she tried to take her own life in 2022.
The Catalan government granted her the right to assisted dying in the summer of 2024 but the process was suspended at the last moment after legal objections raised by her father, with the backing of the conservative campaign group Christian Lawyers (Abogados Cristianos).
He argued his daughter suffered from a personality disorder which affected her judgement.
He also pointed to “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”.
That appeal started an 18-month legal battle which ended when the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled in Noelia Castillo’s favour.
On Thursday evening, Abogados Cristianos announced on X that Castillo had died by euthanasia. The group said her case “highlights the serious flaws” in Spain’s euthanasia law.
Speaking to Spanish TV earlier this week, Castillo said her father had tried to legally block her decision to die with dignity. “He hasn’t respected my decision and never will,” she said.
She also recounted her difficult childhood, much of it spent in care homes.
She said she was first sexually assaulted by her ex-boyfriend of four years after she had taken sleeping pills to help her sleep, and said she was also assaulted on another occasion by several men in a nightclub.
The 25-year-old said she had always “felt alone” and never had doubts that she wanted to go ahead with the decision to die by euthanasia.
“Nobody in my family is in favour,” she said. “I am leaving and you are staying here with all the pain, but what about all the suffering I have endured over the years? I just want to leave in peace and stop the pain.
“The happiness of a father or a mother or a sister shouldn’t precede the happiness of a daughter.”
Her family would be able to come and say goodbye, Noelia said, but added that she wished to be alone with her doctor when the lethal injection was performed.
Her mother Yolanda said she did not agree with her daughter’s decision but “respected” it.
Spain’s euthanasia law came into force in 2021. According to government data, 426 requests for assisted dying were granted in 2024, the most recent year available.
This was the first time that a case went to court for a judge to decide.
