Today, the young, 25-year-old Spanish woman Noelia Castillo Ramos is to die. She herself has requested it.
In 2022, she was subjected to gang rape in a state supervision centre for youths. The trauma was so severe that shortly thereafter she jumped from the fifth floor. She sought to take her own life. She survived, but was left completely paralysed from the waist down.
– Should receive help to live, not to die
Since then, pain and mental disorders have given her a wish to die. She has been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and has repeatedly stated that she “wants to stop suffering”.
Noelia’s father has fought a tenacious legal battle to stop the euthanisation of his daughter. He maintains that his daughter is not capable of making informed decisions due to the personality disorder and the trauma. He argues that she should receive treatment and help to live instead of help to die. He has appealed the case all the way to Spain’s Constitutional Court (Tribunal Constitucional) and further to European judicial instances – without succeeding.
🇪🇸Within 24 hours, Noelia Castillo Ramos will be euthanized in Spain.
In 2022, Noelia suffered a gang rape in a supervised care center.
This completely shattered her life. She attempted suicide, jumping from a 5-story building, which left her a paraplegic.
Her father has… pic.twitter.com/hOIW1j8o2u
— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) March 25, 2026
In February 2026, the Constitutional Court (Tribunal Constitucional) rejected the father’s final appeal. This opened the way for Noelia’s life to be ended on 26 March 2026.
The perpetrators go free
The men responsible for the gang rape of Noelia Castillo Ramos in 2022 have not been punished. Noelia reported the rape, but the case has not resulted in convictions. Many claim that, in addition to the rape and the subsequent suicide attempt, Noelia has been destroyed by the fact that the judicial system has not managed (or wished) to punish the perpetrators.
That the perpetrators were foreign “vulnerable” MENA migrants under state care is one of the reasons why the case has provoked such strong reactions in Spain. It has also contributed to a political polarisation of the case.
Spain has one of Europe’s most liberal euthanasia laws. Ley Orgánica de Regulación de la Eutanasia entered into force on 25 June 2021, and the number of cases has gradually increased since then. The law permits both euthanasia, whereby the physician administers a lethal dose, and assisted suicide, whereby the patient, with medical assistance, administers the dose themselves.
Healthcare personnel have the right to conscientious objection, while the patient has the right at any time to withdraw the request.
Noelia has at any time the right to withdraw and celebrate her 26th birthday. Should that occur, we will know before the day is over.
Nederland: Zoraya ter Beek rakk å feire sin 29-årsdag før hun ble avlivet