The most beautiful dress for dying
The case of an assisted death is currently causing a stir in Spain.
Yesterday evening, 25-year-old Noelia Castillo died in Barcelona through medically assisted death. A few days after being gang-raped in 2022, she jumped from the fifth floor of a building and had been confined to a wheelchair ever since.
“I want to go now and stop suffering.” With these words, Noelia Castillo bid farewell in a TV interview with the Spanish broadcaster Antena 3 the day before her assisted death. According to other Spanish media outlets, the young woman with long dark hair and a delicate oval face had endured much hardship in her life. She spent a large part of her childhood and adolescence in foster homes because her parents suffered from alcohol addiction and mental health issues. She also experienced repeated sexual violence, attempted several suicides and was in psychiatric care. Finally, she reported that an ex-boyfriend and three other men raped her. A few days later, on October 4, 2022, under the influence of cocaine, she jumped from the fifth floor of a building. Since then, she has been confined to a wheelchair. She saw only one way out: medically assisted death. As a release from her suffering and, according to her own account, from the constant and unbearable pain.
In Spain, both active medically assisted death and assisted suicide have been legal since 2021. According to the most recent figures from Spain’s health ministry, 1,123 people had an assisted death till the end of 2024. The costs are covered by the state health insurance. Castillo applied for the service in July 2024. Although she was already 23 years old and therefore of legal age, Castillo had to fight for her right to a self-determined death against the wishes of her parents. After the Catalan authorities approved the assisted death, her father appealed the decision. He was supported by the ultra-conservative Catholic “Abogados Cristianos” (Christian Lawyers). According to the British Guardian, their argument was that Castillo’s psychiatric condition was so unstable that she cannot make a properly informed decision about ending her life.
This, however, is a prerequisite for receiving medically assisted death. Candidates must also be of legal age, suffer from an incurable illness or chronic disability that is medically incurable and associated with “unbearable pain.” They must submit two requests in writing and undergo consultations with medical professionals not previously involved in the case before their application is signed off by a regional committee of experts. According to the examining physicians, Castillo met these requirements. The highest Spanish courts, to which Castillo’s father appealed, agreed. On March 24, 2026, the European Court of Human Rights also rejected the requested suspension of assisted death. Noelia Castillo then announced her intention to die on March 26, 2026, at 6 p.m.
Conservative politicians and representatives of the Catholic Church vehemently opposed. The German speaking Catholic online publication kath.net, citing Castillo’s male lawyer, claims that the young woman wanted to reverse her decision to undergo an assisted death but was pressured into it by authorities and the hospital because there were already recipients for her organs. However, in a video downloaded by kath.net from Platform X, the female lawyer Polonia Castellanos, who represented Castillo’s family, speaks. She, in turn, refers to a statement by Castillo’s mother.
Particularly in conservative and in many social media, allegations are being made that Castillo was raped by a group of underage migrants in October 2022. The police have not officially confirmed this. Women’s rights activists, in turn, emphasize that the sexual violence Noelia Castillo experienced – on multiple occasions – is being significantly neglected in the public debate.
Given the limited time available, it’s impossible for me to separate the wheat from the chaff in this reporting. What is clear is that certain interest groups are exploiting the tragic circumstances of the young woman’s life and death for their own agenda. The fact that kath.net reports that believers are praying for Castillo outside the building where the procedure is to take place is a less harmful example. Judging from her statements in the TV interview, the emotionally and physically tormented young woman would probably have preferred to simply die quietly and peacefully on her own. The big question remains: Could more support from the state have compensated for the family’s shortcomings, protected Noelia from sexual abuse, and ultimately made her suicide unnecessary or prevented it?
Noelia Castillo died on the evening of March 26, 2026, in a nursing home in Sant Pere de Ribes near Barcelona from a lethal injection into her vein. According to media reports, the scheduled time of her death was delayed from 6 p.m. because she wanted to say goodbye to her family and friends. She wanted to die “beautifully,” Noelia reportedly said in a TV interview with Antena 3. Therefore, she would wear her “most beautiful dress” for the occasion. Did she wear it on Thursday evening?
This text was originally published on my German website and translated by me.
At the beginning of February, my radio feature on Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) in Canada, one of the pioneering countries in this field, was broadcast on German public radio. This coming Monday, March 30th, the Austrian public radio will air my much longer and more detailed radio feature entitled “Death on Request?”. After the broadcast, I will post a translated transcript with a link here on my blog.