Spain moves to tighten euthanasia appeals after Noelia Castillo case

Three months after 25‑year‑old Noelia Castillo was euthanised following a protracted legal battle, Spain's Congress began debating a reform to the 2022 euthanasia law. The proposal, driven by the Catalan regional parliament and supported by PSC, Junts, ERC, Comuns and CUP, seeks to limit judicial challenges by allowing only a single lower‑court hearing and restricting appeals to the Constitutional Court, with a maximum 25‑day resolution period.

The reform aims to prevent the procedural delays that affected Castillo’s case, which had been pursued through the Catalan High Court, the Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights before being rejected. The bill also received backing from the governing PP and Vox parties. Concurrently, the Christian Lawyers Foundation released a video of Castillo’s father, Javier Castillo, criticizing the system and calling the case an injustice.

If passed, the changes would streamline the euthanasia process while maintaining existing medical and psychological safeguards.