MADRID, April 1 – As a 25-year-old paraplegic approached the final hours of her life before receiving euthanasia in Spain last week, social media buzzed with debate over her decision to end her life, much of it fuelled by misinformation.

Some questioned her eligibility, claiming she did not have a terminal illness but suffered from depression due to a traumatic past.

Noelia Castillo had attempted suicide by throwing herself from the fifth floor of a building after being sexually assaulted, leaving her paralysed from the waist down.

During a TV interview that aired on the eve of her euthanasia on March 26, Castillo recalled other attempted sexual assaults and attempts to take her life, as well as health issues resulting from her paraplegia.

“When there is a large amount of information circulating on social media, there are inevitable doses of misinformation,” said communication studies professor Alexandre Lopez Borrull of the Open University of Catalonia.

Marcelino Madrigal, a social media and cybersecurity expert, said online discussion about Castillo’s euthanasia contained deliberate misinformation “from the same ecosystem” behind campaigns opposing Spain’s 2021 euthanasia law.

Castillo’s father, backed by conservative campaign group Abogados Cristianos (Christian Lawyers), sought to legally block her euthanasia, arguing that mental health issues prevented her from making a valid decision.

Social media echoed this. But court rulings said all medical professionals who had assessed Castillo agreed she suffered from “a serious, chronic, and disabling condition” caused by a lumbar spinal cord injury, resulting in “difficult-to-manage neuropathic pain” and dependence on others.

Spanish law permits euthanasia under such circumstances.

A Barcelona court judge noted that medical evaluations concluded that Castillo’s psychiatric conditions did not impair her ability to make decisions.

Higher courts, including the European Court of Human Rights, allowed the process to proceed.

‘Muddy the waters’ 

Other social media posts accused the Spanish state of “abandoning” Castillo, citing her time in foster care after her parents lost custody.

Viral messages claimed she was sexually assaulted while in state care by foreign minors, a group often targeted by misinformation in Spain.

In reality, Castillo detailed three sexual assaults in her TV interview, without specifying the nationality of her attackers.

One was by a former partner, another by “two boys” at a nightclub, and the third shortly before her suicide attempt in 2022 that left her paraplegic.

“There has been an intention to muddy the waters and, as in many events, target certain groups,” Lopez Borrull said.

The Directorate General for the Prevention and Protection of Children and Adolescents, a Catalan government agency overseeing the welfare of minors in foster care, said no sexual assaults were recorded during her time in its centres.

On the day Castillo died, misinformation accounts claimed the hospital had rushed her euthanasia because her organs were failing and would soon be unsuitable for donation.

These posts suggested organ donation was the hidden motivation, rather than her own legal and medical right to access euthanasia.

This claim was echoed by Polonia Castellanos, president of Abogados Cristianos.

But Jose Gomez Rial, head of immunology at the University Hospital Complex of Santiago de Compostela, told AFP that doctors who authorise euthanasia are separate from those handling organ donation, and the procedure is never timed or conditioned based on organ availability. — AFP