Euthanasia and assisted suicide both became legal in Spain from 24 June 2021.
Access to euthanasia or assisted suicide is available on request for any person assessed by two doctors as having a "serious or incurable illness" or a "chronic or incapacitating" condition that causes "intolerable suffering".
There is no requirement for a terminal diagnosis so people with a mental illness or with a disability will be eligible.
In the first six months of legalisation (24 June-31 December 2021) 75 people died by euthanasia. Three of these people were not competent at the time of euthanasia, which was carried out based on an advanced directive. All 75 cases (100%) involved euthanasia rather than assisted suicide.
In the next six months (1 January 2022-30 June 2022) euthanasia deaths increased by 40% with 105 people dying.
From 1 July 2022-31 December 2022, 190 people died by euthanasia – a further increase of 81%. This represents about 0.082% of all deaths in Spain.
In Navarra, deaths by euthanasia accounted for 0.2% of all deaths in 2022.
Less than half of the 370 people who have died by euthanasia in Spain so far were terminally ill.
On 23 August 2022, Marin Eugen Sabau, was euthanased in prison effectively ending the possibility of compensation claims against him from his victims. The 46-year-old Romanian security guard shot three colleagues and a police officer in December 2021 in Tarragona. Several others were injured in the chase.
Showing 1 comment
Sign in with