Spain (2021-)

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 2022, 288 people died under the Act – 11 by self-administration and 277 by euthanasia.

In 2023, 334 people died under the Act – 18 by self-administration (16 of these intravenously; only 2 by oral administration) and 316 by euthanasia. Of these 334 deaths, 15 involved advanced directives.

In 63 cases the 15 day cooling off period between a first and second request was waived on the grounds that loss of capacity was thought to be imminent.

The rate of deaths under the Act as a percentage of all deaths was 0.06% in 2022 rising to 0.08% in 2023.

Organ extraction for transplantation following euthanasia occurred in 7 cases in 2021, 42 in 2022 and 42 in 2023.

In Navarra, deaths by euthanasia accounted for 0.2% of all deaths in 2022.

Less than half of the people who have died by euthanasia in Spain up to 31 December 2022 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.

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