Spanish 2024 euthanasia deaths increase by 27.5%

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

The Spanish euthanasia report was published in December 2025 indicates that 426 people were killed by euthanasia in Spain in 2024, a 27.5% increase from 334 people who were killed by euthanasia in 2023. The total number of people who have been poisoned to death by euthanasia has increased by almost 48% since 2022, the first full year after its legalization.

Euthanasia was legalized in Spain in March 2021. Euthanasia is an act whereby a person who is deemed eligible is intentionally poisoned to death by a medical practitioner.

Unlike in some jurisdictions, there is no requirement for a six or twelve-month terminal prognosis eligibility for euthanasia in Spain. 

In 2024, the most underlying medical condition for those who applied for an assisted death was: 302 people had a neurological condition, 276 people had a form of cancer, with conditions such as cardiovascular and respiratory issues, making up the remainder.

Spain has an appeal process for when the medical practitioner decides that a person doesn't qualify for euthanasia. In 2023,188 people whose request to be killed by euthanasia was denied, 78 of those people appealed the decision with 32 cases (41%) overturning the decision and allowing them to be killed. In 2024, 157 people who requested to be killed by euthanasia were denied with 75 of those people appealing the decision resulting in 20 (26.67%) of the decisions being overturned allowing them to be killed by euthanasia.

Spain has already expanded the original euthanasia law and they have discussed expanding the law to include people with mental illness. An article published by Exaudi news stated:

The Ministry of Health has met with the autonomous communities to agree on the reform of the Manual of Good Practices on Euthanasia to include mental illness as a reason for requesting it.

The draft of the Organic Law on the Regulation of Euthanasia (LORE) indicates that euthanasia “does not exclude mental illness, allowing people with an unbearable suffering due to the presence of a mental illness to request the Aid to Dying Benefit (PAM) on equal terms with those whose suffering comes from a somatic illness”.

In addition, the text states that “a comprehensive psychopathological evaluation is required to identify those people who could benefit from the PAM due to a mental disorder due to the presence of a serious, chronic and disabling illness or a serious and incurable psychiatric illness”.

Likewise, it is necessary to “discard those people who present mild or moderate symptoms of depression or anxiety, since these conditions are susceptible to treatment and improvement, excluding them from access to PAM.”

Exaudi listed some expansions of the Spanish euthanasia law that have already happened:

Since 2023 three modifications were already proposed:

1. To stop protecting the pharmacist’s right to object to euthanasia in the event that the master formulation or the preparation of drug kits is necessary to administer euthanasia, and to reserve the objection to the health personnel directly involved in that practice.

2. To create the figure of the reference nurse in euthanasia, since in most cases the nurse is in charge of supplying the medication to the patient.

3. To establish the nature of the Manual of Good Practices of Euthanasia, because for some experts it is a standard, but for others it is not.

Similar to nearly every jurisdiction, once euthanasia and/or assisted suicide are legalized the laws will soon be expanded. The original legislation is designed to pass in the legislature, but once legal the arguments immediately arise that the law is being applied in a discriminatory manner and must be expanded. Spain has had the same phenomenon.