The number of euthanasia requests doubled in Andalucia last year, latest figures show, but less than half were approved or completed.
The southernmost region recorded 72 euthanasia requests in 2024, but the majority did not result in assisted death.
Of those cases, 30 were ultimately carried out, meaning fewer than four in 10 completed processes ended in euthanasia.
According to official data, 20 applicants died of natural causes while their request was still being processed, 19 applications were rejected, and three people withdrew their request before a final decision was reached.
Since euthanasia was legalised in Spain in 2021 following approval by the Congress of Deputies, the Ministry of Health has published an annual report on assisted dying nationwide.
The latest figures show that 929 euthanasia processes were completed across Spain in 2024, but only 426 resulted in assisted death.
Despite accounting for more than 20% of Spain’s population, Andalucia is not among the regions with the highest number of euthanasia requests.
Catalonia tops the list with 303 applications, followed by Madrid (129) and the Basque Country (75).
In Andalucia, just 0.83 people per 100,000 residents requested assisted dying, compared with more than three per 100,000 in some other regions.
Of the assisted deaths carried out in Andalucia, just over half (53.33%) took place in hospitals.
A further 43.33% occurred in patients’ homes, while one case was carried out in a social care centre.
Although the report does not specify the type of facility, it notes that most such cases occur in care homes for older people.
Overall, Andalucia remains below the national average, where around 46% of euthanasia requests result in assisted death.
The Ministry of Health attributes this to structural factors, including strict evaluation procedures and delays in processing applications, which can lead to patients dying before the process concludes.
According to the national report, four in five applicants were over the age of 60, and one in four was over 80.
Most requests came from patients with neurological or oncological conditions, each accounting for roughly a third of cases.
Although the law sets out a timeframe of 30 to 40 days from application to resolution, real-world waiting times are significantly longer.
In practice, the average time from request to decision was almost 53 days, while the period from initial request to assisted death averaged more than 82 days.
Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.
