Spain's free suicide prevention number 024 launches

This suicide prevention number is 024, and it is available every day of the year.

Announcing the measure in Madrid, Health minister Carolina Darias pointed out that apart from the 11 people a day who take their own life in Spain, about 220 others attempt to do so and the numbers are increasing. The government has organised a media campaign to raise awareness of the 024 helpline for the rest of this month and in June.

The phone number is manned by qualified professionals who are employed by the scheme, and not by volunteers. If the risk is considered high, they will alert the emergency services, explained Fátima Cabello of Cruz Roja, at the presentation of this new prevention service.

When someone rings 024 the response is immediate, and preventive guidance and emotional support is available for anyone who is considering suicide or family members of someone who is at risk.

The president of the Spanish Confederation of Mental Health, Nel González, said there needs to be more visibility regarding emotional problems. “We live in a system which tries to resolve physical problems immediately, but not psychological ones because they can’t be seen,” he said.

The 024 line is also accessible by people who communicate through sign language, and for those who do not speak Spanish, the helpline has a telephone interpreting service, so that users can speak to someone in their own language.

Until now, the only suicide prevention and mental health helplines in Spain have been those run by associations - such as Teléfono de la Esperanza (in Spanish) and Samaritans in Spain (in English) - but there was not a publicly-funded public attention service.

Fundación Anar, an organisation that runs telephone lines and a chat for children and adolescents with problems, revealed some chilling figures last week. In the last decade, calls for help for youngsters with suicidal ideas multiplied by 12, from 298 in 2012 to 3,665 in 2021.