Which Spanish prisons are the most conflictive? Figures collected by the prison officers' union Acaip for the first three quarters of 2022 show where the most attacks on staff took place. Here are the five prisons at the top of the list.
1. Madrid V – Soto del Real (Madrid)
- Inmates: 1,072
- Attacks on officers: 18
Madrid V holds many people in pre-trial detention. Inmates come and go often, which makes it harder for staff to know who may be violent. According to the union, most incidents happen in the admission, isolation and infirmary units, often when new arrivals are in shock or suffering withdrawal.
2. Sevilla II – Morón de la Frontera (Seville)
- Inmates: 1,192
- Attacks on officers: 17
Sevilla II has seen the biggest increase: from 8 attacks in all of 2016 to 17 in just nine months of 2022. The union links this to the large number of inmates transferred from other parts of Spain, far from their families. An inmate also escaped from Morón during a supervised outing in 2022.
3. Puerto III – El Puerto de Santa María (Cádiz)
- Inmates: 1,254
- Attacks on officers: 15
Many people convicted of drug trafficking in the province of Cádiz end up here. Staff report repeated attempts to bring mobile phones and drugs into the prison, including by drone.
4. Las Palmas II – Gran Canaria
- Attacks on officers: 13
The only prison in the top five with fewer than 1,000 inmates. In nine months it recorded almost as many attacks as both Gran Canaria prisons together in the whole of 2016.
5. Botafuegos – Algeciras (Cádiz)
- Inmates: 1,049
- Attacks on officers: 11
Botafuegos shares fifth place with Teixeiro (Galicia) and Valencia (Picassent), Spain's largest prison with around 1,600 inmates. Botafuegos is known as the "drug prison" because it holds many of the main traffickers from the Campo de Gibraltar. It also tops the list for mobile phones found by staff: 690 in five years.
What this means for inmates and families
Being sent to one of these prisons does not mean your loved one will be in danger, but it is worth staying close to the situation:
- Keep regular contact, and pay attention to changes in mood or tone.
- If your loved one feels threatened, they can ask the prison for protection or a transfer to another unit. Requests should be in writing.
- Inmates have the right to serve their sentence close to their family where possible. A lawyer can request a transfer, especially for foreigners far from home.
GC Libertad can help you follow up with the prison and request a transfer. Contact us.
Source: El Periódico de España