Just as society has aged, so too has the number of elderly people behind bars, resulting in a rising average prison age. Only 1% of incarcerated individuals are over 70, but this figure is double what it was fifteen years ago. However, the total number of prisoners has decreased during this period. Among those facing this stage of life in prison are inmates serving very long sentences, as well as those with shorter terms or those who committed crimes later in life. Various risk factors converge in prison, accelerating aging, leading experts to believe that a person ages much earlier in prison than in freedom.

Carme Forcadell feels that she has learned from the "strength" of the inmates with whom she has been living since serving 11 and a half years in prison. "I always say that I am a survivor, but really they are the survivors. They have had a very hard life. Many people have come to see us in prison, but often no one comes to see them", stresses the former President of the Parliament, who yesterday handed over 46 boxes to the Arxiu Nacional de Catalunya (National Archive of Catalonia) with thousands of letters received since she was imprisoned.