Montse says she's only ever doubted her job security once. It was two years ago today, when a colleague sent her a WhatsApp message alerting her that an inmate had stabbed Núria López in the kitchen of Mas de Enric prison and then committed suicide. "At that moment, you do think, 'Holy crap, where am I working?' I thought it could happen to me."

The Generalitat has recognized for the first time responsibilities regarding The murder of cook Núria López in Mas de Enric prison 15 months ago and has agreed to compensate the victim's family with 40,446 euros. Specifically, the Department of Justice admits that "the public prison service did not operate with the quality standards that would be required," to the point that there were "malfunctions." While this "defective" operation was not "the direct cause of the events," it accepts the "causal relationship" between the events and the assault, because "if they had not occurred, they could have led to the adoption of different measures" for the inmate, who kept his job in the kitchen despite having committed a very serious offense.

One year after the murder at Mas d'Enric, the security reinforcement has not reached many corners of Catalonia's prisons, according to several workers consulted by ARA. The new government's first move regarding prisons was to remove inmates convicted of blood crimes. Jobs where they might have contact with dangerous tools. Beyond kitchens, the ban extended to, among others, production workshops and jobs outside the modules, such as maintenance and gardening. However, the restrictions on the jobs a prisoner can perform based on their criminal record did not include the training courses that inmates can take in the prison itself. This has allowed situations such as a prisoner being able to study a welding or cooking course, but then being unable to practice this trade in prison.

Almost a year after the crime in Mas d'Enric prison, the Ombudsman has reiterated its warning to the Department of Justice for the measures it took in response to the murder of a cook at the hands of a prisoner who also worked in the kitchen. The Ombudsman, Esther Giménez-Salinas, insists that the Generalitat must review "in depth" the circular that bans all inmates arrested for violent crimes from kitchens and other jobs considered at risk. Furthermore, she is demanding that all inmates who were dismissed under this rule be readmitted retroactively.