Cases of mistreatment in police custody, in Catalan prisons, and in juvenile detention centers. The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), a body of the Council of Europe, has reported several cases of "excessive use of force" by the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) and prison officers against detainees. It has also reported the use of force by staff in juvenile detention centers. Specifically, the delegation from the European body, which visited Catalonia between November 25 and December 5, 2024, claims to have "corroborated" through medical certificates mistreatment such as "slapping," "punching," and "hitting" by authorities. The CPT did so in a report released this Thursday, which, however, explains that the majority of prisoners interviewed stated they received "correct" treatment.

The few centimeters that a tube of anti-inflammatory ointment measures are enough to hide, protected by plastic wrap, one of the most precious objects inside a prison: a cell phone. It's small, has no internet access, and would cost a few euros in a street shop, but here it allows you to make calls and send messages from a place where communication is scarce. Prison workers use all kinds of tricks to smuggle in and hide anything prohibited. Drugs are also found, often inside the body, but they are also frequently hidden in the soles of shoes or between the seams of clothing. "There are authentic works of art sewn by hand and machine," says one of the officials interviewed.

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.

The Department of Justice pledged to meet one of the long-standing demands of prison officials' unions: recognition of their status as law enforcement officers. This long-standing request, and the Minister of Justice, Ramon Espadaler, responded to it from Parliament on the eve of the first anniversary of the murder of a cook at Mas d'Enric prison.