The Government will expand prison spaces to prevent them from becoming overcrowded.
The Justice Department will install drone detectors and body scanners to combat the entry of drugs and mobile phones into the centers.
BarcelonaThe continued increase in the number of inmates in Catalonia has led the Catalan government to decide to expand prison spaces to prevent overcrowding. Specifically, it will build two new modules within the current perimeter of the Mas de Enric prison in El Catllar (Tarragonès), which will accommodate a total of 256 more prisoners. The new buildings will be for men and will be built on the site of a disused soccer field, as inmates already use the sports facilities in each module.
The new modules are expected to be operational by 2028, joining the new Open Penitentiary Center in the Zona Franca (Free Zone) in Barcelona—which will have capacity for 800 semi-released prisoners and the government expects to begin operating by the end of next year—and the project for the new Franca prison. The latter, which is expected to eventually replace the Wad-Ras facilities, will have capacity for 600 inmates, and the department's forecast is that the project will be drafted by early 2026.
"We are not saturated now, but if this trend continues, which studies tell us it could," said the Minister of Justice, Ramon Espadaler, this Monday when presenting his Comprehensive Plan for the Legislature in Penitentiary Services to journalists. The prison population has grown "sustainedly" in recent years, even slightly above the forecasts, which are for a six-monthly growth of 1.59%. While Justice's projections were that there would be 8,769 inmates in June 2025, as of September 30 there were already 9,098. An increase that the department attributes mainly to the growth of the total population and the increase in police activity.
To To prevent a situation of collapse in the future, and with the maxim of no more than two inmates per cell, the government has decided to expand the number of spaces. "The alternative would be to add more inmates per cell, but we haven't even considered this. Fortunately, this country overcame this many years ago, and we will not take steps back with the quality and dignity that inmates require," Espadaler added.
The two new modules will also entail expanding the staff of surveillance officers and rehabilitation and services personnel. Regarding officers, another project for this term announced by Espadaler is a practical prison training unit for officers, which will be located in a space adjacent to the Quatre Camins prison.
Drone and mobile jammers
A key chapter of the department's prison plan addresses "new security challenges." Justice will install drone detection and deterrence devices in all Catalan prisons between next year and 2027. This system has already been tested in Brians 1 and 2 prisons, and Just a few weeks ago, it helped the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) catch a man who was sending drugs and cell phones to inmates.The police force is responsible for security around prison perimeters, so the decision on whether, for example, to immobilize a drone falls to the officers, not prison staff.
The government also wants all prisons to have body scanners during this term, similar to those used at airports, that can detect cell phones, drugs, or other objects not permitted in prison. Initially, they will be used on prisoners returning from leave to avoid more invasive searches. The chapter on security and technology also includes cell phone jammers to prevent those prisoners who manage to obtain a cell phone from communicating with the outside world.
