The prisoner who committed suicide in Quatre Camins had not left his cell for a month

BarcelonaThe prisoner who committed suicide this weekend in a cell at Quatre Camins had been living in the intake module for months, separated from the rest. According to what ARA has learned, he was living in isolation as a measure to protect him from other inmates from whom he had received death threats. He had been in this situation since June, and although this measure allowed him to leave his cell for two hours a day, he had not left for about a month.

Currently, the man did not have the suicide prevention protocol activated, but he had had it active previously, according to prison sources. The Department of Justice reported on Sunday that the man had last entered prison in April 2026, and prison sources add that he had previously entered and left prison several times with a history linked to mental health services. According to what ARA has learned, the staff had noted that the inmate had stopped taking his medication and did not want to leave the cell.

The inmate did not have a cellmate, and according to prison sources, there was also no indication that he should live with someone else, as happens when the suicide prevention protocol is active, which depends on psychiatrists. When an inmate is separated as a protective measure, as in this case, the operation is different from that of isolation due to a sanction.

Vulnerable inmates

These protective measures are provided for by the penitentiary regulations and can be taken at the request of the inmate or the prison management if the treatment team detects that they are a vulnerable person in the face of other inmates. Penitentiary sources cite as examples inmates who accumulate debts within the prison, or who suffer blackmail to force their family to bring them drugs during visits that they will later have to hand over to other inmates.

Prisoners who are in this situation can live alone or share a cell, depending on space availability and their preference. They are only forced to be accompanied if a suicide prevention protocol, which depends on psychiatrists, is active in parallel. At Quatre Camins, these measures are usually carried out in the admission module, which is smaller than the residential ones, or in module 5, which is for sanctions.

Although it is not isolation, this protection entails a more closed living regime: inmates have no activities and can go out to the yard for about two hours a day. They do receive visits from treatment staff, such as educators, psychologists, and social workers. In fact, human rights organizations have repeatedly warned of the paradox implied by this protection, which is covered by article 75 of the penitentiary regulations, and which in practice ends up leading to conditions more similar to those of a sanction, due to the lack of contact with other people and the impact it can have on mental health.