Women are detained in dedicated facilities or units. 80% serve their sentence in specific units in facilities primarily for men. 20% serve their sentence in four exclusively female establishments: Alcalá de Guadaira in Seville, Brieva in Avila, Alcalá and Madrid 1.

Strip searches are carried out by a female prison officer.

Gynaecological consultations are usually performed by external doctors. Women have complained of the irregularity or gynaecologists; presence, and the difficulty of accessing specialist consultations, including for pregnancy and maternal education. The Civil Guard does not always provide transfers to medical centres on the day of an appointment. Some specific needs are monitored, such as contraception, as set out in Article 38 of the penitentiary law. In most establishments, the infirmary is mainly reserved for men. Imprisoned women struggle to access it.
According to the CPT’s 2020 report, women prisoners are more likely than men to suffer from psychological disorders, drug addiction or tendencies to mutilate themselves. The CPT recommends that these issues be addressed on admission to detention. It insists on therapeutic rather than punitive treatment of women at risk of self-mutilation. The report also stresses that the supervision of this population should not be delegated to women prisoners but to trained staff.

Women experience greater difficulty accessing shared facilities, such as the library, sports centre, and theatre, than men. The activities offered are more limited, despite participating more frequently than men; in 2016, 39% of women joined workshops and vocational training, compared to 27% of men. The activities on offer are dominated by stereotypes, such as workshops on fashion, embroidery and housework.

“Mothers’ Units” (Unidades de Madres) was a pioneering experiment in Europe in the 1980s, which provided small external apartments for women with children, under the administration of the prison management. There are three such units, in Madrid, Seville, and Palma de Majorca, operating under a semi-open regime. The imprisoned women are under camera surveillance, alarms and monitors. Nurseries are provided in the residences for children. Imprisoned mothers and fathers are able to live with their children, if they are under three years old, in the family unit of Aranjuez prison. This project aims to extend the constitutional principle of the protection of the family into the prison setting, in order to maintain family ties.

Staff wear their uniform in the presence of children.

Minors are subject to a specific justice system.

Sentences for minors range from a reprimand to placement in a CIMI. Alternative sentences to detention are probation, community service, or court-ordered therapy.

There are three regimes for minors:

• closed: if the seriousness of the offence or the behaviour of the minor justifies this measure
• semi-open: if the seriousness of the offence or the behaviour of the minor permits work or study outside the facility during the day
• open

The maximum sentences incurred are six years for 14-15 year olds, and ten years for 16-17 year olds. Allocation to a facility takes into account a child’s family ties. Convicted minors who are sentenced to deprivation of liberty are assigned to the juvenile facility closest to their home.

Participation in collective activities is compulsory. The activities offered to children are deemed satisfactory.

The Ombudsman reported in 2017 on the presence of the Auxiliary Educational Authorities (ACE) in some of the establishments visited. The ACE accompanies minors and teachers during various activities, particularly those held outdoors. The Ombudsman reported that in two prisons, Ciudad de Melilla and Odiel (Huelva), there was no clear distinction between the roles of the ACE and prison wardens.

The most frequently represented nationalities are those of Morocco, Romania, Colombia, Ecuador, Algeria, China and the Dominican Republic.

Foreigners cannot be imprisoned for illegal residence; this is, however, punishable with an administrative sanction (fines or deportation).

Foreign prisoners can make calls to their home country, at their own expense. Phone calls made in police custody can only be made to areas within Spain.

There are no rules restricting visits for foreign prisoners. The practicalities vary between establishments. Visits can, in certain establishments, be grouped on the same day, in cases when relatives must make long journeys. The decision rests with the director of the facility.

Prisoners serving long sentences are not necessarily subject to a specific prison regime.

Article 504 of the Criminal Procedure Act limits the length of imprisonment on remand; this limit varies depends on the crime but may not exceed one year if the potential sentence is fewer than three years. The length of remand detention may be extended to two years, if the prison sentence incurred exceeds three years. In addition, this limit can be extended:

• by six months if the sentence is less than three years
• by two years for a sentence of over three years. The remand prisoner is freed once the limit is reached. A judge can order their re-incarceration, should they fail to attend court hearings. Placement in remand detention is mandatory for those accused of violent crimes. Those accused of corruption are most frequently able to avoid incarceration while awaiting trial.

Untried prisoners do not have access to work. The prison regimes of untried and convicted prisoners otherwise differs very little.

In January 2019, there were 265 Basque prisoners. Hundreds of thousands of people marched on 13 January 2019 in support of the reunion of prisoners who were former members of the armed separatist group Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA), who are currently dispersed between Spain and France. There were 76,000 demonstrators at Bilbao, according to the organisers. Amnesty International has condemned the Spanish government’s policy of splitting up prisoners in this way. Members of banned Basque parties are imprisoned, such as Arnaldo Otegi, one of the leaders of the left-wing Basque independence campaign. He was freed on 1 March 2016 after six years of incarceration. 254 Basque prisoners linked to ETA were serving their sentence in Spain as of 2017. This number has fallen since 2013, following the European Court of Human Rights’ condemnation of Spain. 95% of Basque prisoners are classed as first grade (closed regime). Twenty-seven of these are kept in permanent isolation. Almost all Basque prisoners are classed as first grade (closed regime). The Central Tribunal for sentence application has refused forty-seven applications to change prisoners’ grades between July and October 2018. Two were approved. Etxerat, an association supporting the families of Basque prisoners, has denounced the illegal nature of these decisions and the discrimination which results from them. Etxerat criticises the policy of dispersal among prisons. This policy aims “to dissolve the unity of ETA members”. Etxerat explains in a 2015 report that the prisoners are spread between establishments which are between 190km (Logroño) and 1100km (Algericas) from the Basque Country. Puerto I and III, located in Cadiz, 1050km from the Basque Country, house the largest group of Basque prisoners, at 28. Their parents and relatives have been injured in accidents while travelling to visit them, numbering 25 incidents in 2014. Families have condemned the “double sentence“ inflicted on Basque prisoners. Journeys made by their family are physically and psychologically exhausting and represent a significant financial cost. Etxerat estimates that visits cost between 1,000 and 2,000 euros per prisoner each month. Prisoners are obliged to publicly condemn the ETA in order to be eligible to transfer to a Basque prison. A large majority refuses to do so. Amnesty International has condemned the policy of dispersion practices by the Spanish government, and attests that this policy contravenes international standards.

LGBTI individuals face the same forms of discrimination and exclusion as those encountered in the outside world.

22.6% of prisoners aged over 70 require physical or psychological support[^sgipp]. The Protocol for Comprehensive Care for the Elderly (Directive 8/22) is active in nine prisons under the SGIP. Eight other establishments have implemented similar programmes. The prison of Alcázar, of San Juan, houses the largest number of elderly people. The Ombudsman observed several problems with the application of the protocol in 2017. In practice, it does not include staff training, and the facility lacks a multidisciplinary team or a therapist, as is set out in the protocol¹.

Certain elderly prisoners can benefit from conditional release, under the conditions that they are:

• over the age of 70
• are classed as “third grade”, or open regime
• have favourable prospects for social reintegration

Provision for adjustments is included in the SGIP’s framework in partnership with the Spanish Confederation of Organisations for Individuals with Mental Disabilities (FEAPS). The programme supports prisoners with mental or physical disabilities. It aims at early detection of disabilities, allocation to specially adapted and certified units or facilities. The programme also provides for support for prisoners with intellectual disabilities, in order to preserve their autonomy¹. Two facilities, Segovia and Estremera, use specific units adapted for people with disabilities. Staff receive training in caring for these inmates. Disabled prisoners in other facilities are aided by delegates from FEAPS.

The death penalty has been abolished for common law crimes since 1978. The last executions to take place in Spain were in 1975, when two members of ETA were shot. The death penalty is still referenced in Article 15 of the Constitution. Amnesty International has emphasised that the abolition of the death penalty in wartime ought to carry the same constitutional significance as its abolition for common law crimes. However, this is not seen as a pressing concern by human rights organisations; Spain has stated on many occasions its support for abolition, most notably by its adherence to Protocol 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights. It is anticipated that the death penalty will be abolished completely in Spain. Spain hosted the fifth global congress against the death penalty in 2013.

There is no movement to reintroduce the death penalty.