New prison in Mahon will have 92 cells

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The complex, which will occupy a plot of 15,000 square meters, will have four buildings, a watchtower, an infirmary, laundry, library and a locutorio

Angela M. Bishop Maó

The General Secretariat of correctional institutions has begun expropriating the land where they lifted the future prison Minorca, near the barracks of the Civil Guard of Mao on the road to Sant Lluís. Work on the complex, which will occupy a plot of 15,000 square meters and involve an overall investment of around 43 million euros could begin in the first quarter of next year. In fact, the promoter, the State Society of infrastructure and equipment Prison (SIEP), the Ministry of the Interior, has already made public the characteristics of the project on its website. Read more on this article

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Modifications to original project for prison in Maó

C.M.W. Maó

The branch of the Spanish Home Office responsible for prison infrastructure and fittings has modified the original project proposed for the prison in Maó, reducing it in size so that it is better adapted to the island’s needs. However, this alteration will not affect the number of cells envisaged in the original plans, which remains at 92 plus 34 complementary cells.

Construction of the complex, which will be located on a 15,000 sq.m. plot close to the Guardia Civil headquarters on the Maó to Sant Lluís road, will cost around 43 million euros. A few weeks ago the Cabinet authorised the compulsory purchase of the land necessary for the project which is unique in Spain according to Javier Tejero, the State Government’s Island Director. The plans have already been approved and only details regarding the water and electricity supplies and sewerage remain to be finalised, as these will also cover the future complex at nearby Bintaufa. Tejero states that construction could start immediately and that the project will be officially presented in Menorca before the end of this year.

The Maó prison will comprise four buildings, three of which will be built around a central courtyard and will be surrounded by a wall, overlooked by a watchtower. The residential block will have two sections for inmates, another for admissions and prisoners in transit and a smaller section which will be a closed prison. This will be the highest building, with four storeys: the ground floor will be for communal use; one floor will house the technical section for running the prison; and two other storeys will contain cells.

The block housing the sick bay, cultural section, communications and the services headquarters will be three storeys high with the ground floor scheduled for communal use. Within the sick bay will be the consulting rooms, doctors’ offices, four single and four double rooms giving twelve beds in total. In the communications section will be the visiting rooms, three rooms for conjugal visits and others for family visits. The cultural section will comprise various classrooms and a library.

The services block will be a single storey building in which will be housed the kitchen and laundry and the fourth building, containing the offices and access control, will be situated outside the security zone.

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Sixty Menorcan prisoners could be transferred here

C.M.W. Maó

According to the State Administration’s Island Director, Javier Tejero, construction work will start almost immediately on Menorca’s new prison which will be built on a 15,000 sq.m. plot next to the Guardia Civil headquarters on the Maó to Sant Lluís road. The scale model for the prison has already been prepared for the presentation of the project which will probably be during this month. Work on preparing the land is due to start very shortly and will be carried out by a temporary coalition of companies, one from the island and the other from outside. The original design has been modified so that the finished product is more suitable for the island, but the prison will still have 92 cells and 34 complementary cells.

Transfer of prisoners
Once construction is completed and the prison is open, 60 Menorcan prisoners, currently serving their sentences in Palma, could be transferred here. This would make life a lot easier for their families when it comes to prison visits. Although grants are given to family members visiting inmates in Palma, these do not cover the total cost of the trip, meaning that many families cannot afford to visit more than twice per year, as the majority of prisoners come from low-income families, according to a spokesperson for the Pastoral Penitenciaria, Isabel Serra. She added that the families have a hard time as, in a society such as the Menorcan one, they also have to hide the truth to avoid people’s comments.

Serra explained that there is a dependent unit on the island; a flat, where third-degree prisoners can complete their rehabilitation. Work is currently being carried out on the flat and at present only one prisoner is in residence but there will shortly be room for up to ten people.

These are people who work during the day and spend the night in the unit. They spend weekends and public holidays with their families and, every fortnight, have to go to Palma for controls. The unit will continue to function once the Menorcan prison is open, as Serra explains that “there are always prisoners who need closer vigilance during their rehabilitation and this is the reason for the dependent unit”.

Despite some public opposition to the construction of a prison in Menorca, the feeling being that there is no need for such a prison on a small island, the spokesperson for Pastoral Penitenciaria believes it to be a good idea, partly to avoid the need for families to travel off the island to visit inmates, and partly as a deterrent which may make people think twice before committing a crime.

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Begin work on the prison Mahón

M. Angeles Obispo Maó

The bulldozers have begun the movement of land for the construction of the prison in a plot Maó of 15,000 square meters near the barracks of the Guardia Civil.

The works are executed by a joint venture (UTE) that make up the construction Clemente Olives, Menorca and COPCISA in Barcelona, while the polls Structures and Geotechnics, SA will provide technical assistance during the development of the works. The overall budget of the future prison Maó around 15 million euros and the execution time is 15 months, according to sources yesterday reported the State Correctional Facilities and Infrastructure (SIEP) of the Ministry of Interior, in charge of building and enable the new prison.

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Work starts on clearing land for Maó prison ...

Diggers have started to work on clearing the site for the prison which will be constructed next to the Guardia Civil headquarters on the Maó to Sant Lluís road.

The 15 million euro project, comprising four buildings surrounded by a wall, should be completed within a period of fifteen months.

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Demonstration against location of new prison

A demonstration is to be held on Friday at 1900 hrs. in the square in front of Maó Town Hall, protesting against the location of the new prison, which is to be built next to the Guardia Civil Headquarters on the Maó to Sant Lluís road in an area which will also shortly contain an equestrian centre and sports centre. Complaining that the politicains have ignored their protests and stating that “you are the people, the politicians have to listen to the people!”, the organisers are hoping for a good turn-out in support of their cause.

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The work of the prison day and night

Toni Seguí Maó

The group affected by the construction of the prison, which is built on a plot of the road Mahon-Sant Lluís, has ensured that the UTE awarded works in breach of working hours to 12 hours a day in early March by the State Correctional Facilities and Infrastructure (SIEP), the island state and the building itself.

Sources affected by the collective works in the prison have reported that since last Tuesday, the workers of the Joint Venture-Building COPCISA Olives are working from 6 am to 24 hours, so that working hours beyond the time 12 hours of work that SIEP, the island state and agreed on the UTE awarded ago barely a month. The group already expressed its disappointment at the reduction in hours, not to satisfy their demands to avoid the inconvenience and noise that must endure because of the work. In this sense, ensures that they are currently working five large tonnage machines, when the island's state director said that the presence of such machinery would last until the end of March

For its part, the island state director, Javier Tejero, said yesterday unaware that the contractor of the works carried out an extensive schedule of work set at the meeting at the beginning of last month. For his part, sources from the construction company failed yesterday Olives specify the hours of work done in the work of the prison.

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Pastoral prepare prison officials

Pastoral Penitenciara of Menorca, in collaboration with the Balearic Ministry of Labor and the Interior Ministry will organize the launching of a preparatory courses for people interested in becoming officers in prison.

The Ministry has called 1123 places at the state level to the body of assistants Penitenciaras institutions, 250 of them belong to the Balearics and 60 are intended to cover prison Menorca.Although not approved are guaranteed to take place on the island, it is likely that those who have passed the tests in the rest of the state does not have his priorities in Menorca by their remoteness, for this reason, the objective of the course is get them to submit to examination as many residents on the island and bring stability to the future workforce.The course will last approximately 300 hours and will aim to prepare the content of the 53 items included in the competition notice.

It will consist of three official examinations. The first will take place in autumn and may be the Spanish elderly, with a degree of Bachelor superior, equivalent to FP2, or access to university for adults over 25 years. Interested parties may obtain further information on the website and www.060.es www.map.es (oppositions). The deadline for submitting applications expires next June 24 if they wish and may leave at the address in the Island Plaza Miranda.

Menorca prison has a capacity to accommodate a maximum of 120 inmates and will be operational by next summer.

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Prison in Menorca to open within two to three months


Delayed due to modifications to the original plans, the completion date for the prison being constructed on the Maó to Sant Lluís road has now been set for two to three months time. The State Administration’s Island Director, Javier Tejero, denied that the latest delay had been caused by problems in financing the work and explained that it was due to a second change to the project, which would increase the car parking facilities. The first modification to the original design was to reduce the size of the watch tower in order to lessen the prison’s visual impact.

Tejero affirms that the work is now in its final phase and that the prison could be inaugurated before summer, one year after it was due to have been completed.

This is the second time that delays in the work have raised speculation that some of the subcontractors employed on the project have not been paid, a fact roundly denied by Tejero last August and also by COPCISA, the company that is responsible for the building together with its temporary partners, Construcciones Olives; the Island Director claiming that “the State is paying and is doing so on time”.

At present, in addition to introducing modifications to provide more car parking space, kitchen items and security equipment are being fitted and personnel are being employed to work in the prison, some of whom will be transferred from other areas, others will be newcomers. In total 150 jobs will be created.

In respect of the arrival of the prisoners, Javier Tejero stated that “this will be gradual”. He explained that the recent opening of two other prisons, in Murcia and Las Palmas, with a combined capacity for around 4,000 prisoners, had led to the Menorca prison being “sized” according to the island’s needs and that it would principally house prisoners from the island who currently have to serve their sentence in Palma. The new centre on the Sant Lluís road will be able to accommodate 200 prisoners, some of whom will be transferred from prisons elsewhere.

The prison’s official name has still to be decided but Tejero says that, in line with the naming of other centres, it will not take the name of the town in which it is located but will be named after a person.