Barcelona’s Model prison, a historic symbol of political repression, starts to be dismantled
Catalonia’s oldest prison, ‘Model’, will finally close its doors this summer, the Catalan Ministry for Justice announced on Monday. The inmates, currently more than 900, will be first relocated to Brians 1 prison, about 40 kilometres south of Barcelona and Mas Enric, in the Tarragona region. “Not closing the prison would have implied 25 MEUR worth of repairs”, Catalan Minister for Justice, Carles Bundó, explained. However, closing ‘Model’ doesn’t only respond to the need for reforms but to a historic vindication from both neighbours and associations. Since its opening in 1904, the prison has been the scene of almost 1,000 executions and is regarded as a symbol of the darkest episodes in Spain’s history. Once the facility is finally emptied Barcelona City Council will put a reform plan into effect to reform and give a new function to this historic building located in the centre of the city.