The delegate of the Government, Adriana Lastra, has presided over the institutional act of La Merced, patron of the prison administration. In his first speech to the prison community, he showed his commitment to the staff and needs of the Penitentiary Centre of Asturias: “You have me here, listening to your demands, as I did last week with the union representatives, and in permanent contact with Nieves, the director of the center.”
After expressing that today is an opportunity “to reaffirm our commitment to a more just, inclusive and supportive society”, the Government delegate thanked the prison staff for their work, “whose dedication and professionalism are fundamental pillars of our system”. And he has stressed the importance of the role of workers, “essential to ensure that our justice system works not only firmly, but also humanely.”
In this sense, Lastra has made the work in Penitentiary Institutions “a work of reintegration”: “We firmly believe that every person deserves a second chance, and that punishment without the possibility of redemption cannot be the basis of a just society. Reintegration and social justice are concepts that must go hand in hand in our democratic system.”
The delegate of the Government has highlighted the work of the Therapeutic and Educational Unit of the Penitentiary Center of Asturias, which turns 22 and “has become a reference throughout the country.” He has congratulated the UTE’s promoters for their work and who retired last week, Faustino García and Begoña Longoria: “I would like to publicly congratulate you for having understood before anyone else that there are people in prison who need to be listened to and reeducated.”
After thanking volunteers and civil society organizations for their involvement with the center, Lastra assured that “the collaborative model is consolidating a prison system that is already an international example to which many advanced countries aspire.” However, according to statistics from the Ministry of the Interior, eight out of ten people who leave prison after serving their sentence do not commit any crime again.
The delegate highlighted “the commitment” of the Ministry of the Interior to improve the system. He recalled the agreement signed in March 2023 at the General Negotiating Table of the General Administration of the State, which “has made it possible to review the organizational model, simplify the classification of penitentiary centers, redefine their organizational charts and has led to a salary increase.”
On the situation of prison health, Lastra has stressed that the Government of Spain is aware of union demands, has recognized the “effort” of all health personnel of the Penitentiary Center of Asturias to guarantee the health care of people deprived of liberty despite the “difficult coverage” of these positions in the selective processes activated. “The problems of incorporating more doctors also affect the whole of public health,” said the delegate of the Government, “and the solution is neither easy nor immediate, but we are in it.”