• Francisco Lucas thanked prison officials and prison workers for their commitment and dedication

• “Each reinsertion of an intern is not only a collective success of the system, but also an individual triumph for each one of you,” he said in his speech.

• During the event, the work and trajectory of several officials with 25 years of service have been recognized and several medals have been awarded to the prison merit

September 24, 2025. The government delegate, Francisco Lucas, today presided over the commemoration of La Merced Day, patron of penitentiary institutions, in which he thanked the commitment and dedication of prison officials and workers.

“I have only been a government delegate for a few days, but it is already several years in the front line of regional and national politics. And that is why I know that there are few groups more dedicated and committed than yours, and that you exceptionally carry out your work without the slightest hint of victimism or comparative grievance,” he said during his speech.

Lucas has valued his exceptional status as public servants and recognized that they constitute “an essential pillar of our national security policy and strategy, which guarantees, regardless of socio-political circumstances, the privileged rule of law that protects us.”

The government delegate has committed to continue working from the Government of Spain in improving their working conditions and in promoting the staffing of Penitentiary Institutions, “to which we have incorporated 8,000 professionals since 2018, with public job offers that exceed 1,000 places in each of the last three years,” he said.

All this, he added, “with the aim of continuing to strengthen the quality of our prison system, which is equivalent to improving our democracy, and of continuing to work to further reduce the prison recidivism rate, which does not reach 20%, and the number of people who do not re-commit crimes when they leave prison.”

During the event, the work and trajectory of several officials with 25 years of service have been recognized and several medals have been awarded to the penitentiary merit.