Prison population in Europe: a special reference to the Spanish prison system reality

Abstract

The article focuses the attention on the most outstanding conclusions in the last "Observatorio de la Delincuencia" titled "Realidad y Politica penitenciarias" [Literally: Penitentiary reality and policy] (2012). This report analyzes the situation of the Spanish prison system from official data covering, for the first time, the Spanish State as a whole, including the regional Catalonian administration which has delegate competencies in prison-related matters. Showing and comparing the Spanish reality in this área is the general objective of this article, apart for explaining its high incarceration rates as compared with other European countries. The descriptive-quantitative analysis used in the examination of official data has been supplemented with the qualitative-interpretative study thereof from semi-open interviews with experts in this matter. The results show that Spanish prisons are overpopulated as compared with those of other European countries, this being the confirmation that the cause is not a higher number of incoming prisoners but the fact that sentences are entirely served in Spain.