Palma prison officers: Merced boycott over attacks

Palma prison officers’ union CSIF will stay away from Thursday’s Merced events organised by the prison service. The boycott also covers events at prisons across Spain. CSIF says staff have been left forgotten and without enough protection.

The union points to rising attacks, staff shortages, insufficient training and failures over working hours and work-life balance. It also says prison staff facing insults, slander and humiliation are not being publicly defended strongly enough, and lack clear backing in the media and courts.

CSIF says Spain’s prison population has grown by 6,200 inmates since 2024. It records more than 500 attacks on prison workers each year — the equivalent of one every 18 to 20 hours.

The union says talks with parliamentary groups, chiefly PSOE and PP, have helped move forward a change giving prison officers agent-of-authority status. The Senate is expected to give final approval on the 30th.

Under the planned reform, inmates who attack a prison officer could face an extra sentence of up to four years. CSIF says the measure would also improve workplace protection, financial compensation, training and legal certainty, calling it a historic victory despite what it describes as growing violence and insecurity in prisons.

Topics: Jobs & labour · Politics · Palma

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com