On Monday evening, an incident at the Puerto II correctional facility, located in the province of Cádiz, shocked both staff and inmates. One prisoner, held in solitary confinement, managed to escape his cell and climb onto the roof of the building. As he acted, he issued threats and demanded an immediate meeting with the institution’s director.
The events unfolded after 10:30 p.m., a time when the prison is usually quiet, but this time the noise persisted. A young man, 26 years old, took advantage of the commotion in the building to attempt an escape. He broke off a section of the concrete ledge in his cell and used it to punch a hole in the wall beneath the window. The loud noise quickly drew the attention of security staff, who rushed to the cell and found the inmate already halfway out. Attempts to hold him by the legs were unsuccessful—he broke free and ended up in the inner courtyard.
Realizing that further escape was impossible, the inmate climbed onto the roof. Once there, he loudly demanded a meeting with the prison’s director, threatening to take his own life if his demands were not met. The situation escalated: several times the man hung by his hands from the edge of the roof before pulling himself back up. Staff and responding police officers avoided using force to remove him, fearing a fall—either of the inmate or potential rescuers—as the surface was slippery from the nighttime moisture.
The negotiations lasted for more than an hour. Eventually, close to midnight, the man was persuaded to come down. He was immediately moved to another cell in the detention center to prevent the incident from recurring.
It turned out that this inmate was in solitary confinement at his own request—a situation known in prison circles as a ‘refugiado,’ meaning someone who fears retribution or conflicts with other prisoners. He is charged with theft and driving without a license, and isolation was his way to protect himself from possible altercations.
The incident has once again raised concerns about the condition of prison buildings in Spain. Penitentiary workers’ unions point out that Puerto II was built back in 1984, and decades of use have taken a toll on many structures. The fact that it was possible to break through a cell wall is alarming to staff and calls for urgent modernization measures.
Over the past twenty years, there have been 25 recorded escapes directly from inside Spanish prisons. However, most breaches of prison regulations are not related to such daring attempts, but rather to inmates failing to return after permitted leave or disappearing while being transported to court or hospitals. Official data show that in July 2025, nearly 62,000 people were held in Spanish prisons, with up to 80,000 passing through the system each year.
