Comella Prison Inmate Numbers Drop 27% to 54 in 2025

The Comella Penitentiary Centre held 54 inmates as of 31 December 2025, marking a 27% drop from the 74 recorded at the end of 2024. With a total capacity of 151, the facility operated at 35.7% occupancy, according to data in the Public Prosecutor's Office annual report for the 2025 judicial year.

Nearly half of those inmates—25, or 46.3%—were in pre-trial detention. Of these, 14 awaited completion of their investigative phase, while 11 were pending rulings from the Superior Court of Justice (TSJ) or the Constitutional Court (TC). The remaining 29 inmates, or 53.7%, were serving sentences following convictions.

This pre-trial proportion ranks as the second highest over the past five years, trailing only the 58.7% recorded on 31 December 2021, when 27 of 46 inmates were in provisional custody. Numbers and shares had since declined, with 23 of 57 (40.35%) in 2022 and 16 of 49 (32.65%) in 2023. The figure rose again in 2024 to 34 of 74 (45.95%).

Among the 2025 year-end population, no minors were held; 52 were men and two were women. Of the convicted inmates, two had been ordered into psychiatric facilities under security measures involving deprivation of liberty.

In a separate section of the prosecutor's report, deputy prosecutor Marta Villaverde called for updates to the law on patient rights, duties, and medical records. She argued for strengthening legal grounds to allow exceptions to informed consent for health reasons, in line with European Court of Human Rights standards. Villaverde recommended establishing procedures to validate such exceptions and safeguards enabling affected individuals to challenge them.