What happens behind the doors in Spain's mixed prisons, where men and women are locked up together? (6 photos + 1 video)
Few people know that in the area of Tierra de Caldelas, part of the province of Ourense in northwestern Spain, since 2021 there has been a rather unusual “mixed type” prison, where women (criminals) also serve their sentences along with criminals (men). who have broken the law. 
The remarkable thing about this is that since then (in just 3 years) another 20 similar prison blocks have opened in Spain. And due to the fact that there are statistically more male criminals, in mixed blocks there is always a strong bias in their favor.
And here any sane person can ask the question: “Why are such prisons needed? Isn’t it dangerous? How does such a prison even work and what happens behind its doors?”
Why was such a Spanish prison reform needed? 
Common corridor with cells in a mixed Spanish prison
In Spain, the government has been actively experimenting with mixed-type prisons for several years now. At the moment, about 20 mixed prison blocks have been opened throughout the country, where over 200 women and 900 men are serving their sentences together.
But of course, a very small percentage of the total number of all prisoners in Spain serve their sentences in such blocks, in total exceeding the number of 50 thousand people.
The Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, has been actively calling on his country to modernize and expand such mixed prison blocks further since 2023. Because they have shown their effectiveness.
“For people serving their sentences in prison for many years, it is often difficult to prepare for life in freedom, where both men and women coexist. When these people are released, they must be safely integrated into our society,” she said in an interview press, mixed prison observer, Ana Suarez.
That is, the key goal of such prisons is to make prisoners (who have been behind bars for many years) better prepared to return to society upon their release.
From 2021 to 2024, there have been “no serious incidents” between inmates in these mixed prison units, and officials say many people in regular prisons want to be transferred to such a unit.
What happens behind the doors in such prisons? 
There may be different numbers of men and women in different prison blocks, but (as we wrote above), statistically there are more male criminals.
Therefore, the number of women in different blocks varies greatly:
For example, in a similar block in northwestern Spain, only 1 woman serves her sentence with 20 men at once and even plays football with them in her free time.
And in a prison block near La Coruña there are 50 prisoners, only 20 of whom are women. 
A still from a report about a mixed Spanish prison on the French channel -France24.
In these units, male and female prisoners go about their daily activities together. They work together, visit the canteen, and in their free time while walking they can do almost whatever they want.
In the cafeteria, it is common to see male and female prisoners preparing meals together, and in the gym, women can be seen exercising alongside men.
And yes, sometimes male and female prisoners can even unite in the showers if there is sympathy or attraction between someone, however, this is not approved in prison.
And while these people are allowed to spend time in the common wing of the prison and interact with each other, the rest of the time guards separate men and women into separate cells.
They are prohibited from living in shared cells.
How do people end up in a prison like this?
Prisoners in mixed blocks are selected strictly on the basis of their personal data, prison term, severity of punishment and various violations. Persons imprisoned for sexual violence do not have the opportunity to enter a mixed block. Also, a similar ban applies to men who provoked others into fights, staged stabbings or attacked security guards.
A bandit named Fernando, who spent several years in a regular prison, told Channels TV magazine that he was suspicious of the prison governor's offer to transfer to a test mixed prison block because he "spent a lot of time with men who often bullied him."
After spending several months in a mixed block, Fernando said that this is an excellent place for non-conflict people, since there is no heavy atmosphere in the air and no threat to life and health.
“In a normal prison block you constantly have to assert your masculinity as well as respect and just one wrong look can lead to a fight with knives. This cannot happen in a mixed block; people here are calmer and more reasonable,” summed up the 47-year-old man.
Women also end up in similar blocks, solely of their own free will, but often point out that men in mixed blocks often interpret their communication as romantic interest and stuff like that.
One way or another, but in general, sitting in such prison blocks is a privilege (especially for men) that few people want to lose. Therefore, there are no conflicts between men even because of women, of whom there are clearly not enough for everyone.
