SERA Preventing radicalisation in prisons -

P a g e | 19 ERASMUS+ N° 580247-EPP-1-2016-1-FR-EPPKA3-IPI-SOC-IN SPAIN Just a few months ago, in August 2017, Spain was hit by two consecutive and interlinked attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils. The dynamics of the two attacks are strikingly similar: in Barcelona, a van drove into the crowd at Las Ramblas killing 13 people, while in Cambrils, an Audi A3 drove into pedestrians, injuring several civilians and killing one person (Zhou, 2017). It later emerged that both attacks had been coordinated by a terrorist cell led by radical Moroccan imam Abdelbaki Es Satty (Irujo, 2017). A couple of years ago, in January 2015, the Ministry of the Interior launched its National Strategic Plan to fight violent radicalisation and extremist thought. The programme envisaged the creation of a network of local working groups, formed by social workers, schools, local police officers, tribunals and civic associations. The network would share information about vulnerable individuals, at risk of being recruited by jihadists (Ortega Dolz, 2017). Despite representing a welcome development, the Plan appears to have had little impact: an article published in August 2017 by national newspaper El Pais, critiqued the limited reach of the programme, which was reported to have been implemented in just 13 out of 8000 cities in Spain (Ortega Dolz, 2017). Aside from the allegedly poorly implemented National Strategic Plan, efforts to prevent and counter radicalisation were made in the field of education. During the academic year 2016- 2017, a new compulsory school subject was introduced for secondary school/ Baccalaureate Muslim students. The new subject – which will be incorporated in religion class - covers the main aspects of radicalisation, with the overall goal of teaching students about factors that might lead to radicalisation, prevention, as well as civic education, non-discrimination, rejection of violence and gender-based violence, and human rights. PRISONS In 2006, the Marco Plan for Educational Intervention with foreign prisoners, (Plan Marco de Intervención Educativa con internos extranjeros’) was enacted in Spanish prisons. The plan entails educational /vocational programmes aimed at facilitating the reintegration of prisoners from difficult socio-economic backgrounds. Among the subjects taught are Spanish language, cultural and societal values, multicultural values, solidarity, justice, respect and tolerance (Ministerio del Interior, 2006). Ten years on, in 2016, reports of a secret framework programme of intervention emerged. Plan Nanclares, launched by the Ministry of the Interior, targets 228 Jidahist inmates of Muslim faith. The plan, which seeks to distance prisoners from extremist violence, relies a tripartite method, which distinguishes between three different groups of prisoners: group A is formed by those prosecuted or convicted for their links to Islamic terrorism; group B is comprised of inmates who have become radicalised in prison and play a role in indoctrinating other inmates; group C includes inmates at risk of radicalisation.