Carabanchel Prison
| File:Carabanchel prison.jpg | |
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| Location | Carabanchel, Madrid, Spain |
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| Coordinates | 40°22′53″N 3°45′19″W / 40.3815°N 3.7553°W |
| Population | 2,000 men and 500 women (as of 1999) |
| Closed | 1998 |
Carabanchel Prison (Spanish: Cárcel de Carabanchel) was a prison located in the Carabanchel neighbourhood of Madrid, Spain. It was opened in Francoist Spain in 1944 to house political prisoners after the Spanish Civil War. Carabanchel Prison was one of the biggest prisons in Europe until its closure in 1998 and its demolition in 2008.
History
The Coordinadora de Presos en Lucha, that struggled for prisoners rights and amnesty during the first years of the Spanish transition to democracy, was founded in the Carabanchel prison.[1] Several prisoners revolts occurred during that time period.[2] After its abandonment, the building was heavily looted and inhabited by non-Spaniards. Most of the prison walls were covered with graffiti, some of them very elaborate. A lengthy debate took place between the neighbours of Carabanchel and Aluche, who wanted a hospital and other public facilities to be built in the area,[3] and the local authorities, who wanted to privatize the land for housing development. The neighbours also wanted part of the prison to be preserved. Finally in July 2008, local and national government reached an agreement on the future of the prison lot, projecting to build 650 apartments, a hospital, green zones and government buildings on the former prison grounds. Despite protests, the entire Carabanchel complex was demolished in late 2008.
Notes
- ↑ "COPEL. La historia de un periodo en la lucha..." 2013-09-18. Archived from the original on 2013-09-18. Retrieved 2024-07-21.
- ↑ Redacción (2016-12-09). "Víctimas en el franquismo y olvidados en la democracia". Diario de León (in español). Retrieved 2024-07-21.
- ↑ The neighbours' project for the prison lot Archived April 23, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
References
- Chance, C. (2005) Carabanchel: The Last Brit in Europe's Hellhole Prison. Mainstream.
- Díaz Cardiel, V. (2007) "Algunos recuerdos de mis cuatro estancias en la cárcel de Carabanchel" El Rapto de Europa 11: 13–19.
- Photos from the prison [1]
- Photos from Carabanchel at flickr.com [2]
- Urban-travel.org @ The Carabanchel Prison, photos from inside [3]
External links
File:Commons-logo.svg Media related to Carabanchel Prison at Wikimedia Commons
