Extremism emerging as a major problem inside Spanish jails

Hossam al-Haddad

European jails are becoming potential launching pads for extremism. This problem has been induced by the presence of a large number of Muslims, who had committed some infringements, in these jails.

Extremists serving sentences in these prisons are doing what they can do best: spread their ideology among other inmates.

Prison authorities in Spain, for example, have noticed the presence of a growing number of extremists in Spanish jails. This, they say, poses threats to the whole Spanish society. It is also a phenomenon that makes it necessary for Spanish authorities to pay due attention to it.

Some observers have said that terrorist organizations like ISIS focus on inmates serving short sentences or those who are about to be released from the prisons.

Soon after these inmates get out of the prisons, they said, the terrorist organization contacts these former inmates and convinces them to work for it.

This is the new strategy by the terrorist organization. It uses its members in drawing in new recruits in the prisons, turning some former inmates into sources of danger for the Spanish society.

Spanish prisons have become a fertile ground for the recruitment of new ISIS members, the Spanish attorney general said in a report in 2020.

It added that Spanish authorities impose strict supervision on extremists for a long time. The attorney general added that Spanish authorities also fight extremist thinking inside the prisons by training prison officials in fighting this thinking. Each of these officials attends a 15-hour course on the best means to deal with extremists and extremism inside the prisons, he said.