At the celebration of Día de la Merced in San Sebastián on 23 September 2026, Basque Justice and Human Rights Minister María Jesús San José said that security and reintegration were “two sides of the same public responsibility”. The event took place at the Aquarium in San Sebastián and brought together representatives from public authorities, the third sector and prisons.
San José stressed that deprivation of liberty is the punishment, but must not “lead to permanent exclusion”. The prison system must be geared towards rehabilitation and strengthen education, work, healthcare, treatment, social support and family ties. This was “not a concession, but simply and plainly justice”. She also stressed that the prison system needed to work with civil society organisations, because reintegration meant becoming part of the community again.
As a current point of reference, the minister cited the Centro Penitenciario de Gipuzkoa in Zubieta, which began operating three months ago and replaced the old prison Martutene . She described the new infrastructure as an important step forward, but warned that a building was no substitute for a model: what mattered was the direction of policy and the work of staff. She also marked the fifth anniversary of the Autonomous Community of Euskaditaking over prison administration. During this period, the government says it has consolidated a model focused on human dignity, reintegration, a restorative approach and reducing reoffending.
San José also paid tribute by name to prison officers killed in the line of duty—Francisco Javier Gómez Elósegui, José Ramón Domínguez Burillo, Ángel Jesús Mota Iglesias and Máximo Casado—who fell victim to terrorist violence. Their memory represents the risks faced by prison staff in Euskadi over many years.
In her speech, the minister combined political and policy principles with concrete developments: the recent opening of the Zubieta centre and five years of devolved responsibility are presented by the government as milestones in a prison system committed equally to reintegration and public security. The occasion was therefore not only a tribute to the profession, but also a statement on the direction of Basque prison policy.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).