info@presodelescorts.org
You are here:

Les Corts prison's history

The Provincial Prison for women in Barcelona, the main female penitentiary along the First Francoism, was originally a Correccional General de Dones (General Correctional for Women) of the Generalitat de Catalunya (Catalan Government,  1936-1939).

E.g., 2024

The demolition of the Presó Vella

The demolition of the Presó Vella (Old Prison in Catalan, also known as Queen Amalia Prison), predecessor of Les Corts, started on the 21st of August 1936. It had been emptied out of its female residents during the revolutionary backlash that followed the attempted military coup in Barcelona.

1936
August
AHCB-AF. Pérez de Rozas, Carlos. 006202. Presó Vella of Barcelona Demolition Works. 29 October 1936.
AHCB-AF. Pérez de Rozas, Carlos. 006202. Presó Vella of Barcelona Demolition Works. 29 October 1936.

Opening of the new General Correctional for Women

The revolutionary outbreak that crushed the attempted military coup was the main impulse behind the transfer of powers in terms of correctional services from the State to the Catalan Government. This was enacted by the Statute of Autonomy of 1932 and suspended later in the wake of the repression following the insurrection attempt of October 1934.

1937
March
AHCB-AF. Pérez de Rozas, Carlos. 006202. Demolition works of Presó Vella in Barcelona. October 29th, 1936.
AHCB-AF. Pérez de Rozas, Carlos. 006202. Demolition works of Presó Vella in Barcelona. October 29th, 1936.

Imprisonment of Otília Castellví: the ‘antifascist’ prisoners

On 21 August 1937, the young Otília Castellví (Gijón, 1917), a member of the POUM) (Workers’ Party of Marxist Unification) entered Les Corts in the context of the punitive raids following the so called ‘May incidents’ of 1937.  

1937
August
Otília Castellví in Germany. Winter 1940.1941. Family Archive
Otília Castellví in Germany. Winter 1940.1941. Family Archive

Execution of Carmen Tronchoni

The young Carmen Tronchoni (València, 1915) was executed at the Santa Elena pit, on the grounds of Montjuic Castle, after being sentenced by the Espionage and High Treason Court of Catalonia.

1938
March
Carmen Tronchoni Soria. Cortesía de Daniel Tronchoni Soria
Carmen Tronchoni Soria. Cortesía de Daniel Tronchoni Soria

The Provincial Prison for Women of Barcelona

Occupied the Catalan capital by the rebel forces on January 26, three days later the first woman entered the so-called “Provincial Prison of Barcelona”, inaugurating a great rise of arrests.

 

1939
January
Exterior view of Les Corts Prison building, garden and orchard
Exterior view of Les Corts Prison building, garden and orchard

Execution of Carme Claramunt Barot

Throughout 1939 and 1940, 12 inmates from les Corts were executed (10 during the first year). The executions, by firing squad most of them, were carried out by the sandy areas in the “Campo de la Bota”, on the outskirts of Barcelona, after the women had paid the customary visit to the chapel at the Presó Model.

1939
April
Archivo familiar. Carme Claramunt Barot, s/f. Cortesía de Emili Ferrando, Conxita Romeu y Joan Mercadé
Archivo familiar. Carme Claramunt Barot, s/f. Cortesía de Emili Ferrando, Conxita Romeu y Joan Mercadé

The last execution

Two more prisoners from Les Corts were executed by fire squad in 1940, Assumpció Puigedelloses Vila, a 43-year-old from Vic, executed on March 27, and Inés Giménez Lumbreras, from Madrid, who was 25, executed on November 13. 

1940
November
Camp de la Bota
Camp de la Bota

The Second World War. Jenny Kehr’s suicide

Les Corts prison was also impacted by the events of WWII taking into consideration the proximity of the French border. 

 

1942
December
Jenny and Nathan Richard Kehr (courtesy of Paul E. Breene and Rosa Sala Rose)
Jenny and Nathan Richard Kehr (courtesy of Paul E. Breene and Rosa Sala Rose)

Issue of Probation Orders

On April 4, the Director General de Prisiones (Head Officer of the Prison Service), Ángel Sanz, went to Les Corts provincial prison to publicise the granting of probation to a few dozen inmates

1944
April
AHCB-AF. Pérez de Rozas. Issue of Probation Orders in Les Corts
AHCB-AF. Pérez de Rozas. Issue of Probation Orders in Les Corts

Escape of Adelaida Abarca and Ángela Ramis

314 women and 9 children were locked away in Les Corts on October 23, 1944. A little over a year later, according to the city census, the prison population did not exceed 224 women, watched over by 12 Sisters of Charity.

1946
March
Angelita Ramis, Victoria Pujolar and Adelaida Abarca, Toulouse, 1946
Angelita Ramis, Victoria Pujolar and Adelaida Abarca, Toulouse, 1946

Works and Sewing Workshops

Para comienzos de la década de los cincuenta, la población penal de Les Corts no pasaba de las doscientas mujeres, con cerca de una decena trabajando en la granja y el huerto bajo la supervisión y vigilancia de las monjas.

1951
January
Prison Sewing Workshop. Patronato de Redención de Penas Annual Report, 1952
Prison Sewing Workshop. Patronato de Redención de Penas Annual Report, 1952

Closure of the prison

In preparation for the prison closure, the prisoners from Les Corts were transferred to the Presó Model for men on October 31st, 1955.

 

1955
January
PERSONAL ARCHIVE OF MARIA SALVO IBORRA. Group photo in the yard of the prison, n/d.
PERSONAL ARCHIVE OF MARIA SALVO IBORRA. Group photo in the yard of the prison, n/d.