Places of short-Term Deprivation of Liberty 50. On the inspection visits carried out the separation criteria laid down in The separation criteria Art. 521 of the LECRIM were observed to be met. However the strict application laid down in Art. 521 of these criteria may lead to overcrowding at some establishments and at some times. This occurred at the Melilla Police Headquarters, where the separation of detainees in the cells by gender, nationality, form of arrest and the nature of their alleged offences resulted in six people being held in one cell, with some of of the LECRIM were observed to be met. However, applying these criteria to the letter may result in overcrowding them having to sleep on the floor, while in others there were only one or two detainees. In such cases the available space needs to be optimised so that detainees are distributed without overcrowding. This Office considers this unacceptable even when, as indicated on the visit, it was the detainees themselves who asked to be kept together for reasons of affinity. 51. The lighting in cells was also checked. Although these are short-term Some cells were found to be holding facilities the poor levels of lighting found in some of the cells visited poorly lit cannot be deemed acceptable, as they are considered unnecessarily upsetting. Special attention must be paid to ensuring acceptable levels of lighting. Fused lamps were observed in some of the cells in the police headquarters in Seville and Melilla, and it was recommended that systems for controlling the switching on and off of lights should be installed and protocols for their use introduced. The ability to view the images recorded in places of deprivation of liberty is considered essential in determining whether good practices are being implemented. 52. The inspection of ventilation conditions during visits revealed the presence Unpleasant smells of bad smells in some cells. Requests were made for the improvement or were also noted replacement of the extractor fans at various establishments, including the police in some cases headquarters in Ceuta and Murcia and the police stations of the Central District of Madrid, the Delicias district of Zaragoza, Cordoba, Ibiza, Gijon (Asturias), Malaga, Seville, Torrelavega (Cantabria) and the Central Registry of Detainees in Madrid, all on grounds of unpleasant smells. 53. It would be advisable to monitor the temperature in holding cells all year Most cells have no air round, as it was found that most had neither air conditioning nor heating, thus conditioning or heating, resulting in excessive temperature fluctuations. A case in point is Cordoba, where on a visit to the cells it was reported that temperatures in the city in 2010 so their temperature should be monitored all year round had ranged from –2 to +44ºC. Attention also needs to be paid to temperature regulation at the police headquarters in Asturias and Melilla, and at the district stations of A Coruña, Jerez de la Frontera (Cadiz) and the San Blas-Vicálvaro district of Madrid. THE OMBUDSMAN OF SPAIN 51