Annual report 2011: Spain’s National Preventive Mechanism their liberty for long periods of time with no therapeutic grounds, since the logic of recidivism and the accumulation of sentences should not be applied to mental patients. At the same time, it should be taken into account that prison sentences of less than two years should be served in the autonomous community of origin. The medical service monitors the type of food and supervises the menus, in some cases allowing the inmates to take part in its preparation 125.  In pursuance of a ruling passed on 22 April, 2010, the SGIP revised the daily allowances paid for prison inmates’ food. The unit values per inmate used to calculate the economic provisions destined to food in prisons, including taxes, were as follows: Group I (facilities with fewer than 200 inmates), 4.15 euro; Group II (facilities with between 200 and 500 inmates), 3.67 euro; and Group III (facilities with more than 500 inmates), 3.65 euro. The same amounts apply to the three types of inmate: healthy inmates, young inmates and infirmary rations. These amounts correspond to the allocation made in the prisons inspected, where the food is prepared in the prison’s own kitchen or in the case of the psychiatric prison hospital in Fontcalent (Alicante), for which the food is prepared and sent from the neighbouring prison of Alicante. In Seville Incarcerated Mothers’ Unit the daily allocation per inmate is 6.92 euro. This amount is stipulated in the contract between the SGIP and the catering firm that provides the service. Our inspections show that the medical service monitors the type of food and supervises the menus, in some cases allowing the inmates to participate in preparing it. A food calorie study is carried out, and they seek to strike a balance in the essential nutrients (proteins, carbohydrates and lipids), and where necessary for reasons of age, religion, cultural factors and medical condition, special menus or diets are provided in the facilities, which are supervised by the prison health service. Tray of food in Melilla Photo 51 prison In Barcelona men’s prison, first degree inmates should be given their yard time at non-mealtimes 146  Although a majority of inmates interviewed in Castellón de la Plana prison said they liked the food, nearly all of the men interviewed in Module I said they did not. In Barcelona men’s prison, a group of “first-degree” inmates said the food was cold, because it was served up while they were enjoying their yard time. Taking advantage of the fact that the interview was held with them in the yard, we   THE OMBUDSMAN OF SPAIN