The first hours in Soto del Real prison of the leaders of the ANC (Catalan National Assembly) and Òmnium Cultural, Jordi Sànchez and Jordi Cuixart, were marked by being assigned to cells and long meetings with their lawyers.
By chance, the presidents of the two entities arrived on Monday night along with 9 other new inmates, which meant they could sleep together. The admission of so many new inmates meant they could keep each other company during that first night. On arrival, they were given a sandwich and a piece of fruit to eat. They were also given clothes to sleep in, the minimum items for personal hygiene and a 36-page booklet explaining the prison's rules and timetable.
During Tuesday, Sànchez and Cuixart received a visit from the prison's social workers and psychology to analyse their mental state. Afterwards, management decided to send them to two wings with little conflict, numbers 1 and 4. In wing 1 there are prisoners that are older than 45 doing their first stretch of time and in wing 4 are second-degree prisoners, so they have committed various types of offences. Contrary to early reports, Sànchez and Cuixart will not be sharing space with other notable prisoners held in the Soto del Real prison near Madrid, like Jordi Pujol Ferrusola, the son of a previous president of Catalonia, Ignacio González, a former PP (Popular Party) politician and ex-president of the autonomous community of Madrid, and Sandro Rosell, former president of Football Club Barcelona. Those three are being held in other wings.
Sànchez and Cuixart yesterday met with their lawyers for two hours to discuss their appeals against their imprisonment without bail pending charges of sedition handed down by a judge of the National Audience court.