🇪🇸 Spain · Valencia

CIE Valencia (Zapadores)

Migrant centre Former military site 📍 Complejo Policial de Zapadores, Calle de Zapadores 52, Quatre Carreres, 46006 Valencia Capacity: 160 Converted: 2020

Was: Former military engineers' barracks (Antiguo Cuartel de Ingenieros) constructed in 1921.

CIE Valencia (Zapadores) is a Centro de Internamiento de Extranjeros (Immigration Detention Centre) situated within the Zapadores Police Complex in Valencia, Spain. Housed in a historic military barracks, it operates as a closed administrative detention facility.

Context & Controversy: The centre is managed by the Spanish Ministry of Interior through the Policía Nacional. It detains undocumented migrants and individuals awaiting deportation. Like other CIEs in Spain, Zapadores has been the subject of intense scrutiny from human rights organizations, civil society groups (such as the CIEs NO campaign), and legal observers due to frequent protests, hunger strikes, and reports of inadequate living conditions, lack of medical isolation facilities, and infrastructural decay.

Operations: Detainees are held under administrative law, not criminal law, pending their forced expulsion. Despite repeated calls for its closure from regional politicians and human rights advocates, the facility remains an active node in Spain's deportation infrastructure.

Location

Official contacts & outreach

Requests we have sent to councils, mayors and local authorities about this facility, with the status of their response.

Ministerio del Interior (Portal de Transparencia) Other Awaiting response

Requested: 8 Oct 2026

What we asked: 1. Please provide a detailed demographic and statistical breakdown (including country of origin, age demographics, and religious affiliation, if recorded) of the individuals detained at CIE Valencia (Zapadores) since 2020.
2. What was the total financial expense, including maintenance, catering, and security outsourcing contracts, for the operation of the facility over the last three financial years?
3. Please provide copies of any formal community consultation documents or correspondence with the Valencia City Council regarding the local community's consent and infrastructural impact concerning this detention centre's ongoing presence in the Quatre Carreres district.

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