Madrid, Mar. 18, (dpa/GNA) – Spanish prison staff went on strike in seven prisons across Catalonia on Monday in renewed protest related to the killing of a female cook in a prison kitchen last week.

More than 4,000 prisoners in seven prisons in the autonomous region in north-eastern Spain were forced to remain in their cells, the La Vanguardia newspaper reported, citing the Catalalonia Justice Ministry in Barcelona.

State broadcaster RTVE reported that burning barricades had been set up in some places.

Prison officers are demanding more staff, stricter security measures and resignations by those held those responsible for the situation.

The protests erupted following the killing of the cook and the subsequent suicide of her assailant in Mas d’Enric prison in Tarragona on Wednesday.

According to the Justice Ministry, the prisoner had worked in the kitchen for the past four years and had shown “normal behaviour.”GNA