El Salvador · San Salvador Department · San Salvador
Data is aggregated from public sources and may be incomplete or out of date. Always verify with primary sources before acting on any figure. See data sources.
For families
Step-by-step guidance using the El Salvador system — addresses, money services, visit booking, what to bring on your first visit.
El Salvador's main male penitentiary. Hugely overcrowded since the start of the 2022 State of Exception.
Capacity
5,200
Current population
33,000
Occupancy
635%
Year opened
1980
Operational
Figures from official sources · verified 20 May 2026 · methodology
Population held
male
Opened
1980
Region
San Salvador Department
Security level
Maximum
Death-row facility
No
Severe overcrowding at ~6Ã capacity. Reports of inmates sleeping in shifts and acute medical access shortages.
Visits suspended since March 2022. No formal reinstatement date.
Limited acceptance of personal effects via family drop-off; no general mail system.
Family inquiries routed through DGCP, but information flow is severely limited.
Multiple documented in-custody deaths during the State of Exception. IACHR has requested information from the government.
No public contact details available.
Derived signal — not a judgement. How it's calculated
What the score is responding to:
This facility scores 54. The national average across 34 scored El Salvador facilities is 44 — 10 points above national average.
Population and occupancy by year. Source: official corrections statistics + oversight reports.
Population held
Occupancy %
Same country, matched on type + security level where possible.
Higher risk than 100% of peer facilities in El Salvador.
IACHR requested information from the Government of El Salvador on conditions at Mariona including overcrowding, deaths in custody, and access to legal counsel.
How many of our profile fields are populated. We surface this so families and researchers know the limits.
Under CC-BY-4.0. Include the URL and access date; the site is a living reference and entries can change.
World Prisons. (2026). La Esperanza (Mariona). Retrieved July 21, 2026, from https://worldprisons.com/prisons/la-esperanza-mariona
"La Esperanza (Mariona)." World Prisons. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://worldprisons.com/prisons/la-esperanza-mariona.
@misc{worldprisons-la-esperanza-mariona,
author = {{World Prisons}},
title = {La Esperanza (Mariona)},
year = {2026},
url = {https://worldprisons.com/prisons/la-esperanza-mariona},
urldate = {2026-07-21}
}