The prison meals for the ‘living dead’: Moment Richard Madeley joins shaven-headed inmates as they eat their dinner of rice and beans at El Salvador’s mega jail

Richard Madeley joined inmates eating rice, beans and tortillas for dinner in El Salvador’s mega-prison, then pointed out the lack of cutlery and green vegetables.

The broadcaster watched as prisoners hurriedly grabbed boxes of food through the bars of their concrete cells, where they spent 23 and a half hours a day doing nothing.

Nearly 3,000 inmates, including gang members, rapists and terrorists, eat the same meals every day at the notorious Prison for Terrorism (Cecot).

While visiting Cecot for Channel 5’s new documentary ‘Inside the World’s Mega Prison’, which airs this Wednesday, Madeley watched the food being handed out, then tried one herself by accidentally dipping her hand into a bean instead of using a tortilla.

The prison warden asks Belarmino Garcia: ‘So they never eat outside the cell, they only eat in the cell. What’s for dinner tonight, what’s for dinner?’

Mr. Garcia says it’s “beans and rice,” and a chef is seen wheeling around a cart filled with boxes containing the meals. Madeley adds: ‘Is this the same every night?’

The director tells him: ‘This is dinner and breakfast, it’s repeated all the time. ‘It’s different for lunch, which is rice and pasta.’ Madeley then says the meal is not a ‘balanced diet’.

The boxes are placed outside each cell before a command is given, and then the inmates hurriedly pass them through the bars and distribute them to other inmates.

Approximately 3,000 hairy prisoners are being held at the Counter-Terrorism Center

Madeley begins eating the beans with her hands before the Governor says, “No, con la tortilla.”

Madeley says: ‘Oh, you dip it in the tortilla. I’m not going to lie, the beans are pretty delicious.’

Madeley told director there were ‘no green vegetables’ in meals served to prisoners

Mr Garcia then opens the box for Madeley, telling her: ‘This is the food they were served.’ The server replies: ‘But do they have to eat with their fingers?’

It is said to him: ‘With your hands. ‘There’s no cutlery here.’ Madeley then begins eating the beans with her hands before the governor says ‘No, con la tortilla’.

Madeley replies: ‘Oh, you dip it in the tortilla. I’m not going to lie, beans are pretty tasty, but you wouldn’t call that a nutritious meal, right? So no green vegetables.’ He’s told: ‘There’s protein, there’s rice, but yes.’

The prison has become a linchpin of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s war against drug cartels and a key to deportations from the United States under President Donald Trump.

Prisoners sit quietly in windowless cells and Good Morning Britain host Madeley said the harsh regime at the £85m facility in Tecoluca could help authorities in Britain fix what he called a ‘broken’ prison system.

He said: ‘I think Cecot is probably a unique, brutally tailored solution to the horrors that have long plagued ordinary Salvadorans. But I believe there are lessons we can learn and apply to fix our own broken prison system.

‘So once you agree on the level of security, punishment and deterrence you want from it, you can achieve consistent results. You just need practice and determination to do this.’

At Cecot, inmates wear only boxer shorts and have shaved heads, the lights are never turned off, and there are no family visits, recreation areas or rehabilitation programs.

Madeley said the men had “absolutely nothing to do” while sitting in their cells, as no books, magazines, newspapers or screens were allowed.

Madeley watches food being distributed while visiting Cecot for a new documentary

Food boxes were placed outside each cell for the prisoners before the command was given.

The new documentary broadcast on Channel 5 includes footage of the meals distributed.

Prisoners hurriedly grab food boxes through the bars of their concrete cells

One inmate takes the boxes to his cell before distributing them to other inmates

Madeley says prisoners never eat outside their cells, only inside their cells

There are no workshops, no libraries, no opportunities to learn culinary skills, and no visitors.

He added: ‘All meals must be eaten in their cells, where they spend 23 and a half hours each day, with only 30 minutes outside for brief and closely guarded exercise.

‘They sit in their bunk beds all day long and the prison lights remain on 24/7, never dimmed. Everyone will die in this prison. ‘This is a living death.’

The 57-acre facility was built to house 40,000 inmates and currently houses an estimated 15,000.

Many are suspected of being convicted murderers and rapists, as well as members of rival gangs that have terrorized the country for decades.

Madeley said: ‘Nothing, absolutely nothing, can prepare you for the sight of 3,000 shaven-headed men squeezed behind floor-to-ceiling bars. There is no door. No screening.

‘There they sit, constantly open through the bars, on four-layered metal bunk beds – no mattresses, just thin cotton sheets – looking out. ‘This is a very bad sight’

Mr. Bukele ordered the construction of the mega-prison in March 2022 as part of his campaign against gangs in El Salvador, and it opened a year later.

Cecot, which can house 40,000 prisoners, consists of eight large pavilions. There are 65 to 70 inmates in each of their cells, and none are visited.

There are no programs, no workshops or training programs that prepare them to return to society after their sentences. They are never allowed outside.

Richard Madeley at the Counterterrorism Center (Cecot) in Tecoluca, El Salvador

There is no family visit, recreation area or rehabilitation program in the prison.

Suspected gang members sit in four-bed metal bunk beds in concrete cells

Good Morning Britain host Madeley gets rare access to maximum security prison

Prisoners with shaved heads crammed behind floor-to-ceiling bars doing nothing

The exception is the occasional motivational speech by inmates who have gained the trust of prison officials.

Prisoners sit in rows in the corridor outside their cells for interviews or undergo exercise programs under the supervision of guards.

The prison’s dining halls, recreation rooms, gym and board games are for guards.

Until recently, El Salvador had the highest murder rate in the world, with 106 murders per 100,000 people.

The country was grappling with brutal gang violence, which regularly included extortion, kidnapping, murder, human trafficking, and drug trafficking.

But after Mr. Bukele’s election in 2019, his government launched a major security crackdown that led to the detention of tens of thousands of suspected gang members and a huge drop in the murder rate.

That drew praise from Mr. Trump, whose government struck a deal with Mr. Bukele to accept what they described as the transfer and incarceration of foreign criminals to El Salvador.

Last week, official figures revealed that the number of people deported from the US to El Salvador had almost doubled in the first months of 2026.

The United States repatriated 5,033 Salvadorans in the first three months of 2026; In the same period of 2025, this number was 2,547.

The government of El Salvador, where 2 percent of the population is now in prison, says gang violence is responsible for 200,000 deaths in the past three decades.

‘Inside the World’s Mega Prison’ airs this Wednesday at 21.00 on Channel 5