The Thessaloniki Special Holding Facility is located on the floor above the Metagogon (Transfers) Centre, situated in the suburb of Menemeni in the western outskirts of Thessaloniki. The Special Holding Facility is one of five facilities under the responsibility of the Thessaloniki Aliens Directorate and is housed in an old factory warehouse building, without appropriate infrastructure for long-term detention. The Special Holding Facility comprises nine holding cells and an auxiliary cell with a total area of 590 square metres. According to a report of the Greek Ombudsman, the building’s structure is unable to support built-in beds, meaning that detainees in the holding facility must sleep on the floor. The CPT noted following its visit in 2016 that the Holding Facility consists of eight cells holding foreign nationals undergoing removal procedures and one cell detaining people with criminal charges.