Málaga, Spain Genealogy

Guide to Málaga province ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records. '''Most of your genealogical research for Málaga will be in two main record types: civil registration and church records. This article will teach you methods for locating and searching these two record groups.'''

History
After a period of Carthaginian rule, Malaka became part of the Roman Empire. In its Roman stage, the city showed a remarkable degree of developmentand it was transformed into a confederated city under a special law. the Lex Flavia Malacitana. In the 8th century, during the Muslim Arabic rule over Spain, the city became an important trade center. Málaga was first a possession of the Caliphate of Córdoba. During this time, the city was called Mālaqah in Arabic مالقة. From 1025 it was the capital of the autonomous Taifa of Málaga, until its conquest by the Emirate of Granada in 1239. Málaga was one of the Iberian cities where Muslim rule persisted the longest, having been part of the Emirate of Granada. While most other parts of the peninsula had already been won back during the reconquista, the Moors still occupied occupied the city. Málaga was retaken by Christian forces on 18 August 1487. The Muslim inhabitants resisted assaults and artillery bombardments before hunger forced them to surrender, virtually the entire population was sold into slavery or given as "gifts" to other Christian rulers. This took place five years before the fall of Granada. On 24 August 1704 the Battle of Málaga, which was the largest naval battle in the War of the Spanish Succession, took place in the sea south of Málaga. After the coup of July 1936 the government of the Second Spanish Republic retained control of Málaga and its harbour was a base of the Spanish Republican Navy. at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War Málaga suffered heavy bombing by Italian warships which took part in breaking the Republican navy's blockade of Nationalist-held Spanish Morocco. After the Battle of Málaga and the Francoist takeover in February 1937, over seven thousand people were killed. The city also suffered shelling later by Spanish Republican naval units.

The urban area, stretching mostly along a narrow strip of coastline, has a population of 1,066,532 on 827.33 square kilometres (319.43 sq mi) (density 1,289 hab / km² – 2012 data). It is formed by Málaga proper together with the following adjacent towns and municipalities: Rincón de la Victoria, Torremolinos, Benalmádena, Fuengirola, Alhaurín de la Torre, Mijas, Marbella and San Pedro Alcántara. The Málaga metropolitan area includes additional municipalities located mostly in the mountains area north of the coast and also some on the coast: Cártama, Pizarra, Coín, Monda, Ojén, Alhaurín el Grande and Estepona on west; Casabermeja on north; Totalán, Algarrobo, Torrox and Vélez-Málaga eastward from Málaga.

Map of Málaga province, centered Málaga urban area (Málaga, Rincón de la Victoria, Torremolinos, Benalmádena, Fuengirola, Marbella – density >1000/km² and Mijas, Alhaurín de la Torre) Municipalities of the metropolitan area are connected by the road network (including motorways) with the urban area and Málaga city (the urban area can be reached by car from the farthest reaches in 20 minutes and Málaga city in 45 minutes). In some usages the metropolitan area includes other municipalities to which Málaga's public transport network extends, at least since the establishment of the Consorcio de Transporte Metropolitano del Área de Málaga (en: Consortium of Transportation of Málaga Metropolitan Area). Together about 1.3 million (max. 1.6 million[10]) people live in the Málaga metropolitan area and the number grows every year as all the municipalities and cities of the area record an annual increase in population.

Climate[edit] Málaga Climate chart (explanation) J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D 69 177	  60  188	  52  2010	  44  2111	  20  2414	  6  2818	 0  3121	  6  3121	  20  2819	  57  2415	  101  2011	  100  189 Average max. and min. temperatures in °C Precipitation totals in mm Source: Agencia Estatal de Meteorología [show]Imperial conversion The climate is subtropical-Mediterranean (Köppen climate classification: Csa)[11] with very mild winters and hot summers. Málaga enjoys plenty of sunshine throughout the year, with an average of about 300 days of sunshine and only about 40-45 with precipitation annually. Its coastal location with winds blowing from the Mediterranean Sea make the heat manageable during the summer.[12]

Málaga experiences the warmest winters of any European city with a population over 500,000. The average temperature during the day in the period December through February is 17–18 °C (63–64 °F). During the winter, the Málaga Mountains (Montes de Málaga) block out the cold weather from the north.[12] Generally, the summer season lasts about eight months, from April to November, although in the remaining four months temperatures sometimes surpass 24 °C (75 °F). Its average annual temperature is 23.3 °C (73.9 °F) during the day and 13.7 °C (56.7 °F) at night. In the coldest month, January, the temperature ranges from 13 to 20 °C (55 to 68 °F) during the day, 5 to 13 °C (41 to 55 °F) at night and the average sea temperature is 16–17 °C (61–63 °F). In the warmest month, August, the temperature ranges from 26 to 34 °C (79 to 93 °F) during the day, above 20 °C (68 °F) at night and the average sea temperature is 26 °C (79 °F).

Large fluctuations in temperature are rare. The highest temperature ever recorded during the day at the airport is 44.2 °C (111.6 °F). In the month of August 1881, the average reported daytime maximum temperature was a record 34.8 °C (94.6 °F). The coldest temperature ever recorded was −3.8 °C (25.2 °F) on the night of 4 February 1954.[13] The highest wind speed ever recorded was on 16 July 1980, measuring 119 km/h (73.94 mph). Málaga city has once recorded snow in the 20th century, on 2 February 1954.[14]

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Civil Registration

 * Spanish civil registration records (government birth certificates, marriage certificates, and death certificates) began in 1871.


 * Births, marriages, and deaths were recorded by the local Juzgado de la Paz, or Oficinia del Registro Civil. The records are still housed in their local municpal archives. In addition, Spain does have a national index or central repository for civil registration.


 * Some municipios (towns/cities) may have civil registration records beginning as early as 1837. Some of them have been microfilmed and/or digitized by FamilySearch.

Here are several different approaches to obtaining these certificates:
 * Larger cities may have multiple civil registration districts, and smaller towns may have their own civil registration office, or belong to an office of a nearby town. To determine the political jurisdiction for the town where your ancestors came from, please see the Spain Gazetteers article.

1. Online Digitized Civil Registration
The following records are available online from FamilySearch Historical Records:


 * 1760-1956 -, free, index, incomplete.
 * 1760-1956 -, free, browseable images, incomplete.

2. Microfilm Copies of Civil Registration Records Searched at a Family History Center

 * a. Click on this link to see a list of records for Spain, Málaga.
 * b. Click on "Places within Spain, Málaga" and a list of towns and cities will open.
 * c. Click on the town or city you wish to search.
 * d. Click on the "Civil Registration" topic. Click on the blue links to specific record titles.
 * e. Choose the correct event and time period for your ancestor.
 * f. Some combination of these icons will appear at the far right of the microfilm listed for the record. FHL icons.png. The magnifying glass indicates that the microfilm is indexed. Clicking on the magnifying glass will take you to the index. Clicking on the camera will take you to an online digital copy of the microfilm.

3. Ordering Certificates From the Ministerio de Justica

 * Researchers can solicit the Ministerio de Justicia online for copies of certificates.
 * For detailed information on how to order these records online, please see the article Order Spain Vital Records Online. It will take you through the process step by step, and includes translation of terms you will find in that process.

4. Writing to the Civil Registry of a Municipality

 * Juzgado de la Paz or Oficina del Registro Civil  should be contacted if a certificate copy request to the Ministerio de Justicia fails.


 * Use the following address, filling in the parentheses with the specific information for your town :


 * Oficina del Registro Civil
 * (Street address: This link will give you addresses for all the civil registries in Málaga.)
 * (postal code) (City)
 * Málaga, Spain


 * Find the Spain postal code here.
 * Write a brief request to the proper office. Send the following:


 * Full name and the sex of the person sought.
 * Names of the parents, if known.
 * Approximate date and place of the event.
 * Your relationship to the person.
 * Reason for the request (family history, medical, etc.).
 * Request for a photocopy of the complete original record.
 * Check or cash for the search fee (usually about $10.00).

Write your request in Spanish whenever possible. For writing your letter in Spanish, use the translated questions and phrases in this Spanish Letter-writing Guide.

Catholic Church Records

 * Catholicism's roots extend deep into Spain's history. Parish and diocesan records created by the Catholic Church in Spain have long been considered some of the richest genealogical records in the world. Ever since the Council of Trent, Catholic parish records have been consistently recorded, usually providing three generations in a single baptismal entry. 


 * The vast majority of Spaniards are Catholic, and so almost every Spaniard can be found in the records of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church was the primary record keeper of births, marriages, and deaths, until civil registration started in 1869.


 * Some church records have been lost or have deteriorated due natural disasters such as fire, flood, and earthquakes. Civil and political strife has also caused record loss, including during time of the Spanish Civil War.


 * The Catholic Church has created several different records. The most used in genealogical research include: baptisms (bautizos, bautismos), marriages (matrimonios), and burials (entierros, defunciones, fallecimientos). Other records include: confirmations (confimaciones) and pre-marriage investigations (expedientes matrimoniales, información matrimonial).


 * Tip: If you are researching after 1869, when Civil Registration started in Spain, both church and civil records should be searched since there may be information in one record that does not appear in the other.

1. Online Church Records
Currently, there are no online church records for this area. You should check back from time to time to see if they have become available.

2. Microfilmed Records From the Family History Library

 * a. Click on this link to see a list of records for Spain, Málaga.
 * b. Click on "Places within Spain, Málaga" and a list of towns and cities will open.
 * c. Click on the town or city you wish to search.
 * d. Click on "Church Records" topic. Click on the blue links to specific record titles.
 * e. Choose the correct event and time period for your ancestor.
 * f. Some combination of these icons will appear at the far right of the microfilm listed for the record. FHL icons.png. The magnifying glass indicates that the microfilm is indexed. Clicking on the magnifying glass will take you to the index. Clicking on the camera will take you to an online digital copy of the microfilm.

3. Writing to a Catholic Priest for Church Records
Baptism, marriage, and death records may be searched by contacting or visiting local parish or diocese archives in Spain. Write your request in Spanish whenever possible. 'This method is not always reliable. Officials might or might not respond.'

Write a brief request in Spanish to the proper church using this address as guide, replacing the information in parentheses:


 * Reverendo Padre
 * Parroquia de (name of parish) 
 * (street address, if known: consult The Catholic Directory)
 * (postal code), (city), Málaga
 * Spain


 * Find the Spain postal code here.

When requesting information, send the following:

Write your request in Spanish whenever possible. For writing your letter in Spanish, use the translated questions and phrases in this Spanish Letter-writing Guide.]
 * Money for the search fee, usually $10.00, and an international reply coupon (IRC)
 * Full name and the sex of the ancestor sought
 * Names of the ancestor’s parents, if known
 * Approximate date and place of the event
 * Your relationship to the ancestor
 * Reason for the request (family history, medical, and so on)
 * Request for a photocopy of the complete original record

Reading the Records

 * You do not have to be fluent in Spanish to read your documents. Genealogical records usually contain a limited vocabulary. Use this Spanish Genealogical Word List to translate the important points in the document. Reading handwriting skills are taught in the BYU Spanish Script Tutorial.


 * Online interactive slideshow lessons are available to help you learn to read these records:


 * Reading Spanish Handwritten Records, Lesson 1
 * Reading Spanish Handwritten Records, Lesson 2
 * Reading Spanish Handwritten Records, Lesson 3

Detailed instructions for reading Spanish records, examples of common documents, and practice exercises for developing skills in translating them can be found in the Spanish Records Extraction Manual.

Tips for finding your ancestor in the records
Effective use of church records includes the following strategies.


 * Search for the birth record of the relative or ancestor you selected. When you find his birth record, search for the births of his brothers and sisters.
 * Then, search for the marriage of his parents. The marriage record will often help you find the birth records of the parents.
 * You can estimate the ages of the parents and determine a birth year to search for their birth records.
 * Search the death registers for all family members.
 * Then repeat the process for both the father and the mother.
 * If earlier generations are not in the record, search neighboring parishes.