Spain Archives

Genealogically speaking Spanish archives can be divided into four separate categories.


 * Civil archives which are run one of the many levels of civil government
 * Church archives - typically this relates to Catholic Church archives.
 * Private archives which can be stand alone archives, or part of a civil or church archive.
 * University archives - contain a wide variety of records.

Civil Archives
Civil archives include archives from the National level all the way down to the civil registration office. The best place to find an archive and to access an inventory (not always complete or thorough) is through the Ministerio de Cultura's site at http://www.mcu.es/archivos/index.html Search the Censo-guia for the archives you are interested in finding. This site also links to all the major archives through out the country, such as:


 * Archivo General de Indias
 * Archivo General de Simancas
 * Archivo Histórico Nacional
 * Archivo de la Real Chancellería de Valladolid

Provincial Archives
Provincial archives are very important in family history research. The most important records in the provincial archives are the notarial records or Protocolos. These records include: wills, land and property sales, death inventories, marriage contracts, and many other types. The best portal for these archives is: http://www.mcu.es/archivos/index.html The site provides hours, services, addresses, and inventories for each provincial archive.


 * Archivo General de Indias
 * Archivo General de Simancas
 * Archivo Histórico Nacional
 * Archivo de la Real Chancellería de Valladolid

Municipal and Juzgado de la Paz Archives
These archives are sometimes together, but when they are separated you will find civil registration records in the Juzgado de la Paz archives. Municipal archives contain local census, tax, military draft records, and other records full of genealogical value. Like the provincial archives you can find additional information in the Ministerio de Cultura's website (listed above).

Church Archives (Catholic Church)
The Catholic Church has two main archives that are invaluable to anyone doing family history research in Spain.

Parish Archives
Parish archives maintain the parish books for their own parish. Most of the surviving parish records in Spain have been centralized to the Diocesan Archive (see below), however, records that are not more than 100 years old and those that were never sent to the Diocesan archive are kept/stored in the Parish archive. The parish records most common and most relevant to family history: baptisms, confirmations, marriages, and deaths/burials.

Diocesan Archives
Each dioceses has an archive where they have centralized the parish records within its boundaries. The archives usually have all the parish records that are older than 100 years old, plus any diocesan records. Diocesan records in Spain include: marriage dispensations, ecclesiastic personnel records, judicial materials, pastoral visits and confirmations. Catholic Church guides and directories are great sources for learning more about church archives. Much of this can be done through the Ministerio de Cultura's website, but there are two other websites that are great as well.


 * http://www.conferenciaepiscopal.es/diocesis/
 * http://punsola.club.fr/index.htm?menu=dioceses

Biblioteca Nacional de Espana
Madrid, Spain Internet: http://www.bne.es/