Spanish Catholic Church Archives with records online in times of coronavirus

During the first days of the first state of alarm in Spain in March, I published a Tweed thread about Spanish Catholic Church with records online to work and do genealogy from home in times of coronavirus.

I recover that thread and my original post in Spanish for those who do not have Twitter or speak Spanish. I include in this post those Spanish ecclesiastical archives (Diocesan archives, Cathedral archives and Parish archives) that have church records and another resources online. Many archives belong to the Asociación de Archiveros de la Iglesia en España (Association of Catholic Church Archivists in Spain), chaired by Francisco Martínez Rojas, but I leave out those Spanish ecclesiastical archives that are digitized, but restricted, on FamilySearch .

The Diocesan Archives of Albacete (Archivo Histórico Diocesano de Albacete) has a page on the diocesan website. We will find in it the catalog of part of the parish archives that are preserved in it (from Alatoz to Hoya Gonzalo). The important thing is that these parish archives preserved in this archive are all digitized in FamilySearch. You just have to search for the city or town of your ancestors in the search engine.

The same happens with the Diocesan Archives of Ávila (Archivo Diocesano de Ávila) that has a page on the diocesan website and preserves the parish archives of its diocese. Church records from this diocese are all digitized in FamilySearch.

In March, I consulted the website of the Diocesan archives of Barbastro-Monzón (Archivo Diocesano de Barbastro-Monzón), its classification chart, the inventory and the digitization of the general manuscript catalog but I am afraid this webpage no longer works. Anyway, there were no more resources online.

If you have Basque ancestors, specifically Biscayan, the Diocesan archives of Bizkaia (Archivo Histórico Eclesiástico de Vizcaya), directed by Anabella Barroso, has it all: a search engine for church records (baptisms, marriages and burials) and a reproduction service that has been attending to requests during the state of alarm! Its neighbors from Gipuzkoa and Álava, the Diocesan Archives of San Sebastián (Archivo Histórico Diocesano de San Sebastián) and the Diocesan archives of (Archivo Diocesano de Vitoria), also have a search engine for church records and a magnificent reproduction service. Furthermore, church records from the three basque dioceses are also available in another public database: Dokuklik.

The Diocesan archives of Cartagena-Murcia (Archivo del Obispado de Cartagena-Murcia) does not have its own website or page on the diocesan website but, fortunately for the genealogist with ancestors in Murcia, a region located in the southeast of Spain, church records of its parish archives are all digitized in FamilySearch.

Like the previous one and the nearby Albacete, church records of the parish archives preserved in the Diocesan archives of Ciudad Real (Archivo Histórico Diocesano de Ciudad Real) are all digitized in FamilySearch.

Genealogists with ancestors from parishes belonging to the diocese of Ciudad Rodrigo (Salamanca province) are also in luck. Most of the church records of the parish archives preserved in the Diocesan archives of Ciudad Rodrigo (Archivo Diocesano de Ciudad Rodrigo) are also all digitized in FamilySearch.

The Diocesan archives of Girona (Archivo Diocesano de Girona) has a magnificent website, with databases on the parish archives and a search engine for matrimonial dispensations. If you have catalan ancestors from Girona, you are in luck because you also have all the parish archives digitized in FamilySearch. Here you have work!

The Diocesan archives of Jaén (Archivo Histórico Diocesano de Jaén) does not have its own website or page on the diocesan website but in the website of Revista Códice you will find several databases of “limpiezas de sangre” (blood purity informations) of the Cathedral of Jaén, matrimonial dossiers and dispensations of the city of Jaén and the towns of Arquillos, Jabalquinto, Villargordo, Valdepeñas de Jaén, Campillo de Arenas, Torredelcampo and Pegalajar, and the chaplaincy and civil dossiers of the latter.

I must recognize that the website of the Diocesan archives of Madrid (Archivo Diocesano de Madrid) is one of my weaknesses. I love going through the books of register and indexes (since 1683) of marriage dossiers of Madrid and its district in order to find marriages. And there are already more than 50 parish archives digitized!

In Mallorca, we have heads and tails. We can consult online the indexes of church records of the Catedral of Mallorca but we will need to go to the Diocesan archives of Mallorca (Archivo Diocesano de Mallorca) to see personally marriage dossiers and several parish archives that are microfilmed.

In the website of the Bishopric of Menorca (Balearic Islands) you will only find the opening hours of the Diocesan archives of Menorca but in the website of Asociación Raíces Reino de Valencia (Genealogical Association ‘Roots of the Kingdom of Valencia’), you will find a database with the marriages of the twelve historical parishes of the island.

The reproduction service of the Diocesan archives of Orihuela-Alicante (Archivo Diocesano de Orihuela-Alicante) remained open during the first state of alarm but the webpage of this service no longer works. Despite this, you can use this link of the aforementioned Asociación Raíces Reino de Valencia to search for your ancestors and, after finding them, request the records to the Archive.

The Diocesan archives of Santander (Archivo Diocesano General Concentrado de Santander) preserves the parish archives of its diocese and almost everything is available on FamilySearch. I say “almost everything” because new books and archives have entered the Archive in the last few years and they were not microfilmed or digitized. So, check the inventory of parish archives to verify that you have seen everything in FamilySearch and left nothing.

At the end of 2018, the Bishopric of Segorbe-Castellón signed an agreement with the Asociación Raíces Reino de Valencia for the digitization and indexing of the parish archives preserved in the Cathedral archives of Segorbe-Castellón (Archivo de la Catedral de Segorbe-Castellón). Today, unlike the Orihuela-Alicante diocese, we can search for church record on the Archive’s website as well as in the website of the Diocesan Services of Parish archives of Valencia, the third valencian diocese. So, if you have valencian ancestors, you will probably find information about them in these three websites.

To celebrate its Centenary, the team of the Diocesan archives of Tarragona (Archivo Histórico Archidiocesano de Tarragona) gave us a gift in March: the free download of digital images from its website, including church records from the parish archives it preserves.

Finally, although there are no church records online, I consider interesting to remind you an old post in which I wrote about the index of matrimonial dispensations preserved in the Diocesan archives of Zaragoza (Archivo Diocesano de Zaragoza).

And this is it that I know of. If I have left something or you know of any other website with Spanish church records, I would appreciate it if you share it in the comments of this post. And if you have any doubt or you think I can help you with your Spanish ancestors, please send me an email.