Spain Catholic Church Directories

Church directories are invaluable resources in Spanish family history. Most parish records in Spain older than 100 years old have been centralized into diocesan archives throughout the country. Each dioceses has different hours and rules for their archive, and are published in church directories and guides. Catholic Church directories usually contain the following information:


 * Mailing address and telephone number for each diocesan archive (sometimes email addresses and websites)
 * Brief inventory of the records their archives contain. These inventories usually describe the archives' collection in broad sections.
 * Listing of each parish, and an inventory of what records they have for each parish, and when each record type (baptisms, confirmations, marriages, and burials/deaths) began for each parish.

Where to find Catholic Church directories for Spain
There are three main websites that have different forms of guides or inventories of Spanish diocesan archives:


 * Spanish Dioces with addresses
 * http://www.conferenciaepiscopal.es/diocesis/
 * http://www.mcu.es/archivos/index.html (click on the Censo-guia link)

Another Catholic Church directory source is the book Guía de los archivos de la iglesia en España produced by Archivo Diocesano de Barcelona under the direction of José Mª Martí Bonet.