Spain, Catastro de Ensenada - FamilySearch Historical Records

Title in the Language of the Records
España, Catastro de Ensenada

Record Description
These are census records of the Spanish regions of Andalucía, Asturias, Cantabria, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y León, Extremadura, Galicia, La Rioja, Madrid, and Murcia. The cadastre registers have been well-preserved. The cadastre generally includes information about the land, the income, the ownership, the assets, the head of household, and the heirs.

The records are in Spanish; see the section "For Help Reading these Records" for access to translation helps.

The cadastre was divided into sections called: Memoriales (Memorials), Respuestas Generales (General Answers), Respuestas Particulares (Personal Answers),Libro de lo Real (Book of Real Estate), Libro de lo Personal o de Cabezas de Casa (Book of Personal Information or Heads of Household), Estados o Resúmenes (Quantitative Summaries). This cadastre is in the form of a register and includes the quantity, value, and ownership of real estate used in apportioning taxes. The Cadastre of the Marquis of Ensenada includes a description of the properties and the population—both the secular and ecclesiastical—throughout the 22 provinces of the Old Crown of Castile, which occupied 70% of the territory of modern-day Spain.

This cadastre is known in Spanish as the “Catastro del Marqués de la Ensenada” and was conducted between 1750 and 1754 by Zenón de Somodevilla y Bengoechea, I Marquis of Esenada. He had been called by King Philip V of Spain as the Secretary of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer (or Minister of Finance) of the Crown of Castile.

Record Content
Because the cadastre was made for tax purposes, you can learn interesting facts about the towns such as its principal industry, quantity and types of buildings, and how much land was under cultivation by examining the Respuestas generales.

The books of Real Estate and Personal or Heads of Household may include the following information:


 * Names of property owners
 * Places where properties are located and in some cases the names of neighbors
 * A notation on the title page if there is an index of the people included in the cadastre
 * Sons and daughters that worked on the property
 * Type, measurement, value, and quality of the properties
 * Number of workers
 * Number of heirs

Memoriales de legos o seglares and Personal de legos o seglares may include the following:


 * Names of the head of household as well as the
 * Name of spouse
 * Name(s) of child/children
 * Other people living in the home (could be relatives and servants)

How to Use the Record
Some record sets have indexes; these indexes were created at the end of the year. Copy errors could have been made in the index, so you want to find the actual record to verify the information is correct. Using the index is a helpful way to find the actual record.

See the sections below for tips and uses for searching and finding the record of your ancestor in this collection and using the information in the record.

If you are unable to find a record for your ancestor in this collection, see the corresponding section below.

Search the Collection
To search by image: To search the collection you will need to follow this series of links: ⇒Select the "Browse through images" link in the initial search page ⇒Select the "Province" ⇒Select the "Locality" ⇒Select the "Volume and Section" which takes you to the images.

Search the collection by image comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine if the image relates to them. You may need to look at several images and compare the information about the individuals listed in those images to your ancestors to make this determination.

When searching: As you are searching it is helpful to know such information as your ancestor's given name and surname, some identifying information such as residence, age, and family relationships. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name as your ancestor and that your ancestor may have used nicknames or different names at different times.

For Help Reading These Records
These records are in Spanish. For help reading the records, see the following wiki articles:


 * Spanish Genealogical Word List
 * Reading Spanish handwritten records
 * Script tutorial for Spanish

Using the Information

 * Use the birth date or age along with the place of birth of each partner to find a couple's birth records and parents' names.
 * Use the residence and names of the parents to locate church records Spain Catholic Church Records (FamilySearch Historical Records).
 * Use the parents' birth places to find former residences and to establish a migration pattern for the family.
 * Use the marital status (whether a divorce or death dissolved a marriage) to identify previous marriages.

Tips to Keep in Mind
Use these records to find the birth/baptism, marriage, and death/burial records of your ancestors. Once you find those records compare them to the census to know if you have the right person(s).

If no other vital sources are available, some genealogical information could be found in the books of Memorials (Memoriales) and Personals or Heads of Household (Personales o Cabezas de Casa). These include some vital information of some of the inhabitants for each of the land properties in the census. If Catholic Church records are available, it is suggested that you research those records first.

Generally the ages of the adults are given and often those of children are also included.

When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.

Continue to search the records to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives who may have lived in the same area or a nearby area.

General Information about These Records
This cadastre was created when the country was preparing for a profound fiscal reform. The reform was aimed at improving the state of the Castilian treasury, simplifying the system of contributions, and making the system fairer. The idea was to replace income from the provinces by a single tax, which was intended to be universal and proportional to the wealth of the taxpayers. It was thus necessary to investigate the wealth of the subjects. The cadastre became the official register of the quantity, value, and ownership of real estate used in apportioning taxes.

The Cadastre of the Marquis of Ensenada was taken by assigned persons; it is a reliable source for research in Spain.

Known Issues with This Collection
For a full list of all known issues associated with this collection see the attached Wiki article. If you encounter additional problems, please email them to [mailto:support@familysearch.org support@familysearch.org.] Please include the full path to the link and a description of the problem in your e-mail. Your assistance will help ensure that future reworks will be considered.

Related Websites

 * Spain GenWeb Project
 * PARES Catastro de Ensenada
 * Catastro de Ensenada of La Rioja - This website contains the images for the Province of La Rioja. The Historical Provincial Archive of La Rioja created and maintains this website. They have also indexed the records. This website is only available in Spanish.

The following is a link to a research outline for Spain: Spain Research Outline It contains information about tracing a family through local records, a letter-writing guide for genealogical requests and their Spanish translations, Spanish and Latin word lists, a list of archives and genealogical societies, and a list of books available at the Family History Library.

Related Wiki Articles

 * Spain Census
 * Spain Emigration and Immigration
 * Spain Baptisms
 * Spain Catholic Church Records
 * Spain

Citation for This Collection
The following citation refers to the original source of the information published in FamilySearch.org Historical Record collections. Sources include the author, custodian, publisher and archive for the original records.