A document that can change a life. This is what numerous children and grandchildren of Spanish exiles from the Civil War are looking for in order to process Spanish nationality within the framework of the new law of Democratic Memory, known as the law of grandchildren. A requirement is to have the literal birth certificate of your ancestor issued by the Civil Registry, but sometimes this information is not preserved, because during the war conflict it was burned or it is also not available in the time before the inn in operation of the register itself, in 1871. A door that applicants knock on is the parish archives, since in the absence of this document they can use the baptismal certificate, accompanied by a negative certification from the Civil Registry that indicates that the birth certificate is not preserved.
In view of the growing demand for requests for this matter, some parish archives have even been strengthened with the help of volunteers. In the case of the Diocesan Archives of Barcelona, ??located in the episcopal palace in the Gothic Quarter, the impact of the nets law has been felt. Before this regulation, approved two years ago, they received less than a dozen requests per month to obtain the baptism certificate, while from November 2022 to the end of February 2024 they have responded to 1,280 emails – an average of around 90 per month – who request this document from their ancestors to take advantage of the new legislation. “We try to do what we can. We ask applicants questions so they know where to look for information and if we can help. It’s not a yes or no answer. We don’t have everything computerized, it’s artisanal work”, emphasizes Joana Alarcón, director of the Diocesan Archives of Barcelona.
In terms of nationalities, most of the petitioners come from South American countries, mainly Argentina, although also from Cuba, Venezuela, Brazil or Mexico. To a lesser extent, there are South Americans residing in the United States and other European countries. According to sources from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as a result of the new regulations, 226,354 applications have been received since 2022, of which 110,540 have already been approved, as of December 31, 2023. Although the deadline for to do the procedures through the nets law initially expired in October, the Spanish Government has announced that it will extend it for another year.
Until now, the staff of the Diocesan Archives of Barcelona have helped as much as they could and have come across very diverse cases. For example, some applicants have a copy or the baptism certificate issued by the parish before the Civil War, but with such bad luck that the church archive was burned, which is why the papers originals do not exist. In view of this situation, the vicar general can restore by decree a baptismal certificate lost during the war. In this sense, the Diocesan Archive of Barcelona keeps part of the documentation of some churches saved from burning during the war, such as that of the Virgin Mary, Sant Francesc de Paula, Sant Joan de Gràcia, Santa Maria de Gràcia , Sant Pere de les Puel·les, Santa Anna, Sant Just i Pastor or Santa Maria del Mar. In the book The Martyrdom of the Temples in the Diocese of Barcelona (1936-1939), written by the priest and diocesan archivist Josep M. Martí i Bonet, it is recorded that after the dispute, only 15% of the parish archives were preserved in their entirety.
Another way to find the required information is through the marriage records, kept in the archive since the 16th century. This is what has happened with a request more than 10,000 kilometers away and an ocean in the middle. Natalia, born in Argentina, found out just over a year ago that her ancestor was Spanish. “On the internet, in newspapers and in official bulletins, I found out that he was from Barcelona, ??from Gràcia”, he details. He immediately sent an email to the Civil Registry to request the birth certificate and to the archdiocese of Barcelona for the baptism certificate. The first document was not found, but there was luck with the second. The Diocesan Archive of Barcelona managed to pull the thread from the marriage file of the parish of Santa Maria de Gràcia and reach the baptism book, in which the baptismal certificate of his family member, born on 1895
For others, the search continues. Enrique Magnani lives in Guatemala and is one of the grandchildren of the group known as the children of Morelia, a group of 456 minors, including war orphans and children of republican fighters, who were transferred from Spain to Mexico by boat on 1937. Magnani knows that his grandfather was born in 1926 and in the archive they have found the marriage certificate of his great-grandfathers, but he has not found the birth certificate, an essential requirement for the procedure. “The embassy doesn’t know how to support me and I’m a bit at a standstill. I have requested a hearing with the municipal registry of Barcelona by a lawyer, but we have not received a response”, he regrets.
Of the cases dealt with, the file does not record that they have been resolved, as they are pending. It is not a simple or quick task. “Next year it’s my turn for them to review my documentation and then another year of delay to find out if they accept my citizenship,” explains Natalia. A long procedure for this Argentinian who has made him discover his Barcelona roots.
