Ancesters from Spain

[bicardiqueen]

Hi

My grandmother was born in Bilbao in Spain in 1898.  She came over to Wales in about 1928 and her name was Amparo Gomez Alvarado.  She was married to a Florentino Alvarado who I think was born in a town near Santander called Hoz de Marron.  I am trying to trace either of their families.  I know my nan had sisters who lived in Bilbao but that's it.

Does anyone know of a starting point of where I can get information about the Spanish census or anything? 

[cimbrio]

Hi bicardiqueen,

in Spain the Civil Registry was created in 1871, making it compulsory to register all births (provided that the child lived over 24 hours), marriages and deaths which took place on Spanish soil. So your granmother's birth should be registered in the Bilbao Civil Registry. The Civil Registry certificates in Spain are free of charge and send the document to you (you can order them online, I can help you with that if need be), but to do so you need to provide them with the date or an approximate date of when the birth took place. It's always useful to include the names of the child's parents.

If you can find out these few facts then you should be able to order a certificate. That would give you the father and mother's name (including the mother's surname since as you know women here retain their maiden name) and all four grandparents. It also provides you with the parents' age, profession and everyone's place of origin. So it's quite a useful document to have.

(added later)
If you can't find the birth date but know her marriage date (and if you know it took place in Hoz de Marrón, in the province of Cantabria) you can always ask for the wedding certificate, that could give you a few clues.

Let me know if you need any more help.

Cimbrio