Document consultation
How can I access and view AMCB documents?
Access to the Barcelona Contemporary Municipal Archives (AMCB) is free and open to anyone over the age of 16. To consult documents, you need to make a request via Barcelona City Council’s Virtual Procedures Office: Access to Information from the Barcelona Contemporary Archives.
In order to preserve its records, the AMCB management may impose restrictions or special conditions in certain cases. Furthermore, pursuant to current regulations, and for reasons of public interest or due to intellectual property rights, there may be records that cannot be consulted or copied.
Request and consultation procedure
To make a request, follow these steps:
- Access the Virtual Procedures Office and identify yourself electronically.
- Fill in the request form with the information required about the documentation to be consulted.
- Wait for the response from the AMCB team who will contact you to manage the consultation, whether in person or by sending copies.
Natural persons who are not obliged to submit the request online may request consultations in person at the AMCB.
Information needed for requests
You must provide the following data to help locate documents, according to the type of consultation:
- Consultation relating to research work:
- Basic details or summary of the research.
- University, cultural institution or scientific institution.
- Chronological scope of the research.
- General consultation on urban planning and public works:
- Type of document, licence or procedure (e.g. planning licence).
- Address of the property, number, floor and flat.
- (Approximate) year of construction.
- First holder or owner (if known).
- Consultation of the Barcelona Civil Registry (city, not province):
- Type: birth, death, marriage.
- Person’s full name.
- Year of birth, marriage or death.
When the request requires an in-person consultation of documents, the person listed as the appointment must attend. Appointments will not be honoured when the person’s full details (name, surname and identity document) do not match the details of the reservation, or when they fail to provide authorisation and a photocopy of the identity document of the appointment holder.
Services available on the document consultation portal
The portal also allows users to check the status of requests:
- Checking the status of requests: access the list of pending requests
- Record of requests: find information from previous requests.
