Historical Archive of the City of Barcelona

Access is free and open to anyone over the age of 16. You just need to bring some ID.

Yes, provided technical staff in the reference room authorise it and that there are no legal or document conservation reasons that might prevent it.

In accordance with the following conditions, you:

• Must tell the member of staff what you want to copy and fill in the form for copying using your own official device, specifying the documents you wish to copy, among other information.
• May not produce copies using your own device when the Archives has a copy of the document in another support which may be used to provide your copy.
• May not use a flash or any other light systems, scanners or devices that enter into contact with the document when doing the copies.
• Must handle the documents with care to avoid damaging them. Preservation of the document takes priority over the quality of the reproduction.
• Must avoid making any noise causing a nuisance to other users.
• May not use tripods or other accessories, unless the AHCB has a suitable place for doing so in the reference room.

Yes. The AHCB provides users with copies of its documents if requested and provided they have paid the corresponding amount set out in the municipal taxes and public charges. Users may also make their own copies following the criteria explained in the answer to the 2nd FAQ

There are restrictions on the indiscriminate and systematic reproduction of archive fonds, documents bound in the form of a book and single documents where this might pose handling or conservation problems (large formats, fragile supports).

There may also be restrictions or limitations on reproducing specific documents under current legislation on intellectual property.

No, but users can reserve documents consulted in the reference room for up to five working days. And every user can reserve a maximum of three documents.

This does not apply to valuable documents, any with unique characteristics, special types or special formats.

No. The AHCB provides users with catalogues, inventories and other tools that describe the sources available and provide useful information on the documents kept at the Archives. Under no circumstances, however, will the archivists carry out specific searches, which must always be done by the interested party.

Yes. The AHCB has its own Wi-Fi network to make the work of users and researchers easier.

Laptops can be connected to the Archives' online catalogues from the reference rooms via the Wi-Fi connection.

You can purchase AHCB publications at:

Sala Ciutat Open in a new window, Ciutat, 2. 08002 Barcelona

La Central del MUHBA Open in a new window, Baixada de la Llibreteria, 7. 08002 Barcelona

Yes. The Archives contain documents which indirectly enable genealogical studies to be carried out. You can find information in the notarial archive and in the Hearth Tax and Personal Cadastre series (18th century) of the municipal archives.

Other city archives where you can find documents for genealogical studies are the Diocese of Barcelona Open in a new window, which contains the baptism records and marriage registers of all the churches in the province of Barcelona, and the Contemporary Municipal Archives of Barcelona (AMCB) Open in a new window, which preserves the civil registry indexes of births (1841-1960), marriages (1842 - 1960) and deaths (1836-1960).

Enquiries referring to later years must be made at the Barcelona Civil Registry Open in a new window.

Yes. The Archives' Oral Collections contain interviews with people who suffered exile and reprisals after the Civil War, or confinement in concentration or labour camps. You need a prior appointment to consult these.

You can also consult monographs, periodicals, booklets and posters that may help researchers.

However, the Archives does not have lists of prisoners.

No. The names of ships can be found in the Diario de Barcelona, but not lists of passengers. If the voyage destination was America, there is still a chance of locating people, especially if the passengers disembarked in Buenos Aires.

There are important archives in Argentina, Cuba and the United States (Ellis Island) which preserve documents with lists of passengers.

Cuba

http://www.cubagenweb.org/e-pass.htm

http://www.cubagenweb.org/ships/e-index.htm

Argentina and other South American countries

http://www.entradadepasajeros.com.ar/

http://cemla.com/buscador/

http://www.migraciones.gov.ar/

http://www.migraciones.gov.ar/accesible/?museo

Ellis Island

http://www.libertyellisfoundation.org/