Record Atlas
9 eras · 1563–2026 · 167 places

The Cantabrian coast — Asturias and Cantabria

Llanes, Santander, the Cantabrian coast. Which empire held this ground in which years — and, the part that matters, which archive that means.

Whose archive this ground was

YearsWho held itWhose archive that means
1563–1754 Crown of Castile — Burgos and Oviedo dioceses FamilySearch · PARES

Parish registers run from the Council of Trent (FamilySearch gives 1545 and 1563); most registers over 100 years old were moved to the archive of the parish's diocese. The Santander coast then belonged to the archdiocese of Burgos, with part of it from the diocese of Oviedo.
1754–1808 Crown of Castile — new diocese of Santander FamilySearch · PARES

The diocese of Santander was erected on 12 December 1754 by the bull Romanus Pontifex, out of Burgos and Oviedo, and runs from the Cantabrian range to the sea; parishes in it answer to Santander from then.
1808–1814 Spain under Joseph Bonaparte — Peninsular War FamilySearch · PARES

Joseph Bonaparte's reign is dated from June or August 1808 depending on the source, to 11 December 1813; the Peninsular War ended on 17 April 1814. An 1810 Napoleonic division of Spain into 84 prefectures is recorded.
1814–1833 Kingdom of Spain — monarchy restored FamilySearch · PARES

The war ended on 17 April 1814 and the Bourbon monarchy was restored; the 1822 division of Spain into provinces, made in the Trienio Liberal, was the predecessor of the 1833 one.
1833–1871 Kingdom of Spain — provinces of Oviedo and Santander FamilySearch · PARES

The royal decree of 30 November 1833 created the province of Oviedo and the province of Santander, the latter among the provinces of Castilla la Vieja.
1871–1931 Kingdom of Spain — civil registration FamilySearch · PARES

Civil registration is dated from 1871 (FamilySearch's church-records page says 1869), with some municipalities holding records from as early as 1837; the records are still in each municipality's archive, and certificates are requested through the Ministerio de Justicia.
1931–1937 Second Republic — the northern Republican enclave FamilySearch · PARES

After the July 1936 coup the Republic retained control of Cantabria and most of Asturias, which with Biscay formed a Republican enclave. The Nationalist offensive on Cantabria began on 14 August 1937 and the Italians occupied Santander on 26 August; the Nationalists occupied Gijón by 21 October 1937, ending the war in the north.
1937–1978 Spain — Franco's State, then the transition to the 1978 Constitution FamilySearch · PARES

This ground came under Franco's government in 1937, two years before the rest of the Republican zone. FamilySearch notes record loss in the Civil War without listing registers.
1978–2026 Spain — 1978 Constitution FamilySearch · PARES

The province of Oviedo was renamed Asturias in 1983.

The rings are approximate — deliberately. They exist to shade which filing system a place fell under, not to adjudicate a border. A place near a ring's edge should be checked against both neighbours.

See the whole span, 1563–2026, on the map →

The map takes a range, and a range that crosses one of the rows above is where records get lost: the family never moved, and the archive on the far side of the handover will tell you it holds nothing.

167 places on this ground

47 FamilySearch collections reach this ground

Ranked with the regional ones first — a collection for a province is usually a better lead than a national index, though the national index is often where a name is actually written down. A free account opens the images.

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