The bishopric of Lleida has issued 731 baptism certificates for descendants of Spaniards who have processed their nationality under the Democratic Memory Law, in force since October 2022 and with an application deadline closed in October 2025. To this figure, a thirty or so certificates pending verification and new requests registered within the legal deadline are added.
The demand, however, has been much higher than the number of documents issued. The diocesan archive has managed more than 2,500 requests and more than a third are denied because the corresponding baptism book does not exist, a limitation linked to the loss of documentation in war conflicts and frequent errors in locating the parish or diocese.
The archive received an average of 70 requests daily
The workload reached an average of 70 requests per day, with files coming mainly from Argentina, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Brazil, the United States, Chile, Colombia, and France. The requests had to be submitted directly by the interested parties, and the bishopric also registered in-person visits from people arriving from South America.
Joel Sanjuan, archivist of the bishopric of Lleida, explained the need to maintain the processing pace to avoid chain delays.
"It is important to keep them up to date to avoid accumulations" - Joel Sanjuan, archivist of the bishopric of Lleida
The majority of the certificates issued correspond to records from the late 19th century. The bishopric keeps baptism books from the 15th century, while documentation less than a hundred years old remains in the parishes and not in the diocesan archive.
Wars erased records in Alguaire and in parishes in Lleida
Some of the denials are due to the disappearance of parish funds. The bishopric reports documentary losses in parishes such as those in Alguaire and in some in Lleida, with the exception of Sant Joan, Sant Pere, the Cathedral, and El Carme, where the books have been preserved.
Files are also rejected due to lack of documentation or inability to prove kinship. The procedure requires official birth and marriage certificates in original electronic format from the applicant, their parents, their grandparents, and, when applicable, also their great-grandparents.
To that review are added incidents for falsified documents or manipulated signatures. In other cases, applicants indicate parishes that today belong to another diocese or start from the erroneous idea that the bishopric of Lleida covers the entire province.
Sanjuan also highlighted the value of working with historical funds that support a large part of these family searches.
"I especially like the part about consulting the old books because it makes you feel the weight of history" - Joel Sanjuan, archivist of the bishopric of Lleida
The certificates are issued in digital format with electronic signature for five euros, or on paper with handwritten signature and registered mail delivery for 10 euros, and the delivery time can reach three months.