Asturian-American Migration Forum

I have a genealogy question.. I know that Spanish Church records are a great source of family history information, but how do I know which church to write to?

Is there a website for churches in Spain?

All I know is my grandparents lived in Aviles or Castrillon, Spain. Is there a way to identify the Catholic Church that could have the records of my ancestors?

My great grandfather was Joseph Granada Menendez, 23 mayo 1877
My great grandmother was Etelvina Lopez Galan Menendez, 28 julio 1889

Thanks for your help.

Hola a todos, pués hace tiempo qué no ayudo algo y ésto de Kathy me parece qué le puedo ayudar, mira hay una amiga del foro qué además es prima de mi padre qué se llama Donna Sweeney qué seguro te puede ayudar, es una chica encantadora y estoy segurísimo qué te ayudará, como toda la gente de este foro, saludos y espero tengas alguna respuesta.

Kathi

Since no one has offered any help, I thought I would offer a few suggestions. I made trips to Avilés and Castrillón in 2001 and 2005 and was able to obtain church records and civil records for my grandfather and other family members. I had one big break as I had an old copy of my grandfather's baptish he requested back in the 1920s and it had the stamp of the church San Martin de Laspra which made my job much easier.

If you have been reading this web site you understand Castrillón is an area similar to counties or townships in the US. The city of Piedras Blancas is the seat of government for Castrillón and is just a few miles from downtown Avilés.

I discovered that many of the small churches, like San Martin de Laspra, are no longer active parishes and are run as mission churches where a priest comes by once or twice a week to here confessions and say a mass. Since there is no full-time priest, the records are moved to the main church in the area. For San Martin this was the church in Piedras Blancas.

This church is:
Iglesias de Jesuchristo de las Santos de las Ultimas Dias
Glez Abarca, 47
Piedras Blancas (need the Spanish equivalent of a Zip Code)
Ph: 895-567171 (after looking at his number and the others, I think the first three numbers should be 985 and I don't have information on hand to verify it.)

If your family was from the same area as mine, and many were, this church will have the records.

There is also a civil records office that maintains records of births and marriages. This office is:

Registro Civil
La Libertad, 15
Piedras Blancas (need "Zip Code")
Ph: 985-530059

I was successful in obtaining several documents from this office on my last visit and was treated very well.

When I was in Avilés in 2001 I did not see or hear of an office of tourism, but in 2005 I located it and they were a great help. Most of the people in this area of Spain to not see many American of tourists so their English is limited (but much better than my Spanish!), however the people in this office are fluent in English. At the time I was there in 2005 I worked with Silvia Gándara.

You can contact them at:

Ayuntamiento de Avilés
Turismo
Ruiz Gomez, 21
33401 Avilés - Asturias - España
Ph: 985-544325
Web: turismo@ayto-aviles.es

The e-mail address will allow you to contact them via the web which should be great to get you started.

By the way, if you have not visited the area, do make a trip as soon as you can. I enjoyed both trips and look forward to going again.

Thanks, Jim, for a very helpful and thorough answer!

¡Gracias a Jim para una respuesta tan útil y riguroso!

Hola Jim:

Puedo decirte que Silvia Gándara sigue trabajando en la oficina de turismo de Avilés. Y es cierto: tiene un dominio excelente del inglés.

El código postal de Piedras Blancas es el 33450.

Kathi: si necesitas que haga alguna llamada envíame un mensaje con la información. Es importante que sepamos si hay que llamar por Avilés o Castrillón, ya que se trata de concejos distintos.

Saludos,

Ana
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Hi Jim,

I can confirm Silvia Gándara still works in the Avilés tourism office. Her English is just perfect.

Piedras Blancas' zip code is 33450.

Kathi, you can email me if you want me to make some phonecalls to find out some info, just send me the info. It is important to know if we have to call Avilés or Castrillón, as they are different counties.

Best regards.

I don't know whether or not it was Silvia who worked in the tourism office when I visited Asturias, but if it was her she was very chatty, very helpful, and very tolerant of my bad castellano.

Hi Bob,

Silvia works in the tourism office since 2003. Your description is just perfect: always willing to help. So if you came in 2003 or after, it was her for sure.

Regards,

Ana