To broaden access to its documentary heritage and enhance public understanding, various series and groups of records are being digitised and added to the Banco de España’s Institutional Repository
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The records currently available include the following:
Minutes of the governing bodies
This series brings together the volumes of minutes of the main governing bodies of the Banco de España (1856 to the present day) and its predecessors the Banco Nacional de San Carlos (1782 to 1829), the Banco Español de San Fernando (1829 to 1856) and the Banco de Isabel II (1844 to1847, when it was merged with the Banco de San Fernando).
Banco Nacional de San Carlos shares
One of the most remarkable series in the Historical Archive is the set of shares issued by the Banco Nacional de San Carlos. This unique collection reveals the names of nearly every one of the bank’s founding shareholders and shows how ownership was distributed. The Banco Nacional de San Carlos issued 150,000 shares with a face value of 2,000 reales de vellón each, which were subscribed between 1782 and 1785 by individuals and institutions from every corner of society. These included the nobility, the military and the clergy, merchants, banking houses, towns and villages, cooperatives, associations, estates, chantries, charities, hospitals, individuals and a lengthy list of shareholders of all types, mirroring the society of the day.
The Historical Archive is home to nearly 149,000 of the 150,000 shares originally issued. A selection of 4,277 shares has been uploaded to the Repository, in which every shareholder is represented by at least one document. To facilitate searches, users are advised to make use of the text in the descriptive records.
Securities certificates
This series consists mainly of shares and bonds issued by firms, along with public debt securities, mostly from Spain. The corporate material covers almost every sector of commercial activity, including finance, mining, steelmaking, maritime and land transport, shipping, food production and the pharmaceutical industry.
The public debt holdings include almost all national issues as well as many municipal and regional ones. The entire collection offers a broad overview of Spain’s financial and business landscape, as well as the state’s financing practices from the mid‑19th to the mid‑20th century. A total of 2,280 securities certificates are available in the Repository. To facilitate searches, users are advised to make use of the text in the descriptive records.
Architectural plans of Banco de España buildings
The Banco de España Historical Archive also has an extensive set of architectural plans and drawings of the Bank’s buildings. These include its headquarters in Madrid, branch offices in 70 Spanish cities and the three agencies opened in Tangier, Larache and Tetouan. Together, they offer a detailed record of the Banco de España’s architectural styles from the mid‑19th century to the present day.