PARES Migratory Movements Database

Spain’s archives, better known as PARES, has many surprises.  One of their surprises is their databases that can help many throughout the Caribbean where Spain may have at one time claimed the land.  This database is called Ibero-American Migratory Movements or Movimientos Migratorios.

Many may not realize that this database exists but it is there and I found many people in the database. It can help breakdown that wall for that mysterious ancestor.  So there many ways to use their database with plenty of options. Also, your ancestor does not have to have originated from Spain but could have arrived from another country.

Their resources are listed in the image below to give you an idea where the records are coming from.

So to access the database, visit the page by clicking on the image below. It will open in a new window if you are using a computer.

When you arrive at the website, on the menu, click on Search.  A new window will appear.  In my sample, I used “Diaz”  and went to the Place of arrival field. Slowly start typing the country name and a list will appear as shown in the image below.

For my example I selected “Puerto Rico”.  Then I scrolled down to the bottom and clicked search. My results were as follows and notice that some include images to the right that you can click to view.

You can continue to play with the different fields to see what other information you can extract from the website. Hope this assists you with searching for those ancestors.