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What is the Municipal Register and what is the INE register base?

The Municipal Register is the administrative register where municipality residents are recorded. Anyone who lives in Spain is obliged to register in the municipality where they habitually reside. Those who live in several municipalities may only register in the one where they live for the longest period of the year. The creation, maintenance, review and custody of the Municipal Register corresponds to the City Council and its data constitutes proof of residence in the municipality and demonstrates that the regular residence is located there.

To coordinate all the Municipal Registers and avoid duplications, the INE has a register base consisting of all the Municipal Registers. This base is updated monthly using the variations sent by the City Councils. This coordination is also carried out with the Register of Spaniards Residing Abroad.

How do I consult the history of municipalities in the INE registry base online?

Any person with an electronic certificate can consult the list of municipalities in which they have been or are currently registered, according to the registry base of the INE.

Go to the Online consultation of the history of municipalities in the INE register base, available at the INE Electronic Headquarters and prove your identity by providing a recognized electronic signature. Information will not be provided when the information on the electronic identity certificate does not precisely match those of your last municipal registration.

Who can consult the history of municipalities in the INE registry base online?

Any interested person who is or has been registered in the Municipal Register of a City Council and has an electronic certificate recognized by the INE's electronic headquarters.

What data will the query show?

A list of municipalities in which the interested person has been registered in the INE registry base, from its formation, on May 1, 1996, until its last update.

This information is displayed on the screen and may be printed.

Why might the INE register base not contain all municipalities in which you have been registered?

The INE municipal registry base was formed from the files of the last registry renewal, on May 1, 1996, and it was created to coordinate all municipal registries and to avoid duplications. It cannot be used to certify your data, a function exclusively reserved to the City Councils.

The legislation thus establishes that the data in the registers held by the National Institute of Statistics may not serve as basis for the issuance of certificates or registration flyers. Rather, these will be issued by the Secretary of the City Council or by the delegated official, and will have the character of a public and authoritative document for all administrative purposes as proof of residence in the municipality and of regular residence therein.

Creation of the coordination base was a complex task. It took several years to obtain the register file for each of the Spanish municipalities, and neither its completeness at the historical level nor the accuracy of the dates could be guaranteed: there may be periods with simultaneous registrations in more than one municipality or during which there is no registration in any municipality. This occurs because there are registered variations that are rejected due to a a failure to meet established specifications or due to the coordination of database itself. This prevents retrospective incorporation when a more updated version for the inhabitant is already available, meaning that some sections may not appear prior to the registration history, as may duplicate or non-existent periods.

For this reason, the INE has developed applications and databases to comply with legislative requirements; which in no case is to provide certification or historical data.

Where should I request the issuance of certificates or registration flyers with registration dates and address information?

To obtain certificates or registration flyers specifying the periods and addresses of registration in the list of municipalities obtained from the INE register base, go directly to the respective Town Councils.