Catastro of Ensenada

In 1749 a large-scale census and statistical investigation was conducted in the Crown of Castile (15.000 places including Galicia and Andalusia, but not including the Basque provinces, Navarre or the Crown of Aragon). It included population, territorial properties, buildings, cattle, offices, all kinds of revenue and trades, and even geographical information from each place. It was encouraged by king Ferdinand VI of Spain and his minister the Marquis of Ensenada, and is known today as the Catastro of Ensenada.

The general answers of each place to the 40 questions of the Catastro produced a huge volume of documentation that affords historians an opportunity to analyze the economy, the society, the practices of the señorío system (manorialism) and environmental data from 18th-century Spain. It is the best statistical register of the pre-statistical age of the Ancien Régime in Europe.

Today the word catastro means “register of the properties”, but the etymology comes from “enquire”. In the 18th century there was a distinction between a catastro, which was made by central officers who traveled to the places to enquire, and the amillaramiento, which was made by local authorities.

The Catastro originated in a proposal for a single tax (única contribución), studied by 16 members of the Council of Castile, the Hacienda (Treasury), the Indies (America), the Military Orders, five intendentes (first provincial authorities) and the head of the Barcelona Court. After receiving the negative opinion of Councils and the positive opinion of the intendentes, the king saw fit to begin the survey in the interest of the Crown and the vassals (October 10, 1749). With the royal order came a comprehensive set of instructions, or handbook, for the correct implementation of the Catastro by the enquirers and the public.

Measures were taken to prevent fraud, with public readings of the findings at each locality. Officers from other provinces were called when the local officers were not trustworthy. Test inquiries were also held in one locality within each province, to detect errors of implementation.

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