Around half a thousand university specialists have sent a letter to the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, demanding that he guarantee access to the historical documentation kept in the General Archive of the Ministry of the Interior (AGMI) and, in particular, that he "release" the millions of documents from the 19th century, the Second Republic, and Francoism that, according to their complaints, are kept there against the department's own regulations.
According to the promoters of the initiative, who have explained to Europa Press, signatories from almost fifty Spanish public universities, as well as some private ones, have joined, as well as researchers from academic centers in Argentina, the United States, and several European countries, including France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Finland.
"The undersigned, dedicated to teaching and research in contemporary history, political science, and related disciplines, address you publicly to express our concern about the persistent difficulties in accessing historical documentation held in the General Archive of the Ministry of the Interior (AGMI)," reads the letter.
Academics maintain that this situation, in addition to hindering the progress of historical knowledge and undermining citizens' right to consult public archives in accordance with international standards, violates the rules of the Home Office itself, which stipulate that, as a general rule, documentation older than 30 years should not be kept.
They also recall that the minister, as happens with any ministerial archive, the AGMI should not assume the custody of historical documentation, a task that corresponds to specialized archives, whether historical or intermediate, as appropriate.
Delays, obstacles, and censorship in funding
With everything, the Archive of the Interior preserves "tens of thousands of boxes, with millions of documents" from the 19th century, the Second Republic, and Francoism, which forces "numerous historical investigations to necessarily pass through the AGMI".
The researchers point out that this archive records "access difficulties that are not usually encountered in other public archives". They detail that requests are resolved with "great delays", that the instruments of description are not made available and, on occasion, "documentation is delivered that is not subject to access restrictions, with current censorship marks".
In their opinion, many of these practices respond to the restrictive application of an obsolete internal regulation, whose update they demand to adapt it to the "current transparency regulations and the standards of openness that govern national and international archival science".
For this reason, they demand that, "under the strict application of the regulations," the transfer of historical documentation that remains in the Interior's file system be ordered, executing "immediately" the transfer to the General Archive of the Administration, authorized since December 2024 and affecting 6,111 boxes corresponding to the period 1829-1994.
Phased relocation and comparable access
Within this framework, they also ask that it be determined what historical documentation will remain in the archive after this first transfer and that "its staggered transfer be programmed" and that, while these movements are completed, "access to this documentary heritage be guaranteed with conditions comparable to those of the rest of the state archive network."
They underline that this involves making the archive's consultation instruments "public and accessible," simplifying the procedures for requesting documentation, ensuring that requests are resolved within the legal deadline of one month—reinforcing, if necessary, the archive's staff and resources—and guaranteeing full access to the collections that are not subject to restrictions.
Furthermore, they demand that in-person consultation at the archive's headquarters be normalized and that, if necessary, specific rooms be enabled or conditioned to protect this right, that the 2006 Instruction regulating access to documentation be reviewed and replaced by an updated regulation, and that the non-retroactivity of the 1968 Francoist law on official secrets be guaranteed.
Congress already urged to open the archive
Last April 21, the Constitutional Commission of Congress approved a non-binding proposal, promoted by ERC and agreed with the PSOE, which urges the Government to facilitate access to the funds of the Interior archive and to design a specific plan for the digitization and online consultation of documentation, prioritizing that of greatest interest for historical research and the reparation of victims.
The initiative, promoted by ERC and agreed upon with the PSOE, was endorsed in the Interior Commission with the votes of Sumar, Junts, Bildu, and PNV, while PP, Vox, and Unión del Pueblo Navarro (UPN) positioned themselves against it.