The Town Hall of Alhaurín de la Torre has published on its website the 1885 Recruitment File, the oldest document preserved by the Municipal Archive. It allows for the identification of the names, ages, and streets of the young men who entered the lottery for military service.
The Municipal Archive of Alhaurín de la Torre has digitised and made available to the public the 1885 Recruitment File, the oldest document preserved in its archives. The councillor for Historical Heritage, José Manuel de Molina Bautista, announced this week that the complete file can now be consulted and downloaded in four parts from the Town Hall's website.
The document, dated at the end of the 19th century, records the list of young men from Alhaurín who reached military age, then set at 19 years. It includes their names, their parents' names, their birth dates, and the streets where they lived, such as calle Ermita, Álamos, or Mesones. There is also a note signed and sealed by the parish priest of San Sebastián church regarding a young man who had already passed away, reflecting the high infant mortality of the time.
The file also shows the significant emigration suffered by the municipality, with numerous families having departed for South America, primarily to Brazil and Argentina. During those years, compulsory military service lasted 12 years (between 3 and 4 years of active service and the rest in reserve).
One of the harsh aspects reflected in the document is the so-called “redemption in cash”: families with resources could pay between 1,500 and 2,000 pesetas of the time to exempt their sons from service or hire a substitute. Therefore, the conscription usually fell upon the humbler classes of the municipality.
“This file opens a window into the lives, names, and destinies of the young men from Alhaurín at the end of the 19th century,” highlights Molina Bautista in the municipal statement.
The original document has been preserved despite the losses it has suffered throughout history. Interested parties can download it from the Historical Heritage section of the municipal website, where it is divided into four PDF files.
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