Our Society has members collecting all kind of Spanish philatelic specialties: many collect classic stamps and covers, while others specialize on Spanish civil war local stamps, political labels and postal history. We also have members collecting Spanish colonies and others specialize on air mails, postal stationery, revenue stamps and cinderellas. We have many knowledgeable members who can assist identifying pieces of any kind. If you need help from them, feel free to post on our forum.
The Spanish philately can be divided into these areas:
1- Pre-philatelic postal history: until 1850. All kind of wrappers, folded letters and covers with marks previous to the issue of the first Spanish stamp. Some of these marks were used even after the first stamp appeared.
2- Classic stamps and covers, also called ‘Primer Centenario’. This is all the material until 1950. This period is called ‘Primer Centenario’ (First Centenary) because it covers the first 100 years of stamps in Spain. In this area we can find issues of queen Isabel II (1850-1867), Provisional Government (1870) king Amadeo I (1972), the First Republic (1873-1875), Carlist uprising mail (1873-1875), king Alfonso XII (1875-1882), king Alfonso XIII (1889-1931), the Second Republic (1931-1939) and Franco’s Dictatorship (1936-1950).
2a- There is a subsection into classic stamps and covers that goes from 1936 to 1939: the Spanish civil war local tax stamp issues, political labels and postal history. During the three years that lasted the most recent Spanish civil war, there were more stamp issues than in the other 166 years of Spanish philately. While a postage stamp catalogue covering from 1850 to 2019 has some 5,500 entries, specific catalogues of local stamps and political labels of the Spanish civil war have the double of listings, covering only 1936 to 1939.
3- Modern stamps and covers, also called ‘Segundo Centenario’, as they all are issued in the following 200 years period after the apparition of the first Spanish stamp. This period covers from 1950 to nowadays, and has only three sections: Franco’s Dictatorship (1950-1975), king Juan Carlos I (1975-2014) and king Felipe VI (2014-nowadays).
4- Colonies. Spain lost almost all its colonies before 1960, and these stamps are also divided into ‘Primer Centenario’ and ‘Segundo Centenario’ issues.
5- Errors and varieties. No distinctions are made on first or second centenary because this material is very scarce, but modern issues with errors are rarer, as technology makes more difficult for an error to occur.
