Tracing old friend - Madrid

Back in 1965 I was friendly with a young lady from Madrid, whilst we were both working in a hospital in UK.
Now of course in my retirement, I thought it might be nice to get back in touch to see what has happenened over the years.
I know where she used to live with her family in Bravo Murillo and so would assume she would have got married in the local church.
Is it possible to enquire through the marriage register?
I am looking at going to Madrid for a few days so would not like to waste too much time on initial searches.
I have been through White Pages with her original name, without success, but of course the name will have changed.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Wow! What a story! Attempting to reconnect 43 years after "being friendly" with a young lady from Madrid. I really hope you find her.

Of course, chances are excellent that she married. At that time, most women/men did. And people of that generation rarely got divorced but... maybe by now she's available. I hope your Spanish is good or at least that she kept up with her English. Also, maybe she stayed in the UK. Maybe she married an Englishman and didn't return to Madrid. She may have seen her opportunities much brighter in the UK than in Spain's struggling/poor economy and oppressive government.

Your chances are slim of finding her. I doubt they allow the public to look through the marriage register.

As for the White Pages, in Spain, when a woman marries she RETAINS her name throughout her life. However, if she had married in the UK she probably would have taken the last name of her husband.

But if she had returned to Madrid/Spain, gotten married, the phone account would certainly be in her husband's name.

Do you have the address of her family in Bravo Murillo? Or do you think you could find the house again? (if you'd ever seen it, that is) That might be your best bet of finding her. There's a good possibility that that house is still in the family. It's also possible that that building was torn down and another one rebuilt in its place.

Apart from all of the above, your fastest/easiest way of finding her might very well be by hiring a kind of Private Detective. These people tend to know how to work the system and find names in records. Hope you recall BOTH of her two last names.

Or contact the hospital where you both worked in the UK and see if they'll give you her forwarding address - but I imagine they wouldn't do it, or maybe not even have any record of her by now.

Best of luck!

Saludos, MadridMan

Thanks for the response Madrid Man.
I did stay in Madrid for about 10 days in the April of 1965 in an apartment of an Aunt of Maria which was about 1/2 mile from the apartment block where Maria lived with her parents, it was in a collection of Ministry flats which I found by luck on Google Earth - they are still there at the north end of Bravo Murillo.
I certainly do recall her full name(s) but have not wanted to publicise them in case of embarassment. I believe I am correct that the first surname was the fathers and the second the mothers - cannot recall what the connection with the last two are. In UK she was referred to by the first surname and that is what I used in the White pages search.
I left the hospital in the UK at the end of 1965 and joined the Royal Navy, Maria was still there for a while but I believe she then returned to Spain.
The hospital has long been closed down (10yrs) and like much else in this country has been turned into luxury flats.

bromide writes: Not necessarily! As MadridMan says: Many Spanish women continue to use their birth name suffixed: eg. Maria Dolores Lopez Gonzalez, Sra. de Fulano.

Back in the 60's, owning a Piso was one of the goals of Spanish Professional women. They would work in the UK or Germany to save enough to buy a Piso in one of Madrid's new neighborhoods and return to Spain.

Have you thought to check with Professional Associations (Nursing or other health-related)?

In Santander, I went looking for some friends of 40-years ago (2002). I found a brother & sister not too far from where they lived in 1962, 40-years earlier. A local Tavern owner / operator who was about 12-years old back then, knew exactly who I was looking for, and called the brother for me.

So, don't give up hope.

It is much more common that a woman just keeps her names and that's that. I think the private detective advice is the best. It won't cost you much and I'll bet they could find her very easily. One way to find out the general location for people is by searching the official bulletins where driving and parking violations get registered. Some of these are online. I think they are all public record. Did you google her last two apellidos? If one of them is less common, you might have luck.

Incredibly one of the telephone numbers was her younger sister.
Unfortunately Maria passed away 3 months ago.
I have to call back tomorrow when the son is available who speaks some English.
It was hard work with my Spanish and her English, but we got the gist of it.

That is so sad! I am sorry to hear that.

Thanks
I feel so frustrated that it was so easy in the end, I just had no idea where to start, expecting an entirely different name.

Aaaahhhhhh..... I too am very sorry to hear the news. Life sometimes plays out like that - and sometimes it doesn't. Very very sad.

Not to make any light of this situation, but the romantic in me wonders if when you contact the son that he might tell you that she, María, mentioned you often.

I believe things happen for a reason. Your wanting to see her may well have something to do with her remembering you near the end.

And your trying to contact her, and how it's developed, is important for both you and her. Maybe it's also important to her son. You may even meet with him when you're in Spain.