Abstract
First in a series of 2 articles on the history of Spanish legislation on historical-artistic heritage. Without prejudice to more remote antecedents, the birth certificate of the legislation on historical-artistic assets can be dated in 1911 with the Excavations and Antiquities Law. This was followed, as the main normative milestones in the development and evolution of the historical-artistic heritage, the Law of Architectural-Artistic Monuments of 1915, the Decree-Law of August 9, 1926 (the first norm that regulated the then called the National Historic-Artistic Treasure), the Law of May 13, 1933 on conservation and enhancement of the National Historic-Artistic Heritage and the Documentary and Bibliographic Treasury Law of 1972, as well as a diverse set of regulatory norms, such as the very important Decree of July 22, 1958. On the basis of article 46 of the 1978 Constitution, Law 16/1985 on Spanish Historical Heritage repeals the preceding regulations and establishes the regulatory framework for this. A law, defined in its Preamble as the "unitary code" of the Spanish Historical Heritage, developed and completed by the different laws approved by the Autonomous Communities, which on many occasions contain contrary prescriptions.