This is a list of Spanish sail frigates built or acquired during the period 1700-1854 Spanish frigates generally had religious names, often the names of saints or "our Lady".
An asterisk (*) in the "Launch date" column indicates the date of acquisition (purchase or capture) for vessels not built for the Spanish Navy.
During the 17th century, and for much of the first half of the 18th century, the term 'frigate' (or 'fragata' in Spanish) encompassed ships with two complete gundecks rated at about 50 guns as well as smaller single-decked vessels.
The smaller frigates evolved from the fast and lightly-armed vessels built chiefly on the coast of (Spanish) Flanders, and employed in the English Channel and southern North Sea, as well as escorting the trade routes from the Spanish Netherlands to the north coast of Spain.
The post-Napoleonic era began with the acquisition of six frigates from Russia in 1818.