Spain is historically considered to be mainly a catholic country, showing some efforts in getting involved in scientific enquiry. In such a context we may not expect parapsychology to root. Nevertheless, the formation of spiritualist (or sometimes also called “spiritist”) associations expanded towards the end of the nineteenth century, and psychical research in form of "metapsychique" attracted some public attention, especially in the 20ies and 30ies in cities like Madrid or Barcelona.

Until now we only have a few historical contributions on the history of spiritualism and even less on the history of psychical research in Spain. Our contribution will document the presence of psychical research in Spanish society during the first decades of the 20th century. A revision of the news in the daily press helped to obtain information about the activities that were taking place. A broader documental research was instrumental in identifying several new historical actors, involved in the debate about psychical research.

Paranormal phenomena produced in spiritualist séances were able to involve some scientists, like the astronomer Comas who in his examinations and explanations during the first decade of the twentieth century followed the example of French scholars like Flammarion. At the same time, and inspired by the theories of Janet, the physician Víctor Melcior i Farré diagnosed and cured the “psychical doubling” of a young woman, presenting symptoms related to mediumship and spiritualist activity. Soon after, in the twenties, the treatise on metapsychique of Richet achieved great influence, provoking a harsh dispute among physicians. These debates, together with the metapsychical experiments undertaken by the Marquis Santa Cara and the pharmacologist Josep Poch, illustrate how psychical research became a widespread practice at that time in Spanish cities like Madrid and Barcelona, despite the attempts of a Jesuit psychologist to stop this movement.

In the present paper I use some examples of psychical practice to reflect on a) the relations between spiritualism and parapsychology (or metapsychics), b) the specific possibilities and constrains of the social context of Spain at the time, and c) the epistemological implications of the debates with regard to empirical proof and scientific method.