A cry that sends chills down your spine: “Mama, mama, I’ve never heard anyone say ‘mama’…” That’s how one of the most famous EVP recordings in Spanish paranormal history sounds. The voice, according to legend, belongs to Raimundita, the ghost of the Linares Palace in Plaza de Cibeles.
The protagonist of this story, however, is not Raimundita, but Carmen Sánchez de Castro. This psychiatrist, who described herself as an investigator of supernatural cases, obtained authorization from the Madrid City Council in the late 1980s to conduct a study at the palace, which at that time was about to undergo restoration after years of neglect.
Over the course of a year of research, Sánchez de Castro and her team of parapsychologists conducted a study that included more than 300 photographs. Twenty-two of them captured patches of light that were supposedly evidence of paranormal activity in the building. Sol Blanco, one of the participating parapsychologists, remained convinced 20 years after the events: “They are a body of energy that becomes detectable by the photographic emulsion, ”she stated in a retrospective TVE report.
The most chilling aspect, however, were the EVP recordings made and released by Sánchez de Castro. On May 30, 1990, *El País* published a report on the paranormal phenomena occurring in the old building: “Children’s songs, heart-wrenching wails, and pleas for forgiveness can be heard on tape recorders placed inside soundproof chambers.” The story behind the mysterious voices had it all: aristocratic dramas, forbidden love, incest, murder…
No media outlet could resist such a juicy story; TVE aired a live broadcast from inside the palace during the evening news, and *Tiempo* magazine even gave away cassette tapes of the psychophonic recordings with its issues. One night, aroundtwo hundred people snuck into the palace to verify for themselves the existence of the Linares ghost and ended up being evicted by the police.
The (Not-So) Gruesome Story of the Marquises of Linares
The palace was commissioned by José de Murga y Reolid and Raimunda de Osorio y Ortega, the first Marquises of Linares. The aristocrats wanted a residence befitting their new title, with marble staircases, a ballroom, a musicians’ gallery, and sumptuous décor featuring tapestries, stucco work, mosaics, and frescoes by Spanish painters such as Francisco Padilla.
Construction began in 1877, and the marquises moved in in 1884. The construction, however, was not completed until 1900, and just one year later, the marquises died without direct descendants, leaving the palace in the hands of their goddaughter, Raimunda Avecilla. Since then, the palace changed hands several times until it was purchased by the City Council in 1988, when the restoration project was launched.
It was in 1990, decades after the death of the marquises, that the media frenzy surrounding the alleged paranormal phenomena added far more macabre rumors to the palace’s history.
According to the legend that became popular at the time, the origin of the palace’s ghost can be traced back to the love story between the marquises. The young José de Murga reportedly confessed to his father, a wealthy merchant, that he was in love with Raimunda, the daughter of a cigarette vendor from Lavapiés. The father forbade his son from continuing the relationship, as he recognized the girl as his own illegitimate daughter.
Although José and Raimunda would discover they were siblings, they married and had a daughter, Raimundita, whom (again, according to legend) they murdered and walled up in the palace to cover up their incest. Hence the strange EVP recordings which, as their discoverer, Carmen Sánchez de Castro, would later confess, were fabricated from start to finish.
How to Visit the Linares Palace Today
The Linares Palace, in addition to being home to ghost stories and elaborate hoaxes, is one of the best-preserved 19th-century buildings in the capital. Since 1992, it has been the headquarters of Casa de América, and today it is open to the public. General admission to the palace costs €10, and €7 for those over 65, children under 16, and people with severe disabilities ( with valid documentation). Guided tours are scheduled:
- On Fridays, two showings: 6:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
- On Saturdays and Sundays, there are three tours daily: 11:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m., and 1:00 p.m.
Advance reservations can be made at the building’s Information Desk (in person), Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and from 4:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., and on Saturdays and Sundays during visiting hours. Tours, limited to a maximum of 30 people plus the guide, are conducted in Spanish; for tours in English (with groups of at least 25 people), a prior request must be submitted via email to info@casamerica.es.