[Methodological approach to the history of medical hydrology]

An historical study of medical hydrology allows us to outline a clear social history in Spain. The author identifies three groups of people living and working in and around thermal baths; he suggests studying relations between doctors and patients, therms economics, the social life in baths and the organization of people living around them. A correct use of handwritten and printed sources describing various aspects of thermal life can help us to understand an always interesting phenomenon.