A Pesanta is a demonic canine found in Catalan mythology and folklore.
A Pesanta is often depicted as a large, malevolent black dog that attacks people in their sleep, climbing onto their chest and giving them terrible nightmares.
This puts the Pesanta in the same family of spirits as beings such as Night Hags and Mares, who were often used to describe many sleep disorders and unusual nocturnal events, most famous of which has since become known as sleep paralysis.