Spark plasma sintering (SPS) was used to densify BaTiO3-Ni composite powders to relative densities above 92.8%. With the increasing Ni content, a decrease in relative density is observed, suggesting that Ni hampers the consolidation process. The microstructures of the BaTiO3-Ni composites were of duplex character. The crystallite size of the BaTiO3-grains was around 100 nm in average. The ceramic matrix phase of BaTiO3 surrounded Ni inclusions of approximately 1 mu m in diameter that were completely incorporated without the formation of any elongated metallic filaments. The ac conductivity of these BaTiO3-Ni composites increased with increasing Ni content and with temperature. The dominant conduction mechanisms in SPSed BaTiO3-Ni composites showed quite a complicated behavior. A gradual change from band conduction of trapped electrons in oxygen vacancies to a hopping-type motion of small polarons between Ti4+ and Ti3+ is suggested to occur, when the Ni content increases. The influence of oxygen vacancies and other lattice defects on the electrical properties of BaTiO3-Ni composites is discussed.