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Within a period of a few years, the face of economic Europe has changed : the North, dynamic and industrial, has been caught in the grips of the crisis, while the South, lethargic till now, is undergoing a remarkable development.This upheaval of economic geography is reflected in the demographic sphere also. All the southern countries have experienced rapid and important changes. At present, declines in nuptiality and fertility in some of them have even exceeded those of some of the Northern countries. Francisco Muñoz-Pérez** describes these transformations which are completely changing traditional ideas on the Mediterranean family and fertility.