Recent transformations in regional, urban and rural growth in Spain. The author dwells on a series of ruptures that have affected the distribution and character of the Spanish population since 1975 : a sudden fall in birth rates, a slowing down of the growth of large towns but diffusion into periurban areas, contradictory evolutions in medium-sized towns according to their regional economy, the decline of small towns in the old industrial regions of the north-west but a rapid growth along the Mediterranean fringe and rural revitalization marked by the return of emigrants. The situation is placed within the context of the reversal of demographic dynamics harming the old industrial centres. Patterns of change differ from one region to the next.