La mortalidad antes de entrar en la vida activa de España. Comparaciones regionales e internacionales, 1860-1960

In this work we analyse the changes in the regional distribution of mortality for young Spaniards between 1860 and 1960. First we show that digestive infectious diseases were the immediate cause of excess mortality in Spain compared to Northern and Central European countries. These diseases were also the main factor in the regional differences of mortality in Spain. In our second point we single out the peculiar ecological setting of Atlantic Spanish regions as the most important factor for their comparative advantage in morbidity and mortality at the end of the nineteenth century, relative to the rest of Spain and also to some Northern European regions. In the last part we argue that it was the microbiological revolution that established the direct relation between the standard of living and regional mortality differences that characterise Spain in the twentieth century. © 2000, Instituto Figuerola de Historia y Ciencias Sociales, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. All rights reserved.