A spatially dense GNSS-based crustal velocity field for the Iberian Peninsula and Northern Africa allow us to provide new insights into two main tectonic processes currently occurring in this area. In particular, we provide, for the first time, clear evidence for a large-scale clockwise rotation of the Iberian Peninsula with respect to stable Eurasia (Euler pole component: N42.612°, W1.833°, clockwise rotation rate of 0.07 deg/Myr). We favour the interpretation that this pattern reflects the quasi-continuous straining of the ductile lithosphere in some sectors of South and Western Iberia in response to viscous coupling of the NW Nubia and Iberian plate boundary in the Gulf of Cádiz. We furnish evidence for a fragmentation of the western Mediterranean basin into independent crustal tectonic blocks, which are delimited by inherited lithospheric shear structures. Among these blocks, an (oceanic-like western) Algerian one is currently transferring a significant fraction of the Nubia-Eurasia convergence rate into the Eastern Betics (SE Iberia) and likely causing the eastward motion of the Baleares Promontory. These processes can be mainly explained by spatially variable lithospheric plate forces imposed along the Nubia-Eurasia convergence boundary

Time-dependent gravimetric measurements can detect subsurface processes long before magma flow leads to earthquakes or other eruption precursors. The ability of gravity measurements to detect subsurface mass flow is greatly enhanced if gravity measurements are analyzed and modeled with ground-deformation data. Obtaining the maximum information from microgravity studies requires careful evaluation of the layout of network benchmarks, the gravity environmental signal, and the coupling between gravity changes and crustal deformation. When changes in the system under study are fast (hours to weeks), as in hydrothermal systems and restless volcanoes, continuous gravity observations at selected sites can help to capture many details of the dynamics of the intrusive sources. Despite the instrumental effects, mainly caused by atmospheric temperature, results from monitoring at Mt. Etna volcano show that continuous measurements are a powerful tool for monitoring and studying volcanoes. Several analytical and numerical mathematical models can beused to fit gravity and deformation data. Analytical models offer a closed-form description of the volcanic source. In principle, this allows one to readily infer the relative importance of the source parameters. In active volcanic sites such as Long Valley caldera (California, U.S.A.) and Campi Flegrei (Italy), careful use of analytical models and high-quality data sets has produced good results. However, the simplifications that make analytical models tractable might result in misleading volcanological inter-pretations, particularly when the real crust surrounding the source is far from the homogeneous/isotropic assumption. Using numerical models allows consideration of more realistic descriptions of the sources and of the crust where they are located (e.g., vertical and lateral mechanical discontinuities, complex source geometries, and topography). Applications at Teide volcano (Tenerife) and Campi Flegrei demonstrate the importance of this more realistic description in gravity calculations.