As is happening in the rest of Spain, the social fabric of the two regions examined (1 - the Comunidad Valenciana, consisting of the provinces of Castellón, Valencia and Alicante; 2) the Murcia region) is undergoing major transformations with the integration of citizens from various other countries who bring with them their own languages and cultures. Their presence in our daily lives is giving rise to new needs in terms of communicative interaction, both interlinguistic and intercultural, in view of which new social and educational initiatives are required. In this context and in order to offer an overview of the current development of translation interpretation in the public services and intercultural mediation in Spain, we describe the state of the art in a wide swath of the Mediterranean coastal area, and examine the new challenges arising for translation/interpretation in the public services and intercultural mediation in the two regions concerned, from a viewpoint stressing the interrelation of university and society, administrations and needs, and projects and actions.