>>18409386
>was it always doomed to iberian incompetence?
It was Spain's ill-fated attempt at making a Christian version of the Muslim Empire. Of course it was doomed to fail, just like the Muslim Empire before it was doomed to fail. Religious principles are not a good foundation for nation-building, the secularist Anglos understood this.

>>18409386
>never had a high Spanish population until the late 1700s
>barely even settled anything north of Chihuahua
>what little areas they did settle in were usually some richfag's private estate instead of proper cities, which were logistically cut off from the heart of the viceroyalty
>wasted men, money, and time looking for gold in far-off barren shitholes
>90% of their subjects were retarded zealous Indians who just picked corn and got drunk all day
>rigid society on par with jeet caste system in terms of social mobility restrictions placed on the unwashed masses
>got into retarded religious wars in Europe that became cash sinks
>relied entirely on Spain to provide non-domestic goods for them since the viceroyalties weren't legally allowed to trade with anyone including each other
It's amazing that it lasted as long as it did.

>>18409386
it seems to the layman me that they went too deep into mining