Editing War of the Spanish Succession (section)

===Spain===
[[File:Battle of Vigo Bay 1702.webp|thumb|right|An Anglo-Dutch squadron captures a [[Spanish treasure fleet]], Vigo Bay, October 1702]]

In 1700, Spain remained a great power in terms of territory control; recent research moreover shows that imports of bullion from the Americas reached their highest level between 1670 and 1700.{{Sfn|Kamen|2002|p=435}} However, this concealed major structural weaknesses; the vast majority of these imports were used to fund debt or pay foreign merchants. When the new Bourbon administration took over in 1701, they found the empire bankrupt and effectively defenceless, with fewer than 15,000 troops in Spain itself and a navy consisting of 20 ships in total.{{sfn|Kamen|2002|p=440}}

Almost constant warfare during the 17th century made the economy subject to long periods of low productivity and depression, and largely reliant upon others for its prosperity. In many ways, the continued existence of the empire was not due to Spanish strength but to maintain a balance between the powers competing for a share of its markets. Despite fighting a series of wars against Spain from 1667 to 1697, France was also its most significant economic partner, supplying labour and controlling a large proportion of its foreign trade. This consideration was an important factor in the decision to name Philip his heir.{{sfn|Kamen|2002|p=435}} Its dependence on others was illustrated in 1703; despite the presence of an invading Allied army, the French ambassador urged Louis to allow Dutch and English merchants to purchase wool from Spanish farmers, "otherwise the flocks cannot be maintained".{{sfn|Kamen|2002|p=440}}

Enacting political or economic reform was extremely complex since [[Habsburg Spain]] was a personal union between the Crowns of [[Crown of Castile|Castile]] and [[Crown of Aragon|Aragon]], each with very different political cultures,{{efn|Aragon was divided into the Kingdoms of [[Kingdom of Aragon|Aragon]], [[Principality of Catalonia|Catalonia]], [[Kingdom of Valencia|Valencia]], [[Kingdom of Majorca|Majorca]], [[Kingdom of Naples|Naples]], [[Kingdom of Sicily|Sicily]], and [[Kingdom of Sardinia (1324–1720)|Sardinia]].}} while links with the former Spanish strongholds in [[Spanish Netherlands|the Netherlands]]  and [[Spanish possessions in Italy|Italy]] were frayed.  
Most of [[Botifler|Philip's support]] came from the Castilian elite,{{sfn|Cowans|2003|pp=26–27}} who saw [[Nueva Planta Decrees|comprehensive reforms]] as necessary to preserve an independent Spanish Empire.  As these reforms included the elimination of the privileges or ''[[Fuero]]s'' held by the Aragonese states [[Austracista|support for the Hapsburgs]] was [[Maulets (history)|strongest]] in areas that were part of the Crown of Aragon, including [[Principality of Catalonia|Catalonia]] and [[Kingdom of Valencia|Valencia]].{{Sfn|Kamen|2002|pp=442–444}}