Editing Spain (section)

====18th century====
[[File:La familia de Felipe V (Van Loo).jpg|thumb|[[The Family of Philip V (1743)|The family of Philip V]]. During the [[Enlightenment in Spain]] a new royal family reigned, the [[House of Bourbon]].]]
The decline culminated in a controversy over succession to the throne which consumed the first years of the 18th century. The [[War of the Spanish Succession]] was a wide-ranging international conflict combined with a civil war, and was to cost the kingdom its European possessions and its position as a leading European power.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Rinehart|first1=Robert|last2=Seeley|first2=Jo Ann Browning|title=A Country Study: Spain – Spain in Decline|publisher=Library of Congress Country Series|year=1998|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/estoc.html|access-date=9 August 2008|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080809003309/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/estoc.html|archive-date=9 August 2008 }}</ref>

During this war, a new dynasty originating in France, the [[House of Bourbon|Bourbons]], was installed. The Crowns of Castile and Aragon had been long united only by the Monarchy and the common institution of the Inquisition's [[Spanish Inquisition|Holy Office]].<ref>{{Cite journal|page=75|journal=Revista de Dret Històric Català|volume=18|year=2019|publisher=Societat Catalana d'Estudis Jurídics|issn=1578-5300|doi=10.2436/20.3004.01.119|title=Una aproximación a la Corona de Aragón de Fernando el Católico|first=Josep|last=Serrano Daura|issue=18 }}</ref> A number of reform policies (the so-called [[Bourbon Reforms]]) were pursued by the Monarchy with the overarching goal of centralised authority and administrative uniformity.<ref>{{Cite book|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|title=A Concise History of Spain|first1=William D.|last1=Phillips|first2=Carla Rahn|year=2010|isbn=9780521845137|last2=Phillips|page=175}}</ref> They included the abolishment of many of the old regional privileges and laws,<ref>{{cite web|last1=Rinehart|first1=Robert|last2=Seeley|first2=Jo Ann Browning|title=A Country Study: Spain – Bourbon Spain|publisher=Library of Congress Country Series|year=1998|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/estoc.html|access-date=9 August 2008|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080809003309/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/estoc.html|archive-date=9 August 2008 }}</ref> as well as the customs barrier between the Crowns of Aragon and Castile in 1717, followed by the introduction of new property taxes in the Aragonese kingdoms.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Early Modern Spain: A Social History|first=James|last=Casey|publisher=[[Routledge]]|year=1999|isbn=9780415138130|page=83}}</ref>

The 18th century saw a gradual recovery and an increase in prosperity through much of the empire. The predominant economic policy was an interventionist one, and the State also pursued policies aiming towards infrastructure development as well as the abolition of internal customs and the reduction of export tariffs.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://dialnet.unirioja.es/descarga/articulo/5589876.pdf|chapter=El Despotismo Ilustrado en España: entre la continuidad y el cambio|author-link=Carlos Martínez Shaw|first=Carlos|last=Martínez Shaw|title=El Siglo de las Luces: III Centenario del Nacimiento de José de Hermosilla (1715-1776)|year=2016|isbn=978-84-608-8037-0|page=14|publisher=Sociedad Extremeña de Historia|access-date=13 April 2022|archive-date=19 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220419023430/https://dialnet.unirioja.es/descarga/articulo/5589876.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Projects of agricultural colonisation with new settlements took place in the south of mainland Spain.{{Sfn|Martínez Shaw|2016|pp=14; 23}} [[Enlightenment in Spain|Enlightenment]] ideas began to gain ground among some of the kingdom's elite and monarchy.