What was Spain like during the 1700s?

During the 1700s, Spain was experiencing a period of decline as both a global military power and a global economic power. Spain's global influence waned following a series of costly and failed European and global military conflicts from the latter half of the 1500s and the first half of the 1600s as well as several internal wars caused by a dispute as to which royal bloodline would reign over the next several centuries.

A brief history of Spanish internal military conflict from the start of the 1700s:

- War of the Spanish Succession 1702-1715

In addition to military decline, in the early part of the 1700s France also surpassed Spain (the former world economic leader following the Age of Discovery in the late 1400s to late 1500s) as the global economic leader.