DBWI: Independent Portugal

Is it possible that Portugal could have remained independent from Spain or was it too periphery geographically to avoid falling under Spanish rule?
 
I can't see independent Portugal being possible. Spain not allow that. And was there even suitable monarch candidates anymore? There was some revolts against Spain on 17th century but these were total failures. And later ones weren't any more succesful.

Altough in other hand there is still strong Portuguese independence movement but even currently Spain is not allowing independence. You remember these riots in Lisbon some years ago?
 
You'd have to change the way the reconquest plays out, with the Iberian crowns falling under personal union after personal union it was inevitable that Portugal would be subsumed.

Some sort of change to inheritance law perhaps. Basically there's no way that you can have just two countries on the Iberian peninsula, Portugal on its sliver of coast and the giant Spain controlling everything else. Spain will always find some excuse to take control.
 
The unification of the Spain wasn't written on the wall, so avoid the formation of the united Spain and that would be the easiest POD for the survival of the Portuguese state.

Another possible change would be to take the Scottish step and diplomatically align the Portuguese Kingdom with those continental rivals of the Spanish Crown, such as France.
 
I can't see independent Portugal being possible. Spain not allow that. And was there even suitable monarch candidates anymore? There was some revolts against Spain on 17th century but these were total failures. And later ones weren't any more succesful.

Altough in other hand there is still strong Portuguese independence movement but even currently Spain is not allowing independence. You remember these riots in Lisbon some years ago?

Of course there was; The Infanto Raluccio and the Duchess Catherine, to name two. The question is could they beat the Hapsburg "Bigger Army" and "Bigger Wallet" diplomacy, which is a no.
 
The unification of the Spain wasn't written on the wall, so avoid the formation of the united Spain and that would be the easiest POD for the survival of the Portuguese state.

Another possible change would be to take the Scottish step and diplomatically align the Portuguese Kingdom with those continental rivals of the Spanish Crown, such as France.

Technically Spain did not fully unify, as it lost Navarre to France in the War of Devolution. But it is difficult to imagine a second independent nation on the peninsula.
 
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