Population? Demographics? What? Are you saying that the population growth over a 1000 year period is predestined to resemble OTL? I said before in this thread that Iberia in TTL would be a blank canvas. That includes demographics. It is odd to fortel that a peaceful Iberia over a 1000 year period could not approach or overtake France in population. So maybe in one scenario TTL Iberia gets screwed over and has less population than France. Or France could get screwed and Iberia will have a greater population than France because Iberia in OTL never approached its carrying capacity. Instead of developing its own resources and population, it suctioned away those from the Americas.France always had a larger population than Iberia. Geography makes it a challenge for France to dominate Spain but it would theoretically have the edge in manpower.
We need to consider what would be the hypothetical maximum carrying capacity of the Iberian peninsula given the technology available in a given time period. Feudalism is a great way of filling up vacant land with people. Spain and Portugal in OTL no sooner had completed the Reconqestia than they discovered the Americas. We need to consider the demographics of an Iberia that can simply spend 1000 years just increasing its population and filling up every nook and cranny of its geography. How many people could the Tigus watershed support if it had the same population density as the Rhine or the Nile?
There is also the political considerations. A generation after the Reconqestia was complete, Spain was contesting France's spot Europe's dominant land power. Countries that share borders are rarely friends so I doubt a Visigothic Iberia would be staying in a subordinate position. They could be pretty soon be France's major rival in Europe and a major European power.
Last edited: