What would it take for Spain to generally not consider itself "European" after 1492?

If Spain takes its restrictions off colonizing the America’s, their American territories could have hundreds of millions more people today. That could be a far larger cultural bloc for Spain to be tied to, and it could be economically and militarily tied to it as well.
 
I think some of you are making this more complicated then it needs to be. After all, Britain and Russia have been heavily involved in European conflicts, yet a lot of people from both nations don't really identify with Europe. Both are also majority Christian. So, I think an Islamic Iberia just serves as overkill, and doesn't even serve the purpose of the thread, as it kills Spain in its cradle.
 
Okay, here's an idea. What would it take for Spanish culture to become a great deal more prestigious to the point of modern day Spaniards see themselves as being more "special" and "unique" from the rest of Europe. Like, how could Spain become a real trendsetter, rather than an adopter?

Hmmm.... Maybe we could have France decline as a power some time after the Reconquista. In order to increase Spain's population, something has to happen, so that lots of people want to go live in Spain. As a whole, Spain must have a larger population than France, most likely by a combination of France shrinking and Spain increasing. What would it take for this to happen?
 
Have Columbus not be funded, or simply have him disappear.

Then, instead of conquering the New World, Spain continues the Reconquista into North Africa, conquering and holding *Morocco and *Algeria.
Spain's identity could then be more Mediterranean than European.

After all 'European' was hardly the primary identification people had back then.
 
Okay, here's an idea. What would it take for Spanish culture to become a great deal more prestigious to the point of modern day Spaniards see themselves as being more "special" and "unique" from the rest of Europe. Like, how could Spain become a real trendsetter, rather than an adopter?

Hmmm.... Maybe we could have France decline as a power some time after the Reconquista. In order to increase Spain's population, something has to happen, so that lots of people want to go live in Spain. As a whole, Spain must have a larger population than France, most likely by a combination of France shrinking and Spain increasing. What would it take for this to happen?

Not population. Economy. The problem is all that New World gold and silver stunted the domestic Spanish economy.
 
By 1808 make the Royal family flee to the Americas (as the Portuguese Royal family did). Let Ferdinand die and make Carlos María Isidro the heir. They raise an army in the Americas that lands in Spain before Wellington, and it manages to rout the french. The Cadiz Constitution is butterflied and there is a Mexico Constitution.
Charles IV is entusiastic with the support from his american subjects and decides to move the court to Mexico. The Spanish Crown manages to keep most of their territories in the Americas and remain a world power. The experience of the expeditionary force in Europe allows them to fend off the US and keep Texas and California. The economic, cultural and political center of the Empire moves to Mexico. Peninsular Spain is seen as a platform to trade with European nations.
 
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