WI: Spain as 1800s colonial power?

Well, from what I know, the solution may actually be political more than economic. There was industrial development in Catalonia and the Basque country IOTL, which makes sense because I believe that's where most of their coal and iron are. Unfortunately, the political shake-ups and internal violence of the 19th Century impeded growth everywhere else. If we were to somehow avoid/mitigate the Carlist Wars, then you might see larger agricultural surpluses, simply due to fewer armies marching around and requisitioning. That in turn could push more people from the countryside into cities, providing a bigger workforce for developing industries. And all those developments could build on each other over time.

In any case, you don't really need industry on par with Britain or Germany to have more success in the colonial game. I don't think the Portuguese did, but they took a solid chunk of Africa for themselves by building on prior successes. Spain could do something similar, either in Africa or possibly in east Asia by using the Philippines as a springboard. As SealtheRealDeal said, you may only really need the Spanish to make better strategic choices. More internal peace and a marginally stronger economy would simply provide the confidence to be more aggressive abroad.
Seeing that the Spanish navy was in shambles ever since the Napoleonic wars and was unable to get back on its feet, through out the 19th century, it's ability to keep colonies and to expand are greatly weakened.
What portugal got was scraps at the table and the right to keep its colonies, mostly because if one power took it then the others would protest, it helped that its colonies weren't in a state of rebellion. TBH Portugal wasn't a real colonial power. They didn't expand that much and their African colonies were just outpost they just expanded.
 
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