I would say that the turning point was the invicible armada defeat, which proved that Spain has no longer the supremacy of the Seas.
About UK, the reforms initiated by William III and the Dutch were decisive (as they brought their knowledge in economics and finance) and also a turning point for the next centuries.
If, in 1800, a Spaniard reflected back upon the Spanish Empire's history, he would describe the 1710s as one of the lowest points. The Bourbon reforms actually did a lot to help Spain recover from the dark days and you could even argue that it had overtaken France by 1789. A lot of people seem to think that Spain peeked in about 1600 and then declined from then on, but this is not true. It had a second peek in the late 18th Century.
Indeed Spain had a period of growth after the Bourbon's reforms, but should we go as far as to say that it had overtaken France which was during that period by far the first european power? I dont think so.
I don't believe France controlled Nice at this point (Sardinia Piedmont did) so it should be renamed to Marseilles or Toulon. Also is it intentianal that you have named islands after the islands whilst naming everything else after the cities? It's not just islands but colonies as well.
If only I had more time to specify how it was more powerful...
I'll leave you at this - from the 1800s roughly, the European powers realised that Spain was way too powerful. So, when Bolivar and that other mate started going for independence, they jumped on the chance - Britain blockaded South America from Spain. Same thing with Portugal, though Portugal was weaker and I don't think they even tried to blockade Brazil, as Portual knew that it's navy would be absolutely smashed by French or British navies, and so they allowed a bloodless Brazilian independence.
Juq, Spain was not powerful anymore in the 1790's despite having a true potential, all their wealth they accumulated was wasted to build Churches with golden altars (Spanish churches are very beautiful indeed if you visit Spain), and to their clerical "caste" (more than any country, Spain was stuck in a religious fondamentalism since the 1550-1600s), whereas their people were starving.
Жұқтыру, you've got this the wrong way round. It was only after the failed British Invasion of Rio de la Plata in 1806 that made the Latin Americans realize they didn't need Spain. Because of the naval blockade, they were already effectively governing themselves and when the success of defending against the British was the last straw, and two years later, the United States of Rio de la Plata was born, which would become Brazil.
The worries over power were focused on France by this point, as the instability of the revolution was highly troubling for the great monarchies of Europe, such as Spain, Britain and Austria, which is why they were so intent on restoring the Bourbons to the French Throne. Concerns over Spanish power were minimal when compared with those over the French counterpart.
The naval blockade was also irrelevant to the Brazilian Independence movement. It began in 1822 and finished in 1825, several years after the naval blockade and Napoleonic Wars ended. Additionally, considering the naval blockade was British, it didn't harass Portuguese ships, because Portugal and England had been allies since the 1300s.
