I know this is probably a dumb question, but I know that Portugal and Spain were rivals at one point in time. Were they at war with each other for an extended period of time? Or just economic rivals? How could one country survive a war against another country that has it almost entirely encircled? It seems like such a huge disadvantage.
If they weren't ever at war with one another, why didn't they go to war? Didn't they actively sink each others ships? Why did they have so much hostility? And are they still hostile? Sorry for the broad question, my girlfriend is going to Spain for two months and that got me thinking about it.
Here are a bunch of similar questions that should cover yours:
From what I heard, it was because Spain wanted to focus in opressing Catalonia, and couldn't send troops to two places at once, so while we were revolting Portugal used it as a way to break free. Is this argument true? I heard it repeatedly used, even by a politician who wrote the spanish constitution.
The revolts themselves were called "Guerra dels segadors" (catalan link) and english wikipedia link. Portugal became independent midway that conflict, in 1640. That war is remembered in our national anthem as one of our most devastating conflicts (probably second behind the war of succession around eighty years later) and used many times in our romantic literature.
I'm not a historian myself, but I do know a bit of my country's history
edit: alright, alright: I'm getting downvoted. I want to make sure something: History is large and complex, and I just tried to answer one of the possible answers that this question has. Portugal and Spain have fought many times, and it just so happens to be that my country was involved in one of this conflicts in a major way. Even then, I didn't assure him that what I said was backed by a degree, but I gave him sources, and I don't think that I've gone too out of the question, so what's wrong with my answer?