How seriously did the financial demands of the crown affect the Spanish economy?

The Spanish discovered silver in South America in 1545. This helped with Charles' financial problems. 200,000kgs of silver were mined each year which secured Charles about 252,000 ducats a year. The income which Charles received from the South American silver added to his income from Spain and helped him to increase his wealth and live a very lavish lifestyle, as he said, "I cannot be sustained by my Spanish realms." The income from the silver also went …

…taxes which he tried to get. Los Cobos, secretary of the Council of Finance, also tried to solve Charles' financial problems. He put forward the Alcabala, a fixed lump sum to be paid to the king. Again, this was unsuccessful. The impact of inflation made this nearly worthless and so once again Charles had no means of attaining large amounts of money either for himself and his lavish lifestyle or to pay off his debts.