Why was Spain able to become a very powerful nation?

Why was Spain able to become a very powerful nation?

Following Columbus’s discoveries, Spain acted quickly to exploit the New World. In the course of their conquests in South America, the Spanish came into conflict with two of the most ancient civilizations –the Aztec Empire and eh Inca Empire. The Spanish had the advantage of firearms and soldiers on horses, while this type of warfare was unknown to the Native Americans. The Spanish won quite easily, and these two conquests were the first major conflicts between the Old World and the New World’s rich mineral resources at Spain’s disposal making Spain the most powerful nation in the world for the next 100 years. It also encouraged Spain to expand at the time had the largest empire in the western hemisphere.