History of Portugal (1640–1777) put to the test in 1762 when Spain invaded aided by France, during the Seven Years' War. Britain invoked its alliance with Portugal and sent troops. Several months later, the conflict was settled with comparatively little fighting. In 1777, Spain and Portugal signed the Treaty of San Ildefonso, which mainly resolved a number of border disputes between their South American colonies. During the Age of Enlightenment, Portugal was considered one of Europe's unenlightened backwaters; it was a country of three million with 200,000 people in 538 monasteries in 1750. Melo seems to have been deeply embarrassed by Portugal's much lamented
Costa Verde (Portugal) Costa Verde (Portugal) Costa Verde () is a tourist and coastal region of northwest Portugal. The name of the region comes from the dominant colour of the dense vegetation of the land, the green ("Verde" in Portuguese), supported by abundant precipitation. Climate is classified as Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification Csb). As a result, its climate shares many characteristics with coastal southwestern Portugal: warm, dry summers and mild rainy winters. In the coast, along with Porto there are cities and towns with a strong tradition on beach tourism, and in fisheries, most notably Espinho and Póvoa de Varzim, both cities