There were obstacles for the enterprise besides the complex politics. Like its Spanish predecessor, the English expedition suffered from unduly optimistic-planning, based on hopes of repeating Drake's successful raid on Cadiz in 1587. There was a contradiction between the separate plans, each of which was ambitious in its own right, but the most pressing need was the destruction of the Spanish Atlantic fleet lying at port in Corunna, San Sebastián and Santander along the northern coast of Spain, as was directly ordered by the Queen.