In the last decades of the 17th century during the reign of Spain's last Habsburg king, Charles II, despite intermittent conflict between Spain and France, the population increased to approximately 500,000 inhabitants and the Catalan economy recovered, not only in Barcelona, but also along the Catalan coast and even in some inland areas. This economic growth was boosted by the export of wine to England and the Dutch Republic. However, due to the trade war of French minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert against the Dutch and later to the participation of these countries in the Nine Years' War against France, the Catalans were not able to trade with the French. This new situation caused many Catalans to look to England and, especially, the Netherlands as political and economic models for Catalonia.