sometimes I think that the main difference is that the Spanish didn't have a clear idea of where they'd arrived; they had sailed looking for new trade routes. B

sometimes I think that the main difference is that the Spanish didn't have a clear idea of where they'd arrived; they had sailed looking for new trade routes. But then they "struck gold" and they improvised. But the rest of the europeans sailed to conquer, with a very clear picture of what they were doing even before taking to the sea: taking over the "new world".