What significance did their American colonies have for Spain and Portugal?

We are talking about the period from the 16th to the beginning of the 19th century. Portugal and Spain became the first European countries to colonize the territories of the New World, but they were the first to lose them, immediately after the Napoleonic Wars.

Value:

The surplus population left for the colony.
Criminals could be sent there.
Goods were taken out of the colonies that brought income to the treasury. For example, the Spaniards exported precious metals (gold, silver) and agricultural products (cocoa) from their colonies. The Portuguese exported sugar cane from Brazil, and to make it easier to collect, slaves were brought to Brazil from Africa. Since the 18th century, they began to export gold and precious stones. They paid in gold for the supply of goods from England under the contract of 1703.
Local residents – Indians were converted to Christianity, so now South America is the most Catholic region in the world.