"The English tried repeatedly to capture the Spanish treasure fleet and during the last decade of the 16th century expeditions were organized nearly every year with this objective. Among the best known are the campaigns of 1591, 1592 and 1597.2 The economics of the raiding were clear; the Spanish crown depended on the flow of silver and gold from its colonies to finance the wars against England. It has been estimated that during the 1580s, the income from the American mines provided Spain with around 2 million ducats a year.3 The Armada of 1588 had cost around 10 million ducats and its defeat was a financial disaster for Spain. Spanish finances were consistently precarious under Phillip II. He had effectively declared bankruptcy in 1577, when interest payments to the Genoese bankers were suspended, and in 1596 the country again defaulted.4 If the English could cut off or reduce the income to the Spanish crown, they would cripple the Spanish ability to carry on war against England. Further, any treasure captured by the English would bolster the English economy and allow the construction more warships, while avoiding taxation of English citizens or any appeal to Parliament to obtain money. Thus, a successful raid against the treasure fleet would have a twofold advantage to England, it would deprive the Spanish of finance for their military and provide the English crown and nobles with wealth without need for recourse to Parliament."
https://toursofazores.com/2017/10/14/the-mystery-of-pirate-treasures-lost-in-the-azores/
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