[bigwavedave]

I'll respond to both of you here, since I cba to refute the same thing twice.

Let me ask you this: was the colony of Jamestown not a colony? English citizens in a foreign land ruled by a governor beholden to the crown?

Because that's how all the "provinces" populated by Spanish settlers were set up. King Charles V chartered the Council of the Indies, which set up viceroys to govern the "provinces" in the New World, which was beholden to the monarchy.

Aside from this, the actual charter of the Council of the Indies uses the words "colonias" and "territorios" when referring to their "jurisdicciones" as opposed to "provincias". I think those cognates can be fairly easily understood.

Look, I'm happy to admit I'm wrong if you can provide a better source than the charter for the council over Spain's colonies.