Spanish military resources were stretched across Europe and also at sea as they sought to protect maritime trade against the greatly improved Dutch and French fleets, while still occupied with the Ottoman and associated Barbary pirate threat in the Mediterranean. In the meantime the aim of choking Dutch shipping was carried out by the Dunkirkers with considerable success. In 1625, a Spanish-Portuguese fleet, under Admiral Fadrique de Toledo, regained the strategically vital Brazilian city of Salvador da Bahia from the Dutch. In 1635, France declared war on Spain, hoping to maintain the balance of power in Europe by halting Habsburg expansion; Philip pursued a "Netherlands-first" strategy, focusing on fighting the Dutch instead of fighting the French. Supported by the French, the Catalans, Neapolitans, and Portuguese revolted against the Spanish in the 1640s.