 Taking advantage of this failure, D. Luis de Haro, invaded Portugal and besieged Elvas, the main defensive system of Portugal - where the Portuguese army that had besieged Badajoz took refuge and was suffering a second catastrophic plague. A small relief army was improvised by the Portuguese which inflicted a crushing defeat to the Spanish army at the decisive battle of the Lines of Elvas (14 January 1659). This way, the Portuguese independence was granted while the Spanish reached military advantage in the secondary front of war, Minho and Galicia.
