When King Charles II of Spain died without an heir in November 1700, he was succeeded in Madrid by the French prince Philip V. This successor was contested by England, the Dutch Republic, the Holy Roman Empire, and Portugal which favored Austrian prince Charles III as new King, leading to the War of the Spanish Succession.

One of Philip's first decisions was to replace Viceroy of Catalonia Prince George of Hesse-Darmstadt, who was not only German, but also very popular in Barcelona for defending the city against the French three years earlier.

In 1704, Spain was still firmly in the hands of Bourbon King Philip V. Contacted by some pro-Habsburg Catalan nobles, Prince George of Hesse-Darmstadt convinced the Allies to send a fleet to Barcelona, in the hope that, as a consequence, the people would rise up against the new pro-Bourbon Viceroy Francisco de Velasco.

George of Darmstadt then landed some 1,200 British and 400 Dutch marines at the mouth of the river Besòs, where they were joined by some 1,000 armed Catalans.

Warned that a larger French fleet was approaching, the Allies had no other option than to re-embark and sail back to Lisbon.