 It was after the restoration of Portugal's independence in 1640 when the concept of Spain started to shift and be applied to all the Peninsula except Portugal.The Iberian peninsula has long been inhabited, first by early hominids such as "Homo erectus", "Homo heidelbergensis" and "Homo antecessor".In the Paleolithic period, the Neanderthals entered Iberia and eventually took refuge from the advancing migrations of modern humans.