Also, after an early setback in the East, SOME Genoese were able to profit from the success of the Spanish empire:

"The Spanish poet Quevedo wrote that gold was born in America, died in Seville and was buried in Genoa. A Piedmontese magistrate, after a visit to Spain in 1711, commented that the Genoese had transferred to Spain the poverty of Genoa and its surroundings while accumulating in Genoa the copious treasures of Spain."

Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner - that I moved to Nice.