Question

How was Spanish colonial society structured?

Answer 1

Spanish colonial society was divided in a hierarchy with multiple stages. I'll explain it from top to bottom. For the whole of Spain (both Peninsula and colonies):

1. The King - the King had power over anyone else in the country, both in the Iberian Peninsula and any other Spanish Territories -.
2. Noblemen.
3. The Church - the church had extreme power, sometimes (though generally not) even more than Noblemen.
4. Landlords - some were Nobles, some weren't -.
5. Merchants.
6. Peasants.
7. Slaves.

Now, let's look only at colonial Spain:

1. Peninsulares - people from what today is still Spain (Iberian Peninsula - name gotten from there - and inhabitants of the main islands (Baleares and Canarias) -.
2. Creoles ('Criollos' in Spanish) - direct descendants from Colonialists.
3. Mestizos - Offspring of a 'Peninsular' and a Native -.
4. Africans & Natives - African Slaves and Natives (Natives, legally, couldn't be slaves, as Spain abolished Slavery for everyone except Africans in the 16th Century) were at the bottom of the Spectrum -.

Hope it Helps! :D .