In 1873 French author Jules Verne wrote one of the most popular adventure novels ever written- around the world in eighty days. It was a product of its time, and sparked an extraordinary race to beat that record.
The Reconquista, or Christian reconquest of Iberia, took nearly 800 years. The fighting did not come without great attempts by Muslim powers across the strait trying to reestablish their presence in mainland Europe. The last gasp of that effort came in the 1330s, when the powerful Marinid sultanate of what is modern Morocco invaded in an attempt to reverse Christian gains and secure the perilous position of the Sultanate of Granada.