The 700-year occupation of Spain by the Moors began in 711 AD, when an African army, under their leader Tariq ibn-Ziyad, crossed the Straits of Gibraltar from northern Africa and invaded the Iberian Peninsula “Andalus” (Spain under the Visigoths).
The term Moor is a historical rather than ethnic name. It is an invention of European Christians for the Islamic inhabitants of Maghreb (North Africa), Andalusia (Spain), Sicily, and Malta, and was sometimes used to designate all Muslims.
