¡Santiago y cierra, España!

This story begins at the dawn of the 13th century after the victory of the Christian kingdoms over the Muslims in the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, shouting "Santiago y cerca, España!". The Christians won. The Spanish won. The battle of Las Navas changed everything. Or more precisely: it culminated everything. The most important thing: the Muslim threat disappeared forever from Western Europe. There would never again be a Moorish Spain. To the south there is only the Nasrid kingdom of Granada, the last vestige of Islamic Spain, sometimes a vassal of Castile, other times in rebellion, soon mired in its own internal quarrels. The horizon of the Spanish kingdoms changed color: Castile was involved in countless internal conflicts, Aragon began to open to the Mediterranean. But, beneath what seemed like separate lives, a common melody began to take hold: the kingdoms of Spain were walking inexorably towards their unity.