Back in the 1960s and 70s, a famous and persistent Spanish tourism tag line proclaimed: “Spain is different.” And one of the things that does indeed make this country different in a key way from the rest of Europe is the fact that only the Iberia Peninsula was largely occupied, for up to 781 years (depending on the region), by invaders of an alien civilization: the Muslim lands of North Africa. Inevitably, this experience left a deep mark on the kingdoms that eventually became Spain, including many Spanish words and place names; musical and other cultural traditions; and architecture that's like an exotic 1,000 Nights fantasy come true.  keep reading