Conquest of Melilla

[3] The Catholic monarchs saw Melilla as a way to expand along the African Mediterranean coast to secure Aragonese, Castilian and Genoese sea trade.

However, by the end of the Granada War, Melilla was in the Portuguese zone of influence under the terms of the 1479 Treaty of Alcáçovas.

[4] After the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas the crown of Castile attempted to conquer of Melilla but still needed to end the Conquest of the Canary Islands, not to mention the economic efforts set on the voyages of Christopher Columbus.

[4] The Wattasid ruler Muhammad al-Shaykh sent a detachment of cavalry to retake the city, but they were repulsed by the guns of the Spanish ships.

Annaba,Bizerta, Tunis and La Goulette fell in 1535, while the Portuguese focused on the Atlantic coast, conquering Ceuta (1415), Tangier (1471), Mazagan (1502), Agadir (1505), Mogador (1506), and Casablanca (1515).