The campaign was carried out over nine months (between September 2, 1125, and June 1126) during which he camped for a long time near Granada, he plundered fields and riches, he defeated the Almoravid army in pitched battle in Arnisol Anzur, near Puente Genil, south of the current province of Córdoba) and rescued a contingent of Mozarabs with which he repopulated the lands of the Ebro Valley recently conquered by the kingdom of Aragon.

The initial objective was to establish a Christian principality in Granada, relying on the Mozarabic population that had insistently requested help from the king of Aragon, as it was subject to the religious fanaticism of the Almoravid period.

The Mozarabs of Granada proposed to Alfonso the Battler an internal rebellion against the ruling authority with the support of the Aragonese host; The conjunction was necessary, since Alfonso I, unlike the strategy used in the conquest of Zaragoza in 1118, did not bring assault machinery to Granada, a transport that was in any case extremely impracticable given the long distance that the expedition would travel and the logistical difficulties involved in penetrating so deeply into enemy territory.

The contemporary leaders were not having the best of days: Ramón Berenguer III of Barcelona had just been defeated in the battle of Corbins and Urraca of León and Castile, ex-wife of the Aragonese, would die shortly later, on March 8, 1126, without being able to see the end of the civil war that devastated their kingdoms.

[9] [10] From these chronicles it is clear that the initial objective was to unite forces to conquer Granada and establish a Christian principality in its territory, following the example of the lordship that the Cid in Valencia.

[19] Abul Tahir, meanwhile, requested reinforcements from the governors of Murcia and Valencia and his brother, the emir Almoravid Ali ibn Yusuf, who sent an important army from Africa.

[19] Alfonso I, then, headed through Diezma to Granada, in whose sight he was on January 7, 1126, with a contingent reinforced by Christians who, according to news from the Andalusian chronicles (which must always be taken with caution), reached fifty thousand men.

[12][21] Faced with the fear of the Granadans, Alfonso I remained camped in the town of Nívar for more than ten days waiting either to have a pitched battle or for the Mozarabic rebellion to open the doors of Granada.

[23][28] There a pitched battle was fought on March 9, 1126, with the result of a decisive victory for the Aragonese,[23][28][21][29] while in the Saldaña Castle (Palencia) his ex-wife Urraca I died and was succeeded by Alfonso VII of León.

After the victory in the Battle of Arnisol, the Battler headed south through the Alpujarras following the narrow ravines of the course of the Guadalfeo River and reached the coast of Vélez-Málaga by Motril and Salobreña.

and they comment that upon reaching the sea, the Aragonese ordered a boat to be launched from which they caught a fish that the king ate, and they wonder in the Andalusian stories if it was to leave an anecdote for the future or to fulfill a promise.

[21] From Vélez-Málaga, the Christian contingent once again directed its steps towards Granada, camping in the town of Dílar,[23] where it remained three days, and then in Alhendín, repelling several Almoravid attacks.

[28][21] Two days later he arrived at Vega de Granada and settled in La Zubia, six kilometers from the capital, followed closely by the Islamic cavalry in perfect combat formation, which camped at the Atsa fountain and Guadix.

[30] In Guadix they won in a skirmish with the king of Aragon where one of his main knights died, which gave Inalu al-Lamtumi the government of Granada to the detriment of the ineffective Abul Tahir Tamin ibn Yusuf.

[31][32] The pressure from the North African army was notable, and the return was made in difficult conditions, having to lead a large number of civilians who must have greatly hindered the march,[33] defending themselves of the continuous attacks and forced to abandon many exhausted and sick people due to the duration and hardships of the long campaign carried out.