The siege of Algeciras (1342–1344) was undertaken during the Reconquest of Spain by the Castillian forces of Alfonso XI assisted by the fleets of the Kingdom of Aragon and the Republic of Genoa.

Other Castillian works are the Poem of Alfonso Onceno, called the "rhyming chronicle", written by Rodrigo Yáñez, and the Letters of Mateo Merced, Vice Admiral of Aragon, with a report to his king on the entry of the troops into the city.

In 1338 Abd-Al-Malik, son of the king of Morocco and ruler of Algeciras and Ronda, launched raids against the Castilian territories in the south of the Iberian Peninsula.

[4] Abd-Al-Malik's father Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Othman crossed the strait in 1340, defeated a Spanish fleet and landed in the city.

The defeat of the Muslims in this battle encouraged Alfonso XI and convinced him of the need to take the city of Algeciras, since it was the main port of entry of troops from Africa.

[15] The Torre de los Adalides (Tower of the Champions), named for that time, gave an excellent view of the Muslim city and of the roads that communicate with Gibraltar and eastern Andalusia.

The river mouth formed a wide inlet which acted as a natural harbor protected by the Isla Verde ("green island"), which the Muslims called Yazirat Umm Al-Hakim.

The count was killed and his companions were only saved by the arrival of their Spanish allies who drove the Moors back into the city, under a hail of arrows from the ramparts.

[20] After the king had seen the damage that could be done, in the next few days he had a trench dug around the Villa Vieja from the Río de la Miel to the sea to prevent attacks from the city.

This technique, with which they had killed the Count of Lous, was not known to the Christian knights unaccustomed to the border war, and many men died during the early months of the siege.

Floods in the camp and in the encircling lines required the headquarters and the larger part of the troops to move to the mouth of the river Palmones, where they spent the remainder of October 1342.

The Portuguese king Afonso IV sent another ten galleys under Admiral Carlos Pessanha, but they stayed for only three weeks, and their departure boosted the morale of the defenders.

During the first months of siege the Spaniards continued to launch rocks at the walls of the city, while the defenders tried to cause losses in direct combat or with weapons such as ballistae, which could shoot large projectiles.

They began to place a large number of Genoese ballistic engines around the city, while the defenders continued to shoot arrows at those installing the machines.

In front of it Alfonso XI ordered construction of new covered trenches, which allowed approach to the city walls to place siege engines.

[32] Starting in February 1343, the besiegers began to extend the encircling line to block the sea approaches to the city and thus prevent the arrival of food from Gibraltar.

[38] The boom eventually extended from the Rodeo point to the south of the city to the Isla Verde, and from there to the Playa de Los Ladrillos to the north.

[43] In August 1343, while negotiations were continuing between Castile and Granada, news arrived that in Morocco King Abu al-Hasan Ali was preparing a fleet to come to the aid of the city.

The King of Castile had to pawn his crown and send several of his silver belongings to be melted in Seville after a fire reduced the camp's store of flour to ashes.

[45] At the same time, Aragon provided new ships to help maintain the siege: the Vice Admiral of Valencia, Jaime Escribano, arrived in mid-August with ten Aragonese galleys.

[48] On his return at the siege, Egidio Boccanegra sent twenty of his ships to wait at Getares, ready to intercept the Moors if they decided to attack the encirclement.

As soon as the first warning fires of the Christian beacons were seen, forty Castilian and Aragonese ships stationed themselves at the southern entrance of the city, but the boats from North Africa did not head to Algeciras, instead taking shelter in the nearby port of Gibraltar.

The Castilian command then ordered attempts to set fire to the enemy ships by means of vessels full of flammable material and burning arrows, taking advantage of the strong east wind that was blowing.

The Muslims also knew the terrain and after an initial inspection and a minor brush with a small group of Christians, returned to their side of the river waiting for news.

At this point the defenders of Algeciras in panic made smoke signals from the tower of the main mosque of the city indicating that the situation was untenable.

[56] After the disastrous battle of the river Palmones, the sultan of Granada wanted to prepare a second attack on the Christian hosts, but the morale of the troops was low.

Accompanying the delegation were the king's main commanders, including Egidio Boccanegra, who was appointed Lord of the Estado de la Palma in appreciation for his work in the encirclement.

[65] The fall of Algeciras was a decisive step in the Reconquista, giving the Crown of Castile the main port on the north coast of the Strait of Gibraltar.

In 1349 Alfonso XI began the fifth siege of Gibraltar, again relying on the fleets of Aragon and Genoa, which established their main base in Algeciras, but this time the fate of the city did not depend on military actions: on 26 March of that year the king died during an epidemic of bubonic plague in the Castilian camp.

In 1379, when the Christian armies regrouped, the Moors foresaw their inability to defend the city in case of another siege, and the danger if it again fell into Castilian hands.