LA BATALLA DEL SALADO 1340

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The Battle of Rio Salado, also known as the Battle of Tarifa (30 October 1340) was a battle of the armies of King Afonso IV of Portugal and King Alfonso XI of Castile against those of sultan Abu al-Hasan Ali of Morocco and Yusuf I of Granada.

After his defeat at the Battle of Teba in 1330, Mohamed IV of Granada sent to Abu Hasan for help in maintaining his survival. Hasan sent a fleet and an army that landed at Algeciras in 1333. These set about helping the Granadan King to capture the Castilian outpost of Gibraltar, which he did after less than two months. They then conducted a limited campaign to reunite these territories to the realm of Granada. Back in Morocco, Abu Hasan amassed his biggest army to undertake an invasion of Castile with the intention of undoing the previous century's Christian advances.

This invasion was a final attempt by the Marinids to set up a power base in the Iberian Peninsula. The Marinids had mobilized a vast army and, after crossing the Strait of Gibraltar and defeating a Christian fleet at Gibraltar, proceeded inland to the Salado River near Tarifa, where they met the Christians.