Spain is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, bordered by Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Gibraltar to the south, the Mediterranean Sea to the east, France and Andorra to the north. Portugal is located on the same peninsula. The country is well-known for, among other things, its exploration and colonisation of vast parts of Central and South America.
The Moors invaded Spain in 721 and ruled much of the Peninsular for most of the following 800 years, until the state of Granada was overrun by the Catholic Monarchs, Fernando and Isabela, in January 1492. The Moors had a major influence on the development of the culture of the Peninsular; and these effects are still seen, particularly in the food of Spain. For much of the time, the Islamic Moorish rulers had an enlightened attitude towards the Christians and Jews of the Peninsular, allowing them to practice their religions freely. It was not until the Catholics had virtually conquered the Peninsular from the Moors that the Inquisition was set up, and Muslems and Jews were persecuted. The Jews were removed from Spain in 1492, and the last of the Muslems in the early 1600s.
1492 was also the fateful year that the Spanish Monarchs funded Columbus' journey to what became known as the Americas.
The Conservative PP government of José María Aznar strongly supported the U.S. War on Terror until a major terrorist attack by al-Qaeda shortly before a general election helped the Socialist party, PSOE, to win. The new government of Rodríguez Zapatero withdrew Spanish troops from Iraq and has a policy which is regarded as neutral to anti-American.[Citation Needed]