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Islam's Claim on Spain
(Los Angeles Times) Tracy Wilkinson - Many of Spain's Muslims long for an Islamic revival to reclaim their legendary history, and inaugurating the Great Mosque last year was the most visible gesture. But horrific bombings by Muslim extremists that killed nearly 200 people in Madrid on March 11 have forced Spain's Muslims and non-Muslims to reassess their relationship. Spain has a long, rich, and complex history interwoven with the Muslim and Arab world, from its position as the center of Islamic Europe in the last millennium to today's confrontation with a vast influx of Muslim immigrants. For more than seven centuries of Moorish rule, "Al Andalus," or Andalusia, was governed by Muslim caliphs. That ended when Granada fell to Christian monarchs Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand in 1492. Spain today, like most of Europe, is struggling with ways to accommodate its fast-growing Muslim community while keeping tabs on those who might turn to radical violence.