Spanish distraction in northern conflicts extended Islam’s presence in Spain by thirty years

Evidence

If the planning undertaken in Lisbon in 1581–82 did not lead to rapid action, that was because Philip allowed himself to become embroiled in conflict in the north. Why he made that mistake (for it clearly was from the Christian Spanish viewpoint a mistake) falls far outside the scope of the present study. The consequence of that option was that Islam subsisted in Spain for a further three decades. — L. P. Harvey, Muslims in Spain, 1500 to 1614, 1586