Red-caped matadors. Knights in armor battling windmills. Cabinets. All of those things are quintessentially Spanish but beat alternative ways. Spain features a unique history as compared to other European nations, thanks to its proximity and frequent interactions with northern Africa. In fact, from 711-1492 CE, Moorish armies from Africa actually controlled most of Spain, with the Catholic Spanish kingdoms fighting back during a nearly 800-year long holy war called the Reconquista. Then, even as that ended, the Spanish Empire emerged through Columbus' voyage to America.