After Alfonso XI of Castile's victory in the Teba campaign of 1330, Muhammed IV, Sultan of Granada sent to Abu al-Hasan 'Ali for help in maintaining his survival. Hasan sent a naval fleet and 5,000 troops that landed at Algeciras in early 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 Magreb, 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 mobilised 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. The Marinids had suffered a decisive defeat and moved back to Africa. Never again was a Muslim army able to invade the Iberian Peninsula. Control of the Straits of Gibraltar was now held by the Christians, specifically the Castilians and the Genoese.