When did the Moors invade Europe?

Answer 1

Spain discovered and began to populate Mexico only a few decades after the Spanish Inquisition had begun. A number of ethnic Moroccan Muslims (Moros y Berberiscos in Spanish) and former Iberian Muslims (Muladíes in Spanish) stayed in Spain and converted to Catholicism, at least on the surface, as opposed to the majority who fled to Morocco or the Ottoman Empire. (This is no different than the Jewish response to the Spanish Inquisition.)

At first, it was Spanish policy to include relatively large numbers of Moros, Berberiscos, and former Muladíes in the groups that would populate Mexico and the Andes regions. However, it was quickly realized that without the strong central authority of the Spanish crown, a number of these individuals were reverting to Islam. Spaniards feared that this would lead to an endemic Islamic population in the Americas, which they would not abide. As a result, in the first few decades of Spanish control, all of the Moros, Berberiscos, and former Muladíes were deported back to Iberia all before the 1550s.

Some people note that Mexicans are, by and large, darker than Spaniards, but this is because of the racial mixture in Mexico between European Spaniards, Africans, and Indigenous Peoples (like the ethnic Maya). This darkness does not derive from the former Moros etc. In the 20th century a small Middle Eastern population of Muslims came to Mexico, but the majority are from countries other than Morocco or Spain and, therefore, would not be considered "Moors".

Answer 2

The first Amazigh (Berbers or Moors) to invade Spain came onto the continent in 711. A second army of Amazigh called Almoravid dynasty invaded Spain in 1086.