1492 AD
The Catholic Monarchs (Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragón) conquer Granada, and thus Murcia is no longer a frontier land. Spain is for the first time a unified country, and Murcia’s history is forever joined with that of the rest of the peninsula.

In this year Isabella finances the trip of Christopher Columbus to India, which ends up with the "official" discovery of the New World by Europe.

At the same time, these radically Catholic monarchs force the Jews an Moors in Spain to convert to Catholicism or be exiled. This hurt the Spanish economy to a great extent, as Moors and Jews were vital classes in the Spanish economy. Not even the gold coming from the New World could help the following collapse of the Spanish economy in the 16th century.

1519 AD
The matrimonial policy of the Catholic Monarchs makes their grandson Charles both King of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor as Charles V. It is difficult to say what nationality he was. He is famous for saying: “I speak Spanish to God, Italian to women, French to men and German to my horse.”

1527 AD
Charles the I sacks Rome, causing him some embarrassment but enabling him to keep the Pope from annulling the marriage of Henry VIII of England and Catherine of Aragon, who was his aunt.

1556 AD
It is said that in the kingdom of Phillip II the sun did not set. He made Cartagena a great naval port, in accordance with his great naval projects and imperial needs. The crushed the Turks in the battle of Lepanto (in which Miguel de Cervantes lost one hand). During his reign the Philippines are conquered and named after him, as well as the north American colony of Florida. But the riches of America were directed to pay the loans of European bankers, loans that were spent in funding the costly wars in defence of Catholicism and dynastic interests. He was husband of the Catholic Queen Mary I of England and later of Mary Tudor (the older daughter of Henry VIII).

1585 AD
Cartagena is sacked by an English fleet under Sir Francis Drake.