The Arabs used to call "the frontier" of their empire "al-maghreb"- this included North Africa and southern Spain at the time. The soldiers sent to defend the Arab empire were sent to "al-maghreb" and it was considered a great honor to serve there (as was the Crusades for the Christians). Certain folks have brought this term back in vogue, I'm betting they include southern Spain as part of al-maghreb territory (which is exactly what Spain is also concerned about):
http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/n...icleid=2370242
Prior to the September merger, however, reports surfaced that al-Qaeda had made inroads in forming a pan-Maghreb group along the lines of the now infamous Tanzim Qaidat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn (The al-Qaeda Organization of Jihad in the Land of the Two Rivers) (Asharq al-Awsat, December 8, 2005). Reportedly, this new group, dubbed "Qaedat al-Jihad in the Arab Maghreb Countries," was to be led by the GSPC and would bring together jihadi groups from Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco. In support of this, a Spanish intelligence report, quoted by local media in late November 2006, claimed the group would also include the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG). By January 26, 2007, al-Wadoud officially declared that the new name for his organization would be "The al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb," a name which is strikingly reminiscent of al-Qaeda's affiliate in Iraq (al-Jazeera, January 26).