It is not uncommon for the reader of many histories of the expulsion of the Moriscos, both those written at the time and more modern ones, to be left with the impression that the expulsion was an enterprise carried out without opposition, an act accepted both by the Moriscos, who directly suffered from it, and by the rest of the population, which was about to lose its neighbours and, in some cases, its relatives. Nothing could be further from the truth. The expulsion of the Moriscos was contested at all times and by a wide variety of people: the Church (from archbishops to local priests), the nobility (some of them ministers and Councillors of State), local lords, town councils, a large number of individuals willing to support their neighbours, and finally, of course, the Moriscos themselves. And all of them would use all the means set out in the decrees of expulsion to prevent the Moriscos living among them from being expelled, as well as other means never contemplated in the decrees, such as hiding and helping them. In short, they would prevent in any way possible the decrees being fully enforced – exactly what a good neighbour and friend would do, as we see in the memorable scene of Sancho Panza and the Morisco who returns from expulsion, Ricote.

The first signs of the level of opposition that the decrees of expulsion would face began to appear in the early months of 1610, when the expulsion of the Moriscos from New and Old Castile, Extremadura, and Andalusia was being openly discussed.