You did notice that El Cid de Valencia was a 6-star general, yes? You need overwhelming force to crack that nut. If you're only 35 turns into the game I seriously doubt it's lost. You need to eliminate the Portuguese and Moors who are on the Iberian Peninsula and consolidate your hold there. Once done, you have a strong base which is both easy to defend and a great jumping off point for a military campaign in England, Europe or Africa, and is fairly decent for getting to the Holy Land as well by boat. You can block the straits of Gibraltar with a fleet and defend the 4 routes across the Pyrenees. The Moors make safe expansion territory as they're Islamic, so no papal problems will result, but Africa is huge with few territories. Europe will give you more provinces in a given amount of land area but has papal complications unless you pick only on the excommunicated factions.
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