Literature on the Peninsula began developing when the area, known as Hispania, was under Roman rule. Books and manuscripts were written in Latin, with contributions by writers such as Seneca, Lucan, Marital and Quntilian.

The Peninsula was later almost completely occupied by the Moors. Thus, since 711 Hispania, then called Al-Ándalus, saw the development of Spanish Arabic literature. Such texts, written by Muslims, were produced well into the 10th and 11th centuries, as were Hebrew texts written by Jews living in Spain at the time.