As the war was proclaimed and people knew for certain that they were not at peace, everyone in the towns and villages close to the border endeavoured to stow their things away safely and to gather their supplies within the enclosures, so that they would not be found by their enemies and provide them with food during a long siege. They took off the doors to their houses and threw their wine away so that the enemy could not make use of anything.

When King Fernando came to Évora, Vasco Rodrigues Façanha and his brother Lopo Rodrigues told him that they thought it was best to have the old enclosure demolished, showing that all who lived within it supported Prince João, who was in Castile: should the enemy fall on the city, the old enclosure could be defended but not the new one. They gave him this advice because they lived outside the old enclosure. The king, believing them, ordered it to be demolished, and it took a good three years to demolish it. Everyone in the kingdom considered it a bad idea to demolish that enclosure because there was no other enclosure in all his land so fortified with walls and towers.

Suddenly, the Master of Santiago of Castile, who was officer of the marches in Badajoz, as we have said, together with Men Suárez, the Master of Alcántara, and many soldiers in his army entered Portugal. There were many foot soldiers and horsemen, and they reached Elvas on a Thursday, setting up camp in the olive groves. From there, on the following day they left and went to Veiros, and assaulted that town, setting fire to the gates of the barbican. They slept there that night on the other side of the brook, leaving on Saturday morning and making their way through Sousel and through Cano. Whilst coursing through that land, they seized many cattle that were roaming in the district and then turned back, spending the night in Ribeira do Freixo. Resuming their expedition, after advancing through Portugal for a week already, they slept the night in Rio Torto, in the area of Elvas. The next day, a Wednesday, they sent all the cattle and prisoners they had seized to Badajoz.