When Spain fell into Moorish hands, Azuaga underwent a period of growth. Among the historicas evidence of Moorish Azuaga, the Muslim geographer and traveler Al Idrisi mentions the settlement in the 12th century, alluding to it as a hilltop fort - (حِصْن زُوَاغَة - HiSn Zuwāghah). This is the first writing that mentions Azuaga by name. It would appear that at that time the people of Azuaga were of the Berber tribe "Al-Zuwaga", hence the name. Azuaga still has a surviving portion of its 11th-century castle.