Per Isaac Asimov, in Roman times, the portion of North Africa nearest to Spain was called Mauretania.
An inhabitant of the region was termed a Maurus.
To the Spaniards, the word became Moros, which is where we get Moors.
Moorish military leader Tariq ibn-Zayyid led a preliminary raid into Visigoth Spain in the early 700’s.
The first wave of troops landed on a promontory point on Spain’s southern coast.
The Moors named the point Gebel al-Tariq, meaning “Mount Tariq”, which would later be corrupted into Gibraltar.
