The castle of La Moraleda was built by the Muslims, and conquered by the Christians, for the first time, between the years 1243 and 1246, but it was not definitively until 1448, and it became part of the Jódar manor years later. He belonged to the Council of Baeza and the Order of Calatrava. From 1501 the lands of Bélmez belonged to the city of Granada in payment of certain debts that the Kings had with it, reserving the warden of the castle to the lord of Jódar. The foundation as a town dates from the year 1524, when land was leased to some farmers of the place. It belonged to the jurisdiction of Granada until, as a result of the provincial organization of Javier de Burgos in 1833, it was included in the new province of Jaén.