Jerez de la Frontera: Sherry, Dancing Horses and the Real Andalusia

The city’s oldest monument is a 12th-century Moorish fortress, one of the few Almohad-era survivors in Spain. Inside the walls are Arab baths, a mosque turned chapel, quiet gardens and the octagonal tower. Climb up to the cámara oscura in the Villavicencio palace tower, where a system of lenses projects a live, moving image of the whole city onto a screen. It sits on the Alameda Vieja, in the heart of the old town.

Jerez’s cathedral rises just beside the Alcázar, a huge stone pile that mixes Gothic, Baroque and Neoclassical styles. It was built on the site of an old mosque and later church, and only became a cathedral in 1980. Step inside for the five naves and the dome; the free-standing bell tower stands apart on the square. It looks its best in the late-day sun, when the honey-coloured stone glows.

One of six parish churches founded after the city was taken in 1264, San Marcos is a fine example of Jerez’s Gothic-Mudéjar style. The single nave has flamboyant Gothic vaults, and the Baroque high altar is one of the richest in the city. Its stone bell tower rises over the small square and old streets around it. A quiet, un-touristed church worth stepping into as you walk the centre. (

This is one of the loveliest squares in Jerez, ringed by historic buildings. On one side stands the 15th-century church of San Dionisio, in the same Gothic-Mudéjar style. It is dedicated to the city’s patron saint, and the tall Torre de la Atalaya watchtower rises beside it. Facing the church is the Antiguo Cabildo, the Renaissance old town hall from the 16th century, with marble columns and a carved façade. Together they make an easy, atmospheric stop in the heart of the old town.

Sherry is made and aged in Jerez’s bodegas, the tall, cool store-houses that fill the centre. Inside, rows of oak barrels rest in dim, cathedral-like halls, marked in chalk and aged for years through the solera system. Some houses, like González Byass (home of Tío Pepe), are huge and give tours; others are small, working cellars. Seeing the barrel halls is the heart of any Jerez visit.

Just outside the city, on the banks of the Guadalete river, stands this grand 15th-century monastery, one of the finest historic buildings in Cádiz province. Its Gothic cloisters and carved stone gateway are remarkable. It is now home to a closed order of nuns, so access is limited and changes with religious events; the grounds, gateway and church can usually be seen, but the full interior is not always open.

This is the thing to do in Jerez. A bodega tour walks you through the tall cellars, the rows of ageing barrels and the solera system, and ends with a tasting. González Byass, the maker of Tío Pepe, runs the best-known visit: it is large, with a little train through the grounds and a cellar designed by Gustav Eiffel. Others, such as Lustau, Bodegas Tradición and Fundador, offer smaller, more focused tastings. You can arrange most of this yourself online. A good guided tour is still worth it, though: a proper cellar guide teaches you to read the solera, to tell a bone-dry fino from a nutty amontillado, and to taste like a local rather than guess.

The Real Escuela Andaluza del Arte Ecuestre, the Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art, puts on a famous show called How the Andalusian Horses Dance. It is a kind of horse ballet, set to Spanish music, with riders in 18th-century dress. Show days change with the season, usually falling on set weekdays, and tickets sell fast in Horse Fair week. On non-show days you can often visit instead for a training session and the museums, which is quieter and cheaper.

A tabanco is a traditional Jerez sherry tavern, part bar, part shop, where the wine comes straight from the barrel. The best cluster around Plaza Plateros and Calle Santa María. Order a flight and you get fino, amontillado, oloroso and sweet Pedro Ximénez side by side, often with a plate of cheese or Iberian ham. Some tabancos put on live flamenco too. It is the cheapest, most local thing you can do here, and you do it entirely on your own.

Jerez is a serious flamenco city, and this is where it lives. The Barrio de Santiago is a knot of low streets north of the centre. It is the heartland of the bulería and home to famous singing families. There is nothing to buy a ticket for; the point is to walk it, see the Iglesia de Santiago, and feel where the music comes from. Come back after dark for the peñas, the small members’ clubs in Santiago and next-door Barrio de San Miguel. They often welcome visitors for a night of song. Some tabancos in the centre also run regular flamenco evenings. Ask around in the afternoon for what is on that night; the scene is informal and changes week to week.

The sherry families built grand houses all over Jerez, and two of the best are open to visit. The Palacio Domecq is the finest. It is a Baroque mansion from the 1770s, on the Alameda Cristina. It has a courtyard of red Italian marble and a wide, sweeping staircase. Inside are grand rooms full of tapestries and art. You tour it with an English audio guide, in about 50 minutes. It is the clearest window into the sherry families who shaped the city. Nearby, the Palacio del Virrey Laserna gives a shorter guided walk through a palace still lived in by one family.