Winegrowing has long been, particularly upon the transition to modern agro-extractivism in the mid 18th century, the main drive of the economy of Jerez.

[2] During the 19th century, the local wine Sherry was overwhelmingly produced for foreign export, catering to the British market in the first place.

[3] Throughout this century the city earned a reputation as a paradigm for large landowners, high social inequality, and the winery-related identity.

The placename was rendered as Xerez or Xerés (Old Spanish pronunciation: [ʃeˈɾet͡s̻, ʃeˈɾes̺]) in old Romance sources; hence the name of the famous fortified wine, sherry.

[7] Jerez later became a Roman city under the name of Asta Regia (located 8 km further north at Cortijo el Rosario).

After the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, the Vandals and the Visigoths ruled the area until the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in the early 8th century.

From 1145 to 1147 the region of Arcos and Jerez briefly operated as an emirate under the dependency of Granada, led by Abu'l-Qasim Ahyal.

In the 12th and 13th centuries Jerez underwent a period of great development, building its defense system and setting the current street layout of the old town.

Due to its agriculture-based economy and demographics, Jerez was already a major city of the Lower Andalusia towards the end of the Middle Ages.

[9] The discovery of the Americas and the conquest of Granada, in 1492, made Jerez one of the most prosperous cities of Andalusia through trade and through its proximity to the ports of Seville and Cádiz.

Attracted by the economic possibilities offered by the winemaking business, a substantial foreign European population (English, Flemish, Portuguese and, most notably, Genoese) installed in the city.

[12] Despite the social, economic and political decadence that occurred in the seventeenth century, towards the end of the Habsburg rule, the city managed to maintain a reasonable[citation needed] pace of development, becoming world-famous for its wine industry.

In January 1892, a peasant uprising took place in Jerez and its violent repression lead to a series of protests and revenge bombings in the next decade.

The city's strong identity as a center for wine, flamenco, and horses, its popular festivals, MotoGP hosting and its historical heritage have contributed to this success.

The territory of the region corresponds to the previous municipality of the city of Jerez, before the disintegration of San José del Valle in 1995.

Jerez is characterized by mild, short winters with occasional cool nights and hot, long summers with occasional very hot temperatures; unlike the surrounding coastal areas which are characterized by very mild winters and long warm summers.

The Moors conquered the region in AD 711 and introduced distillation, which led to the development of brandy and fortified wine.

Because sherry was a major wine export to the United Kingdom, British families founded many of the Jerez cellars.

[citation needed] Jerez is the original home of the Carthusian sub-strain of the Andalusian horse breed, known as the Caballo cartujano in Spain.

Another famous equine institution headquartered in Jerez is the Yeguada Militar de Jerez de la Frontera (known outside Spain as the Yeguada Militar), the Spanish military stud farm dedicated to the breeding of purebred Andalusian and Arabian horses.

It is devoted to the investigation, recovery, and collection of flamenco-related historical documents, whether they are in audio, visual, or journalistic form.

Many of the most famous personalities of the city are or were involved in the performance of flamenco, including La Paquera de Jerez, Lola Flores and José Mercé.

Thousands of motorbikers from around the world come to the city this week to watch the MotoGP race held in Jerez annually.

It is celebrated annually in the Parque González Hontoria for one week in May, occurring always after the Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix.

All booths (casetas) at the fair are open to the public, so that attendees may walk into any one of them and enjoy the food, drinks, and dancing.

The Holy Week of Jerez de la Frontera stands out for being one of the most important in Andalusia in terms of number of brotherhoods, quality in its carvings and iconographic sets.

The most important track team training there is the Club Atletismo Xerez Deportivo FC, which won the Spanish championships in 2001–2007.

The 2014 Vuelta a España cycle race began in Jerez de la Frontera on 23 August, with a 12.6 km (7.8 mi) team time trial.

The line went between Jerez and El Puerto de Santa María and transported wine barrels for export.

Jerez de la Frontera railway station is used by more passengers than Cádiz and is the fourth busiest in Andalucia.