Vejer de la Frontera ….Part 2 of our stay in this hilltop village
Categories France & Spain Road trip 2025....on the road yet again, Spain 2025, 2024, 2017September 29th to October 10th , 2025
The village is well situated to do day trips, so having become familiar with the parking situation, we were good to go. As we looked at the map, we decided to visit Cadiz, which was roughly 1 hour away.
Cádiz, founded around 1100 BCE by the Phoenicians as Gadir, is often called the oldest continuously inhabited city in Western Europe. It became a key Carthaginian and later Roman port (known as Gades), thriving on trade and shipbuilding. After the Visigothic and Moorish periods, it was reconquered by Castile in 1262 under Alfonso X.
During the Age of Exploration, Cádiz rose to prominence as Spain’s main port for New World trade, replacing Seville in the 18th century. It was here that Spain’s first liberal constitution was proclaimed in 1812, during the Napoleonic wars. Though later eclipsed by other ports, Cádiz retains its rich maritime heritage, historic walls, and baroque architecture.
As we have mentioned in prior posts, parking is always a drama in the largest or smallest towns. We found an easy solution: using the underground paid parking garages, which are safe, easy to access, and relatively inexpensive, especially when you factor in the cost of frustration from driving in endless loops trying to find a spot. We employed this strategy in Cadiz, allowing us to make good use of our time…
Cadiz Cathedral, also known as the Cathedral of the Holy Cross of Cadiz, is a stunning example of Spanish Baroque, Rococo, and Neoclassical architecture. Its construction spanned over 116 years, resulting in a unique blend of styles.
We climbed the bell tower to take some panoramic photos, and given that it was a beautiful day, it was well worth the effort…btw when you look at the photo of the cruise ships you can see how completely out of place they appear relative to the town around them…
We then simply wandered along the very pleasant promenade, then through the labyrinthine streets before calling a halt for lunch …it was getting to be very hot > summer here must be a total sizzler!
Back in Vejer, dinner at our casa, as we try to do a mix of meals out and in, afterwards either hanging out on the rooftop patio or checking out some spots in the village…vermut is quite common here and we found a nice vinoteca offering dry aged vermut …delicious, and fun just to sit and check out the local scene…
A lovely dawn promises another sunny day, and we are set for an outing to Jerez de la Frontera, about an hour’s drive from Vejer.
Jerez de la Frontera, located in Andalusia, was originally a Roman settlement, later ruled by the Visigoths, and became an important Moorish stronghold known as Sherish from the 8th century. The city prospered under Muslim rule, noted for its fortifications and agriculture, until it was captured by Alfonso X of Castile in 1264. During the Christian period, Jerez developed into a wealthy trading center and became famous for its sherry wine, exported worldwide from nearby ports. In the 19th century, it gained a reputation for fine horses and flamenco culture, both still central to its identity today.
We planned to visit the cathedral when it opened at 10:00, but as we entered the ticket office, we were told that a private mass would prevent entry until noon. As we had tickets for an event, we had to content ourselves with a few shots from the outside. The Tio Pepe sherry lies quite close to the cathedral, and we took a quick picture of Tio Pepe’s statue (the bodega was founded in 1835 and is the largest and best known of the sherry producers).
It being a pretty packed day, we hustled off to see the Alcázar of Jerez de la Frontera, a Moorish fortress built in the 11th–12th centuries during the Almohad period. It served as the residence of Islamic governors and later as a Christian palace after the Reconquista in 1264. The complex includes defensive walls, towers, gates, a mosque (later converted into a chapel), Arabic baths, gardens, and the 18th-century Baroque Palace of Villavicencio.
Some nice views from one of the towers…
The Mezquita and Arab baths were the last part of the Alcazar. We greatly enjoyed our visit, and it was only as we were leaving that the tour groups started to arrive…
Then back to the underground garage, retrieved Little Clio and headed to another garage close to the next venue. Traffic was super slow, but we found the garage no problem and headed to the Fundación Real Escuela Andaluza del Arte Ecuestre, to see the show: “How Andalusian Horses Dance”. We got there just in time with the help of some locals and some sign language after some glitches with the phone, whew!
This is an authentic equestrian ballet with distinctly Spanish music and 18th-century costumes, based on choreography taken from classical and vaquera dressage reprises and other traditional horsemanship styles. Each performance features six to eight choreographies. All of them maintain the same level and spectacularity and are programmed by the Institution according to the following repertoire:
Vaquera dressage: the rider, holding the reins in one hand, guides the horse around the arena, walking and cantering, changing pace and performing turns and lunges. This is field dressage, necessary for handling cattle.
Jobs in hand: The horse obeys its dismounted rider and performs Haute École exercises and other traditional ancient horsemanship exercises such as: Levadas, Cabriolas, Corvetas, Piaffer (between pillars), Spanish Step and on Long Reins.
The Hitches: Horses also perform their duty pulling carriages. These carriages, used in ancient times for transportation, are now relegated to sport and exhibitions. Properly harnessed, they are a spectacle in themselves, demonstrating the skill and handling of horses in this discipline.
Carousel: A group of horses and riders, in unison, perform advanced riding exercises on the track, as the finale of this program.
The event was well attended, the venue was perfect for such a show, and the audience was appreciative of both the riders and horse
To round off our stay in Vejer, some photos of the village and ourselves “in action”…
…and a gorgeous sunset to end our stay in Vejer:
