Jerez de la Frontera Elected the Spanish Gastronomy Capital for 2026: Excellent Food, Drink… and Much More
The beautiful Andalusian city of Jerez de la Frontera has been named the “Spanish Gastronomy Capital” for 2026, and no better choice could have been made. This award was created in 2012 with the aim of “highlighting the culinary excellence of Spain’s different regions” and promoting tourism to the area at the same time. Prior to Jerez, the selected cities were: Logroño (2012), Burgos (2013), Vitoria (2014), Cáceres (2015), Toledo (2016), Huelva (2017), León (2018), Almería (2019), Murcia (2020/21), Sanlúcar de Barrameda (2022), Cuenca (2023), Oviedo (2024), and Alicante (2025). Now it’s Jerez de la Frontera’s turn.
The word “Jerez” is translated into English as Sherry: for it was here that this delicious wine was born although it became immediately popular throughout the world and in particular in Great Britain. For this reason, a first-time visitor may be surprised to see that many of its 130 bodegas or wine cellars have English names like Osborne and Terry.
Its wine-making tradition dates back three thousand years when the Phoenicians inhabited these lands and it is world-famous for its manzanilla —sherry or xérès in French—, wines that vary in flavor and sweetness from fino, amontillado, oloroso, palo cortado to muscatel.
Jerez’s claim to fame does not lie merely with its wines, because its fertile countryside produces quality fruits and vegetables, cereals, artisan cheeses, farmed and game meats, and of course, pork products such as cured ham and chorizo. One of its most succulent dishes is the rabo de toro or oxtail stew, along with the “sopa de tomate”, which is not really a soup but a savory thick tomato paste, to which aged bread, onions, peppers, olive oil and hierabuena (fresh mint) are added.
Nor would any menu be complete without its extensive variety of fresh fish and seafood brought in daily from the nearby Cádiz Bay. Exceptional are the langostinos or prawns, the red tuna from the “almadraba”, the urta, dorada, clams, tortillitas de camarón, ortiguillas, algas and sea bass.
A visit to its 140-year-old Central Market will suffice to discover the scope and variety of the local cuisine. On leaving the market, you can stop to enjoy a treat of tasty churros prepared in the traditional manner, fried in long spirals in huge vats of boiling oil. They are then cut into smaller strips and served in a paper cone with sugar sprinkled on top.
A simple and much-loved delicacy in southern Spain is the pringá, a dish of humble gypsy origin, consisting of leftovers: meat, chorizo, morcilla sausage and bacon, shredded and simmered over a slow flame. It is served in a mollete bread roll, and as it is tasty and juicy, this Andalusian sandwich tends to “pringar” or make for sticky fingers, hence its name.
Tapa-hopping in Jerez is known as the “Ruta de los Tabancos”, the tabancos being establishments that originally sold tobacco and wine directly from the casks. Frequented only by men in the past, today they are typical taverns, full of ambience and local color, offering a tempting array of tapas, such as cold cuts (ham, chorizo, pork loin…), cheese, chicharrones (pork rinds), papas aliñás (seasoned potatoes), riñones al jerez (kidneys in sherry sauce), gazpacho, menudo (tripe stew) and salazones (smoked fish), like mojama (salted tuna).
Tabancos are closely linked to another deeply-rooted Jerez tradition: Flamenco, because the local flamenco clubs meet here. Some establishments even have a small tablao stage, like El Paisaje, founded in 1922, where you can enjoy good food, wine and authentic flamenco singing and dancing. As it is a legendary bar, it still maintains the custom of jotting down your bill with chalk on the wooden counter. Another historic tabanco is Las Banderillas, which combines a taurine and flamenco atmosphere, and was founded by the father of the famous folkloric performer Lola Flores. Its fare includes torreznos (pork rinds), emborrao cheese, cured ham, rabo de toro, mojama, spinach and cheese croquettes, and roe.
And this brings us to the desserts, where one stands out above all others: The tocino del cielo, which was actually invented in Jerez. This rich pudding was created more than 500 years ago precisely because of the city’s prospering wine industry. The traditional technique of clarifying wines with egg whites employed by the Romans meant that there was always a surplus of egg yolks. The González Byass Winery Archives recorded in its 1837 inventory the monthly purchase of 1,000 eggs, of which only the whites were used. They donated the yokes to the nuns in the local convent who cooked up the “custard from heaven.”
But Man does not live by “bread and wine” alone, and here in Jerez there is much to see and do. The list of absolute “musts” naturally begins with a visit to the Bodegas, which is as edifying as it is entertaining and satisfying. You learn about the origin of the local wines, their cultivation and their characteristics in a wine-tasting tour, which includes the different varieties from dry to sweet and dessert sherries: fino, amontillado, oloroso, cream, palo cortado and Pedro Ximenex. Actually, there are a total of eleven different varieties, which also include Palomino and Muscatel, and we cannot forget the Brandy which is dubbed the “meditation drink”. These wonderful wines for which Jerez is famous worldwide is due to the albariza (clay) and calizo (chalky limestone) soil which favors the cultivating of the Palomino grape vineyards.
The agenda for both domestic and foreign visitors should include a leisurely stroll through the colorful streets, beginning at the Plaza del Arenal, the heart of town, Calle Larga, Alameda Cristina, Plaza de Mamelon and the many lavish palaces like those of Villavicencio, Virrey Lasera, Duque de Abrantes and Domecq. Local authorities should be commended for maintaining the historic, cultural and architectural heritage and for conserving with modern-day functions, these mansions and wine-cellars with their vast installations that were once considered on the outskirts and now form an integral part of the city center.
The visit continues to the 18th century Cathedral of San Salvador, the San Miguel Church, the Moorish Alcazar dating back to the Almohad period, the Monastery of La Cartuja where the dapple gray Carthusian horses were bred, the Sherry Gallery Museum in the San Dionisio Palace, the Museo del Motor at the racetrack and, most especially, the Real Escuela Andaluza de Arte Ecuestre, which offers an extraordinary equestrian show: “How the Andalusian Horses Dance,” which is truly unique.
Another surprise awaits in the Museo del Tiempo, an amazing collection of clocks from all over the world and from different historic periods, housed in the lavish Palacio de Villavicencio. If your visit coincides with the hour, which is highly likely as there is so much to admire in this museum, you can enjoy the chimes of its 253 clocks ringing throughout the building.
Mayor María José García-Pelayo highlights Jerez’s attractive year-round calendar of events, from the Carnival in February, the Flamenco Festival in March, Holy Week with the passion of its brotherhoods and processions in April, the World Motorcycle Championship in early May, the colorful Horse Fair with its 200 casetas or tents and the afternoon bullfights in late May, the Bulería Flamenco Festival in July, the Grape Harvest Fair in September and the noisy Zambombada fest at Christmas time.
Jerez de la Frontera, with its fine wine, excellent food, flamenco and folklore, deserves recognition as the Spanish Capital of Gastronomy in 2026, and with these same merits, it is sure to fulfill its desire to become the European Culture Capital in 2031.
By Muriel Feiner