Spain -- Description and travel; Spain -- History; Spain -- Social life and customs
Xeres de la Frontera (64,000), situated about thirty miles from Cadiz,
surrounded by vineyards, is a city of Bodegas, or wine-cellars, the
principal of which, as well as of the vineyards, are in the hands of
foreigners. It is one of the busiest of Spanish commercial towns, and,
like Barcelona, is on that account less peculiarly Spanish than many
others. The exportation of sherry wines from the district, and those
shipped at Port St. Mary, amounted, in 1873, to 98,924 butts; 1874,
65,365 butts; from Jerez alone, in 1875, 43,727 butts; 1876, 42,272
butts; 1877, 41,660 butts; 87 per cent, of which goes to Great Britain
and her colonies. The decrease in later years is probably caused by the
greater amount of lighter French wines now consumed in England. San
Lucar de Barrameda (22,000), at the mouth of the Guadalquiver, is noted
for its winter-gardens, which are said to date from Moorish times, and
which supply Cadiz and Seville with their earliest fruits and
vegetables. From its vineyards, too, comes the stomachic Manzanilla
sherry, flavoured with the wild camomile, which grows abundantly in its
vineyards. Arcos (12,000), on the Guadalete, is the only other Spanish
town of importance in the province; but to the south lies the isolated
rock and fortress of Gibraltar (25,000), captured by the Earl of
Peterborough in 1704. Though held only as an English garrison (5000),
and made almost impregnable as a fortress, it is yet of considerable
commerce from its position as a port of call for vessels passing the
Straits of Gibraltar, and also from its contraband trade with Spain,
which is a source of constant irritation between the two nations. In
natural history, it is remarkable for its apes (_macacus inuus_), as the
only spot in Europe where any species of monkey lives, and it is
doubtful whether even these would survive without the aid of occasional
importations from Morocco.
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