Gateway to the land of sherry and a distinguished citizen

 We are heading towards Jerez. It is a little known fact that it was law in Britain until the 1980s for  every household in the land to maintain a bottle of sweet sherry, which was to be brought out before Christmas Dinner and a single glass shut away until the following year. Of sherry, more later.

We will be passing the Canal del Guadalcacin.  It is one of the many drainage channels around here. At present, I know no other juicy facts about it. Back to sherry.

Wine making appears to have come to the area, with the Phoenicians, around 1000BC. It continued, even under the Moors, as it was a useful trade good. It appears the Moors brought the process of distillation to the region and steps were taken towards the making of sherry. The Catholic Monarchs helped the link with England by abolishing export tax and then, in 1517, during Henry VIII’s Spanish dalliances, English merchants were given preferential status. Thus sherry, or sack, began to make progress in English hearts and stomachs.

The wine if the region seems to have been about 16% alcohol by volume.  Falstaff declared ‘"If I had a thousand sons, the first humane principle I would teach them should be, to forswear thin potations and to addict themselves to sack.’  The Portuguese did ell, but adding brandy to their port wines and the lads over the border thought this would be a good thing and did so to sherry wine.

The sherry industry gained substantial external investment in the 19th century. Benigno Barbadillo and Vicente-María de la Portilla, for example, left Lation America when the former colonies gained independence and were joined by British establishments, such as Williams & Humbert, and Sandeman. These, and Spanish entrepreneurs, pushed sales until, by the 1840s, sherry amounted to 20% of Spanish exports.

We are heading into El Portal.  Know a town by its wiki entry. One. In Spanish.  The town was founded by Alfonso X the Wise in 1264, as a country retreat. In the 14th and 15th centuries it had important docks, which were later, superseded. Being on the River Guadalete it served as places to send sherry out of country.  We will view the ruins of the sugar factory from a distance.

 The translated wiki page names 'Distinguished Citizens’ . It names one. Juan Galan, bullfighter. There is no link.  If you want you can see him on this page.  https://tauroarte.com/index.php/toreros-s-xx/matadores-de-toros/33599-juan-pedro-galan 

So into the pueblo of 700 we wander.

On the corner of the street, where we turn to run along the town’s main drag is the restaurante Venta El Portal.  It is open from 6.30am to 11pm [8.30am at weekends.]  Reviews are a mixed bag, and mostly unworded. It gets 4.2 stars from 166 of them. Maria felt the food was so-so [translated from mas o menos].  Let FJ’s 3 stars stand. ‘It's been a lot more expensive than it was years ago, when breakfasts were extra-large. Still, good service and a breakfast like any other place. If you're passing by on a motorcycle route or while out for a walk... Good place for breakfast.’

We’ll end near yet another abandoned railway station.  Juan is the only person to review it - two star.’ It's a real shame the state it's in, vandalized, closed and not valued at all, not even as a cultural building, association or something more than the ruins of what was the first railway network in Andalusia, now forgotten and on the verge of collapse, this has to change.