Jerez settlement has been known since the Palaeolithic times.
It will be, however, during the Muslim era when the authentic urban development will take place, especially during the Almoravid and Almohad periods. Mosques, palaces are built and its urban center is extended.
In the twelfth century the Christians had tried several times their assault, but it will be with Alfonso X, in the year 1264, when his conquest is carried out. Subsequently, it will become, for a long period of time, a border area. A century later the border moves away from the city, specifically the kingdom of Granada, this will contribute to the economic development of Jerez. The fifteenth century marks the beginning of a period in which the city becomes one of the most prosperous in Andalusia. Farming and the export to Europe, and then to America, of agricultural products, especially wine, will contribute decisively to its development.
The nineteenth century was in Jerez of great economic strength, thanks mainly to the alliances of English exporters with Jerez winemakers; this situation also brought a pronounced latifundismo that had as a response a powerful anarchist movement that, together with strange events such as that of the Black Hand, would give rise, both in the city and in the peasant areas of its influence, to permanent uprisings of day laborers until well into the twentieth century.
Jerez is considered the fundamental nucleus of flamenco, and has produced a long list of famous people of this art.