How to catch a local train in Jerez

I love the Jerez train station because you can buy a beer and drink it right there on the platform. No last-minute dash through the crowd or arriving early only to stand in the blazing heat watching the clock – and dog forbid there’s a delay, one more please.

But it’s not that the station itself is something I’ve been eager to blog about (though it is a rather beautiful station), it’s just that, like many things in a strange new city, it has some peculiarities that I’d like to have known about when we first arrived. If you’re in Jerez for a while and you’re looking to take a day trip, this will help you out.

There’s a single local commuters’ line from Jerez, heading south through sparse countryside and a dozen small towns all the way to Cádiz city (pronounced by locals Kah-dith, with the emphasis on the first syllable, and the ‘th’ pronounced as in the word ‘the’, though so lightly as to be mostly inaudible).

You might have arrived in Jerez via Renfe ‘media’ train, which is the medium/long-distance system covering destinations like Seville, Málaga and Madrid. But if you’re out for a day trip to Cádiz or one of the towns on the way, you’ll be using the Renfe Cercanías system, the local commuter line. 

Renfe Cercanías: https://www.renfe.com/es/es/cercanias/cercanias-cadiz

To check lines and schedules, click on the Horarios tile (timetables); up top there is an option to switch to English. Click on the Search Route tab. From the dropdown menus choose Jerez de la Frontera and then your destination.

Google Maps is a completely fine alternative to the website. It will show you all the options. You’re looking for the red C1 line. 

Yes, it’s possible to buy tickets online and even get a card, but it’s not straightforward (you’ll need the app, which you can’t download unless your Google/Apple ID is set to Spain) and … it’s just easier to buy a ticket at the station. 

You can buy your tickets not before two hours prior to the train’s departure. If you’re buying a return ticket it must be used on the same day. We haven’t yet encountered a fully booked train so arriving 10 or 15 minutes before departure will be fine. (BUT: check for festivals and events at Cádiz or Jerez. During the Cádiz Carnivale in February, for example, all bets are off! Even public holidays in the warmer months can be the trigger for hordes of locals to descend on Cádiz.)

Inside the station, use the bank of ticket machines one the right (Cercanías). The others are media distancia (Seville, Madrid …)

Tap the flags-of-all-nations tile at the bottom of the screen until the options present in English.  

From here you can do the usual: select destination station, one-way or return, number of passengers. You can pay by cash or card (around €5 each return regardless of whether you’re travelling one stop or all the way to Cádiz). Your tickets will print out and drop into the tray at the bottom.

The Cercanías system uses tag-on-tag-off turnstiles. The turnstile for the train to Cádiz is on platform two, through the tunnel. You’ll need to tap again at the turnstile at your destination to leave the station. 

The train in the Cádiz direction often arrives from Cádiz (from the south). In other words, Jerez is the end of the line (though there is the occasional one that continues north to the airport). So don’t be put off if your train seems to be heading in the wrong direction when it arrives at the Jerez station – it will head back the way it came. 

God, that was boring. Sorry about that.