Agriculture

Vejer has been characterized since ancient times by combining agricultural and livestock activities on its lands, both on large estates and medium-sized farms, and even in the so-called Hazas de Suerte.

In Vejer, as in almost all of western Andalusia, the main driver of the economy has been agriculture, predominantly extensive dryland farming in fallow rotation. The staple crops are wheat, sunflower, and beet, with smaller quantities of barley, sorghum, fava beans, and chickpeas being sown.

Alongside this, a percentage of these lands is reserved for pastures and some for irrigation, although in a much lower proportion compared to dryland.

Livestock

On the agricultural front, the dominant livestock activity in the countryside of Vejer has been and continues to be the breeding of docile cattle, which have traditionally served as the driving force behind agriculture, pulling plows and other agricultural implements or dragging carts.

However, the introduction of mechanical traction machines in the 1960s displaced docile cattle to a single task, meat production to supply the food market.

The most widespread docile cattle breed is the Retinta, followed by the Andalusian Black, Campiñera Black, or Guadalquivir Black.

Another highly prized cattle breed for obtaining oxen was the Andalusian Colorado Berrenda, valued not only as a driving force but also as essential assistants in handling fighting bulls, so characteristic of the area.

Since the mechanization of agriculture, the Retinta breed has been crossed with various foreign breeds (Charolais, Limousin) to improve production.

Fishing

Finally, although Vejer is essentially a rural town, its history also attributes it as being a maritime town, with a strong attachment to the tuna almadraba fishing techniques.

Before the current municipalities of Conil de la Frontera in the 14th century and Barbate and Zahara de los Atunes in 1938 became independent from Vejer, this entire immense coastline was a source of tuna provisioning.

The Duke of Medina Sidonia, jurisdictional lord of the town of Vejer since 1307, was the owner of these almadrabas, having numerous enclosures for the salting factory and warehouses for supplies.

Following in his footsteps in more recent times were such prominent figures as Serafín Romeu, I Count of Barbate, who in the late 19th and early 20th centuries became the undisputed figure in the tuna industrialization that allowed Barbate to lead the fishing-preservation sector.