Everyone Loves a Parade?

Well, in this case, it wasn't really a parade...

As I wrote yesterday, February 28 is Andalucia Day.  
Not a religious holiday, but more a political one.
A day, we were told, would just be like any other day, except all the businesses would be closed.

Bill & I had not taken a "Scenic Tour" of Sevilla yet and thought today would be a great day for that.  It's been cold, sometimes overcast, and at times even threatening rain.
We took one of those double-decker sightseeing buses...  you know, the ones that you get the earphones to hear, in about 5 languages, what the sights are.

Almost immediately upon boarding the bus and heading out, we sensed that something was going on...

Police lines the streets...  side streets were closed...

The "spiel" is canned... preset...  so we're told about the buildings, a bit of history...  that sort of thing...  There is, of course, nothing about the current events of the day.
Since it is a holiday, we're thinking this may be a parade route and traffic is being controlled...

More policeman...  more closed streets...

We pass the park and head towards the University District..

There, a large crowd has gathered...
They are carrying banners, flags, huge balloons, and other "parade-type" things.
It looks very organized and orderly...

More and larger crowds of people...

As we turned the corner for more views of the buildings, we see another street blocked...

And more people at the end of that street....

We continue our tour.  It takes about an hour and a half to drive the route...  we see a lot of things we've seen while walking, but also head into a couple of the districts that I hadn't seen.
(more of that tomorrow).

Finally, our tour is over and we are head back.
We cannot disembark from the same bus stop we got on...  that street is now closed.

Looks like a BIG crowd up there!
Well, I love a parade...  so off we headed...  up the street.

People are packed...  standing along the sidewalk.  Lots of "cheers", chanting and interaction among the bystanders.

Still, the police are lined up in front...
This just doesn't feel "right"....
Hmmm...  we stop at the Bullring kiosk and ask what's going on.
Well...  there are several public officials giving speeches in the building across the street from all these people.
High up folks...  the president of the district...  big names in the political arena.
All the people we've been seeing are having a demonstration to show their disapproval of the government and the politicians.

All that we saw was quite well organized and was very orderly.
We stood a while, listening and watching.

There were still shouts and chanting.  The canon would occasionally boom...  but we'd seen enough and headed home.

After we got home, I tried to translate some of the banners...  I did manage "layoffs for workers" as part of one banner.  Most I couldn't see enough to translate.

We did enjoy our guided tour of the city and I'll try to blog about that tomorrow.  But today...  it seemed to be all about the locals and the politicians...  and Andalucia Day.

That's All For Today!