The April Fair of Seville has started, as tradition dictates, at zero hours with the lighting of its façade and the lighting of its fairgrounds, with 220,000 light bulbs in the 15 streets of its Real opening more than a week of celebration, of which only 25,000 illuminate its cover.
In the absence of knowing whether the 2024 fair is the last one that begins in the transition between Saturday and Sunday, pending a referendum to which the people of Seville have been called to return, if they decide, to the start on Monday night, The 1,056 Real stands are shown in all their finery at the traditional “pescaíto dinner”, the first official one of each year, which is interrupted for a few seconds to turn on the lighting and then continues without closing time.
In figures, the cover, which each year has a different design, this year has the aforementioned 25,000 LED bulbs, 30,500 meters of tube and 3,700 square meters of paneling, which make up an entrance to the Fair that is 47 meters wide, 39 meters wide. high and six deep.
The 220,000 light bulbs distributed throughout the venue are 7,000 more than last year, in an event that seems to have no limits, despite the fact that the debate on a possible new location to try to expand its surface has been on the table for several years.
So that everything happens normally, the City Council has activated the Specific Emergency Plan for Traffic Management, with the aim of guaranteeing fluidity and encouraging the use of public transport, which affects not only the party itself, but also the area close to the Maestranza Bullring during the hours of the Fair's bullfights.
The Local Police of Seville will establish 15 access control points to the restricted areas, and controls will also be established at the access to the parking lots for subscribers, carried out by personnel from the company that manages them.
Regarding the public taxi service, this has special access to the Fair through reserved routes, and a special pick-up system for people with reduced mobility is maintained at the Portada stop, giving priority to the use of Eurotaxi vehicles. these users compared to the rest.
So that everything runs normally, the Local Police of Seville will have all the staff during the Fair, and the possibility of working with the entire staff has been offered, so it is estimated that among all the services there will be close to 1,000 local police officers operational.
The device will have a novelty this year, since for the first time a specific unit composed of 30 agents is launched who will focus their functions on everything related to children and adolescents under 18 years of age.
This year, 30 cameras are installed in the facility for video surveillance and artificial intelligence functions, and the latter will count the number of people passing through the façade, and a great height on the façade that allows the detection of smoke emissions and location of incidents. quickly.
Regarding cleaning tasks, a special device consisting of 591 operators and 113 vehicles has been activated, and for which 205 workers have been hired.
The Fair also has for the first time a first aid station inside the Real, from 1:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. and, subsequently, the health team will move to the general facility located in the Parque de los Príncipes, in the vicinity of the premises.
