We decided to go and see Madrid after dark last evening. We used our hop on hop off tickets and set off around 8 pm from a stop very close to our hotel. While we were waiting for the bus we noticed a helicopter flying around over the central portion of the city, very close to our hotel, we wondered why it kept circling over the same location. As we set out on the bus towards the central portion of Madrid we could see more and more people on the streets to the point where the traffic slowed to a crawl. Also as we progressed we began to see more and more police presence on the street. When we got to the point in our trip where we were going to turn down the street that would have taken us past the Plaza del Sol we were turned back by the police and told we couldn't enter that street due to the manifestations......protests. Every police car, van and vehicle was out on the street last night with their blue flashing lights on. However by 9:30pm the crowd had started to disperse, I think the temperature falling to 7c and a strong north wind was a contributing factor also. By 10pm we were back in Salamanca at our favourite tapas bar, Estay, enjoying some vino.