If you want to get from one place to another, you have lots of options, depending on the circumstances. Plane. Ship. Train. Car. Horseback, maybe. Sometimes, if it’s not that far, people just walk.
In the resort town of Estepona, located on Spain’s Costa del Sol, it was a ten-minute walk to get between two particular streets, Avenida Reina Sofia and Calle Eslovaquia. So in the interest of saving time, they built a much faster way to get from one street to another, to avoid the 10-minute walk.
They built a slide. A 125ft slide.
There was only one problem, though…
It had an approximate 34-degree gradient, which was so steep that people were hurtling down way too fast and getting hurt, either with “road rash” from the ride down, or from their “crash landing.”
Gee, ya think?
(Note: the first couple of sliders in this video went down slowly but after that, people seem to speed up a whole lot)
Some creative people took to Twitter after hearing about the “shortcut” between the two streets:
De los creadores del tobogán de Estepona… pic.twitter.com/gw7alCxRUT
— Abubukaka (@Abubukaka) May 21, 2019
^^^ Translation: “Of the creators of the slide of Estepona…”
En el Everest han puesto un tobogán como en Estepona para aligerar las bajadas y el tráfico. pic.twitter.com/eVqYADmA8V
— Andrea Perrone (@andreaperrone78) May 24, 2019
^^^ Translation: “On the Everest they have put a slide like in Estepona to lighten the descents and the traffic.”
No sé qué pasa más rápido: si la bajada por el tobogán de Estepona, o el fin de semana. pic.twitter.com/9OtTDf40Fk
— Maestro Jota (@elmaestrojota) May 19, 2019
^^ Translation: “I do not know what happens faster: If you go down the slide of Estepona, or the weekend.”
Investigados 7 dentistas de Estepona por subvencionar el tobogán
— Hay Noticia (@HayNoticia) May 21, 2019
^^ Translation: Researched 7 dentists from Estepona for subsidizing the slide
There were also the Tweets from the woman who claimed she experienced the slide…
El tobogán de Estepona es una mierda, visto y comprobado. Me he tirado y me hice daño por todos lados, volé 2 metros y los policías se empezaron a reír
— ADB🖤 (@AzulDebonisB) May 9, 2019
^^^ Translation: “The slide of Estepona is a s***, seen and proven. I threw myself and I hurt everywhere, I flew 2 meters and the cops started to laugh”
Estos son mis codos, no pongo foto de mi culo pero esta peor xd pic.twitter.com/flUFOrcQLi
— ADB🖤 (@AzulDebonisB) May 9, 2019
^^^ Translation: “These are my elbows, I do not put picture of my a** but this worse.”
Not surprisingly, the €280,000 (more than $313,000) stainless steel slide was closed less than 24 hours after it was open to the public, so the Estepona Town Hall could carry out a review. A statement from Estepona Town Hall read: “The city council orders a complementary revision and preventive closing of the slide whose approval and safety had been certified by the specialist installation company.”
As of this writing, it’s still closed.
Frankly, even if they do reopen it, at this point I think I’ll be very happy to take the 10-minute walk between Avenida Reina Sofia and Calle Eslovaquia.
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
I love the slide idea, but they really should have considered consulting an actual engineer before building this one.