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Estepona's 'short-cut' slide shut down over safety fears

The Local Spain
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Estepona's 'short-cut' slide shut down over safety fears
The Estepona slide was closed within 24 hours.

The 38-metre-long slide was heralded as a time-saver, a short cut for residents who could woosh down it’s curving chute to reach the lower level of the town within seconds.

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The 38-metre-long slide was heralded as a time-saver, a short cut for residents who could woosh down it’s curving chute to reach the lower level of the town within seconds.

Spain’s longest slide opened with fanfair in the Costa del Sol resort town last Thursday with residents queuing up for an invigorating descent from the upper part of town to sea level, thus saving a ten minute stroll.

But within hours, social media had become flooded with reports of minor injuries sustained during 'descent which has a gradient varying between 32 and 34 degrees.

Some flew down at uncontrollable speeds, hurtling off the end ramp in an alarming manner, such as in this video posted on Youtube,

“The Estepona slide is a piece of shit,” one woman wrote on Twitter. “I went on it and got hurt all over. I flew two metres and the police started to laugh.”


She also complained that the slide left her with minor injuries and posted a photo of grazed elbows:

Within 24 hours of opening, the town hall said it had closed the slide an ordered thorough safety checks.

But it did stipulate that the injuries were isolated and people needed to follow clear instructions posted on the slide. These include maintaining a seated position rather than lying down, keeping arms tucked in close to the body and descending one at a time.

"The image shared widely on social media was an isolated event,” the council said in a statement.

"More than a thousand people used the slide correctly [on Thursday] and without incident. However, given the situation, the council has requested new checks to provide maximum guarantees for users.”

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