ESTEPONA – Two years ago the “largest slide in Spain” was festively opened. This would connect two streets in a neighbourhood with a lot of height differences. However, the joy was short-lived. After people were injured, the municipality decided to dismantle the slide.
The short-lived opening of the project spawned a flood of videos and jokes on social media. People who took the slide with a slope of 38º ended up with bruises and burns from the friction in a matter of seconds (see the video on this page). Consequently, less than 24 hours after opening, the slide was closed.
Slide now in the new Estepona town hall
The newspaper ElDiario.es wrote last week that almost four years after the disastrous opening, the municipality is testing the slide again. The controversial Estepona slide was inaugurated on Friday and this time connects the fifth and fourth floors of the new town hall. About 200 people work on those floors. These civil servants can now boost their working day by using the slide.
New attraction not in construction plans
The structure, of which photos and videos have been circulating for days through WhatsApp groups and social media, is still made of metal, but this time closed. The slide loops until it ends on a green carpet. Although the attraction appears in the plans as a kind of knot, it is not described in the basic implementation project for the new building. There is also no trace of the slide in the official photos of the new town hall.
Estepona is “a joke”
The opposition has criticised the new project. Emma Molina of the PSOE thinks that the city has more important needs than a slide in the town hall. Moreover, with this kind of media report, Estepona is turning “into something of a joke” just before the municipal elections.
New sustainable building
The new town hall is “sustainable” and cost €13.5 million. It brings together various departments that used to be located in other buildings across the centre.
