Joshua Parfitt
ALICANTE Town Hall has invested €3,600 in a new fleet of benches to support residents with back pain.
The problem is: no one else can figure out what they are for.
“I think it’s a bike stand, or maybe an exercise bench,” said one resident in a video interview with Diario Información.
“Of course, it’s for people to park their electric scooters,” said another.
“They say it’s a bench to sit on, but I think it’s missing a part,” added one more passerby.
Social media groups also had a crack at the awkward design, with one saying it was for ‘people with haemorrhoids’ and another for ‘beating the dust out of car mats’.
The so-called ‘sciatic benches’ are in fact to help residents with back pain, spinal conditions – such as sciatica – or pregnant women.
According to José Ramón González – Councillor for Infrastructure and Maintenance – the benches were installed following a petition from residents in the Campoamar neighbourhood.
He said the benches had been placed in the busiest parts of the neighbourhood in cooperation with residents.
“If the experience is positive, and there are more neighbourhood requests for installation, implementation of the benches in other neighbourhoods will be studied,” González added.
However, expert osteopath and Olive Press medical correspondent, Jeremy Kenton, said the designs were ‘awful’.
“They’re cheap to make, they’re just bent scaffolding poles,” Kenton told the Olive Press.
“They’re really uncomfortable and are freezing in winter and red hot in summer.”
“The concept behind them is good because they take the pressure off the spine and onto the legs, but they’re not something you would want to sit down and eat sandwiches on.”
