Story By: Ana Lacasa, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Newsflash

A Spanish engineer has created a simple and affordable two-metre canvas ring to ensure that people maintain social distancing on the country’s beaches.

Industrial engineer Oscar Pavon said that he came up with the idea of a simple ring in the sand when he saw in an article that plexiglass booths were being used on beaches in some countries and he thought “this is an atrocity”.

He added: “It is unviable, because first of all you are destroying a natural beach, secondly methacrylate is altered a lot by the sun and the sand, and besides that, the place will become like a sauna!

“So I then started to think about a simpler solution, something cheap that could even be free is used as publicity to promote brands.”

Pavon then came up with his canvas ring with a 2.5-metre diameter that allows for two people as well as beach bags and other belongings.

He told local media: “It is produced with a very thin synthetic canvas, like the material used on tents, and it is kept stable with rods similar to tent pegs.”

The ring will reportedly cost 15 EUR (13.4 GBP) although could eventually become free with sponsorship and he believes they could help local councils enforce social distancing measures on beaches.

According to the latest figures from the Johns Hopkins University, Spain has registered 232,037 cases of COVID-19 and 27,778 related deaths.

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