The sale of inflatable/portable swimming pools has gone through the roof – one however, went through the terrace it was sitting on.

Yes, people seem to forget that a litre of water is equal to a kilo in weight, so just 20 cm per square metre is going to weigh 200 kilos – the average weight of a tourist from a certain country, perhaps.

Fortunately, the purchase of such pools are now safely out of the reach of those who only have a timid grasp of Hydrostatics, because Amazon sales department is starting to smoke.

Companies that build them plan six months ahead for their summer sales, which has all gone to pot because the summer supply has already been snapped up.

Well, let the case of a French couple in Alicante serve as an example of unfounded optimism concerning what your roof terrace or even on a garden terrace held back by a retaining wall can withstand.

The victims, residents of Mutxamel (Alicante), were enjoying an evening dip, admiring the view when it suddenly changed, owing to the whole thing crashing through the tortured terrace and into the garage below.

Both had to be pulled out of the rubble by the Alicante fire service. Unfortunately both the 66-year-old woman and the 80-year old suffered fractures and sever bruising.

So, try not to drop in on your neighbours, inadvertently.

(News: Alicante, Valencia)