Rome's 'mangy' $73K Christmas tree is being compared to a toilet brush
It's kind of like the Charlie Brown Christmas tree — except it's 21 metres tall and it costs more than some people make in a year.
Rome's official Christmas tree is so threadbare that has been dubbed lo Spelacchio, an Italian insult that roughly translates to "mangy" or "baldy."
"It's been compared to a toilet brush," Alvise Armellini, the Rome correspondent for German news agency DPA, told As It Happens guest host Helen Mann.
Lastest success of Rome's Five Star Movement major Virginia Raggi, once hailed as a 'breath of fresh air' on English-speaking media: the municipality's main Christmas Tree in Piazza Venezia, known as Spelacchio, is dead. <a href="https://t.co/YdPjI0E0dL">pic.twitter.com/YdPjI0E0dL</a>
—@leonardocarellaThe 21-metre tall tree, which was lit up on Dec. 8, started dropping needles at a fast clip as soon as it was hoisted into the middle of Rome's bustling main square, Piazza Venezia.
The city said Tuesday it is investigating why the tree is ailing.
Despite its 600 silver-coloured decorative balls, the half-bare branches lend the square a forlorn rather than festive look.
"It's planted right in the middle of Rome, which is this big central square, which is a kind of giant roundabout," Armellini said.
"It's quite funny because you do see that traffic stops to look at it, and if you're on a bus going around the square you overhear people talking to each other and saying, 'Look how ugly the tree is,' and you have people stopping for selfies. It's getting attention for all the wrong reasons."
Ridotto all'osso.<br>Come il nostro Paese del resto. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Spelacchio?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Spelacchio</a> <a href="https://t.co/RTJpfjD50R">pic.twitter.com/RTJpfjD50R</a>
—@carminorlandoRomans are also needling the Mayor Virginia Raggi about the sad specimen, which cost 48,000 euros ($73,000 Cdn) to transport from South Tyrol, an Italian Alpine region.
"The people in Milan ... which is in a kind of rivalry with Rome, have lots of trees and they all look very good. And on top of that, they've been privately sponsored so it didn't cost anything to the taxpayer," Armellini said.
"While in Rome it's looking a bit of a mess, and it reminds people that the city is in a sorry state."
— With files from Associated Press