Spelacchio's spectre returns with solar-powered Xmas tree

(ANSA) - ROME, DEC 9 - The spectre of Spelacchio, the much-maligned "threadbare" Christmas tree that blighted Rome during the tenure of former mayor Virginia Raggi, has returned with the Italian capital's new festive landmark in the centre of the city, slammed by locals because of the huge and allegedly unsightly solar panels that power its lights.
    The tree, which has just been erected in Piazza Venezia, the square from which Mussolini delivered his speeches, has been dubbed 'Fotovoltacchio', or 'ugly photovoltaic tree', by critics.
    Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri however defended his centre-left administration's decision to make this year's tree environmentally friendly.
    "We made the right choice, it's a choice marked by sustainability, practical but also symbolic," he said.
    "We are at a time in which Europe sees the horror of war, so many cities in Ukraine are without electricity, the price of energy is very high: we have a duty of promoting renewable energy". (ANSA).