Rome's once-derided 'mangy'
Christmas tree Spelacchio is set for a new life as souvenir
blocks of wood and a hut where mothers can nurse and look after
their children after its stay in Rome's central Piazza Venezia
ends later this week.
"Spelacchio has won the love and affection of most people
over time," said Rome Mayor Virginia Raggi, announcing the 'Baby
Little Home' that will be made of it after it is removed
Thursday.
Recalling the world news headlines it has generated, she said
"it has become an international star, and now it will become an
example of recycling and re-use".
She said mothers would be able to look after their children
in the 'home', which would have "an armchair for nursing mums to
feed their babies, as well as a play table for the young ones".
One block of the tree will also be handed over to an artist
to be remodelled and go on permanent show, the mayor said.
Councillor Pinucica Montanari said Spelaccio will now gain
fresh fame as "the symbol of a circular economy, ever more
necessary for Rome's future and that of the new generations".
Raggi's anti-establishment 5-Star Movement said Spelacchio
would get a send-off Thursday with a "farewell party" in Piazza
Venezia.
The messages and wishes that tourists and Romans have hung on
its boughs will be turned into a book, they said.
First slammed as a threadbare disgrace resembling a toilet
brush, Spelacchio gradually gathered defenders and ended its
days as a 'tree of desires' on which selfie-snapping tourists
posted their wishes.
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