City’s mayor is forced to spruce up tree in Piazza Venezia after flurry of complaints about sparse decorations

Roman citizens have been willing to give their mayor, Virginia Raggi, the benefit of the doubt throughout her short and rocky tenure, fully aware that hers is probably one of the toughest jobs in Italy.

But even patient Romans could not contain their ire following the unveiling of the city’s official Christmas tree, a sad-looking fir in the centre of Piazza Venezia that was dubbed the “austerity tree” for its minimalist decor. Lacking even a star on top, let alone a shiny bauble or two, the pitiful spectacle drove Romans to express their disappointment on social media.

One person wrote on Rome’s Facebook page: “It would have been better to not put anything up rather than that horror. Then you wonder why tourists choose other cities.”

For some, it was a sign of the times. Raggi is a member of the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S), which is a vocal opponent of wasteful spending and any appearance of using taxpayer funds for vanity projects.

One news report suggested that even the children who excitedly joined Raggi in a countdown when the tree was lit last week were disappointed by the sparse decorations. On Facebook, a mock eBay ad for the fir priced it at €15,000 (£12,500) and joked that it had not been viewed by anyone except two dogs.

To add insult to injury, a video surfaced online comparing Rome’s tree to its majestic rivals across Italy, from Turin to Naples. Of these, none was more painful to behold than the glittering and towering tree in Milan, which was sponsored by Pandora, a Copenhagen-based jeweller.

Much closer to home, the 25-metre-tall tree in St Peter’s Square was – in keeping with Pope Francis’s ecological views – decorated by ceramic ornaments made by children in hospitals and lit by 18,000 environmentally friendly LED lights.

Walks of Italy (@WalksofItaly) Christmas tree is up in St. Peter's Square in the Vatican #takewalks #Rome pic.twitter.com/GKhXB2hHqR

The anger in Rome was so palpable that Raggi was forced to respond this week. On Wednesday night, she addressed the furore on Facebook, even as more serious issues – including an abuse of office investigation into a top city councillor who has just resigned – dominated the headlines.

“The Romans want a more beautiful Christmas tree in Piazza Venezia. And they will have it,” she wrote, saying she had ordered more lights and decorations for the tree, although she added that it would still reflect a mood of “sobriety”.

“In past years, there has been a lot of waste … on the backs of citizens,” she wrote. “We have decided to change course: the tree was a gift to the city of Rome, which only cost us transportation and installation.”

By Wednesday night, the tree had been spruced up, with a large star now fixed on top.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Rome’s tree after its makeover. Photograph: Facebook/Roma Comune

However, not everyone was happy. On the Roma fa schifo (Rome is disgusting) Facebook page, a dedicated chronicler of the city’s decay, one post complained that, before the upgrade, Rome at least had the honour of hosting the “ugliest tree in the world”.



“Now we have a normal tree, as if it were Civitavecchia,” it said, referring to the gritty port city not far from Rome.