Spanish Steps in Rome were flooded with hundreds of thousands of colorful balloons

Rome - Hundreds of brightly colored balloons bounced today along the famous Spanish Steps in Rome and subsequently filled the no less famous fountain Fontana della Barcaccia. An unprecedented spectacle, which fascinated dozens of random passersby and tourists, was staged by Graziano Cecchini according to the AP agency. He drew attention last October in another equally quirky way by coloring the water in the famous Trevi Fountain red.
    Astonished and delighted tourists quickly photographed the shining steps and fountain in various colors, while some took balloons as souvenirs. Their spontaneous actions forced the police to temporarily close the tourist spot.
    Television cameras captured organizer Graziano Cecchini and several other assistants throwing red, green, yellow, and blue balloons from bags on the Spanish Steps, which then bounced down and filled the Barcaccia fountain in the square below the steps. According to the police, the organizers reportedly brought hundreds of bags of balloons on three trucks.
    The summoned street cleaners then had their hands full, clearing away the balloons, tossing them into cleaning vehicles, and transporting them away. Stray balloons were washed down from the steps with hoses.
    Cecchini told Italian television TG5 that he uses "art, if this can be called art, to highlight our restlessness". According to him, half a million balloons cascaded down the Spanish Steps.
    Cecchini, who is known to the police as a right-wing extremist, was reportedly detained today along with three other participants in the event, according to Italian media. He himself is still under investigation in connection with the dyeing of the water in the Trevi Fountain due to possible damage to the monument.