A long-delayed flood barrier successfully protected Venice from a high tide for the first time on Saturday, bringing relief and smiles to the lagoon city following years of repeated inundations. “Today, everything is dry. We stopped the sea,” city mayor Luigi Brugnaro told reporters after raising a glass in celebration with some of the engineers and officials responsible for the multi-billion euro project known as Mose.

“Lots of bad things have happened here, but now something wonderful has happened,” he said. The network of 78 bright yellow barriers that guard the entrance to the delicate Venetian lagoon lifted from the sea bed as the tide, driven by strong winds and rain, started to climb.