A group of Venice residents, furious over the planned wedding of billionaire Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez later this month, has vowed to “block the canals” to protest the event, citing the city’s ongoing struggle with overtourism.
The lavish ceremony, expected to draw high-profile guests and close parts of the city, has sparked outrage among locals who say Venice is being turned into a stage for the ultra-wealthy.
The protest group, “No Space for Bezos,” organized a meeting Friday near the Rialto Bridge, where over 200 residents planned three days of demonstrations between June 26 and 28. “Maybe even more,” said Marta Sottoriva, a member of the group, hinting at “surprise” actions.
She told Newsweek that the protesters are ready to jump into the canals to stop the wedding, if necessary.
On Thursday, protesters climbed Venice’s iconic bell tower in St. Mark’s Square, unfurling a banner with Bezos’ name crossed out.
The group’s Facebook post condemned city officials, stating, “To Brugnaro we say, we are not the ones ruining Venice, it is people like him. Reducing it to a stage for billionaires, emptying it of residents … closing his eyes to — and often denying — the climate and social crisis unfolding in the lagoon.”
Venice, home to about 50,000 residents, welcomes roughly 20 million visitors annually, mostly day-trippers, according to NBC. Locals have long fought to preserve their city, securing a 2021 ban on cruise ships in the central area and pushing to limit short-term rentals.
For many, Bezos’ wedding, which will reportedly close public spaces, including parts of the city center, feels like an affront.
Federica Toninello, a protest organizer, told The New York Times, “Bezos will never get to the Misericordia,” a venue rumored to be a possible wedding site. “We will line the streets with our bodies, block the canals with lifesavers, dinghies, and our boats.”
Sottoriva said the wedding will “block the city” and “militarize” it, with five yachts expected in the historic center, Newsweek reported.
“Life is getting increasingly difficult in Venice,” she said, noting that only a small fraction—luxury hotel owners, taxi drivers, and catering agencies—stand to gain. “Jeff Bezos is not a superstar, not a Hollywood actor, not a sports champion,” she added. “He’s the third-richest man in the world, who’s built his wealth over exploiting workers and resources.”
The wedding, set for an unconfirmed date between June 24 and 28, will host about 250 guests, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Oprah Winfrey, and Kim Kardashian, per local reports. Approximately 30 of Venice’s 280 water taxis have been reserved, and several luxury hotels are booked, according to NBC.
City officials, however, insist the event will not disrupt daily life.
Mayor Luigi Brugnaro told the Associated Press, “We are very proud. I don’t know if I will have time, or if he will, to meet and shake hands, but it’s an honor that they chose Venice. Venice once again reveals itself to be a global stage.”
Brugnaro, who, along with Veneto Regional President Luca Zaia, approved the wedding, called the protests “shameful,” warning that Bezos might relocate the event if he feels unwelcome.
City hall officials said in a statement, per NBC, “The city is fully accustomed to hosting high-profile events of this nature and scale, including other celebrity weddings, international summits such as the G7 and G20, as well as traditional events like the Festa del Redentore and the Venice Biennale.”
They added that 80% of the wedding vendors are local and that “protest initiatives are in no way representative of the majority of citizens.”
Not all residents oppose the wedding. One local wrote on Facebook, “I got nothing against the wedding,” but added, “We aren’t talking about just any groom. We’re talking about one who has heavily invested in [Donald] Trump, whose administration is clearly hostile toward us.”
Others see it as a romantic gesture in “the most romantic city in the world.”
Tommaso Cacciari, a longtime activist and spokesperson for No Space for Bezos, told a local news station that Zaia favors “foreign billionaires with no ties to the city” over local workers, Newsweek reported.
Leaflets circulating in Venice declare, “Venice is not for sale, nor for rent.”
Bezos and Sánchez, who met in the mid-2010s and went public with their relationship in 2019, got engaged in May 2023 aboard Bezos’ $500 million yacht, Koru, according to Vogue.
As tensions rise, the “No Space for Bezos” group remains defiant.
“We won’t collect the crumbs falling from the tables of those who continue to enrich themselves stomping over people’s rights and freedoms,” they wrote on Facebook. “Oligarchs are not welcome in Venice.”