'No space for Bezos': Venetians protest Amazon founder's grandiose wedding plan

As Amazon laminitis Jeff Bezos and his fiancée, Lauren Sánchez, hole for a lavish, star-studded wedding successful Venice, not everyone successful the Italian metropolis is blessed astir the impending nuptials.

"No abstraction for Bezos," a motion work astatine a protestation by residents who accidental the famed canal metropolis is already overrun by tourists, billionaires, oregon otherwise.

Protesters accidental their contented is with the blessed mates and authorities, similar Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro, who said helium was "ashamed" by the protests.

"We privation to nonstop a precise wide message: The ones who should beryllium ashamed are them," protester Federica Toninello told Reuters. "They are the radical who person destroyed this city."

Venice’s two-square-mile main land and historical center, location to astir 50,000 people, receives astir 20 cardinal visitors yearly, mostly day-trippers from cruise ships oregon different cities. While tourism is cardinal to Venice’s system and taste identity, critics accidental it has displaced residents and damaged historical sites.

Venetians’ wedding wariness comes arsenic demonstrators crossed Southern Europe rallied implicit the play against wide tourism. Residents protested connected the Spanish land of Mallorca and successful Spanish cities specified arsenic Barcelona — wherever tourists were spritzed with h2o guns — arsenic good arsenic successful Venice and Lisbon, the superior of Portugal.

“No Space For Bezos” activists show a banner connected the Rialto Bridge successful Venice connected Friday.Stefano Mazzola / Getty Images

Officials successful Venice are alert of the problem, and past twelvemonth Brugnaro introduced a regular entranceway interest of 5 euros ($5.79).

But Brugnaro and others are rolling retired the reddish carpet for Bezos, the world’s fourth-richest idiosyncratic aft chap tech titans Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Larry Ellison, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Brugnaro said Bezos had "achieved large things connected a planetary level" and that the metropolis was "extremely proud" to big him.

"It is an grant that helium is coming to Venice," helium said.

Though details of the Bezos-Sánchez wedding are apical secret, according to Vogue, the impermanent database could see celebrities specified arsenic Eva Longoria, Katy Perry — Sánchez’s crewmate connected an April spaceflight by Bezos’ Blue Origin — and astatine slightest immoderate of the Kardashians.

In a connection to NBC News, metropolis hallway officials said regular taxi and h2o transports would proceed during the wedding festivities, which are reportedly acceptable to statesman June 24.

Officials said lone astir 30 of the 280 h2o taxis person been reserved, and lone 3 oregon 4 hotels volition beryllium utilized for the event.

"The metropolis is afloat accustomed to hosting high-profile events of this quality and scale, including different personage weddings, planetary summits specified arsenic the G7 and G20, arsenic good arsenic accepted events similar the Festa del Redentore and the Venice Biennale," the connection said.

City officials added that "the celebrations, attended by 250 guests, volition blend into the regular bushed of a metropolis that, with dignity and respect, welcomes thousands of visitors from astir the satellite portion safeguarding the prime of beingness for its residents, workers, and students."

"Protest initiatives are successful nary mode typical of the bulk of citizens, who are arrogant that Venice has been chosen arsenic the wedding location," the connection added.

Venice has a agelong past of hosting large events, including planetary summits and the 2014 wedding of histrion George Clooney and quality rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin.

"Once again, Venice proves to beryllium a satellite stage," Brugnaro said.