Jeff Bezos is getting married in Venice. Here’s why people are protesting the wedding

Billionaire tech tycoon Jeff Bezos and Laura Sanchez are set to hold an opulent three-day wedding in Venice this week.

And some locals are not happy about it.

One group has plastered banners on the Italian city’s famous Rialto bridge reading “No space for Bezos!”

Many details of the wedding are still under wraps, including the precise day it will happen.

But a lot of big names from film, fashion and business are expected to arrive in the Italian city to see Bezos tie the knot — provided they can get past the protesters.

Here’s what we know about the lavish event and why some locals are angry.

The wedding

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, 61, and his fiance, journalist Laura Sanchez, 55, got engaged in 2023.

Sanchez is also known for being part of the all-female trip to space with Bezos’s Blue Origin space exploration venture.

The couple were set to arrive in Venice from Sunday by sea on Bezos’s 417ft mega yacht called the Koru, as well as an accompanying ship with a helipad.

They’ve reportedly spared no expense on the celebrations.

The Koru is believed to be the largest sailing yacht in the world and cost about $US500 million ($776 million) to build.

Once in Venice, 35 to 50 water taxis have reportedly been hired to ferry guests about through the city’s iconic canals.

According to Italian media, the entire island of San Giorgio is also reportedly booked out.

The local government has denied claims that every luxury hotel in Venice has been booked out, but the extravagance of the wedding is likely to be extreme, with The Hollywood Reporter reporting a spend of “more than $US10 million”.

Katy Perry, Orlando Bloom, Mick Jagger, Kim Kardashian, Oprah Winfrey and Leonardo DiCaprio are among the names reportedly on the guest list.

Lady Gaga and Elton John are rumoured to be performing, and Bezos’s fellow tech billionaires Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates are expected to attend.

The couple have kept the exact venue and day under wraps, but it is estimated to take place between June 24 and 28.

Why are locals protesting?

Protesters say the hosting of the wedding highlights how Venice has prioritised its tourism trade over the locals who face housing shortages, a high cost of living and the closure of basic services.

This week, in addition to banners over the Rialto bridge, protesters threatened peaceful blockades of Venice’s canals.

Organiser Tommaso Cacciari said he believed the city was being exploited by outsiders.

“Bezos arrogantly believes he can take over the city and turn it into his own private party venue,” he said.

“Venice is a living city, not a place to rent to the highest bidder,” the collective wrote on social media.

Protesters also hung a huge banner with an X over Bezos’s name on a bell tower overlooking the Venice lagoon before the sign was removed on Thursday.

But not every Venetian is against the wedding.

Mayor Luigi Brugnaro and regional governor Luca Zaia argue the wedding will bring an economic windfall to local businesses, including the motor boats and gondolas that operate its myriad canals.

Rosa Salva, the city’s oldest pastry shop, has been commissioned to make biscuits for the nuptials.

Antonio Rosa Salva, the sixth generation in his family to run the business, said the wedding order was an important recognition of his family’s long tradition of baking Venetian specialties.

“Events like this bring quality tourism to Venice,” he said.

“I don’t see how an event with 200 people can create disruptions.

“It’s responsible tourism.

“It’s prestigious that a couple like this, who can go anywhere in the world, are getting married in the city.”

A couple of months ago, in the face of early protests from residents who feared the arrival of thousands of celebrities and hangers-on, the local government issued a statement clarifying that it would not disrupt Venetians’ everyday lives.

The local government said only 200 guests were coming, a number that could be easily accommodated without any disruption.

The statement also pointed out that Venice had extensive experience in hosting international events “much larger than this”.

It also denied reports wedding organisers reserved large numbers of gondolas and water taxis, saying it was their “utmost priority to make sure the city functions as normal, for all, with no abnormal disruption to anyone”.

Wedding planners address backlash

With images of protests being shared by news outlets of the weekend, the event planning firm organising the wedding published a statement defending the event.

The company, called Lanza & Baucina Limited, doesn’t use social media, instead making a statement published by Page Six, which is the New York Post’s entertainment website.

“From the outset, instructions from our client and our own guiding principles were abundantly clear: the minimising of any disruption to the city, the respect for its residents and institutions and the overwhelming employment of locals in the crafting of the events,” the company’s statement said.

“Rumours of ‘taking over’ the city are entirely false and diametrically opposed to our goals and to reality.

“No exaggerated quantity of water taxis or gondolas have ever been booked, the number of taxis reserved being proportionate for the number of guests.”

ABC with Wires