Amazon boss Jeff Bezos and his fiancee Lauren Sanchez are all set to tie the knot in a lavish multi-day wedding affair between June 24 and June 26. Contrary to initial reports, the couple will be getting hitched in Venice, Italy. Their relationship and anticipated nuptials have been in the news for months on end, with even a spokesperson for the millionaire mayor of Venice previously green-lighting the grand affair expected to be dotted by millionaires and billionaires.

“Only 200 guests will have been invited and therefore it will be easy for Venice to accommodate such an event, without any disruption whatsoever to the city, its residents and visitors,” the Municipality of Venice said, according to Today.com. Despite the government officials’ approval, local Italians share a different perspective on the matter, which is mostly aversive to La Serenissima hosting billionaires.

Venice protests Jeff Bezos Lauren Sanchez wedding

The people of Venice have spoken out against the three-day wedding extravaganza possibly disrupting their lives. Arguing against the city playing host to the Amazon founder and his wife-to-be, Italian activists have already showed signs of protests, including seething posters around the city. Marked in red, they announce there’s “NO SPACE FOR BEZOS” in the Italian city. One such all-caps poster also signalled a protest would be taking place at the Assemblea Pubblica on Friday, June 13, as per the Irish Star.

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The signs also see billionaire Jeff Bezos’ name being crossed out in addition to a black and white photo of the tech titan being smeared with a red over his eyes. Locals in Venice even used the Amazon logo to their advantage, flipping it upside down to represent a sad face.

“Let’s prepare the days of resistance together, where all together we can say no space for Bezos,” the post read in Italian. Another message highlighting the perceived negative impact of the high-profile wedding to the city amid peak tourist season spoke up against turning the World Heritage City into a “playground for billionaires.” Yet another sign mentioned, “No space for oligarchs, no space for Bezos.”

A Reuters post shed light on protesters raising an anti-Jeff Bezos banner and releasing a blue flare from the Basilica of San Giogio this week. Several visuals from the city were widely circulated on X, formerly Twitter, as well.

Why are Italians against Jeff Bezos Lauren Sanchez Venice wedding?

Protesters argue that Venice’s “dignity” needs to be defended,” according to The Telegraph. Alice Bazzoli, an activist from the ‘No Space for Bezos’ campaign, said, “The whole of Venice, all the people who live here, need to do something to protest against Bezos. It’s not about him personally, it’s about the consequences that the wedding will have for the city.”

Locals believe that the grand wedding set to be attended by the “ultra-rich 1 per cent” would play against the interest of the ordinary Venetians. Bezos, who has an estimated fortune of $225 billion,” is the world’s fourth-richest man (as per Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires List at the time of writing). His multi-day wedding will reportedly cost $10 million. Even with its glorious price-tag, Venetians believe the celebrity-packed event is not likely to bear any consequential fruits for the locals. NewsNation, on the other hand, reported that 80% of the wedding provisions would be sourced from local vendors.

Bazzoli claimed that Bezos had booked at least five luxury hotels. With the Amazon boss and Lauren Sanchez expected to exchange vows on the island of San Giorgio, “it will be hard for locals to move around” due to security measures in place for the billionaire’s VIP guests.

“He’ll pretty much take over the city for his celebrations, paying a huge amount of money for the privilege. It will compound all our problems – daily life is already hard for locals in Venice because of the impact of mass tourism,” she added. The activist further revealed that the American businessman’s nuptials were likely to only benefit a select few, including owners of opulent hotels and water taxi operators. However, these people “already earn huge amount of money from tourism,” whereas the ordinary Venetians would reap nothing but chaos.

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What have officials said?

Contrary to the locals’ reactions to the upcoming event, Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro expressed his gratitude to Bezos and Sanchez for deciding to get married in their city. Addressing how “grateful” he was, the mayor said, “Anyone who loves Venice is always welcome.” Furthermore, he noted that the wedding would churn in economic benefits especially since it would “reinforce the role of Venice as a place of encounters and hospitality.”

Giovanni Andrea Martini, an opposition member of the city council, on the other hand, dismissed these claims as “false.” Slamming the “extreme case of the Disneyfication of Venice,” he said the wedding “won’t bring any benefit to ordinary Venetians. It is just going to cause inconvenience.”

Jeff Bezos Lauren Sanchez wedding guests list

A-listers, including close friends of Lauren Sanchez – Katy Perry, Kim Kardashian, Kris Jenner and Eva Longoria – are likely to be in attendance. The aforementioned 200 invitations could have also been sent to the likes of Bill Gates, Leonardo DiCaprio and Queen Rania of Jordan, according to Vogue.

Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez’s Venice matrimony plans are slated to be biggest since George and Amal Clooney got hitched in the city a decade ago. Their marital sojourn had an estimated price tag of $4.6 million, a significantly smaller number compared to the new couple’s reported million-dollar wedding.