‘We will block the canals': Venice divided as young protesters target Bezos wedding
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On a sweltering Friday afternoon in June, a group of angry and self-described 'precarious' or underemployed Venetian young people gathered in a square near the foot of Venice's Rialto bridge. It was a call to action against the impending nuptials of billionaire Jeff Bezos and journalist Lauren Sanchez, who will be tying the knot — and tying up the city — later in the month.
After struggling at first to hang a massive 'No Space for Bezos' banner, complete with a drawing of his inarguably phallic Blue Origin rocket in the center, a handful of speakers roused the crowd of around 300 Venetians, many of whom were sipping spritzes in takeaway tumblers and smoking hand-rolled cigarettes.
Though the details of the Bezos wedding are highly guarded beyond the rumored $10-million budget, several venues, including the island of San Giorgio Maggiore, where the same group managed to hang a No Bezos sign on the bell tower on Thursday, seem to be a given.
Also said to be a dead-cert location in central Venice is the 14th century Misericordia, a former school armory that is now an exclusive events venue. It's widely rumored that the main ceremony will take place here on June 28.
But not if the protesters get their way.
'Bezos will never get to the Misericordia,' organizer Federica Toninello told the crowd to raucous applause. 'We will block the canals, line the streets with our bodies, block the canals with inflatables, dinghies, boats.'
Another speaker, Na Haby Stella Faye, urged those gathered to make sure the wedding would be remembered for their opposition, not Sanchez's reported 27 outfit changes.
'Let's make sure that Venice is not remembered as a postcard venue where Bezos had his wedding but as the city that did not bend to oligarchs,' she said. 'We can't miss a chance to disrupt a $10-million wedding.'
Others lamented the arrival of Bezos' $500 million superyacht Koru, and the other luxury leisure boats expected to be docked in the city's ports. There were also complaints about the temporary work big events like this provide, rather than full-time jobs.
Bezos' wedding is clearly symbolic of Venice's current problems. Efforts to combat overtourism have resulted in a 10-euro daytripper entrance fee on weekends and peak periods while more residents are pushed out every year due to a dwindling lack of services like schools, hospitals and affordable housing.
'You're telling me none of these people shop on Amazon?' said New Orleans native Jake Springer, who, along with his wife, was spending a weekend in Venice on a wine tour through Italy. 'At least they are protesting peacefully. Americans could learn a thing or two from this.'
Protests in Venice may seem like a national pastime, but it's worth noting that they have been incredibly successful in the past.
The years-long 'No Grandi Navi' or 'no big ships' campaign of the pre-Covid era was successful in banning giant cruise ships from anywhere near the city center. The restrictions led to widespread changes in cruise itineraries, with many of the major lines switching from Venice as a port of call or embarking point to nearby Ravenna and Trieste. Some, including Norwegian Cruise Line, removed Venice entirely from their itineraries.
Protests against Airbnb-style short-term rentals also led to changes in the number of properties an individual can own to rent out.
But protesting a millionaire's wedding in a city synonymous with love? To some, 'no grandi matrimoni' or no big weddings, seems cold.
Bezos' is hardly the only high-dollar wedding to be held in the city — not least George and Amal Clooney's nuptials in 2014, which were cheered on by locals.
So far this year, city officials say three multi-million-dollar weddings have been held without any opposition. Luca Zaia, the head of the surrounding Veneto region, calls the protests a disgrace.
'I want Jeff Bezos to be welcomed with open arms in Venice. Protesting against those who bring visibility and wealth to our territory is, in my opinion, a disgrace,' he said Friday.
Venice's mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, said he hoped the protest won't dissuade Bezos and Sanchez from keeping their plans. 'We will have to apologize to Bezos,' Brugnaro told reporters in Venice on Friday. 'I am ashamed of those who behave like this. I hope that Bezos comes anyway. Not all Venetians think like these protesters.'
Across town at the Biennale of Architecture, a regular event on the Venice calendar, the sentiment was much more in line with city officials than the protesters.
'It seems ridiculous that a city that lives off tourism like Venice wouldn't want an event like this, which will employ hundreds of people from waiters to water taxi drivers,' Görge Meyer, who was visiting from Berlin, said. 'All the guests and journalists will be staying at hotels, eating at restaurants and spending money. And they want to stop the cash influx?'
Gillian Longworth McGuire, an American travel writer and tour planner who moved from Rome to Venice 10 years ago, points out that famous people have been coming to Venice to get married for centuries and wealthy people have been parking their yachts in Venice for decades.
'Venice just doesn't have a clear idea of what it is supposed to be sometimes,' she said. 'Is it a magical place carved out of a lagoon, built by merchants and fishermen, or a bachelorette party and mega wedding venue?
'The ethos of this city was always that it was the crossroads of culture and the world. Venice doesn't need an event like this to prove itself. People will always come no matter who gets married here and who is against it.'
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