‘Venice is worn out': locals see Jeff Bezos wedding as symbol of city's ills

The Guardian

a day ago

Marta Sottoriva, a teacher in Venice, has tirelessly campaigned for various causes in her cherished lagoon city, from railing against giant cruise ships to battling soaring rents. Now she is busy preparing banners, handing out flyers and shouting through megaphones in squares as she joins dozens of activists in whipping up resistance to the 'umpteenth gigantic event' she says that risks turning the world heritage site – which has long suffered from the effects of excessive tourism – into a playground for the rich.
Sottoriva is referring to the star-studded nuptials between the billionaire Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, and Lauren Sánchez, a former TV journalist. The days-long shindig, expected to begin from 24 June, will be the biggest wedding held in Venice since George Clooney married Amal Alamuddin in 2014.
While Venice residents mostly embraced the Clooneys' fairytale big day, the Bezos wedding has been met with much more antipathy. As soon as Venice's millionaire mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, confirmed in March that the couple would be getting married in the city, activists mobilised their 'No space for Bezos' campaign.
Posters featuring an image of Bezos's head on a rocket blasting into space – in reference to his Blue Origin space tourism venture – have appeared across the city. The campaigners have also been spreading the word by handing out flyers at various traditional Italian food festivals, known as sagre, and hosting public meetings. Their boldest pre-wedding stunt so far was to erect a banner reading 'No Bezos' on the bell tower of San Giorgio basilica on the Venetian island of the same name, where the couple are rumoured to be exchanging their vows.
'There's a lot of anger in the air because once again the council has enslaved itself to the logic of profit – our city has been sold to the highest bidder,' Sottoriva said. 'Every time an event of this kind happens, the city comes to a standstill, certain areas become inaccessible and even more tourists arrive. This wedding really is the symbol of all that is wrong with Venice.'
The details of the nuptials are top secret, with Brugnaro's council feeding the ire by not even confirming the precise dates. The festivities are scheduled for 24-26 June, although some say the wedding itself will not be held until 28 June.
Despite the scant information, for months the Italian press has been filled with hearsay about everything from the 200 guests – notably Kim Kardashian, Leonardo DiCaprio, Oprah Winfrey and Ivanka Trump – and their €9,000-a-night hotel rooms, to the contingent booking out the entire water taxi fleet and the many designer dresses the bride will wear during the celebrations.
While the city's leaders are fully embracing the merriment and, moreover, the riches they claim the festivities – rumoured to be costing £8.4m – will bring to the city, their political rivals argue that the event will not benefit ordinary Venetians in the slightest.
'This wedding is causing much friction, especially because it is happening at a time when Venice, already invaded by uncontrolled tourism, is completely worn out,' said Giovanni Andrea Martini, a councillor for the opposition.
To make up for it, Martini would like Bezos, the world's third-richest person, to help address the affordable housing shortage by donating money towards restoring the more than 1,000 council homes that lie abandoned.
Brugnaro has insisted the wedding will not bring any inconvenience to the city and has condemned the anti-Bezos campaigners as 'shameful'.
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Sottoriva says the issue is not necessarily the people getting married per se, although she admits that Bezos's association with Donald Trump and Amazon's record on workers' rights does not bode well.
Simone Venturini, Venice's councillor for tourism, said he struggled to grasp why anyone would consider a private event of this kind to be stressful or harmful for the city. 'Venice has already hosted more complex and impactful events,' he said. 'Is it perhaps a fault that Venice is the most beautiful city in the world?
'We should all be proud that the Bezos wedding, an event of international importance, is being held in the waters of our lagoon. Instead, the usual protest professionals have wasted no time. We want to reiterate that Venice is open to everyone.'
Marco Gasparinetti, another Venice councillor, said he could understand some of the angst but warned against believing everything the newspapers were writing. 'This story about all the water taxis being booked out is not true,' he said.
Whether or not the wedding causes mayhem in the city all depends on where it is held, he added. 'If, as they say, it's on San Giorgio then this would not create any inconvenience – the island has already hosted big events such as the G7 in total security and so it is the perfect location.'
Regardless of the exact wedding venue, Sottoriva and her counterparts have no plans to tone down their campaign. 'We're planning a big demonstration on the day of the wedding,' she said. 'Watch this space.'