VENICE—While super-yachts glittered in the lagoon and A-list arrivals slipped into palazzos, several hundred Venetians took to the narrow calles on Saturday to make it clear that Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez’s ultra-exclusive nuptials were not on their wish-list.
Banners reading “Eat the Rich” and “Lagoon, Not Amazon Warehouse” bobbed above a sea of straw hats and sun-bleached T-shirts as the march wound from Campo Santa Margherita to the iconic Rialto Bridge. Organizers under the banner “No Place for Bezos”—a coalition of residents, students, and climate campaigners—accused the Amazon founder of turning the city into a backdrop for billionaire pageantry while contributing little to its future.
“We’re not protesting a honeymoon; we’re protesting a business model built on squeezing workers and swallowing ecosystems,” said Alice Bazzoli, 24, a five-year resident of Venice and one of the movement’s spokespeople.
Flares ignited crimson plumes over the Grand Canal as demonstrators unfurled a 20-metre banner condemning what they called “event-driven gentrification.” Matteo Battistuta, a 20-year-old political-science student, framed the day succinctly: “Venice has more to offer than selfies and super-rich spectacles. We refuse to be museum props.”
Inside the exclusive enclave of San Giorgio Maggiore—just across the water from St Mark’s Basilica—Bezos, 61, and broadcast-journalist-turned-aviation-entrepreneur Sanchez, 55, said their vows on Friday evening. The ceremony launched a weekend of opulent festivities reportedly featuring a masked ball, Michelin-star menus, and a guest list resembling a Forbes index: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Brady, Ivanka Trump, Kim Kardashian, Kendall and Kylie Jenner, Oprah Winfrey, and Bill Gates among them.
City officials, already under pressure over overtourism and cruise-ship pollution, offered a muted response. Critics argue that Venice’s leadership rolls out the red carpet for billionaire branding while struggling to keep housing affordable for actual Venetians.
Whether the wedding will be remembered as a fairy-tale fête or a tone-deaf intrusion depends on who you ask. For the marchers fanning themselves under the July sun, the verdict was swift: the lagoon is no luxury backdrop—it’s their home, and they intend to keep it that way.
