Activists of international environmental group Greenpeace deploy a giant banner displaying a picture of Jeff Bezos and reading "If you can rent Venice for your wedding you can pay more tax" at St Mark square in Venice on June 23, 2025. (Photo by Stefano Rellandini / AFP)

BILLIONAIRE Jeff Bezos’s upcoming wedding to TV anchor Lauren Sánchez in Venice has ignited a wave of protests from local residents and climate activists, who denounce the event as a symbol of overtourism, inequality, and corporate excess.

Reports suggest many of the city’s most luxurious hotels and water taxis have been block-booked for a three-day celebration, although details of the wedding remain tightly guarded. One of the rumoured venues is the historic Scuola Grande della Misericordia, a 16th-century landmark.

Long at the frontline of climate change and unsustainable tourism, Venice faces rising sea levels that threaten its Renaissance-era architecture. Locals have responded by plastering city walls with posters reading “No Space for Bezos” – a nod to the billionaire’s space ventures – and placing protest banners on landmarks like the Rialto Bridge and San Giorgio Island.

Local media reported Marta Sottoriva, a 34-year-old English teacher and activist, described the wedding as “blatant arrogance,” accusing Bezos, founder of Amazon and one of the richest men in the world,of “exploiting the city the same way he has been exploiting workers worldwide to build his empire.”

(FILES) CEO of Amazon Jeff Bezos and partner Lauren Sanchez attend the Vanity Fair Oscar Party at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, California, on March 2, 2025. (Photo by Michael Tran / AFP)

On Monday, Greenpeace joined the protests by unfurling a large banner in St Mark’s Square that read, “IF YOU CAN RENT VENICE FOR YOUR WEDDING YOU CAN PAY MORE TAX.” The banner was quickly removed by police.

“Bezos’ wedding is a symbol of extreme wealth, privilege, and everything currently going wrong in the world,” said Greenpeace campaigner Clara Thompson. “And it’s happening in one of the most climate-vulnerable cities.”

While Venice has long been a magnet for celebrity events – including the 2014 wedding of George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin – Bezos’s celebration has struck a nerve. Critics accuse Mayor Luigi Brugnaro of favouring mass tourism over the needs of residents.

“Venetians feel betrayed, neglected, and forgotten,” said Tommaso Bortoluzzi, a municipal councillor from the opposition Democratic Party. “The city has been reduced to an open-air museum.”

This picture taken on June 24, 2025 shows a poster reading "No Space for Bezos" and calling for a protest pasted on a trash bin in Venice northern Italy. (Photo by Stefano RELLANDINI / AFP)

The number of residents in Venice’s historic centre has dropped from 100,000 in the 1980s to fewer than 50,000 today, according to watchdog group Venessia, even as tourism and short-term rentals have surged.

“Tourism increases every year, but the city can’t absorb infinite visitors. Venetians aren’t even receiving basic services, despite the huge revenues from tourism,” Bortoluzzi told the Financial Times.

Lanza & Baucina, the London-based firm planning the wedding, has reportedly assured stakeholders that the event has been designed with sensitivity to the city’s fragility.

A sticker reading "No Space for Bezos" is pictured in Venice where the billionaire Jeff Bezos will marry is fiancee, journalist Lauren Sanchez at the end of the month, on June 13, 2025. (Photo by ANDREA PATTARO / AFP)

However, critics argue the protests go beyond Bezos himself. The “No Space for Bezos” campaign has united students, unions, and activists demanding affordable housing and curbs on cruise ships, in what many see as a broader stand against tech-fueled capitalism and gig economy exploitation.

Last year, Italian authorities seized €121 million (RM595 million) from a Milan-based Amazon unit over alleged tax evasion and labour violations – claims the company denied.

Activists have planned more protests this weekend, including a symbolic blockade using boats and a planned plunge into the canals to disrupt guest arrivals.

“The political agenda here blurs the line between public good and private interest,” Sottoriva said. “Residents are treated as obstacles to tourism – obstacles to turning Venice into a Disneyland.”

A graffiti reading "No Space for Bezos" is pictured in a bar of Venice where the billionaire Jeff Bezos will marry is fiancee, journalist Lauren Sanchez at the end of the month, on June 13, 2025. (Photo by ANDREA PATTARO / AFP)