“If you can rent Venice for your wedding, you can pay more tax,” screamed an enormous Greenpeace banner covering the historic paving stones in Venice’s St Mark’s Square earlier this week. The sign is one of many that have dominated La Serenissima’s heritage buildings (and been quickly taken down by police) in protest against the Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos’s upcoming wedding to the media personality Lauren Sanchez. The three-day city takeover kicks off today.
From a pre-wedding foam party aboard Bezos’s $500m superyacht (so very 1980s Magaluf, don’t you think?) to the arrival of US first daughter Ivanka Trump, all eyes are on this extravaganza – aided in no small part by the accompanying party of paparazzi ready to send footage around the world. Whatever the cost, it will be small change to Bezos, who is worth around $225bn, and to his guests: Leonardo DiCaprio, Oprah Winfrey and Kim Kardashian are among the A-listers who have been arriving by yacht and private jet.
Rather ironically, protesters have descended on the overcrowded city to protest the disruption the wedding is causing for local people and to highlight the disparity between rich and poor. The UK-based collective Everyone Hates Elon has joined Greenpeace in the “No Space for Bezos” movement. Following threats by protesters to fill the canals with inflatable crocodiles (sure!) to prevent guests arriving at the wedding, Bezos has reportedly moved Saturday’s big event from the Scuola Grande della Misericordia, a beautiful 16th-century building, to the fortified shipyards of the Arsenale in a quieter part of town.
While some Venetians may well be fed up with the fuss surrounding the wedding – including the increased security presence, the photographers and the gawking tourists trying to spot Mick Jagger strolling across the Rialto – it could be argued that 200 extra people arriving for a wedding is neither here nor there in a city that welcomes around 30 million tourists each year.
The reality of this number of people trying to navigate a crumbling city was something I experienced firsthand when I lived in Venice as a student. Even in the 1990s, it was an everyday occurrence to find myself cornered in a tiny piazza by throngs of tourists largely oblivious to those of us trying to go about our daily business. Many of these sightseers had disembarked from monstrous cruise ships, which back then could drop anchor unbelievably close to St Mark’s Square and block out the wondrous views of the Grand Canal.
Not only did the ships damage the fragile ecosystem in the Venice lagoon, but their all-inclusive passengers barely contributed a stitch to the local economy when they did trot down the gangplanks. It took a 13-deck cruise ship colliding with a small tourist boat on the Giudecca Canal to trigger a ban on ships in the lagoon in 2021. In a further attempt to combat overtourism, Venice last year introduced a tax for day-trippers entering the city in high season.
Venice, of course, is no stranger to, well, strangers descending upon it, or to a party. It invented the debauchery of a masked ball in the 12th century, when the city became a hub for merchants bringing spices and silks. Bezos has reportedly made substantial charity donations, including $1.16m to Corila – a consortium that studies the Venetian lagoon’s ecosystem. He is also said to be employing a team of local artisans for most of the food and decorations, including Rosa Salva, the city’s oldest pastry maker, and Laguna B, a Murano glass design studio.
While some may baulk at the excess and continue to worry about the Disneyfication of Venice, the city’s mayor and regional governor have both defended the wedding, telling Italy’s newspaper Corriere della Sera that it is expected to bring in millions to local businesses. Venice certainly needs better public services and increased housing. However, regardless of the Bezos mega-wedding, local hotels are polishing their chandeliers in anticipation of a flurry of business for the summer months.
Personally, there’s no way I’d visit Venice in June. If you’re tempted – and you aren’t on a billionaire’s budget – then go in January when it is atmospherically shrouded in mists. It’s one of the only times of year when you can sit in St Mark’s Square and see the Basilica di San Giorgio Maggiore across the canal, without a tour guide’s umbrella – or protest banner – in sight.
Angelina Villa-Clarke is author of ‘Venice: a Visual Explorer Guide’ (Amber Books, £9.99)
