‘We Will Block the Canals’: Venice Protests Erupt Ahead of Jeff Bezos’ $10M Wedding

As billionaire Jeff Bezos gets ready to marry journalist Lauren Sanchez in what’s rumored to be a $10-million wedding in Venice, not everyone in the historic city is celebrating.

In fact, many Venetians are furious—and they’re taking to the streets and canals to make it known.

On a sweltering June afternoon, around 300 protesters gathered near the famous Rialto Bridge. Most were young, underemployed locals who call themselves “precarious.” They carried signs reading “No Space for Bezos” and waved banners showing a cartoon version of Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket. Their goal: disrupt what they see as a luxury spectacle that highlights how their city is being taken over by the ultra-rich.

Locals Push Back Against Billionaire Takeover

Bezos’ wedding is expected to take over some of Venice’s most iconic spaces, including the 14th-century Misericordia and the island of San Giorgio Maggiore. Protesters even climbed a bell tower recently to hang a banner protesting the event.

“If Bezos thinks he can glide into our city unnoticed, he’s in for a surprise,” said protest organizer Federica Toninello. “We’ll block the streets, the canals—he won’t get to the Misericordia without seeing our resistance.”

Another protester, Na Haby Stella Faye, called on fellow Venetians to speak up. “Let’s make sure Venice is remembered not for Bezos’ party—but for standing up to billionaires who treat our home like a movie set.”

Why the Wedding Struck a Nerve

For many locals, the issue goes far beyond this one wedding.

Venice has been struggling for years with the pressures of mass tourism and rising inequality. Housing is harder to find, long-term jobs are scarce, and basic services like schools and hospitals have shut down. Most young people can’t afford to stay in the city. Some are forced to live in the mainland suburbs and commute in for low-wage work.

Now add a billionaire’s superyacht—worth half a billion dollars—anchored in the lagoon, and it’s easy to see why tempers are flaring.

Even Venice’s new €10 entry fee for tourists hasn’t done much to slow the crowds or fix the deeper problems. To many residents, Bezos’ wedding feels like the last straw—a symbol of a city that caters more to the global elite than to the people who live and work there.

Venice Has Fought Back Before

This isn’t the first time Venetians have stood up against powerful interests.

The long-running No Grandi Navi (“No Big Ships”) campaign led to a successful ban on massive cruise liners in the city’s central canals. Activists also pushed for tighter controls on short-term rentals like Airbnb, which have hollowed out neighborhoods and driven up rents.

So while Bezos’ wedding may seem like a one-off event, to protesters it’s a flashpoint in a much larger fight over Venice’s future.

Not Everyone Supports the Protests

Regional officials are pushing back. Veneto’s governor, Luca Zaia, called the protests “embarrassing” and argued that the event would bring attention and money to the region. Venice’s mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, went even further—saying he was “ashamed” of the protests and hoped Bezos and Sanchez wouldn’t cancel.

Some locals and visitors agree.

“This wedding will create jobs—drivers, waiters, hotels, restaurants,” said Görge Meyer, a tourist from Berlin visiting the Architecture Biennale. “Why protest that?”

A City at a Crossroads

For Gillian Longworth McGuire, a travel writer who has lived in Venice for years, the wedding highlights a bigger identity crisis.

“Venice has always attracted the wealthy and famous. That’s nothing new,” she said. “But the question now is: are we still a real, living city—or just a beautiful backdrop for billionaire weddings and bachelorette parties?”

Whether or not Bezos hears the protests from his luxury yacht, his wedding has already sparked a far bigger conversation—about who Venice is really for, and whether there’s still room for the people who call it home.