Come next week, Venetians will have a new spectacle on the horizon. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is sailing into the city on his $500 million superyacht to marry his fiancée, former journalist Lauren Sanchez, in what is expected to be a spectacular display of wealth and pomp. Over several days, Bezos and Sanchez’s guest list of Hollywood A-listers are set to invade the historic city, filling its waterways and luxury hotels. In a city that constantly strains against the swell of overtourism, it could prove the straw that breaks the camel’s back, locals tell The Independent.
Last week, demonstrators took to the Rialto bridge — one of Venice’s most famous landmarks — where they hung a giant banner reading “No Space for Bezos,” a nod to the billionaire’s space exploration company, Blue Origin. One of the protesters, Marta Sottoriva, said the wedding is yet another example of “the massive problem of overtourism” in the northern Italian city. She told The Independent that allowing the billionaire to have his wedding in Venice creates the idea that “a city can be sold to the highest bidder with the most money.”
