Residents of Venice, already fed up with crowds of tourists cramming into their canal city, now have one more gripe: Jeff Bezos.
The billionaire Amazon founder is due to marry journalist Lauren Sanchez in a celebration in Venice from June 24 to 26 that is expected to attract countless VIPs.
Not everyone is feeling the love though, with some residents hanging a huge banner with an X over Bezos’s name on a belltower overlooking the Venice lagoon before the sign was removed on Thursday.
“He’s not welcome, not in Venice, not anywhere!” wrote the “No Space for Bezos” collective on Facebook, which was responsible for the banner.
Bezos is also the owner of space travel company Blue Origin, whose all-female flight in April carrying Sanchez, pop star Katy Perry and four others met with a public backlash for its high cost and environmental impact.
The anti-Bezos group, whose posters and stickers have been seen in recent days across the city, has called a public assembly for Friday evening to drum up opposition.
The UNESCO-listed city, famous for its romantic gondolas and canals, is a favourite spot for lovers.
In September 2014, it was the backdrop for the wedding of Hollywood actor George Clooney and human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin, a glamourous high-profile event that attracted countless tourists, fans and onlookers.
The atmosphere ahead of Bezos’s nuptials appeared more hostile.
“Venice is a living city, not a place to rent to the highest bidder,” the collective wrote on social media.
Venice’s mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, had welcomed the couple’s decision, however, saying in March that the wedding would bring in millions of dollars to the city.
City hall in March blasted “fake news” circulating about the wedding, saying that only 200 people were on the guest list and that the event would be “without any disruption whatsoever to the city, its residents and visitors”.
Local media say that five hotels have been reserved for the occasion, as well as an impressive fleet of water cabs and a mooring for Bezos’s megayacht.
It is unclear where exactly the marriage ceremony will take place.
