<\/p>\n
\u201cNo Space for Bezos\u201d activists speak at a public meeting of residents on June 13 in Venice, Italy.<\/p>\n
(Andrea Merola \/ Bloomberg via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
But tourism councilor Simone Venturini was shocked that anyone might be upset that such a high-profile event was happening in the city. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe should all be proud that the Bezos wedding, an event of international importance, is being held in the waters of our lagoon,\u201d he told the Guardian. \u201cInstead, the usual protest professionals have wasted no time. We want to reiterate that Venice is open to everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Venturini was more colorful in speaking to the Wall Street Journal<\/a>, saying, \u201cIf Bezos\u2019 wedding goes ahead as planned, without these pain-in-the-ass protests, Venetian citizens won\u2019t even notice.\u201d<\/p>\n The couple\u2019s London-based wedding planners, Lanza & Baucina, told CNN<\/a> in a statement, \u201cRumors of \u2018taking over\u2019 the city are entirely false and diametrically opposed to our goals and to reality.\u201d They and the client, the planners said, wanted to minimize any disruption to the city. <\/p>\n That said, it\u2019s impossible to get a reservation this week at the Aman Venice, the nearly 500-year-old hotel on the Grand Canal where the happy couple are rumored to be staying, at least for part of their wedding week, along with a host of wedding guests. The place is fully booked through Sunday, per TMZ<\/a>, at a reported $2,000 to $10,000 a night per room. <\/p>\n Protests could really screw things up<\/p>\n Forget throwing soup on the \u201cMona Lisa\u201d<\/a> \u2014 the Bezos wedding protesters might do something truly offensive: They are threatening to screw up traffic on the big day. <\/p>\n \u201cBezos will never get to the Misericordia [event space],\u201d activist Federica Toninello told an appreciative crowd last week, according to CNN. \u201cWe will block the canals, line the streets with our bodies, block the canals with inflatables, dinghies, boats.\u201d <\/p>\n Having just learned what the Misericordia<\/a> is, we have no idea what role the location might play in the nuptials, but it looks like a nice enough spot for a reception. Fondazione Giorgio Cini<\/a>, a cultural center built in 1951, has also been floated as a wedding venue. But let\u2019s get back to the blockades and such. <\/p>\n Another speaker at that same rally said she didn\u2019t want Venice remembered as a beautiful wedding venue but \u201cas the city that did not bend to oligarchs.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe can\u2019t miss a chance to disrupt a $10-million wedding,\u201d Na Haby Stella Faye said \u2014 because, really, how often does that chance come around? Although her goal stated at the rally was \u201cto stop this wedding,\u201d in her Instagram stories Monday, she was promoting a planned Saturday protest<\/a> of Bezos, President Trump and, well, war. <\/p>\n A massive banner targeting Jeff Bezos, the world\u2019s second-richest man, is laid out in the Piazza San Marco in Venice, Italy, ahead of his wedding to Lauren S\u00e1nchez.<\/p>\n (Greenpeace \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n Less aggressive protests include a host of banners and \u201cNo Space for Bezos\u201d posters that have been hung around the city. A colossal message from Greenpeace to Bezos was laid out Monday in the Piazza San Marco. The square banner, which read \u201cIF YOU CAN RENT VENICE FOR YOUR WEDDING YOU CAN PAY MORE TAX,\u201d was quickly folded up and carried away by local cops, the Associated Press<\/a> reported. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s absurd to treat this city like it\u2019s Disneyland<\/a>,\u201d said Grazia Satta, a retired teacher and social worker, per the Wall Street Journal. \u201cThe message this wedding sends is that rich people can do whatever they want. We shouldn\u2019t kneel before wealth like this.\u201d<\/p>\n By Monday, Bezos\u2019 security team was making last-minute changes to try to outsmart the activists, according to TMZ<\/a>. Even the water-taxi companies are being \u201ckept in the dark,\u201d the site said, and if the water taxis don\u2019t know what\u2019s going on, who really does?<\/p>\n Perhaps Bezos could tap that $212-billion bank account and enlist a Prime Delivery person to drop off himself and his bride discreetly at their reception? Though the human-size Amazon box could be a dead giveaway. <\/p>\n Whose yacht is biggest \u2014 and where will they park?<\/p>\n Yes, we know yachts don\u2019t \u201cpark,\u201d they drop anchor. But no matter what you call it, the biggest yachts can\u2019t drop anchor in all parts of Venice. <\/p>\n One wedding theory has held that Bezos and S\u00e1nchez will exchange their vows on his 417-foot yacht, the Koru, where he proposed to her two years ago<\/a> after five years of dating. But reported plans to dock the yacht in a lagoon might have changed. Apparently the close-to-shore concept is starting to look like a safety hazard due to those threatened protests of the second-richest man in the world.<\/p>\n The Koru is far from the only big boat floating around town, mind you. Venice has nine \u201cyacht ports,\u201d all of which have been booked for the wedding week. Apparently, TMZ<\/a> reported, noncelebrity billionaire yacht owners are altering their Venice vacation plans to avoid the crush. That has to sting. <\/p>\n Fortunately, although the yacht situation is fluid and the airspace over Venice is closed, CNN<\/a> reported that private helicopters are being given a pass, in case a head of state decides to chopper in. As one does. <\/p>\n One type of watercraft not involved in the festivities? Gondolas, or at least those piloted by people the WSJ talked to. \u201cWe are too slow,\u201d one gondolier lamented. <\/p>\n International events might affect the guest list<\/p>\n <\/p>\n