Call it “No Space for Bezos” versus “Welcome, Mr. Amazon!”
The three-day wedding celebrations being held in Venice by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez are stirring up global media buzz. But in Italy, besides a paparazzi feeding frenzy, the lavish nuptials are prompting heated political polemic.
On Saturday, the wedding held Friday amid tight security on the island of San Giorgio in the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore designed by 16th century architect Andrea Palladio with guests including Leonardo DiCaprio and Italian supermodel Vittoria Ceretti, Orlando Bloom, the Kardashians and Jenners, Mick Jagger, Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, and Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner was splashed all over the front pages of the Italian press.
“The lagoon provided the location, the American billionaire brought the cast,” wrote left-leaning La Repubblica in a scathing editorial that underlined how the island of San Giorgio is also the backdrop for 16th century painter Paolo Veronese’s “The Wedding Feast at Cana” which is is the biggest painting hanging in the Louvre. “The old political purpose of the wedding has now been transposed into contemporary soft power,” the editorial noted. “It’s the same old story: get married in public to tell the world who is in charge.”
The more centrist Corriere della Sera, besides plenty of color, featured an interview with Venice mayor Luigi Brugnaro titled “I’m proud they are here, I hope they come back.” The mayor in the interview rebuffs accusations that Venice has been “militarized” – including, reportedly, with the use of a private army of ex-marines hired by Bezos to make sure the waterways are secure – by saying: “How can you criticize the use of security forces when until a few days ago we were risking a world war and now we have the daughter of the president of the United States in town?”
Here’s how Corriere della Sera summed up the Bezos-Sánchez wedding in numbers: “200 invited guests. 3 days of parties. 27 dress changes for Lauren Sánchez.”
The “No Space for Bezos” campaigners – who claim the lagoon city is becoming a private playground for the rich to the detriment of local inhabitants, amid rampant “overtourism” — have scored a partial victory after threatening to fill the canals with inflatable crocodiles. The mega-party was initially planned at the sumptuous 16th century Scuola Grande della Misericordia building, and relocated to Venice’ ancient Arsenale shipyards located farther from the city center.
Countering the protester’s “overtourism” narrative, Rome daily “Il Messaggero” on Saturday published a report issued by Italy’s right-wing Minister of Tourism Daniela Santanché that claims that in the first months of 2025, Venice recorded a 6.7% drop in overnight stays. According to the report the Bezos-Sánchez wedding will have an “economic impact” on Venice worth €957 million $1.1 billion, or almost 68% of Venice’s annual tourism turnover.
Meanwhile, on a more frivolous note, Corriere dedicated a piece to the wedding’s security details. Besides the ex-marines reportedly hired by Bezos, they involve more than 100 Italian anti-riot paramilitary police, plus a bomb-sniffing labrador retriever named Elvis.