Venetians plan to disrupt Jeff Bezos’s wedding

Activists in Venice are protesting billionaire Jeff Bezos's wedding next week

Bezos (61) is the world's third richest person with a net worth of approximately $220.9bn.

His wealth is due to him founding Amazon, and space tech company Blue Origin.

According to Italian media, nearly every luxury hotel and water taxi has been booked out by the hundreds of high-profile guests who are due to arrive in Venice between 23 and 28 June for the nuptials.

The ceremony will reportedly take over the whole island of San Giorgio, opposite St Mark's Square.

Frederica Toninelli (33), a Venetian activist affiliated with the No Space for Bezos protest group has shared her sentiments on the costly wedding: "Venice is being treated like a showcase, a stage,"

"And this wedding is the symbol of the exploitation of the city by outsiders... Venice is now just an asset."

The activist group unites activists belonging to various Venetian collectives, all protesting over-tourism in Venice.

Toninelli told the BBC: "These topics are all linked,"

"They all have to do with Venice turning into a place that puts tourists, rather than residents, at the centre of its politics."

Last week No Space for Bezos unfurled banners protesting Bezos from the bell tower of the San Giorgio Maggiore basilica and the Rialto Bridge.

However, next week they plan to take things even further by disrupting the ceremonies by jumping into the canals to hinder the water taxis and blocking Venice's narrow streets hindering the wedding guests from reaching the venue.

The activists are calling out Venice's Mayor Luigi Brugnaro for treating residents "like a nuisance... because for him the only valid use of Venice is as a backdrop for events that make the rich richer."

However, the mayor said he was "ashamed" of the protesters: "What other city would organise a committee against the wedding of such an important person?"

"I hope [Bezos] doesn't have second thoughts," he added.