We are starting to get some clarity on the numbers of the wedding of the year in Venice, the one between the owner of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, and the journalist Lauren Sanchez. According to qualified sources interviewed by ANSA, there are about 30 water taxis booked by the couple for their guests, out of a total of 280 boats on call, which will therefore not impact the rental and scheduled taxi service, which will be guaranteed.
During the wedding celebration days - the central ones of the last week of June - there are no particular limitations in the city for water traffic, nor for pedestrian traffic in the historic center. There will be about 250 guests at the ceremony who will arrive from all over the world: a large group of Hollywood celebrities, with, among others, Lady Gaga, Leonardo DiCaprio, Oprah Winfrey, Katy Perry. It is likely that it will be a private party, after the ceremony has already taken place, with an estimated expense ranging from 10 to 30 million dollars.
Venice confirms itself as a dream for wedding celebrations: every year over 600 couples choose to get married in the city on the lagoon, which is accustomed to big events, from the Film Festival, to the G20, to highly popular celebrations such as the Redentore .
There is no shortage of protests these days from those who do not want to see the lagoon city exploited as a stage for social events, a further stimulus to tourism that is suffocating it. A banner with "Bezos" crossed out by a red "X" was unfurled from the bell tower of the Basilica of San Giorgio, on the island of the same name in Venice. Some activists who have called themselves "No Space for Bezos" claimed responsibility for the blitz. "Venice is not for sale," they said in a note, "it is not for rent, it is not the backdrop for the wedding of one of the richest men in the world."
A mobilization that the municipal administration does not share and does not appreciate: "I absolutely want Jeff Bezos to be hosted and welcomed with open arms in Venice - said the president of Veneto Luca Zaia -. It is unacceptable that protests are being held with one of the richest men in the world and who chooses Venice to get married. Hearing that someone is planning like the lazzaroni of Barcelona, with water pistols against tourists, does not seem to me to be doing harm to those who are hosted, but to Veneto. I remember that out of 73 million presences in the region, 66% are foreigners".
