The founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, and the journalist Lauren Sánchez were going to exchange their marriage votes in a ceremony in Venice this Friday, part of an extravagant three -day wedding that attracted dozens of famous guests but also protests of local activists.
Bezos, 61, and Sánchez, 55, will exchange rings on the small island of San Giorgio, in front of the Plaza de San Marcos, accompanied by the songs of Matteo Bocelli, son of the famous Italian tenor of Opera Pop Andrea Bocelli.
A senior official of the City Council declared that the ceremony will not have legal validity in Italy, which suggests that the couple could have been legally married in the United States, thus avoiding the bureaucracy associated with an Italian marriage.
The celebrations, whose cost is estimated at about 50 million dollars, will culminate on Saturday with a party in a former medieval shipyard in which, apparently, Lady Gaga and Elton John will act.
Bill Gates, Orlando Bloom, Tom Brady, the queen of Jordan, Oprah Winfrey, Kris Jenner and Kim and Khloe Kardashian, as well as Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner and Domenico Dolce, from Dolce & Gabbana, are among the 200-250 guests.
In the midst of strong security measures, celebrities could be seen moving through the city, women with summer dresses and high heels down with some caution of the ships that transported them through the channels.
The celebrations began this Thursday to arrive at night at the Cloister of the Madonna Dell’orto, a medieval church of the central Cannaregio neighborhood that houses masterpieces of the painter of the 16th century Tintoretto.
“This magical place has given us unforgettable memories,” said the bride and groom in their wedding invitation, in which they asked to “not make gifts” and promised to make beneficial donations for three Venetian institutions.
Its donations amount to 3 million euros (3.5 million dollars).
Read more: the Kardashian and other celebrities arrive for the wedding of Jeff Bezos and his fiancee in Venice
Venice inhabitants express nonconformity for Bezos wedding
Companies welcomed ostentation and glamor, but a local protest movement opposes what they consider a gift of Venice for ultra -rank strangers.
Giulia Cacopedo, 28, a representative of the “No space for Bezos” movement, complained that the needs of foot citizens are being unattended in a city that is a tourist magnet and is quickly depopulating due, in large part, to the rise in the cost of living. The Venice Center has less than 50,000 inhabitants, compared to the almost 100,000 late 1970s.
“When you emptied a city of its inhabitants, you can turn it into the scene of great events,” Cacapardo told Reuters. “(But) the money that Bezos spends at this wedding does not end in the Venetian pockets. Luxury hotels owners are not Venetian.”
Cacopedo was one of the 30-40 activists who starred in a protest in the Plaza de San Marcos on Thursday, chanting “we are 99%” while a masked couple made themselves through boyfriends and a man climbed a pole to display a banner in which “1% ruins the world” was read.
The police intervened and forcibly evicted the protesters.
The Anti-Bezos front plans a march on Saturday, and its activities have already led the authorities to strengthen security and transfer the place of Saturday’s party to a more removed area of Venice, the old Arsenale shipyard.
But politicians, hoteliers and other inhabitants of Venice are satisfied with the wedding, and affirm that these types of events contribute more to the local economy than the crowds of tourists who normally invade the city.
“We are happy and honored to welcome Jeff Bezos and his wife Lauren Sánchez,” said Mayor Luigi Brugnaro, who sent white roses to the bride and a bottle of luxury red wine Amarone to the boyfriend.
The Italian Ministry of Tourism said that it had conducted a study that estimated at 957 million euros (1,120 million dollars) the global economic impact of the wedding, including a benefit of 896 million euros for “media visibility”, and the rest from direct or indirect spending related to the event.
Bezos, Executive President of Amazon, pledged to Sánchez in 2023, four years after the failure of his 25 -year marriage with Mackenzie Scott.
With Reuters information
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