Billionaire Wedding Sparks Unrest: Secret Backlash, Unseen Tensions, and Explosive Protests Erupt as Billionaire’s Wedding Approaches—Mysterious Signs, Hidden Messages, and a City on Edge. What’s Really Fueling the Outrage? Behind-the-Scenes Revelations and Unexpected Twists Will Change Everything You Thought You Knew About This Lavish Event!

Posters and banners have gone up around the canal city’s historic center reading “No Space for Bezos”

A “No Space for Bezos!” protest banner on Venice’s Rialto Bridge; Jeff Bezos and Sánchez.Credit : Stefano Mazzola/Getty;Dave Benett/amfAR/Getty

As Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez prepare to tie the knot in Venice, Italy, later this week, not everyone is rolling out the welcome mat.

Earlier this month, a group gathered to protest the couple’s upcoming wedding. Signs, posters and stickers also have gone up around Venice’s historic center reading “No Space for Bezos” and featuring a rocket image in a nod to his Blue Origin space tourism company.

Protest banners were also hung from some of the city’s famed sites, including the Rialto Bridge and Venice’s iconic St. Mark’s Square.

Amid the ongoing protests, mayor Luigi Brugnaro told The Associated Press the city is “very proud” to host the wedding and said he hoped to have an opportunity to meet Bezos, 61.

“I don’t know if I will have time, or if he will, to meet and shake hands, but it’s an honor that they chose Venice. Venice once again reveals itself to be a global stage,” he said.

A sign protesting Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez’s wedding in Venice, Italy.ANDREA PATTARO/AFP/Getty

This week in Venice, protesters are demanding that Bezos “pay more taxes” ahead of his lavish, star-studded wedding. Greenpeace, a global environmental organization, deployed a giant banner at St. Mark’s Square, also known as Piazza San Marco, displaying a picture of the billionaire laughing alongside the words: “If you can rent Venice for your wedding you can pay more tax.”

Greenpeace shared a video of the banner being laid out on Instagram, writing in the caption, “Jeff Bezos pays his staff poverty wages and dodges tax. No wonder he can afford to shut down half of Venice for his wedding this week. Tax billionaires NOW.”

A sign protesting Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez’s wedding in Venice, Italy.STEFANO RELLANDINI/AFP/Getty

In addition to concerns about disruptions during the three-day wedding festivities, locals have grown increasingly frustrated by overtourism in the city. Venice’s two-square-mile main island and historic center, home to roughly 50,000 people, receives a staggering 20 million visitors each year, many coming in just for the day or pouring off of giant cruise ships docked in the waters around the city, per NBC News.

While tourism is vital to the city’s economy, some say it has resulted in the displacement of residents and damage to historic sites. To help combat the problem, Brugnaro last year introduced a daily entrance fee of 5 euros for visitors.

City hall officials said in a statement to NBC News that regular taxi and water transports would continue during the wedding festivities, which are reportedly set to kick off on Tuesday, June 24.

A sign protesting Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez’s wedding in Venice, Italy.ANDREA PATTARO/AFP/Getty

Officials told the outlet that only about 30 of the city’s 280 water taxis have been reserved, and only three or four hotels will be utilized for the wedding.

“The city is fully accustomed to hosting high-profile events of this nature and scale, including other celebrity weddings, international summits such as the G7 and G20, as well as traditional events like the Festa del Redentore and the Venice Biennale,” the statement said.

“The celebrations, attended by 250 guests, will blend into the daily rhythm of a city that, with dignity and respect, welcomes thousands of visitors from around the world while safeguarding the quality of life for its residents, workers and students,” the statement continued.

Officials also said the protests “are in no way representative of the majority of citizens, who are proud that Venice has been chosen as the wedding location.”

According to AP, Bezos and Sánchez, 55, plan to show their appreciation to the city by spotlighting its artisanal traditions at their wedding. A source told the outlet that the couple is sourcing about 80% of their event’s provisions from Venetian vendors, including baked goods from Rosa Salva, the city’s oldest pastry maker, and specially commissioned Murano glass pieces from the Laguna B design studio.

Antonio Rosa Salva, who runs the pastry company, told AP that events like the couple’s nuptials “bring quality tourism to Venice.”

“I don’t see how an event with 200 people can create disruptions. It’s responsible tourism. It’s prestigious that a couple like this, who can go anywhere in the world, are getting married in the city.”