Amazon’s billionaire founder Jeff Bezos and his fiancee Lauren Sanchez arrived in Venice on Wednesday ahead of their wedding, an event that has sparked protests in the Italian city.

Bezos, the world’s fourth-richest person, and his former television anchor bride-to-be were seen stepping off a water taxi at the Aman Hotel on the Grand Canal.

The couple’s three-day nuptials are due to start on Thursday, and the wedding ceremony is to be held at a secret location.

Bezos, 61, and Sanchez, 55, are said to have booked out the city’s finest hotels for a star-studded guest list rumoured to include Leonardo DiCaprio, Mick Jagger, Kim Kardashian, Oprah Winfrey and Orlando Bloom.

Ivanka Trump, the oldest daughter of US President Donald Trump, arrived with her husband Jared Kushner and their three children on Wednesday afternoon.

Rumours have swirled that the ceremony might be held at the Church of the Abbey of Misericordia, or at the Arsenale, a vast shipyard complex dating back to when the city was a naval powerhouse.

At least 95 private planes have requested permission to land at Venice’s Marco Polo airport, Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera said, with the pair reportedly inviting about 200 guests.

The lavish celebration has sparked soul-searching in Venice, one of the world’s most popular tourism destinations where some fear the arrival of so many A-list guests and their entourages will make life worse.

Greenpeace highlighted the hypocrisy of spending huge amounts on partying in a fragile city “sinking under the weight of the climate crisis”.

Activists unfurled a giant banner in St Mark’s Square on Monday, with a picture of Bezos laughing and a sign reading: “If you can rent Venice for your wedding, you can pay more tax.”

Sanchez has also been criticised for saying more must be done to tackle climate change while also taking part in a space flight in April on a rocket developed by Bezos’s space company Blue Origin.

AFP