The details of Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez's wedding are being kept top secret. That's not stopping some angry Venetians armed with buoys and speedboats from planning to crash it, the Wall Street Journal reports.

"We'll be in the canals, we'll be in the alleys and we'll be on the waterfront," Stella Faye said, administering the oath of ecclesiastical disobedience to about 200 Venetians gathered in a small plaza. "No room for Bezos," read a placard behind her, alluding to the American tycoon's space venture.

The goal, Faye told the cheering crowd, "Stop this wedding!"

The Amazon founder and his fiancee are expected to wed in Venice this week in a lavish, star-studded, multi-day event to be held on the city's tiny islands. Many Venetians are not thrilled.

They're already nervous about the crush of tourists and doubly nervous about rich people using the lagoon as decor.

"It's absurd to treat this town like Disneyland," says Grace Sata, a retired teacher and social worker. "The message this wedding sends is that rich people can do whatever they want. We shouldn't kneel to wealth like this."

For the local government of Venice, however, the point is precisely to get rich people to spend their time and money here. City Hall is encouraging the star couple to marry in the city because it will bring lucrative work to everyone from florists to port workers.

"These are not tourists who come for a few hours and leave with a sandwich in hand," says Simone Venturini, the city councillor in charge of tourism. The municipality hopes the event could lead to investment from Bezos or one of his wealthy guests.

Venturini decried the activists' frustration with Bezos, but acknowledged that their protest could have a real impact. The biggest fear is that Bezos and Sanchez might reconsider a last-minute marriage in Venice.

"If Bezos' wedding goes as planned, without these painful protests, the Venetian citizens won't even notice," Venturini says.

The wedding organisers, London-based Lanza & Baucina, said its clients were keen to minimise disruption during their celebrations.

"Rumours of a 'takeover' of the city are completely false and diametrically opposed to our objectives and the reality," the company said. "We have always recognized the broader debate and critical issues surrounding the city's future, and from the beginning, our customers have been honored to support the city and its critically important lagoon through nonprofit organizations and related projects."

Exactly when and where the wedding will take place is not publicly known. Nearly all of the participants have signed non-disclosure agreements. But Venice is small and rumors spread quickly.

"We have our moles," says Federica Toninello, a young activist who plans to disrupt the festivities.

Italian media initially reported that the celebrations would begin on June 24. Activists said those dates were misinformation and that the celebrations would actually begin on June 26.

Their main target is one of the rumored venues: the Scuola Grande Della Misericordia, a huge Renaissance-era brick building with frescoes in the heart of Venice. It is surrounded on three sides by canals. Activists are planning a water protest on 28 June.

Wedding organizers say they have booked 30 of the city's 280 or so water taxis.

None of the gondoliers approached by a Wall Street Journal reporter said they knew of any gondola reservations for the big event. "We're too slow," one of them said.

Bezos and Sanchez are the latest VIPs to choose Venice for their nuptials. George and Amal Clooney got married here in 2014. The Indian billionaire's son Mukesh Ambani organised extravagant pre-wedding celebrations in the Italian city last year.

Many people in Venice accuse Amazon of forcing stores to close, a problem that is keenly felt in a city where stores serving residents often struggle to stay open.

"I remember George Clooney's wedding and frankly, it didn't bother me. But this is different," says Irene Boscolo, who keeps creperie along the canal in Venice. "Bezos is a genius, but he's on the wrong side."

Venetians have an ambivalent attitude to tourism. The city's economy depends entirely on it. On most days, tourists easily outnumber the local population, which has declined from about 175,000 in the 1950s to under 50,000 today.

To cope with overtourism, the local government last year introduced a daily entrance fee of €5 or €10 on busy days. However, this has not helped deter visitors who flock to La Serenissima in large numbers.

Some residents complain that the entrance ticket only reinforces the idea that Venice is an amusement park.

Some tourists literally think it is, and ask astonished locals questions like, "Where's the exit?" and "What time does it close?".

As more apartments are converted into short-term rental housing, locals say finding affordable housing is the biggest obstacle to staying.

"This is a city that is losing its identity, losing its soul, because it has become so difficult to live here," says Mattia Berto, a theater director whose plays focus on Venice's crumbling social fabric.

"Venice has always been a city like a stage," Berto says. "But I would like it to be a stage for everyday life as well." | BGNES