Venice protest planned for US ambassador’s superyacht visit | Venice

Protesters in Venice plan to block a visit by the billionaire US ambassador to Italy on his 117-metre superyacht, fearing he plans to dock in the lagoon city.

“We ruined Jeff Bezos’ wedding party last year, let’s ruin the ambassador’s tour this year!” Stella Faye, a 28-year-old researcher and activist, said at a meeting of about 40 demonstrators on Thursday.

In June last year, the lavish wedding of Amazon founder and Lauren Sánchez was disrupted as Venetians protested the takeover of their city by someone with enough money to do so.

A similar reception can now be expected after it was revealed that Ambassador Tilman Fertitta plans to visit Venice on his personal superyacht on July 17 as part of a tour of the Italian coastline to celebrate ties between Rome and Washington and the 250th anniversary of US independence; this tour was what he called “Coastal Diplomacy 250”.

To laughter, one person suggested “bringing back the gators,” a reference to protesters threatening to fill canals with inflatable alligators last year; This caused Bezos-Sánchez’s wedding reception to change venues at the last minute.

Activists fear Fertitta is planning to approach Venice’s historic center for the Festa del Redentore, one of the city’s most important traditions and arguably its biggest party. Held on the third weekend of July, the event celebrates the end of the 16th-century bubonic plague epidemic, which killed more than 50,000 people in just two years (more than the city’s current official number of residents).

Every year, a temporary, floating bridge is built between the main island of Venice and the Redentore church on the island of Giudecca so that Venetians can walk on the water to give thanks at the church. The main event is a spectacular fireworks display on Saturday night, where thousands of Venetians line the waterfront and gather in boats on the Giudecca canal and in front of St. Mark’s Square to watch the show.

“The Redentore is one of the few events that still belongs to the Venetian people,” Faye said.

However, Venetians may find their views slightly obstructed this year. Fertitta’s yacht, Boardwalk, is a 32-meter-tall, six-story ship equipped with two helipads and two swimming pools and reportedly worth $450 million. According to the website of Venezia Terminal Passeggeri, which handles yacht mooring requests, the most central spots for a boat this size are off Punta della Dogana, in front of the Redentore church, or at Riva dei Sette Martiri, a popular viewing spot for locals.

“It would be a slap in the face to the Venetians if the city allows this yacht to come to Venice,” said Giulia Cacopardo, a 29-year-old activist and cultural coordinator. “In a city where the quality of life is miserable because there is nowhere to live and only precarious jobs, we have billionaires who think they can do whatever they want. It shows the arrogance of money coming to a party for citizens you probably know nothing about.”

During the meeting, many people present bitterly echoed the idea that Venice is a showcase, a stunning backdrop that can be purchased temporarily by wealthy celebrities, entrepreneurs or politicians.

They also raised security concerns, saying there was a risk that local police would focus on protecting the ambassador and managing boat traffic around the yacht rather than ensuring the event ran smoothly for Venetians. “This is not only an inconvenience, but a danger to the public,” Faye said.

Protesters chose a punning slogan such as “Venezia non si USA” (“Stop using Venice”) and emphasized Fertitta’s role in what they called the “warmongering and colonialist” Trump administration as the main reason for their anger. Entertainment mogul Fertitta, who owns the NBA team Houston Rockets, has an estimated net worth of $14.2 billion and helped finance Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.

Fertitta’s trip comes at a time when relations between Trump and Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni are tense; This was exacerbated when Trump claimed she “begged” him to pose with her in a photo on the sidelines of the G7 summit in France in mid-June. Meloni retorted: “Neither I nor Italy ever begs.”

Fertitta downplayed the debate in an interview with Italian TV channel Sky TG24 on Wednesday, saying the two leaders were “completely on the same page.”

The U.S. embassy in Rome and the port authority in Venice were contacted for comment.