Shakira Says Her Upcoming Madrid Residency Was Born From Seeing Latinos “Persecuted” and Living in Fear
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Shakira has said her forthcoming 12-show Madrid residency was partly conceived as a response to the fear and persecution she has witnessed within Latino communities. Writing in an editorial for El País, the singer said the project "started with pain" after seeing "our people persecuted simply for being Latino, families forced to live in fear," with the piece linking her remarks to ICE enforcement and the Trump administration's immigration crackdown in the United States, though Shakira herself did not specify a location. She said that while "anger is legitimate," she chose to answer it with "the biggest celebration we could imagine," explaining she picked Madrid because Latin American immigration there "isn't tolerated, it's celebrated," having made Spain "younger, more dynamic, more creative."
The residency runs from 18th September to 11th October at a temporary stadium being built at Madrid's Iberdrola Music complex, expected to hold more than 50,000 people a night across six sections of stands and floor space. The surrounding site will also host "Mundo Macondo," an eight-pavilion cultural experience inspired by Gabriel García Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude, featuring music, literature, art, fashion, film and food.
- Shakira says pain over Latino persecution inspired her Madrid residency
- Editorial links remarks to US ICE enforcement, though she named no location
- 12 shows run 18 September–11 October with a "Mundo Macondo" cultural site
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Shakira is preparing a 12-date residency in Madrid, running from 18th September to 11th October, staged at a specially built temporary stadium at the city's Iberdrola Music complex that will hold more than 50,000 fans a night. Alongside the concerts, the site will host "Mundo Macondo," a wider cultural experience inspired by Gabriel García Márquez's novel One Hundred Years of Solitude, with pavilions dedicated to music, literature, art, fashion, film and food.
Ahead of the shows, Shakira wrote an editorial for the Spanish newspaper El País explaining the thinking behind the project. She said it grew partly out of witnessing fear and mistreatment within Latino communities, describing people being "persecuted simply for being Latino" and families living in fear, and said she wanted to respond to that anger with a large-scale celebration rather than anger itself.
Shakira, a Colombian singer with a long career in Latin pop, chose Madrid in part because she sees Latin American immigration there as widely embraced rather than resisted, crediting it with helping shape the city's culture. Her comments have been read by some as a response to immigration enforcement policies under the Trump administration in the United States, though she did not name any country or government directly.
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