Shakira Says Madrid Residency Was Built as a Celebration Against Latino Persecution

Shakira says her massive Madrid residency grew out of watching Latino families live in fear, turning that anger into a month-long celebration of culture, community and identity.

Shakira has explained the deeper purpose behind her upcoming Shakira Madrid residency, saying the 12-show run was conceived as a response to the discrimination and fear facing Latino communities. In an op-ed published by El País, the Colombian superstar said the idea began after seeing people “being persecuted simply for being Latina” and families forced to live with fear, according to Complex.

Rather than answer that climate with anger alone, Shakira said she wanted to create something affirmative on an enormous scale. She framed the residency as an act of celebration and visibility, arguing that joy, dignity and cultural pride can be a powerful response when communities feel targeted or pushed to the margins.

Madrid was a deliberate choice. Shakira wrote that Latin American immigration in the Spanish capital is not merely tolerated but celebrated, pointing to the cultural exchange between Spain and Latin America as part of what makes the city the right setting for the project. She also described the residency as a chance to widen the conversation from “Hispanic” identity toward a broader idea of Latinidad built around shared history, mixture and belonging.

The residency begins September 18 at Estadio Shakira inside Madrid’s Iberdrola Music complex and runs through October 11 across 12 dates. More than 600,000 tickets have been sold, while the temporary venue is being built specifically for the run rather than adapted from a soccer stadium.

Surrounding the concerts will be Parque Macondo, a large cultural space inspired by the literary world associated with Gabriel García Márquez. Shakira said the project will bring together more than 100 artists across music, dance, fashion, food, film, literature and visual art, giving fans multiple ways to experience Latin culture beyond the nightly performances.

The singer also connected the project to a broader concern about isolation in the digital age, presenting music, gathering and cultural exchange as forms of human connection. With the Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour residency, Shakira is positioning Madrid not simply as another tour stop, but as a public statement about Latino identity, integration and collective joy.