Shakira Says Madrid Residency Was Created in Response to Latinos ‘Forced to Live in Fear’

Shakira‘s 12-date residency in Madrid, Spain is not simply just a continuation of her Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran world tour. It’s a much-needed celebration created in response to how Latinos are being treated around the world.

“This began with pain. It began when I saw our people persecuted simply for being Latino, families forced to live in fear,” the Colombian superstar wrote in a new op-ed El País. “Faced with that, anger is legitimate. But I chose to respond with a celebration: the biggest we could possibly imagine. Because the most powerful response to fear is to exist with all the strength, all the joy, and all the dignity in the world,” Shakira added.

Shakira did not specify about where the persecution against Latinos was taking place, but she did make sure to emphasize the importance of immigration and explained how she chose Spain for the celebration of Latin culture. “Because something happens here that the world deserves to see: Latin American immigration isn’t tolerated, it’s celebrated. Spain has embraced it, and that embrace has made it younger, more vibrant, more creative.”

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Shakira went on to detail her residency, which will take place at a specially built “Shakira Stadium” within the Iberdrola Music complex with the capacity for more than 50,000 fans each night. “Alongside the stadium, we’re building something more: a city. Thirty acres to celebrate and understand our culture, with over a hundred participating artists,” she said. The city will comprise of exhibitions, talks, workshops, food, and more shared cultural experiences and is inspired by the fictional town of Macondo from Gabriel García Márquez’s classic novel One Hundred Years of Solitude.

Shakira’s Spain residency kicks off on Sept. 18 and will run through Oct. 11.