• Spain’s National High Court acquitted Shakira of tax fraud related to the 2011 fiscal year, after more than eight years of legal battles.
• The court ordered Spain’s Treasury to return approximately $70 million to the singer, including interest and legal costs.
• Authorities could only prove Shakira spent 163 days in Spain in 2011 — 20 days short of the 183-day threshold required to establish tax residency.
• Shakira was on a world tour that year, performing 120 concerts across 37 countries, and had no home in Spain at the time.
• Spain’s tax agency says it will appeal to the Supreme Court, meaning no payment will be made until a final ruling.

Shakira has been cleared. After more than eight years, Spain’s National High Court has acquitted the Colombian superstar of tax fraud related to the 2011 fiscal year — and ordered the Spanish Treasury to hand back nearly $70 million in wrongly imposed fines, plus interest.

“After more than eight years of enduring brutal public targeting, orchestrated campaigns to destroy my reputation, and sleepless nights that ultimately impacted my health and my family’s well-being, the National High Court has finally set the record straight,” Shakira said in a statement. “There was never any fraud, and the administration itself could never prove otherwise, simply because it wasn’t true. Yet, for nearly a decade, I was treated as guilty.”

The ruling comes down to a simple number: 183. That’s how many days a person must spend in Spain within a calendar year to be considered a tax resident under Spanish law. Authorities were only able to prove that Shakira had been in the country for 163 days in 2011 — 20 short of the legal threshold. The court found that Spain had failed to prove she met that minimum, and that’s where their case fell apart.

Tax officials had built their argument around her relationship with then-FC Barcelona footballer Gerard Piqué, claiming she was effectively based in Spain through that connection and had her main economic activities centered there. The High Court rejected both claims outright, ruling that a romantic relationship could not be legally equated to a marital one, and that there was no proof Spain was the “main center or base” of Shakira’s economic interests that year.

It’s hard to argue she was sitting still in Barcelona. In 2011, Shakira was mid-world tour — 120 concerts, 37 countries. Her defense team pointed out she had no home in Spain at the time. The court agreed that the fine, originally imposed by the tax agency in 2021, was unlawful.

What the Ruling Means — and What Comes Next

The court has ordered Spain’s Treasury to reimburse Shakira the original 55 million euros in fines, plus interest, bringing the total to approximately 60 million euros — just under $70 million. But there’s a catch: Spain’s tax agency has said it intends to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court, which means no money changes hands until that process plays out.

Her lawyer, José Luis Prada, didn’t hold back in his reaction. “This resolution comes after an eight-year ordeal that has taken an unacceptable toll, reflecting a lack of rigor in administrative practices,” he said. Prada also noted that Shakira “had the strength and resources to see it through to the end” — but pointed out that the same system “suffocates many anonymous taxpayers who lack the resources to defend themselves.”

Shakira echoed that sentiment directly, saying she hopes the ruling sets a precedent for “thousands of ordinary citizens who are abused and crushed every day by a system that presumes them guilty and forces them to prove their innocence while facing financial and emotional ruin.”

This isn’t Shakira’s only chapter in Spain’s tax courts. In November 2023, she reached a separate deal with Spanish prosecutors over a different case covering the years 2012 to 2014 — the period when she was actually living in Barcelona with Piqué. In that case, she acknowledged six charges for unpaid taxes totaling around 14.5 million euros, accepted a suspended three-year sentence, and paid a fine of more than $7 million. Monday’s ruling does not affect those years.

Shakira was also among the high-profile names that appeared in the 2017 Paradise Papers leak, which detailed offshore tax arrangements for numerous celebrities including Madonna and U2’s Bono. Spain’s tax authorities have been aggressive in pursuing foreign-based stars for years — Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo both faced and lost tax evasion cases, though neither served prison time.

A Victory That Lands at a Defining Moment

The timing couldn’t be more fitting. Shakira is currently riding one of the biggest waves of her career. She recently performed for an estimated 2.5 million people at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, and she’s set to headline the halftime show at the FIFA World Cup 2026 final alongside BTS and Madonna. Her Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour is closing its European leg in Madrid this October — where she has 12 dates booked at a temporary venue that’s been nicknamed the “Shakira Stadium,” built specifically for the tour’s final stretch.

The city where her legal nightmare played out for eight years is also where she’ll take her final bow on this tour. If that’s not a full-circle moment, nothing is.

The post Shakira Wins Tax Battle in Spain, Gets $70M Back appeared first on Cream.

• Madonna, Shakira, and BTS will headline the first-ever halftime show at a FIFA World Cup final on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
• The show is curated by Coldplay’s Chris Martin and produced by Global Citizen, with a cheeky Sesame Street and Muppets announcement video.
• The performance is expected to last approximately 11 minutes — a tight window for three stadium-level acts.
• All proceeds benefit the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, which aims to raise $100 million for children’s education and access to soccer worldwide.
• Shakira dropped her official 2026 World Cup anthem “Dai Dai” with Burna Boy the same day as the announcement.

Soccer’s biggest night just got the most ambitious soundtrack imaginable. FIFA confirmed on May 14 that the 2026 World Cup final will feature the first-ever halftime show in the tournament’s nearly 100-year history — and the lineup is Madonna, Shakira, and BTS. Three of the most globally recognized artists alive, sharing one stage, in what FIFA president Gianni Infantino called “a historic moment for the FIFA World Cup, befitting the biggest sporting event in the world.”

The show goes down July 19 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, curated by Coldplay frontman Chris Martin and produced by nonprofit Global Citizen. And the way they announced it? Only slightly unhinged in the best possible way — Martin recruited Elmo, Cookie Monster, Kermit, Miss Piggy, and Animal from Sesame Street and The Muppets to help break the news.

In the video, Elmo nominated Madonna, Cookie Monster pushed for BTS (because “Butter” is, obviously, both his favorite song and a cookie ingredient), and Animal — with characteristic chaos — demanded Shakira. Martin FaceTimed the seven BTS members — Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook — to confirm they’d be there. They’re in. The whole thing is as delightful as it sounds.

“It’s a chance to show how amazing all different kinds of humans are,” Martin said in the clip. “And monsters, aliens — it’s one big family, really.”

Three Artists, Three Reasons This Works

Madonna, 67, comes in with serious momentum. The best-selling female recording artist of all time is set to release her 15th studio album, Confessions II — the follow-up to 2005’s Grammy-winning Confessions on a Dance Floor — on July 3, just over two weeks before the final. She’s already had one of her most-talked-about moments in years after making a surprise appearance during Sabrina Carpenter’s Coachella headline set in April. Eagle-eyed fans also noticed that Madonna’s Instagram account and the FIFA World Cup account started following each other the night before the announcement — as far as soft leaks go, that one landed.

Shakira, 49, might have the deepest personal connection to the World Cup of anyone on this bill. The Colombian singer wrote and performed “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)” for the 2010 tournament in South Africa, appeared at the 2006 and 2014 finals, and took the halftime stage at the Copa America 2024 final in Miami. She also recently performed a free concert at Copacabana Beach in Rio before a crowd of 2 million people. The woman does not do small. And on the same day as the halftime show announcement, Shakira released “Dai Dai,” her official 2026 World Cup anthem — an Italian phrase that loosely translates to “let’s go” — produced with Nigerian artist Burna Boy, teased in a video filmed at Brazil’s iconic Maracanã Stadium.

BTS completes the lineup as the group that needs no introduction but keeps earning one anyway. The seven-member South Korean group has sold more than 45 million albums worldwide, earned six No. 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 since 2020, and commands one of the most organized fan bases on the planet — ARMY, short for Adorable Representative M.C. for Youth. After a nearly four-year hiatus during which each member fulfilled South Korea’s mandatory military service, they returned in full force this year with their fifth studio album, ARIRANG, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in March. Their 85-date world tour is currently underway, with stops in Stanford and Las Vegas this month, and Chicago and Los Angeles later in the summer. Their history with Chris Martin goes back to 2021, when their Coldplay collaboration “My Universe” hit No. 3 in the UK.

The Cause Behind the Show

This isn’t just a spectacle for spectacle’s sake. The halftime show is directly tied to the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, a landmark initiative aiming to raise $100 million to expand access to quality education and soccer for children around the world. One dollar from every ticket sold to a 2026 World Cup match will go toward the fund. Global Citizen — the nonprofit that has worked alongside Chris Martin since 2015, when he joined as its international festival curator — is producing the full show.

This partnership between FIFA and Global Citizen has actually been in the works since 2024, when the organizations announced a four-year agreement at Global Citizen’s annual New York festival. Martin also curated the first-ever FIFA Club World Cup final halftime show last year, also at MetLife Stadium, where Doja Cat, Tems, and J. Balvin performed — and Coldplay surprised the crowd with “A Sky Full of Stars.” Don’t be shocked if Martin finds a way onto the July 19 stage as well.

The One Detail Everyone’s Debating

Here’s the logistical wrinkle: the show is expected to run approximately 11 minutes. Under the International Football Association Board’s official laws of the game, halftime breaks cannot exceed 15 minutes — and it’s still unclear whether that window will be extended to accommodate the performance the way the Super Bowl does its show.

That is a very tight runway for three artists of this caliber. For context, last year’s Club World Cup halftime at the same stadium ran well past 24 minutes. Fitting Madonna, Shakira, and all seven members of BTS into a precisely choreographed 11-minute window will be an operation unto itself — and one the whole world will be scrutinizing in real time.

FIFA has also announced plans to take over New York’s Times Square during the final weekend of the tournament, extending the celebration beyond the stadium. The World Cup itself — the largest in history, with 48 teams competing across the US, Canada, and Mexico — kicks off June 11 when Mexico takes on South Africa at Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca. Opening ceremony performances across the three host countries will feature Katy Perry, Future, Alanis Morissette, Maná, Tyla, Michael Bublé, Alessia Cara, LISA, J Balvin, and more.

But the night that matters most is July 19. And if you needed proof that the world is ready to treat the World Cup final like the Super Bowl, just look at who’s headlining the show.

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