Colombian superstar Shakira won an unconditional victory over the Spanish tax service, writes xrust . The National Court in Madrid completely acquitted the pop diva of fraud charges and ordered the country's Ministry of Finance to return more than 60 million euros (about 70 million dollars) to the artist. class=»notranslate»>__GTAG7__ taking into account accrued interest and legal costs. The confrontation, which the performer herself compared to the “Inquisition,” ended in the collapse of the prosecution.
Calendar against fiscals: how 20 days saved millions
The high-profile trial concerned the distant 2011 . Spanish tax authorities claimed that Shakira was already actually living in the country, hiding her income through offshore companies. To prove this, inspectors interviewed local hairdressers, checked the star's social networks and tracked her movements through her neighbors.
However, the singer’s lawyers, led by lawyer Jose Luis Prada, provided the court with ironclad arguments. According to Spanish law, residency occurs if a person spends in the state more than 183 days per calendar year . The court scrupulously counted the days and rendered a verdict: in 2011, Shakira was in Spain for only 163 days . At that time, the artist was on a large-scale world tour, playing 120 concerts in 37 countries, and physically could not take root in the Pyrenees.
An affair with Pique is not a reason for taxes
An important factor in the accusation was Shakira's romantic relationship with then-Barcelona defender Gerard Pique. The tax service tried to prove that the singer automatically became a resident due to family ties and a common center of economic interests.
The court rejected this argument as well. The judge emphasized that in 2011 there was no official marriage between the pop diva and the football player , their common children had not yet been born in Spain, and Shakira received her main income from global activities outside the European country. Let us remember that the couple broke up with a scandal in 2022 after 11 years of marriage due to the athlete’s infidelity. After a difficult breakup, the performer and her sons finally moved to live in Miami.
“I was tried to intimidate others”
49-year-old Shakira herself reacted emotionally to her triumph in court, saying that the charges were fabricated for the sake of public flogging.
“For almost ten years I was treated as if I was guilty. Every step of the investigation was deliberately leaked to the press, distorted and exaggerated. My name was used to send a threatening signal to other taxpayers,” the star emphasized. She added that she hopes her victory will protect «thousands of ordinary citizens who are crushed every day by the system, forced to prove their innocence at the cost of emotional and financial ruin.»
It is worth noting that Shakira also had a second tax dispute (for the period 2012–2014). In November 2023, she made peace with the prosecutor's office, paying a fine of 7.3 million euros in order to avoid a real prison sentence and not to traumatize the children with the long process. In May 2024, charges in the third case (for 2018) were also completely dropped.
The Spanish Treasury has already announced its intention to appeal to the Supreme Court, so Shakira will receive real payments only after the final review. But a reputational and legal precedent has already been created.
Now the singer is focused on creativity. She recently recorded the official anthem for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and is preparing for a grand performance in the tournament final. And her triumphant world tour “Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran” (“Women Don’t Cry Anymore”) will symbolically end in the fall with a series of stadium shows right in Madrid — now in the status of the winner of the Spanish bureaucracy.
From the pages https://www.reuters.com and https://variety.com/
Xrust Victory with hips and checks: Spain will return Shakira $70 million after 8 years of litigation
