Spain Will Feel the $65 Million Wrath of Shakira

With one voice, united, we cry, “Shakira, Shakira!” An eight-year battle in Spanish court ended yesterday with Colombian music icon Shakira acquitted of tax fraud. Even better? The court also ruled that the Spanish treasury will need to repay nearly $65 million in “improperly collected” funds back to the singer … with interest. First Piqué, now this. When will the Spanish learn that messing with Shakira is not a good idea?

The tax dispute revolved around the question of whether Shakira qualified as an official tax resident of Spain in the year 2011. Unfortunately for Spanish tax officials, the high court ruled that they could not actually prove that Shakira had lived in Spain for 183 days in 2011, and, in fact, had only spent 163 days in the country during that year. I guess being an internationally touring artist really does have a lot of benefits.

Shakira’s potential residency in Spain goes back to her relationship with Spanish soccer star Gerard Piqué, with whom she shares two sons (and a birthday, 10 years apart). Piqué and Shakira were together for 11 years, but they separated in 2022 following allegations that he cheated with former PR rep (and jam stealer) Clara Chía Marti. Unfortunately for Shakira, her Spanish tax troubles were harder to shake than her Spanish soccer star, and Monday’s ruling came after nearly a decade of back-and-forth with Spanish officials.

After the ruling was announced, Shakira released the following statement:

“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. 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. Every step of the process was leaked, distorted, and amplified, using my name and public image to send a threatening message to the rest of the taxpayers. Today, that narrative crumbles, and it does so with the full force of a court ruling. My greatest wish is that this ruling sets a precedent for the Treasury and serves the thousands of ordinary citizens who are abused and crushed every day by a system that presumes their guilt and forces them to prove their innocence at the cost of economic and emotional ruin. This victory is dedicated to them.”

shakira using bitch better have my money by rihanna in her instagram as the spanish government has to pay her 60 million lmfaoo

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— 2000s (@popculture2000s.bsky.social) 10:59 PM · May 18, 2026

This legal victory comes after a separate case regarding her legal residency from 2012-2014 was settled in 2023 for €17.5 million, and yet another case from 2018 was thrown out in 2024.

So can Spanish tax officials finally leave Shakria alone now? Whether her hips lie has been well documented. What will it take for governments to believe women?

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