Rosalía reconciles with her Argentine audience after the controversy over sharing a video of Spain’s World Cup victory

The anticipation with which Argentina awaited Rosalía over the weekend was very different from that surrounding her arrival in other Latin American capitals included in the Lux Tour tour. The Spanish singer landed in a Buenos Aires where the waters of the nationalist outrage tsunami that Rosalía caused by reposting on her social networks a video of influencer Mia Khalifa celebrating Spain’s victory from a balcony in New York had not yet receded. In the background, La Perla was playing, one of the hits from the Lux album, while an overlaid text proclaimed that life sounded different now that “the Perlas” (referring to the Argentine team) had been defeated. Rosalía deleted the message and apologized, but those gestures were insufficient for some fans, who chose to sell their tickets or tried unsuccessfully to return them. The vast majority, however, reconciled with the Spanish star as the four scheduled concerts in Buenos Aires took place, culminating this Thursday, and attendees left the stadium impressed by the great pagan mass they had just attended.

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The video reposted by Rosalía 15 days earlier coincided with what many Argentines considered an international defamation campaign against them, with messages from celebrities labeling them as arrogant, rude, and especially racist — touching a sensitive nerve in a country proud of its integrative immigrant tradition — which magnified the popular reaction against the Spanish singer.

Rosalía did not distance herself from what happened. On Saturday, at her first concert, before a packed stadium, she acknowledged that she had made a mistake. “My God, what a disastrous day that was. I was just curious, without digging too much, and I reposted it quickly… and it was a huge mistake. It was never my intention, really,” she said.

The singer denied any negative feelings toward the country and stated that she only feels gratitude for the support received from Argentines over the years, whom she described as “the best audience on Earth.” As an example, she recalled that it was at the 2019 Lollapalooza, during her first visit to Argentina, when she first experienced massive recognition outside Spain.

The heartfelt applause from fans she received live and the cheers encouraging her contrasted with the narrative maintained on social media, where an analysis of her body language went viral, casting doubt on whether the apology was sincere.

At the same time, Argentines angry with her filled the Google Maps page of the bodega Olla 7, chosen by Rosalía and part of her team to dine on one of the first nights, with negative reviews. “She welcomed people who mocked Argentina. I wish her nothing good,” wrote one user. In response to complaints from the restaurant owner, Nicolás Tykocki, other users defended the Catalan star, and Google ultimately made the Solomon-like decision to remove both the messages of love and hate.

On the streets, however, she found fans at every turn asking for autographs and selfies.

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On Sunday, at her second concert, Argentine pop diva Lali Espósito participated in Rosalía’s confessional and chose as a pearl — that is, someone untrustworthy — a former Spaniard who caused damage in a hotel room and did not take responsibility. “This town loves you,” Lali said at the end of her confession, applauded by the entire stadium amid Rosalía’s words of thanks.

Many who attended that day at the Movistar Arena were grateful they had not gotten rid of their tickets and had been able to witness a show that jumps from opera and ballet to electronic, Latin rhythms, and flamenco while appropriating the codes of faith to make them freer and more carnal.

“I love you, Rosi,” “goddess,” “genius,” shouted fans of the motomami on Tuesday night at the Movistar Arena stadium in Buenos Aires, during the third of her four concerts. That day, Rosalía said the Lux project “was born from the word” and expressed enthusiasm about presenting it in “the city of the book,” where “on every corner there is a bookstore and there is a gift for the precise word.”

Soon after, sitting on the piano before performing “Sauvignon blanc,” she waved a white handkerchief to the rhythm of the chant against the foreign land ownership law that spread among the audience present: “the homeland is not for sale.” The popular rejection of the controversial chapter that allowed unlimited land sales to foreigners was finally removed from the bill to be voted on this Thursday in the Senate.

This Thursday Rosalía will offer her last concert in Buenos Aires before heading to Brazil, the next stop on the Lux Tour. The initial skeptical reception from many Argentines has been sidelined in the face of applause and praise for the protagonist of one of the most anticipated tours of 2026.

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