The last thing one expected to hear in the Macondo Park that Shakira has set up in Madrid was the rage of Zack de la Rocha singing Killing in the Name with his Rage Against the Machine. But that’s how it was. Around 3:30 p.m. this Friday, Tom Morello’s guitar saw sounded through the speakers and welcomed the first spectators to the venue. Soon Don’t Boder, the protagonist’s song, played, and the Rage were never heard from again. The doors of this colorful world designed by the star’s team opened an hour late: it was scheduled to open at 3:30 p.m., and the first people entered at 4:30 p.m.
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Thousands of people, with an overwhelming female majority, had gotten up early to visit Macondo Park (referring to the place where One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez takes place). More than a park dedicated to Latin culture, the 220,000 square meters (equivalent to 30 football fields) are devoted to praising the figure of a woman born in Barranquilla (Colombia) 49 years ago named Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll.
Maria Oliveira, a 40-year-old Portuguese woman, loves this “Shakiralandia,” as she calls it. At 14, she listened to the Colombian singer and has seen her in concert 20 times. “For me, this is paradise. It’s a wonderful place,” she says, euphoric. Maria was among the first to enter this amusement park dedicated to the glory of the singer of Loba. This Friday marks the first of the artist’s 12 concerts in Madrid, in a Spanish stay that will be the only one in Europe for the Women Don’t Cry Anymore tour, which already has 120 dates since it started back in February 2025.
Located in the Iberdrola Music space, in the Madrid neighborhood of Villaverde (south of the capital), the same place where the Mad Cool festival is held, it was built in 30 intense days. On Thursday, dozens of workers hammered away at full speed to have the venue ready, which expects about 55,000 people each day. Initially, it was planned to open the space every day at 12 noon (the Colombian’s concert is scheduled for 9:00 p.m.), but for now, this weekend it will open from 3:30 p.m. The recitals are spread over four weekends (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) until October 11.
“I can’t believe it, I can’t believe it, but it’s Sofía.” Laura, holding hands with her 9- and 11-year-old daughters, had just run into her friend Sofía, who was also with her two children. They hadn’t planned to meet, but Shakira brought them together. It’s a shame some have floor tickets and others have stands tickets. But they will spend the next four hours together until the concert starts.
From the access hoops at the entrance, each colored carpet leads to a pavilion: the blue one to literature, the red one to concerts, the purple one for children (called Macondito), the orange one to a museum dedicated to Shakira…
In this one, several outfits used by the artist in stellar moments can be admired, such as the one designed by Roberto Cavalli to sing Waka Waka at the 2010 World Cup closing ceremony, in South Africa, which Spain won. Her gold records are also displayed, and you can dance “in an immersive space” to the diva’s songs while her videos are projected.
You have to climb a ramp with a green carpet to take a photo with a giant half-body sculpture of a papier-mâché she-wolf. Some girls from different countries take pictures with their phones. “Even though I’m Norwegian, I love Shakira,” says one of them, Marina.
Joselyn Calderón, 32, has given her mother, Mariza, a trip to Madrid and concert tickets for her 60th birthday. They are Ecuadorian and live in Italy. “Shakira reminds me of my childhood in Ecuador when my mom listened to her all the time.” The mentioned woman nods.
Colombian flags and purple wigs, the same ones Shakira uses in the video for Las de la intuición, are seen. In the pavilion dedicated to literature, Melba Escolar and Carolina Reoyo discuss Aureliano Buendía, the central character of One Hundred Years of Solitude, before an audience of about 10 people. Many more browse the Shakira Library, shelves full of copies: The Truce by Mario Benedetti; Persepolis, a graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi; or The Astronauts by Laura Ferrero, are some of the books.
In this literary space, there is also a large room with a huge screen where the story of García Márquez’s work is told. You can lie down on some cushions. Children play soccer and scream in a karaoke, of course with Shakira’s songs, in Macondito. At 7:00 p.m., in a tent for about 4,000 people, Guitarricadelafuente began to perform. A luxury.
Everyone seemed happy in this entertainment venue dedicated to the Colombian, especially in the first two hours. As the concert time approached, however, the lines to access some tents were quite long, as were those for food and drink stands.
