“We want chubby girls!“: Bad Bunny’s Casita and the controversy over the selection of normative women to fill it

It is 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 30, and the sun beats down on the Metropolitano stadium in Madrid. Thousands of people are spread out in bars and gardens waiting for the first of the 10 concerts Bad Bunny is giving in the city to start at eight. Many others begin to enter to position themselves near one of the two stages where the Puerto Rican artist performs his reggaeton, salsa, bomba, and plena show for almost three hours. Nora and Eliana, two friends aged 18 and 19, head to their entrance. They wear miniskirts, headscarves, large earrings, high boots, and sport hibiscus flowers in their hair, typical of Puerto Rico. “We have a Caribbean aesthetic,” the two friends describe themselves. Like them, there are dozens of women who share the same dress code. In this era where cultural events have become events, the look is not just fun, it is part of a mission. On the DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS World Tour, the goal is to get into the Casita. And only a few will succeed.

Since Bad Bunny arrived in Spain just over a week ago, videos on social media of women sharing the entire preparation ritual have gone viral. It’s not just about learning to do makeup with tutorials or identifying stores that sell clothes that meet the Caribbean aesthetic; the get ready with me (in social jargon, Prepárate conmigo) give the keys to being selected by Bad Bunny’s scouting group.

The selection begins a little before 7:30 p.m., when Chuwi, the artist’s opening band, finishes their performance. At that time, a guy with a black cap, white t-shirt, and a crossbody bag leaves the Casita. He blends into the crowd because he could be any attendee between 20 and 25 years old. But the dozens of girls, all dressed similarly, wandering around this stage know he is not just anyone. His name, Jeremy, also called Jere, is already circulating on social media. He is one of those responsible for choosing the unknown women who will share the lower part of this typical island house with celebrities.

These guys will walk around the floor but also certain stands, according to some videos posted on social media. They talk little, rather they watch and approach some of the girls. When a woman meets their requirements, they take her to the Casita, where they will wait until Bad Bunny moves to this stage where part of the concert takes place.

Some of those with floor tickets take the mission so seriously that they negotiate from the perimeter fence of La Casita with several security men. They smile and pass the time, but it is not in their hands to let them cross this border.

Most are very young women who not only share outfit, but also meet a normative physical standard: they are not fat, nor do they exceed a certain age. For this reason, just as videos with tips to access the Casita are shared, criticisms of this selection go viral. The most repeated question is how it is possible that the reggaeton artist who broke the genre’s boundaries with his own aesthetic, participated in civil movements against the governor of Puerto Rico after the poor management of the consequences of Hurricane María; who dressed as a woman and wrote Ella perrea sola to denounce the murder of a trans girl; the same one who has turned his latest work into a cultural and political claim for his island against the United States, perpetuates such a restrictive model of woman. The prototype that, moreover, this urban genre, as also happens in American rap and hip hop, has been promoting for decades immune to the feminist movement. Some add another layer to this debate: should Bad Bunny be demanded total coherence?

Watching the concert alone

Eliana and Nora have not gotten tickets together, but even if they were close, if one of these scouts chooses one of them, they would not hesitate and would separate. Paola, 20 years old, gives the same answer. She comes with her best friend, who, when he hears her say she will do everything possible to get into the Casita, lowers his head resigned and says: “I come prepared for this to happen.” Boyfriends, who years ago became the perfect accessory at concerts to photograph their girls until getting the best shot to post on their profiles, now also accept the possibility that they might spend a good time alone.

“I don’t agree with this, if they choose me I’ll tell them I’m with him,” says a Puerto Rican-born girl living in the United States who prefers not to give her name. Next to her, her boyfriend, with a look as produced as hers, even has a precious stone brooch with the Puerto Rican flag, tries to convince her to go without him.

After an hour of concert, Bad Bunny leaves the main stage and moves to the Casita with part of his team of dancers who will be in the front row. The doors of the traditional island house open and actresses Esther Expósito, María León, and Ana de Armas, several players from Real Madrid and Rayo Vallecano, Marta Ortega, owner of Inditex (a brand the artist collaborates with), and other influencers come out. Alongside them, the chosen ones by the scouting group.

At that moment, the crowd on the floor moves from one stage to another. The heat and the suffocation become unbearable, but thousands of people are determined to try to see their idol a little closer and, with luck, be chosen by the singer for another purpose: to shout Acho, PR es otra cosa, the start of the song Voy a llevarte pa PR. It is the shout that at Bad Bunny’s concerts in Puerto Rico were given by actresses like Penélope Cruz, singer Belinda, or communicator Ibai Llanos, among others. A very exclusive club that many strive to enter amid sticky sweat and being crushed against the fence. The artist approaches there, walks around, talks to some, and the one with the best argument, the one who moves him emotionally, leaves the pit and shouts the reggaeton mantra.

Right at that moment, three girls of different ages, the youngest close to 40, also dressed the same, decide not to leave their spot near the main stage. The perfect moment to breathe a little and shout looking towards the Casita: “We want fat girls!”.