San Francisco Frontiers - Madrid pumps up the volume on Latin music

It will be the most shows of the singer's "Debi Tirar Mas Fotos" tour outside of his native Puerto Rico, where he staged a 31-show residency last year.

Colombian pop superstar Shakira will follow with a 12-night residency beginning September 18 at a temporary venue under construction in southern Madrid that will hold roughly 50,000 people.

The so-called Queen of Latin Pop has vowed to go "all-out" for the Madrid shows, the final stop on her "Women Don't Cry Anymore" tour and her only dates in Europe.

"Right now, Madrid is an indispensable stop for any major Latin artist on tour," Billboard's chief content officer for Latin music, Miami-based Leila Cobo, told AFP.

"Every single Latin star of note plays Madrid."

That was not always the case, despite the Spanish capital's deep historical ties with Latin America.

For decades, Madrid's music scene was better known for Spanish pop, rock and flamenco, with Latin music relegated to nightclubs outside the city centre.

But over the past two decades, Latin beats have increasingly taken the limelight.

The surge in high-profile Latin concerts reflects Madrid's expanding role in the Latin music industry, driven in part by rising immigration from Latin America that has reshaped the city's audience and music market.

The number of residents in the Madrid region born in Latin America has risen from about 80,000 in 1999 to just over one million in 2024, roughly one in seven residents, according to the latest official figures.

That demographic shift has pushed Latin rhythms into the mainstream in Madrid, from reggaeton and hip-hop to pop and traditional styles, eased by a shared language, said Cobo, the author of "Decoding 'Despacito': An Oral History of Latin Music".

- 'Attracts talent' -

Music by Latin artists was largely absent from Spanish radio in 2008, but by 2023 it accounted for 44 percent of all songs played on music stations, according to a Nebrija University study published last year.

Latin artists have also become dominant on streaming platforms in Spain, with reggaeton and urban acts such as Bad Bunny and Karol G regularly topping annual charts.

"Young people have grown up listening to reggaeton and Latin urban music, so it's basically their natural soundtrack," the study's author, Nebrija University communications professor Lourdes Moreno Cazalla, told AFP.

"For them, it doesn't feel like foreign music; it's the sound of their youth."

The genre's rise has attracted more producers and songwriters to Madrid, and spawned new festivals dedicated to the genre, a trend that exploded in the 2010s.

Colombian singer, songwriter and producer Mauricio Rengifo, who co-produced the 2017 hit "Despacito", moved to Madrid in March after a decade in Los Angeles, according to Spanish daily El Pais.

"It has become the capital of Spanish-language music. Madrid is very much in fashion -- it’s a place where people live well, and that attracts talent," he told the paper.

- 'Gateway into Europe' -

Most major global record labels have offices in the Spanish capital and have stepped up their focus on Latin music, particularly artist development.

Warner Music Spain has hosted multiple Latin artists at its creative hub, The Music Station, in central Madrid, since it opened in 2022.

The space has staged songwriting camps and other sessions bringing together Spanish and Latin American artists to collaborate on writing and recording.

One of the Latin music events that has emerged in Madrid is Iberoexperia, an annual concert cycle focused on Ibero-American contemporary music that has been staged since 2022 and acts as a showcase for talent bookers.

This year's lineup includes Colombian folk-protest singer La Muchacha and Venezuelan funk band Los Amigos Invisibles, which emerged from Caracas' alternative music scene.

"Madrid is a gateway into Europe, which is a gigantic market," the event's director, Anamaria Rigotto, told AFP, adding that performing in Madrid can help Latin artists raise their international profile.

N.Flores--SFF