En Madrid somos todos latinos

In Madrid, we are all Latinos. This idea, inspired by the words of Gabriel García Márquez, resonates deeply with me. Growing up, I heard this phrase from him, understanding it as a warning against isolation. Today, I see it as a challenge: what if we could have a second chance, like the one presented in his writings? What if the second chance was always there, in the embrace and in never leaving us alone?

In 18 days, I will begin my 12-concert residency in Madrid. The scale is immense: over 600,000 tickets, the largest of its kind in Europe, a stadium for 55,000 people built for music, not football. However, I do not write to discuss figures; instead, I tell you why. My journey began with sorrow, witnessing our people being persecuted simply for being Latino and forced to live in fear.

While hatred is justified, I chose to respond with celebration – the greatest celebration we could imagine. For this celebration, I chose Madrid.

Madrid is where something special happens that the world deserves to see: Latino immigration is not tolerated, it is celebrated. Spain has embraced this, making our communities younger, more ambitious, and more creative. Integration is natural, perhaps because Spain was among the first to cross the ocean five centuries ago. We share language, memory, gestures, sweets.

The Atlantic, once an ocean between us, is now a bond. Madrid declares, "Whoever is not of anywhere is of here." That is why, alongside the stadium, we are building something more: a city. Thirty hectares dedicated to celebrating and understanding our culture, with over a hundred friendly artists, where every visitor can experience Latino culture through various paths: literature, dance, music, fashion, gastronomy, cinema, art.

A city to find ourselves, traversed by the concept of Latino bond in the era of digital solitude. We live in extraordinary and dangerous times. I am not one to renounce the future, but we already know one certainty: this era has an unparalleled ability to isolate us. Millions of people observe others' lives through screens, becoming increasingly alone, anxious, and ill.

Solitude has become a silent epidemic measured by doctors like any other disease. I have felt it, you have felt it. Amidst this epidemic, Latinos have something to offer. It's not science; it's something prior to science, rooted in our cultural DNA: the embrace, the dance, the shared table, the bond as a means of survival. We are a culture that turned pain into rhythm, learned over five centuries of mixing with no one left alone.

The world understands: that's why our music and dance transcend borders. It didn't consume Latino culture out of fashion; it sought it because it recognized the tools needed. My music is this fusion, my life's work. And what I want to celebrate in Madrid is simply how well we have blended together. García Márquez was the great explorer of this territory.

No one understood our links, imagination, happiness, and fusion like him. Macondo is not a town; it's a mirror. That's why he inspires everything we are building: he taught us that in our culture, the real and the magical coexist without conflict, and that's not naivety, but wisdom. I propose something more, with all respect and love.

Let's not discuss only hispanidad; let's talk about latinidad, an even broader embrace. Hispanidad is beautiful, but it's not enough to encompass all we are. Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and French are also Latino. All Latin Americans are Latinos. Brazil, the largest country in Latin America, does not speak Spanish; it speaks Portuguese.

Hispanidad cannot embrace it; latinidad can. We are a nation without borders, born over five centuries: the fusion of Africa, America, and Southern Europe. I do not judge the humanity of 500 years ago with today's gaze; I remain with what we are: a fusion that is our richness. And that's where music enters, my profession, my entire life.

Because music does exactly what screens cannot: it brings us together. A song doesn't ask where you come from or what passport you have; it says, "Sing with me, dance with me, cry with me if necessary." Suddenly, you are not alone. That's why each night's finale will be a carnival. The carnival is the ultimate expression of a people born from this fusion.

How can we pass by Cádiz and the Canary Islands, my Barranquilla, Brazil, the Caribbean, Central America? The carnival is Africa, America, and Europe dancing together – colors, talents, embraces, laughter. It will be our psychomagic act, declaring loudly what this project aims to demonstrate: in Madrid, we are all Latino.