Shakira’s Revenge Arc Against Ex Piqué and Spain Tax Authorities Comes Full Circle With $70 Million Win

Shakira's post-Piqué era has now moved from diss track to court ruling, from "women no longer cry" to the Spanish tax agency, which may have to pay.

A Spanish court acquitted the Colombian superstar Monday in a tax case tied to 2011, ruling that authorities failed to prove she was a tax resident in Spain that year. The decision overturned a 55 million euro fine and ordered Spain's Treasury to return more than 60 million euros, about $70 million, including interest.

The ruling lands with a particularly sharp twist because Spanish authorities had argued that Shakira's relationship with Gerard Piqué, then a star for FC Barcelona, helped establish her life in Spain. The court did not buy it. Judges found that she spent 163 days in Spain in 2011, below the 183-day threshold required for tax residency under Spanish law, and rejected the idea that her relationship alone proved Spain was the center of her personal and economic life.

In other words: Spain tried to use Piqué as evidence. Now Spain may have to return the money.

"There was never any fraud, and the Tax Agency itself was never able to prove otherwise, simply because it wasn't true," Shakira said in a statement through her legal team, according to People. Her lawyer, José Luís Prada, described the case as an "eight-year ordeal" and criticized the Spanish tax agency's handling of the matter.

The case is separate from the 2012-2014 tax dispute Shakira settled in 2023, when she agreed to pay a 7.3 million euro fine to avoid trial over allegations that she failed to pay 14.5 million euros. Monday's ruling only applies to the 2011 fiscal year. Spain's tax agency plans to appeal to the Supreme Court, which means any payment could still be delayed.

Still, the optics are impossible to ignore. Since her split from Piqué, Shakira has turned public humiliation into a commercial empire of revenge, resilience, and record-breaking pop. Her BZRP Music Sessions, Vol. 53 became a global cultural event by turning personal betrayal into a chantable takedown.

Her album 'Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran' rebuilt the narrative around survival. Now, the Spanish system that scrutinized her Barcelona years has handed her a legal win tied to the very relationship once used to argue she belonged there.

Meanwhile, Piqué is dealing with his own legal and disciplinary clouds in Spain. The former Barcelona defender was questioned in 2025 as part of a corruption and money laundering probe linked to the Spanish Super Cup's move to Saudi Arabia through his company Kosmos. There is also a case on insider trading.

Piqué has denied wrongdoing. He was also sanctioned this month with a six-match suspension and a two-month ban from official football activity in Spain after an incident involving match officials after an Andorra match.

Shakira the World Cup Queen

Shakira's timing could not be more cinematic. Just days before the tax ruling, FIFA released 'Dai Dai', her new World Cup song with Nigerian star Burna Boy. The track marks another chapter in Shakira's long relationship with football's biggest tournament, after 'Hips Don't Lie' in 2006,' Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)' in 2010 and 'La La La (Brazil 2014)' in 2014. GMA News described Dai Dai as Shakira's fourth song featured in the FIFA World Cup universe.

FIFA also announced that Shakira will perform at the first-ever World Cup final halftime show on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, alongside Madonna and BTS. The show will be curated by Coldplay's Chris Martin and connected to the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund.

The internet, naturally, found a way to make the comeback even messier. Fans noticed that the teaser imagery around Dai Dai included Cristiano Ronaldo's 2018 World Cup goal against Spain, a match in which Piqué played for the Spanish national team. Infobae reported that social media users quickly interpreted the clip as another possible indirect shot at Piqué, although neither Shakira nor FIFA has officially framed it that way.

Beyond the World Cup, Shakira is still in the middle of her Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran world tour. Her official tour page lists upcoming stops in the U.S., Doha, and Abu Dhabi and a Nov. 28 concert at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, after the Cairo show was moved from its original April date.

Originally published on Latin Times