Shakira’s statements in tax fraud case: “Piqué had a super tense relationship with Guardiola”s
‘El País’ has had access to the statements given in court by Shakira regarding her alleged tax fraud in Spain where she says she wasn’t permanently living.
Shakira continues to be immersed in the judicial proceedings for an alleged tax fraud of 14.5 million euros ($15.9 million). Over the years in the proceedings Shakira has made numerous statements to which Spanish newspaper ‘El País’ has now had access. In these the Colombian artist speaks of the “irreparable damage” the trial has done to her reputation.
The singer from Barranquilla has always sought to convince the judges that she did not live in Spain on a constant basis until 2015, so the country could not be treated as her primary tax residence, and therefore she would not be due to pay personal income tax on her earnings in Spain. Since 2019, she has fought the case in the courts of Esplugues de Llobregat in Catalonia, and in these four years in which she has been immersed in the process, she has spoken about a wide range of topics, starting with fame. “I was a nomad, a person without roots or stability. I have traveled at such an intense pace that I have been in three countries in the same day. It is one of the highest prices I have had to pay for my career. Those years I was breaking out worldwide with my music. I was everywhere, I lived on an airplane more than any pilot,” she said.
Shakira was not answering questions from the Prosecutor’s Office. The questions were all put to her by the same person, her lawyer at the time, José Ángel González Franco, who also asked about the countries with which she had had ties. Shakira made it clear that Spain is not on this list. According to the artist, the United States was, “my springboard to the rest of the world and is my business center”; Colombia, where she was born and where much of her family lives; and Bahamas: “I needed a place to find my own person again and separate from the public figure. It gave me privacy that I couldn’t find in another country and had the advantage of being 20 minutes from the United States.”
The arrival of Gerard Piqué in her life
However she explained she didn’t live in the Bahamas, and that was due to her singing career, and the arrival of Gerard Piqué in her life: “I started dating him and, if I had a bit of time free, I’d rather go see him and not go to the Bahamas to find my ex. It was a situation that Gerard did not like at all. So, to appease Gerard’s jealousy a bit, which was natural because we didn’t have a consolidated relationship, there was a lot of insecurity on both sides and the wounds with my previous partner were open.”
The Colombian artist talked in depth about the relationship, though it had little bearing on the tax crime for which she is accused, and for which she was attempting to prove that she did not spend the 183 days per year in Spain necessary to be considered a tax resident. According to the singer, the couple started seeing each other a little, but the relationship soon progressed: “I was delighted with him. I remember flying from Marrakech to Croatia. We were flying over Barcelona and I asked the pilot of the plane if I could land briefly just to give Gerard a kiss. It’s the most romantic thing I’ve ever done in my life. I don’t know if the Tax Agency would have computed it as one day in Spain”.
Regarding the former Barcelona player, Shakira only had good things to say: “In 2011, when I started dating him, we hardly saw each other. He is 23 years old, ten years younger than me. Football player, handsome, with a playboy reputation... He was a bit crazy at that time. Right now he’s a great guy, but then he was crazy and I had no guarantee that things would go ahead or that we would start a family. I never imagined that I was going to live in this country for that boy with the beard who was incredible, but hey, nothing more.”
And it is the insecurity of her relationship with Piqué which was the reason why she did not settle in Barcelona: “How was I going to sacrifice everything for a boy I was meeting, there robbing the cradle [as in getting involved with someone much younger]. Our relationship was very turbulent, it was a Dragon Khan, because our professional lives did not mix, it was like mixing oil and water. I was a globetrotter and he had to keep a schedule.”
The bad relationship between Piqué and Guardiola
Shakira once again delved into the reasons that led her not to have Spain as her tax residence, referring to Gerard Piqué and his relationship with FC Barcelona: “Gerard had a rather complicated relationship with Barça. He had a super tense relationship with Guardiola: ‘you go or I go’ kind of relationship. It was a situation that made him suffer a lot.” Shakira admitted that she would have lived in the city of the team where Piqué was playing.
Regarding the purchase of homes, Shakira admits that it is the most “comfortable and private” way to stay somewhere: “I buy houses in places and that for me does not imply a commitment. I have houses in Uruguay, New York, Miami, Barranquilla, Nassau, Barcelona... I like them because it is the most comfortable way to be, when I go to stay I prefer to be in a house. Even during the tours I rent houses”.
Regarding Spain, again, she claimed that her “only link was Gerard. Here she had only one boyfriend. I didn’t feel like coming to Spain. It’s a beautiful country, but it’s not the epicenter of the music industry. For me, being in Spain is a huge sacrifice for my professional success, because I don’t have the best in artistic production, which is in the U.S. It’s like asking Gerard to go to Barranquilla to play for Junior”.