{"id":1484,"date":"2026-05-18T10:39:38","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T10:39:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/?p=1484"},"modified":"2026-05-18T10:39:39","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T10:39:39","slug":"pop-star-shakira-is-acquitted-in-a-spanish-tax-fraud-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/?p=1484","title":{"rendered":"Pop star Shakira is acquitted in a Spanish tax fraud case"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"slug-wrap\">\n<h3 class=\"slug\">\n        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/world\/\">World<\/a><br \/>\n    <\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"storytitle\">\n<h1>Pop star Shakira is acquitted in a Spanish tax fraud case<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"STORYTITLE\" --><\/p>\n<div id=\"story-meta\" class=\"story-meta has-byline\">\n<div class=\"story-meta__one\">\n<div class=\"story-meta__one-inner\">\n<div class=\"dateblock\">\n    <time datetime=\"2026-05-18T06:25:01-04:00\"><br \/>\n            <span class=\"date\">May 18, 2026<\/span><span class=\"time\">6:25 AM ET<\/span><br \/>\n    <\/time>\n<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"STORY-META__ONE-INNER\" -->\n   <\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"STORY-META__ONE\" --><\/p>\n<div class=\"story-meta__two\">\n<div id=\"storybyline\" class=\"storybyline-wrap linkLocation\">\n<div class=\"bucketwrap byline\">\n<div class=\"byline-container--block\">\n<p class=\"byline__name--block\">By\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"byline byline--block byline--has-link\" aria-label=\"Byline\">\n<p class=\"byline__name byline__name--block\">\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/people\/101453150\/the-associated-press\" rel=\"author\"><br \/>\n      The Associated Press<br \/>\n    <\/a>\n  <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"BUCKETWRAP BYLINE\" -->\n      <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"STORY-META__TWO\" -->\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- END ID=\"STORY-META\" CLASS=\"STORY-META HAS-BYLINE\" --><\/p>\n<div id=\"storytext\" class=\"storytext storylocation linkLocation\">\n<div id=\"resg-s1-122565\" class=\"bucketwrap image large\">\n<div class=\"imagewrap has-source-dimensions\" data-crop-type=\"\" style=\"--source-width: 3789;--source-height: 2526\">\n<p>            <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/3789x2526+0+0\/resize\/1100\/quality\/50\/format\/jpeg\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F3a%2F4b%2F194f5781409b864440ccd356dc8f%2Fap26138334858230.jpg\" data-template=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/3789x2526+0+0\/resize\/{width}\/quality\/{quality}\/format\/{format}\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F3a%2F4b%2F194f5781409b864440ccd356dc8f%2Fap26138334858230.jpg\" class=\"img\" alt=\"FILE - Shakira performs during the Global Citizen Festival in New York on Sept. 27, 2025.\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"credit-caption\">\n<div class=\"caption-wrap\">\n<div class=\"caption\" aria-label=\"Image caption\">\n<p>\n                FILE &#8211; Shakira performs during the Global Citizen Festival in New York on Sept. 27, 2025.<br \/>\n                <b class=\"credit\" aria-label=\"Image credit\"><br \/>\n                    Charles Sykes\/Invision\/AP, File<br \/>\n                <\/b><br \/>\n                <b class=\"hide-caption\"><b>hide caption<\/b><\/b>\n            <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>            <b class=\"toggle-caption\"><b>toggle caption<\/b><\/b>\n    <\/div>\n<p>    <span class=\"credit\" aria-label=\"Image credit\"><br \/>\n        Charles Sykes\/Invision\/AP, File<br \/>\n    <\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>MADRID \u2014 A Spanish court acquitted Shakira in a tax fraud case, ordering the government to return more than 55 million euros ($64 million) in wrongly imposed fines and interest, a court document seen Monday by The Associated Press said.<\/p>\n<p>The decision follows years of tax troubles in Spain for the Colombian superstar.<\/p>\n<p>The ruling relates to a dispute over the 2011 tax year in which Spanish tax authorities did not prove that the singer was a resident of Spain, the Madrid-based court said in its decision.<\/p>\n<p>For a person to be considered a tax resident in Spain, she must spend more than 183 days in the country. Spanish authorities were only able to prove that Shakira lived in Spain that year for a total of 163 days, the court said.<\/p>\n<p>Spain&#8217;s tax authorities have over the past decade or so cracked down on soccer stars like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for not paying their full due in taxes. Those players were found guilty of tax evasion but avoided prison time thanks to a provision that allows a judge to waive sentences under two years in length for first-time offenders.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"share-tools share-tools--secondary\" aria-label=\"Share tools\">\n<ul>\n<li class=\"share-tools__service share-tools__service--facebook\"><button class=\"fbStoryg-s1-122563\" data-share-facebook='{\"storyId\": \"g-s1-122563\" }' data-metrics-ga4='{\"category\":\"share\",\"action\":\"share\",\"clickName\":\"facebook\"}'><b class=\"share-tools__service-name\">Facebook<\/b><\/button><\/li>\n<li class=\"share-tools__service share-tools__service--flipboard\"><button class=\"storyg-s1-122563\" data-share-flipboard='{\"storyId\": \"g-s1-122563\" }' data-metrics-ga4='{\"category\":\"share\",\"action\":\"share\",\"clickName\":\"flipboard\"}'><b class=\"share-tools__service-name\">Flipboard<\/b><\/button><\/li>\n<li class=\"share-tools__service share-tools__service--email\"><button class=\"share-tools__email-link\" data-story-id=\"g-s1-122563\" data-metrics-ga4='{\"category\":\"share\",\"action\":\"share\",\"clickName\":\"email\"}'><b class=\"share-tools__service-name\">Email<\/b><\/button><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"SHARE-TOOLS SHARE-TOOLS-SECONDARY\" ARIA-LABEL=\"SHARE TOOLS\" --><br \/>\n<!-- END ID=\"NEWSLETTER-ACQUISITION-CALLOUT-DATA\" DATA-NEWSLETTER=\"{&amp;QUOT;NEWSLETTERID&amp;QUOT;:&amp;QUOT;NEWS&amp;QUOT;,&amp;QUOT;TITLE&amp;QUOT;:&amp;QUOT;UP FIRST&amp;QUOT;,&amp;QUOT;MARKETINGHEADER&amp;QUOT;:&amp;QUOT;SIGN UP FOR NPR&#039;S UP FIRST NEWSLETTER&amp;QUOT;,&amp;QUOT;FREQUENCY&amp;QUOT;:&amp;QUOT;EVERY DAY&amp;QUOT;,&amp;QUOT;SHORTDESCRIPTION&amp;QUOT;:&amp;QUOT;THE STORIES YOU NEED TO START YOUR DAY, HAND-PICKED FOR YOU EVERY WEEKDAY. PLUS, THE BEST OF NPR EVERY SUNDAY.&amp;QUOT;,&amp;QUOT;STICKYDESCRIPTION&amp;QUOT;:&amp;QUOT;SIGN UP FOR THE NPR&#039;S UP FIRST NEWSLETTER FOR THE LATEST HEADLINES AND UNIQUE STORIES FROM THE NPR NETWORK.&amp;QUOT;,&amp;QUOT;CONTENTIMAGE&amp;QUOT;:&amp;QUOT;HTTPS:\/\/NPR.BRIGHTSPOTCDN.COM\/E1\/16\/E7434747460F8691603795B6FF1C\/SCREEN-SHOT-2025-08-20-AT-1-47-26-PM.PNG&amp;QUOT;,&amp;QUOT;STATICMARKUPDIR&amp;QUOT;:&amp;QUOT;\/BUCKETS\/TOPICS\/HEADER1001.HTML&amp;QUOT;,&amp;QUOT;BRANDINGDIR&amp;QUOT;:&amp;QUOT;\/BRANDING\/SECTIONS\/NEWS\/&amp;QUOT;,&amp;QUOT;BRANDINGLINK&amp;QUOT;:&amp;QUOT;HTTPS:\/\/WWW.NPR.ORG\/SECTIONS\/NEWS\/&amp;QUOT;,&amp;QUOT;RECAPTCHASITEKEY&amp;QUOT;:&amp;QUOT;6LCDN9IZAAAAAOHT985BJJBZJKBJKSXDXK3GEKST&amp;QUOT;}\" --><br \/>\n<!-- END ID=\"CALLOUT-END-OF-STORY-MOUNT\" --><\/p>\n<div id=\"callout-end-of-story-mount-piano-wrap\" class=\"callout-end-of-story-mount-piano-wrap\">\n<!-- END ID=\"CALLOUT-END-OF-STORY-MOUNT-PIANO\" CLASS=\"CALLOUT-END-OF-STORY-MOUNT-PIANO\" -->\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- END ID=\"CALLOUT-END-OF-STORY-MOUNT-PIANO-WRAP\" CLASS=\"CALLOUT-END-OF-STORY-MOUNT-PIANO-WRAP\" --><br \/>\n<!-- END ID=\"END-OF-STORY-RECOMMENDATIONS-MOUNT-PIANO\" CLASS=\"RECOMMENDED-STORIES RECOMMENDED-STORIES-PIANO\" ARIA-LABEL=\"RECOMMENDED STORIES\" --><br \/>\n<!-- END ID=\"END-OF-STORY-RECOMMENDATIONS-MOUNT\" CLASS=\"RECOMMENDED-STORIES\" ARIA-LABEL=\"RECOMMENDED STORIES\" --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>World Pop star Shakira is acquitted in a Spanish tax fraud case May 18, 20266:25 AM ET By\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":315,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1484"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1484\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1485,"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1484\/revisions\/1485"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}