The Colombian singer Shakira this Monday avoided being tried in Spain for tax fraud in exchange for a million-dollar fine, with which she avoids jail, which she assured that she accepts so as not to harm her children.

“My children have asked me, I have made this decision for them,” said the artist when appearing before a court in the Spanish city of Barcelona.

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The fine amounts to nearly 7.8 million euros, after having previously paid another 17.5 million, the 14.5 million defrauded to the treasury in Spain between 2012 and 2014 plus another 3 of interest.

A heavy fine that saves her from jail

Shakira arrived at the Barcelona Court amid great media excitement, accompanied by her lawyers and several police officers.

Wearing sunglasses and a pink suit, she entered through the main door while on the opposite sidewalk, behind the police fence, about a hundred people were waiting for her, most of them journalists and photographers, but also curious people and some admirers who They asked for “justice for Shakira.”

The singer was accused of having defrauded the Treasury during those years by pretending that she lived outside of Spain.

Shakira, 46, lived with the former Spanish soccer player from FC Barcelona and now businessman Gerard Piqué, 36, for twelve years, until they announced their separation in 2022 and she moved to Miami (United States) with their two children. after an agreement on his custody.

An agreement with the Spanish Justice prevented her from being tried, although in exchange for that fine and a sentence of three years in prison, which she will not have to serve, among other reasons because the court applies a mitigating circumstance of reparation for the damage.

Much less than the request he was facing, since the Prosecutor’s Office requested eight years and two months in prison plus a fine of 23.7 million euros, which is half of the 14.5 million defrauded, that is, 7.3 million, plus others. 432 thousand euros at a rate of 400 for each day he avoids spending behind bars.

Her lawyers agreed at the last minute with the Prosecutor’s Office and the private accusations, the Tax Agency of the Spanish State and the regional Government of Catalonia, so the singer only had to ratify it in a brief appearance in court.

The wear and tear on her and her children

While she was speaking a few brief words before the Barcelona Court to ratify the agreement, her communication agency issued a statement in which Shakira once again charged against the treasury in Spain.

In addition to attending to her children’s request, the artist maintains that in this way she also avoids the “weariness” of a long criminal process for “a singer of international prestige” with the consequent media “impact.”

Although she was prepared to defend her “innocence”, instead of fighting “to the end” she opted to look “forward” without her children having to see her in the dock.

“I have to choose my battles and the most important one for me now is to do everything so that my children live a full life and focus on what is really important: seeing them grow and spending time with them,” the statement underlines.

His case is one more of those that pit the Spanish Treasury against celebrities, both Spanish and foreign.

Others, such as the Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo or the Argentine Leo Messi, preferred, like Shakira, to pay large fines.

But some went to the end and won, like the Spanish coach and former soccer player Xavi Alonso recently after a long court battle.

Shakira gives him an example, among others, but regrets the wear and tear on time, image and money that it entails.

The singer who has another process open, this administrative litigation, in the Spanish National Court for tax fraud in 2011, which she claims has already cost her 60 million euros due to “disproportionate fines.”

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