(CNN) – Colombia’s queen of Latin music, Shakira, goes on trial in Spain this week over alleged tax evasion. The multi-Grammy-winning singer is expected to be present this Monday for the first day of the trial at the Barcelona Provincial Court in the city center.
Spanish prosecutors accuse Shakira of failing to pay income and wealth tax between 2012 and 2014, which currently amounts to around $15.6 million.
Spanish tax law states that anyone who stays in the country for at least six months and one day – or 183 days – in a given year must pay taxes.
According to the judiciary, during these years the artist lived in the country for more than 183 days a year. In a 2021 ruling, Judge Marco Jesús Juberías said that Shakira had lived in the country for more than 200 days in each of those three years and was therefore obliged to pay taxes.
The Colombian pop star denied the allegations and called them “false” in an interview with Elle magazine in September 2022.
“First of all, I didn’t spend 183 days a year at all back then. I was busy fulfilling my professional commitments around the world. Secondly, I paid everything they said they owed even before they filed a lawsuit.” So “To this day, I don’t owe them anything,” the artist told the magazine, adding that her day will be in court on “reasons of principle.” .
If she is found guilty of the six counts of tax fraud she is accused of, the public prosecutor’s office will request a prison sentence of eight years plus fines. Each of the six charges could be punishable by at least one year in prison, according to a brief from the Barcelona provincial prosecutor’s office submitted to the court in July 2022 and seen by CNN.
The “Hips Don’t Lie” singer is back in Spain after permanently moving to Miami following her split from her long-term partner, Spanish soccer player Gerard Piqué. The couple announced their separation after 12 years in 2022 and have two children together: Milan, born in 2013, and Sasha, born in 2015.
Both met when the footballer appeared in the video clip for Shakira’s song “Waka Waka”, the official song of the 2010 World Cup, which Spain won. The video has more than 3.1 billion views on YouTube.
The breakup with the former FC Barcelona defender and the Spanish team was very loud and Shakira has chosen her music to express her feelings.
In January 2023, the Colombian singer released “BZRP Music Sessions Vol. 53” in collaboration with Bizarrap.
In the song he talks about his relationship and breakup with Piqué. In an interview broadcast in February, Shakira said this was necessary for “her own healing.”
“A wolf like me is not for guys like you,” Shakira says in the lyrics.
Last week, the singer took the stage and picked up three awards at the 2023 Latin Grammys, including best song of the year for BZRP Music Sessions Vol. 53 during a ceremony in Seville.
The Colombian dedicated the evening and the awards to her children: “I promised them that I would be happy,” she said.