Shakira: "I speak more Catalan in Miami than in Catalonia"

BarcelonaGetting an interview with Shakira is not easy at all, and Thursday's episode of La revuelta, on RTVE, was proof of that. According to David Broncano's team, they received confirmation of the meeting with only one day's notice and a summons at 5 PM at the Bernabéu, the Madrid complex where the artist holds her concerts. Without time to prepare a set or a conventional setup, always according to La revuelta, the presenter, who decided to show the whole process, grabbed a sandwich, a bottle of water, and a reduced team to plant themselves at the venue.

According to the account given by the program, the situation was quite surreal: Broncano had to catch an imminent flight for a personal commitment and the margin was minimal. If the artist was delayed, they would be left without a show. 10, 20, 30 minutes passed, and when it was almost 6 PM the Colombian artist had still not appeared. To fill minutes of broadcast in the face of the desperation of having no content, Broncano and Jorge Ponce began to drive around the venue in a golf cart, recording improvised conversations.

Faced with the uncertainty of whether they would finally be able to record enough material for television, the host himself said: “I have very few minutes of the interview left, we will see if it can be broadcast on television or in an reel on Instagram”. Finally, Shakira sat down with Broncano to record 17 available minutes of conversation before the host had to rush to the airport. In this brief and surreal exchange, one of the most surprising moments was when both of them spoke in Catalan.

It all started with a "Fucking great". The singer made an unexpected confession about her use of the language since she left Barcelona. After Broncano told her that her children were Catalan and she confirmed it –"Yes, yes, my children are Catalan"–, she added right after that Catalan is now a secret code: "I speak more Catalan in Miami than in Catalonia," she said. "I use it with my children in Miami when they don't want their little friends to understand us," she explained.

Broncano claimed that Catalan is his second language, and Shakira, surprised by his fluency, asked him if he had learned Catalan because of some "Catalan partner". Broncano confirmed it and added ironically: "The same thing happened to both of us," a clear reference to her relationship and subsequent breakup with the former Barça footballer Gerard Piqué, a comment the Colombian woman did not want to delve into.

Money and Broncano's skepticism

From this point on, the chat took on a more surreal tone. Broncano, true to his style, asked her if a star of her level used the portable toilets at the venue or if she had a fondness for fossil shops and horoscopes, topics that the singer took in stride while laughing, all while trying to steer the conversation back to the construction work of her venue. Shakira explained that, despite the business volume of her tour, the production is so exorbitant that she barely has any margin left: “I invoice a lot, but I spend a lot; in the end, I end up the same.” A statement that Broncano openly questioned, doing mental math: “Faced with a lie like that, I won’t even answer,” said the host.

Before the host ran off to the airport, Shakira showed she knew the personal reason for Broncano’s trip: “It is one of the most noble reasons,” she said, implying that the flight was related to a sentimental affair. “I have done many things for love,” added the Colombian.