In Madrid Shakira isn't touring, she has a residency: 12 concerts in one city, in her own venue she named Macondo Park - a name every reader of García Márquez recognises instantly. On Saturday, the third Saturday of the European residency, the crowd came for the familiar programme. And got a duet nobody had ever seen live: Dua Lipa walked on stage.

All week there was speculation that the guest would be Maluma, with whom Shakira sings her latest song "Agua" and whom fans have been waiting for for weeks. Instead, in front of more than 50,000 people, out came the British star with Kosovo roots. The two had never performed together on stage before.

The story started in Bogotá. At the end of 2025, on her "Radical Optimism" tour, Dua Lipa surprised the Colombian audience with "Antología", one of Shakira's most famous songs. Shakira reacted with delight, precisely because she wrote the song in that very city: "I'm so excited to hear my song in Dua's voice, in the same city where I wrote it years ago. See how music unites us? A girl from London and one from Barranquilla!" Dua replied, again in Spanish: "It was a beautiful night and I loved singing it."

Shakira had said publicly before that a collaboration with her was what she would like most. "I'd love to. She speaks excellent Spanish and she's incredible," she said on Lele Pons's podcast "Suite 205". At the start of this year the two met in Paris, and their teams have been working against the clock for Saturday night ever since.

But one of the most interesting guests wasn't on stage. In the audience, unannounced, was Jeff Bezos, one of the richest people in the world, with his wife Lauren Sánchez. His visit to Spain had not been publicly known - although he is no stranger to Madrid, where he held his bachelor party before the wedding in spring 2025. A man who could buy the whole residency came as a spectator. That says how much this concert series has become an event beyond music.

So far the residency has had Alejandro Sanz, Laura Pausini and Manuel Turizo as guests, and almost all tickets are sold. The fans call themselves "she-wolves", and at the start of the show famous faces in silver capes and futuristic glasses walk alongside Shakira. This Saturday they included Sara Carbonero, Paz Vega and Juana Acosta.

The model is clear: the star doesn't go around the cities, the cities and audiences come to her. Would any Balkan city have an audience for twelve nights with the same star?