A free concert by global superstar Shakira at the Zócalo in Mexico City is still on the books for Sunday, but a nationwide security crisis following the killing of cartel boss Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes has cast serious doubt on whether the show will go ahead as planned.
The Colombian sensation announced last week that she would give a free performance at 8 p.m. Sunday, March 1 in the Zócalo, officially called Plaza de la Constitución — one of Latin America’s largest public squares at nearly 47,000 square meters (11.6 acres).
“Mexico of my life, it’s time to give back some of the love you’ve given me,” she said in a video on her social media platforms.
City officials and Grupo Modelo billed the event as a gift to residents and visitors and as part of the brewer’s 100th anniversary, promising a show for “hundreds of thousands of people” in the capital’s main square.
Financed by Grupo Modelo and Corona, and produced by Mexico’s largest event promoter, OCESA, the concert is planned as the closing event of the Mexican leg of Shakira’s “Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran” (Women Don’t Cry Anymore) world tour.
There will also be live transmission on Shakira’s social media, and viewing screens will be placed on nearby streets as well as in the Alameda Central park and at the Monument to the Revolution to handle expected overflow.
The Zócalo is generally cited as being able to hold 100,000 people, although the Argentine band Los Fabulosos Cadillacs reportedly drew 300,000 people in 2023 to break the record for a free concert, and a huge gathering in 2025 marking seven years of the current Mexican government’s “Fourth Transformation” was put at more than 600,000 people.
If it goes off, the show will cap Shakira’s record-breaking run in Mexico — including 12 sold-out nights at Mexico City’s Estadio GNP Seguros, part of a tour that moved 1 million tickets in Mexico alone, according to OCESA.
Shakira’s bond with the Zócalo dates back to 2007, when she drew a crowd of 210,000 people, a record that stood for 15 years until Tijuana-based band Grupo Firme drew 280,000 three years ago.
Shakira’s 2007 show was remembered for hours-long lines, packed streets and fans fainting from the crush and heat before the singer took the stage at 9:20 p.m.
“We have a love story; I’m here to tell you: I love you, Mexico,” she told the crowd that night.
This time, the massive gathering was announced only days before an outbreak of violence in response to the government’s killing of Oseguera Cervantes, leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.
Federal authorities say the Sunday operation in Tapalpa, Jalisco, set off attacks in at least 20 states, as criminal groups responded with “narco-blockades” and coordinated assaults.
After entertainment journalist Gustavo Adolfo Infante warned in a broadcast that the Shakira concert “could be canceled to safeguard the safety of thousands of residents of Mexico City and tourists,” other media outlets picked up on the possibility and rumors of a change began to fly.
Infante’s comments came as other events in western Mexico — including a concert by Kali Uchis in Zapopan, a city of about 1.5 million people in the Guadalajara metro area — were scrapped after the violence erupted.
As of Monday, the Colombian-American singer’s show on Wednesday at the Palacio de los Deportes in Mexico City was still set to take place, as was Shakira’s Zócalo concert.
Infobae Mexico reported that neither the Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada nor the Ministry of Culture responded to requests to confirm or deny any cancellation, and that no statement had been issued by the city or Shakira’s team.
With reports from Infobae, Excélsior, Technocio, La Jornada and USA Today
