Madrid Becomes ‘The Musical Bridge’ Between Spain and Latin America

As the Spanish music market grows stronger, with live-music attendance at a record high and more interest than ever in Spanish-language artists, the Community of Madrid — the region that includes the nation’s capital city — has launched several initiatives to expand its musical footprint.

Initiatives range from Sesión Vermú — a concert series that in 2023 featured 90 shows by 46 bands in 24 municipalities — to the massive concerts by Latin headliners Camilo and Carlos Vives at the iconic Puerta de Alcalá, in the center of the city.

“Madrid is the musical bridge between Latin America and Europe,” says Community of Madrid president Isabel Díaz Ayuso. “The Community of Madrid is dedicated to supporting new talent and young creation and offering fans the best emerging music from Spain. Likewise, it is committed to the world circuit with great musical events and festivals.”

These include the First Forum of Music in Spanish, presented by Billboard and scheduled for March 19, which will feature industry and artist panels and a showcase by Argentine rapper-singer Nicki Nicole.

“I’m very excited about this as a Spaniard,” says Sony Music U.S. Latin vp of business development Rafael Madroñal, who is based in Miami.

Madroñal helped secure partnerships between Sony and the Community of Madrid to revive the city after the coronavirus pandemic with massive, free concerts as part of Hispanidad, a weeklong festival held annually in Madrid to celebrate music, dance, theater, cuisine and Ibero American folklore. The first festival concert, by Colombian singer Camilo, drew around 80,000 people in October 2022. The second, by fellow Colombian Vives, attracted over 100,000 the following year and featured both local and international guest artists such as Ana Mena, Ryan Castro, Prince Royce and Juanes.

“Hispanidad 2024 will be even more ambitious both in terms of the number of activities, as well as the artists and countries invited,” Díaz Ayuso says.

“La Puerta de Alcalá, for us and for me, meant many things,” Vives says. “It was not only celebrating — in Spain, in an iconic city — our 30 years of career and [my album] La Provincia, but also celebrating 30 years of singing for that wonderful and diverse land. If I can summarize what my concert at Puerta de Alcalá represented: the cry of reaffirming my pride in being Hispanic American.”

The day after the event, Camilo called the show “the biggest concert of my life” on Instagram.

And the benefits of such bookings go beyond the magic of the moment, Madroñal says, recalling that shortly after their respective shows, Camilo and Vives returned to Spain on tour.

This year, Madrid will reopen the renovated and expanded Santiago Bernaéu Stadium to provide another great musical stage, with superstars like Luis Miguel, Taylor Swift and Karol G already confirmed to perform concerts.

“Here, quality and excellence prevail,” Díaz Ayuso says, “and the best from here and there come together to create real magic.”

This story will appear in the March 9, 2024, issue of Billboard.