Shakira moved to Miami following her very public split from her longtime partner, the world footballing great Gerard Piqué, the father of her two sons. However, Barranquilla, Colombia will always be home, and it is now guaranteed that Shakira will lord over the city regardless of her physical location.
On Tuesday, December 26, a 21-foot bronze statue depicting Shakira from her “Hips Don’t Lie” video was unveiled. Per ABC News, the statue was sculpted by Yino Márquez, and The Guardian noted, “The statue is large but not necessarily the largest pop icon statue to ever be erected. That accolade would seem to go to Forever Marilyn, a 26-ft tribute to the screen goddess Marilyn Monroe that now sits outside a tourism agency in Palm Springs, California.”
Shakira posted twice to Instagram to commemorate the honor, noting how happy she was to share the historic moment with her mother on her birthday. An Instagram carousel includes photos of her parents posing next to the statue and of her brother and father with the Mayor of Barranquilla.
Gracias al escultor Yino Márquez y a los estudiantes de la escuela distrital de artes por esta muestra del enorme talento artístico de la gente de mi tierra. pic.twitter.com/lR7ZQSO4Mx
However, the more interesting social media activity was how fans reacted. Someone posted on X (formerly Twitter), “I’d happily live under it.” Another person going by Chombe wrote, “This statue is bigger than Piqué’s career.” A user named DK (probably accurately) pointed out, “In 250 years, people are going to think this was a Spanish goddess.” Several more people anointed Shakira’s statue as superior to The Statue Of Liberty.
See some of the many reactions below.
This statue is bigger than Pique’s career pic.twitter.com/1k4lwKVr2P
The security guards when they notice I’ve been occasionally napping under it for the past 2 weeks pic.twitter.com/gDnBSaH77b
In 250 years people are going to think this was a Spanish goddess.
Can you just imagine how many of these are at the bottom of the sea
VIDEO: Colombian superstar Shakira’s Caribbean home city of Barranquilla has unveiled a 6.5-metre hip-swaying statue in her honour. The singer, an icon of Latina girl power, has sold around 80 million albums worldwide and won three Grammy awards. pic.twitter.com/xoHQZXzUEI
The new Statue of Liberty
Incredible! Way better than Ronaldo’s 🤣😭 pic.twitter.com/5Df64lZ1mF
what is the sculptor’s name? Gerard?
That’s some fine piece of statue 🔥🔥🔥 🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/o8JBgeBcMf
Statue of Liberty get off the floor. pic.twitter.com/z990MFRxan
Enough time has passed pic.twitter.com/UziyPn1xlD
Statue of Liberty WHO?!?!?!? pic.twitter.com/GfJxJB9hj6
