Enrique Iglesias delights 25,000 fans upon his return to Spain after a long absence | Credit: @Enriqueiglesias/Instagram
It had been six years since Enrique Iglesias last sang on Spanish soil, but on Saturday night in Gran Canaria, he didn’t just return—he reclaimed it. And nobody expected it because, as reported by Euro Weekly News in mid-2022, the son of Julio Iglesias had announced his retirement from the music business.
Under the warm island sky and in front of 25,000 roaring fans, the Madrid-born global star brought his entire world back to where it began. And what unfolded wasn’t just a concert. It was a reckoning—intimate, explosive, and unapologetically his.
The stadium was vibrant, filled with energy even before Iglesias sounded off his first note. There was a hum in the air and a roaring vibration on the ground as if something unprecedented or surreal was about to happen. And then, it did. The opening bars of “Súbeme la radio” streamed through the air and into the night, and just like that, time collapsed.
No filler, no gimmicks
Thousands of LED bracelets lit up the stands, and thousands of Iglesias’s fans danced to his rhythm, as if the crowd itself had become a living, breathing constellation.
For two hours, Enrique delivered what his fans expected. He gave them all he is and all he has, which is more than enough.
No filler, no gimmicks—just music, memory, and connection. From “Bailando” to “El perdón” to “Duele el corazón,” each track hit like a homecoming anthem. The hits weren’t dusted off for nostalgia—they were alive, pulsing with new urgency, sung not just by him but by a crowd that knew every word and had waited too damn long to shout them back.
But the night’s real magic came not with the bangers, but with the stillness. Mid-set, Enrique dimmed the lights and brought out Argentine artist Emilia. The two performed “Héroe,” a song that’s now old enough to vote, yet still holds the emotional weight of a fresh scar. Emilia, fresh off her own fiery set, met Enrique note for note—raw, exposed, and unafraid. Their duet was less a performance, more shared memory. And in that moment, every love lost and held onto in that crowd rose with them.
Later, Emilia posted simply, “Gracias de corazón, Enrique.” She didn’t need to say more. The moment had spoken for itself.
“Héroe” has never left the Spanish bloodstream. Even pop royalty like Dua Lipa paid tribute to it earlier this year, performing it in Spanish during her Madrid tour stop. That song, like Enrique himself, doesn’t age—it transforms.
There was a gravity to this night, and not just because it marked Enrique’s first show in Spain since 2019. He turns 50 this year. It’s also the 30th anniversary of his debut album—three decades that saw him break from Julio Iglesias’s long shadow and build his throne on the global stage.
He’s no longer just the heartthrob from the ’90s. He’s one of the best-selling Latin artists of all time, with over 180 million albums sold and more than 19 billion streams in the digital ether.
They sang like he’d never left
But here’s the truth Enrique proved on Saturday: statistics don’t sing back. People do. And the people of Spain? They sang like he never left.
The Gran Canaria performance was also one of only five shows on his 2025 tour—a list that includes cities as far-flung as Sofia, Abu Dhabi, and Mumbai. Spain got the only hometown date. And the fans knew it. They treated every note like a gift.
Earlier in the day, festival-goers were treated to vibrant sets by Rawayana, Ca7riel and Paco Amoroso, and the electric Picoco’s, but once Enrique Iglesias took the stage, time just seemed to freeze and stand still in awe. The music, the light, the voices—it became something tribal—a collective release.
When it ended, there was no encore. Just Enrique, hand on his heart, eyes full of something unsaid. Maybe gratitude. Maybe relief. Maybe both.
What’s certain is this: Spain didn’t just witness a concert. It welcomed home a son.
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