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Mexico President Asks Bad Bunny for Free Mexico City Concert

Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny performs in concert at El Campin stadium in Bogota, Colombia, 20 November 2022. (EPA)
Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny performs in concert at El Campin stadium in Bogota, Colombia, 20 November 2022. (EPA)
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Mexico President Asks Bad Bunny for Free Mexico City Concert

Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny performs in concert at El Campin stadium in Bogota, Colombia, 20 November 2022. (EPA)
Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny performs in concert at El Campin stadium in Bogota, Colombia, 20 November 2022. (EPA)

Mexico's President on Wednesday asked Puerto Rican rapper and singer Bad Bunny to perform a free concert in the vast Zocalo square in Mexico City's center after a fiasco with Ticketmaster left hundreds of ticket holders unable to enter his sold-out show at the Estadio Azteca stadium on Friday. 

"I know he is super busy and tired because he works a lot, but I'm asking him to consider the possibility of coming to Mexico to the Zocalo. We can't pay him. It would have to be a collaboration," President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said during a regular news conference. 

Ticketmaster, which has blamed the issue on an "unprecedented number of fake tickets", said in a statement on Monday it is collaborating with authorities and committed to fully reimbursing fans that could not get into the concert, plus an additional 20% of the total cost of the ticket. 

In neighboring United States, Ticketmaster faces a tsunami of criticism for problems in selling tickets to a 2023 Taylor Swift tour.  

US Senator Amy Klobuchar has said a Senate antitrust panel will hold a hearing on the lack of competition in the ticketing industry following the company's Swift ticket sales debacle. 

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With Taylor Swift Heading to Germany, One City Has Taken Her Name — At Least for a Few Weeks

Schoolgirl Aleshanee Westhoff shows a "Swiftkirchen" town sign in honor of musician Taylor Swift in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. (dpa via AP)
Schoolgirl Aleshanee Westhoff shows a "Swiftkirchen" town sign in honor of musician Taylor Swift in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. (dpa via AP)
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With Taylor Swift Heading to Germany, One City Has Taken Her Name — At Least for a Few Weeks

Schoolgirl Aleshanee Westhoff shows a "Swiftkirchen" town sign in honor of musician Taylor Swift in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. (dpa via AP)
Schoolgirl Aleshanee Westhoff shows a "Swiftkirchen" town sign in honor of musician Taylor Swift in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. (dpa via AP)

The Swifties are about to take over the German city formerly known as Gelsenkirchen, where American superstar Taylor Swift is set to give three Eras Tour concerts later this month.

In honor of the singer, the city has renamed itself “Swiftkirchen” — at least temporarily — to welcome the tens of thousands of fans who are expected to come for her shows on July 17, 18 and 19, German news agency dpa reported.

A yellow city sign with the new name — which translates roughly to “Swift’s Church” — was unveiled Tuesday by Swift fan Aleshanee Westhoff, who suggested the name to the city’s mayor and started a petition a few weeks ago. Mayor Karin Welge thanked the teenager for her “great idea” in a letter accepting the proposal.

The Swiftie sign has been emblazoned with a pink portrait of the pop icon and is located in the city center. Several more signs “at highly frequented locations in Gelsenkirchen” will be put up in the coming days, city spokesman Markus Schwardtmann told dpa.

One of the poorest cities in Germany, Gelsenkirchen is a former coal mining town that’s never recovered from the decline of its main industry. The Ruhr city is known for its soccer team, and a massive stadium that occasionally attracts international entertainers like Swift.

And there’s more to come in Germany’s Swiftie town.

The US singer will also receive her own stone on the Gelsenkirchen Walk of Fame, alongside local notables like soccer coach Rudi Assauer and writer Ilse Kibgis, and during her concerts, the city will host open-air parties with karaoke performances. A “Taylor Swift streetcar” is already up and running, dpa reported.

Further fan attractions are being planned but kept secret for the time being. “There will be lots of big and small surprises so that the Swifties have plenty to discover in Gelsenkirchen,” Schwardtmann said.

Swift’s concerts in Gelsenkirchen are sold out and will take place at the Veltins-Arena on Schalke stadium, which has space for up to 70,000 Swifties. Further Eras Tour shows are planned for Hamburg and Munich.