Bad Bunny Boycotts America: How Malta’s Latin Community is Rallying Behind the Reggaeton Rebel

**Bad Bunny Boycotts US Tour Over Immigration Fears – What Malta’s Latin Community Thinks**

Reggaeton superstar Bad Bunny’s shock decision to skip the United States on his upcoming “Mundo Extraño” world tour has ricocheted through Malta’s tight-knit Latin American diaspora, with many islanders praising the Puerto Rican artist for choosing principle over profit.

The 30-year-old singer—whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio—told *Rolling Stone* that he “cannot in good conscience ask fans to risk detention, separation or worse” amid a wave of high-profile ICE raids that have swept stadium parking lots and public-transport hubs in Texas, Florida and Arizona. Instead, he will add extra dates in Mexico, Colombia and, for the first time, Spain’s Canary Islands—only a 90-minute flight from Malta.

For Valletta resident Marisol Zammit, a 27-year-old Ecuadorian who arrived in Malta as an English-language student in 2018 and now manages the popular Sliema bar “La Plaza,” the news feels personal. “My cousin in New York missed a Bad Bunny concert last year because she was scared to take the subway,” Zammit told *Hot Malta*. “When I read that he’s skipping the entire US, I actually cried. He’s using his platform to protect people like us.”

Malta’s Latin American community is small—around 2,500 nationals according to the latest Identity Malta figures—but it punches above its weight in the hospitality, entertainment and care sectors. Facebook group “LatinoMalta” exploded with comments within minutes of the tour announcement, with users posting Puerto Rican flags and frog emojis (Bad Bunny’s trademark) under the hashtag #BenitoConNosotros. One member super-imposed the artist’s trademark heart-shaped sunglasses onto a photo of the Triton Fountain; another jokingly asked whether Bad Bunny could be persuaded to stop in Malta instead of Gran Canaria.

Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo declined to comment on whether officials had approached the singer’s management, but sources inside the Malta Tourism Authority confirmed “informal soundings” were made last week. “We floated the idea of a one-off boutique show at the Malta Fairs & Conventions Centre, capacity 6,000,” the insider said. “His team replied that European routing is already locked, but they were ‘touched by the Maltese love’.”

Cultural critic and University of Malta lecturer Dr. Carla Bonnici argues that Bad Bunny’s boycott resonates in Malta for deeper historical reasons. “We’re a migration nation too,” she said. “In the 1950s Maltese dockworkers were racially profiled in Liverpool and Sydney. Today’s Latin American fear of ICE raids mirrors what our own grandparents experienced from British or Australian immigration police. Bad Bunny’s stance taps into a universal Maltese memory: *il-biża’ tal-ħaddiem*—the worker’s fear of being uprooted.”

The economic ripple is also being felt. Paceville DJ and promoter Brandon Lee (real name Brandon Micallef) had planned a “Bad Bunny Boat Party” on 15 July, ferrying 400 fans from Spinola Bay to Comino for a sunset reggaeton cruise. Tickets at €45 a head sold out in 48 hours; Lee now faces a flood of refund requests. “People wanted to warm up for his Barcelona gig,” Lee sighed. “Without the US dates, European tickets are gold dust. resale prices hit €600. My boat party feels pointless.”

Yet not everyone is sympathetic. Nationalist MEP candidate Peter Agius warned against “importing foreign grievances.” In a Facebook post that garnered 300 comments, Agius wrote: “Malta should focus on Maltese artists, not Puerto Rican millionaires playing politics.” His view was quickly ratioed by younger voters. “Art *is* politics,” replied 19-year-old MCAST student Maria Eileen Saliba. “If we hosted Bad Bunny, we’d show solidarity with migrants who pick our tomatoes in Żebbuġ greenhouses.”

For now, the closest Maltese fans can get is the Canary Islands date on 3 October. Ryanair has already added two extra weekly flights from Malta to Gran Canaria; return fares have jumped from €89 to €210. Zammit, the Valletta bar manager, is organising a charter group. “We booked 50 seats in one go,” she grinned. “We’ll wave the Maltese flag *and* the Puerto Rican flag. Bad Bunny may not know where Malta is, but he’ll feel us in the crowd.”

In a world where borders feel increasingly brutal, Malta’s Latin diaspora has found an unlikely anthem: a chart-topping millionaire who refused to cross the line.