“Bad Bunny’s Puerto Rico residency is a rare example of fame used for good,” wrote Adrian Horton for the Guardian. “The megastar’s unprecedented 21-date residency is estimated to bring $200m into the local economy with early tickets exclusively reserved for locals.” And certainly Bad Bunny has given Puerto Rico’s economy a shot in the arm. It’s a well-designed bump to the economy, too, with special measures to encourage tourists coming to the shows to spend locally.
Rooms in local hotels are bundled with concert tickets to discourage the use of AirBnB options. Local vendors thronged the parking lots outside the show and local people in towns across the Island came up with entrepreneurial connections, from tours showing tourists scenes from Bad Bunny’s childhood to pop-up shops selling traditional clothing. Bad Bunny actively encouraged his audience to shop local from the stage and in his social media posts.
Bad Bunny’s musical talent and altruistic spirit have not only brought a jolt to the Island’s economy, but have also increased awareness of Puerto Rico across the nation and around the world.
Lack of support for Puerto Rico’s goals
While Bad Bunny is certainly using his celebrity status to support Puerto Rico, he’s not supporting the goals of the people living on the Island. As George Laws Garcia pointed out in the Orlando Sentinel, “[O]ne of the island’s loudest cultural voices, Bad Bunny, is using his global platform to promote a misleading narrative — one that suggests Puerto Ricans want separation from the United States, when in fact the opposite is true.”
Puerto Ricans have voted four times in favor of statehood, choosing that status option in every status vote taken during this century. In November, 2024, 58% of voters chose statehood as their preferred status. The statehood majority has also routinely been seen in scientific polling in Puerto Rico and in the United States.
Yet Bad Bunny does not support statehood. He supports decolonization, while not specifically calling for independence, and financed a billboard campaign against the statehood party before last year’s election. He endorsed Juan Dalmau, the candidate for the Independence Party, in that election. It is possible that his endorsement brought the Independence Party (in its alliance with the Citizen Victory Movement), up to 30% of votes, ahead of the “commonwealth” party for the first time. Yet even that endorsement — echoed by two Puerto Rican congresswomen from New York — did not bring Dalmau victory. Nor did it lead to a victory for independence in the status referendum, where independence managed to gain just 12% of the vote.
What’s the effect?
If Bad Bunny’s political efforts have been ineffective in changing Puerto Rican voters’ minds, they have not been entirely without effect. The Independence Party has been active since 1946 but no candidate from this party has ever won the position of Governor of Puerto Rico or Resident Commissioner. Independence had never received more than 5% of the vote in any status referendum until it reached 12% last year…but 12% is still a small fraction. Yet there is a recent trend involving independence: not a significant increase in support for independence on the Island, but a strong trend in media (especially on the mainland) claiming that independence is growing in popularity.
In spite of clear evidence that Puerto Rico still doesn’t want independence, mainland news outlets have published a rash of stories claiming that Puerto Rico’s desire for independence is growing and that independence is on the rise. Bad Bunny’s political pronouncements have certainly had a part in that otherwise hard-to-explain trend.
Laws makes a further point about the message Bad Bunny is sending: “There are also troubling undertones in some of his messaging — playing into xenophobic anxieties about ‘gringos’ and blaming outsiders for problems that stem from structural disenfranchisement. At a time when Puerto Rico needs to attract residents, investment, and innovation, closing the door to newcomers is not just unwise — it’s unsustainable. Demographers estimate that the island must grow its population by over a million in the coming decades to achieve economic stability.”
The post Bad Bunny’s Effects on Puerto Rico, Good and Bad appeared first on PUERTO RICO REPORT.
