Puerto Rico stops for 13 minutes to applaud history and bask in Bad Bunny's glow

[marmar]

(NPR) SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The Super Bowl lasted all of 13 minutes for many Puerto Ricans in San Juan and beyond.

People turned their backs to TV screens as food, music and chatter filled the first half of the game until a hush fell across the island. The halftime show was starting.

This was Puerto Rico's moment, a spotlight on a collective son who quit bagging groceries a decade ago and became the world's most streamed artist on Spotify last year. Since then, Bad Bunny has used his platform to applaud immigrants, sing about Puerto Rico's identity and turmoil and denounce U.S. immigration policies.

"He appeared at the right moment in the history of Latin America," said Marielys Rojas, 39, who is originally from Venezuela but has lived the last 22 years in Puerto Rico.

She was among the hundreds who gathered by a grassy knoll near a beach in Puerto Rico's capital to watch the halftime show on a huge screen as waves crashed behind them and the sounds of coquís, an endemic frog, filled the salty air. ........................(more)

https://www.npr.org/2026/02/08/nx-s1-5706061/puerto-ricans-super-bowl-halftime-show

[Kid Berwyn]

1. First time Puerto Rico has been front-and-center for the USA in a long time.

From before a hurricane knocked out power for a year before FEMA and the Wall Street Penury:



A meaningful performance. The Spanish cellist Pablo Casals headlined the 1961 state dinner that the Kennedys held for Luis Muñoz Marín, the governor of Puerto Rico. Casals lived in Puerto Rico at the time because he opposed the dictatorship in Spain. One of the songs he performed, “Song of the Birds,” is a Catalan Christmas carol that, according to the Kennedy Presidential Library, symbolized Spain as well as Casals’ feelings for hope and freedom.

Source: https://stories.state.gov/dinner-is-served/dance/pablo-casals/

[malaise]

9. It was magnificent

Lots if coverage here about the moment - I’ll treasure it

[malaise]

10. THIS

"I thought it was phenomenal that Bad Bunny brought all Latinos together in one place and represented them all equally," said Carlos Ayala, 36, of San Juan. "It's an important moment for Latino culture."

[Johnny2X2X]

2. MAGA is losing their minds and here's why

Because this halftime performance in Spanish and the alternative show with Kid Rock laid it all out for them, exactly. On one hand, you have America as a melting pot of many cultures with a shared story running through them all. On the other hand you have a clear message of America is for whites only.

The fact yesterday laid this out so clearly is making them crazy. Yes, America is for everyone and not just white people. We can celebrate all cultures here and what language you speak doesn't make you any more of any less American. The fact they're basically having to defend the message of whites only has melted their brains.

[llmart]

7. We all know that MAGAs are extremely gullible and stupid but...

on some level they are aware of the undisputable fact that the majority of people in this country don't agree with their agenda and hate their cult leader with a red hot passion.

[AllaN01Bear]

3. even though i didnt wtch the game , ding this.

[somaticexperiencing]

4. Who was the cool person or persons who brought Bad Bunny to the Super Bowl? They deserve some credit for

giving this voice at this time. I hope they did it for the right reasons, but either way they did it, the message was just unbelievably heartening and unifying.

More of this.

Truth is, the founding fathers and let's just say founding people lived in an Age of Reason and came up with a doctrine and documents that really enshrined a way of living that is judicious. Now and since, certain people have been trying to tear this down. To say wrong is right and to adulterate the content and meaning of these documents. Where the Supreme court will actually say you can't gerrymander to give majorities a proper voice but you can gerrymander for the purpose of gaining a partisan edge. What kind of world is this?

I hope that through the extremities of the actions being taken by this political party that seems to have lost all common sense so many people are seeing what is truly cockeyed about this moment and this now.

It is time to embody and recite the original principles in new ways that do honor to them, especially during this upcoming 250th year. We have a time to do it. We can create platforms to do it. And I say more Bad Bunnies!

[mysteryowl]

6. It might have been intentional to bring controversy.

Controversy creates a buzz and more viewers.



I would like to think it was decided for his art form alone.

[nuxvomica]

5. I'm so happy for the people of Puerto Rico

What a great evening for them!

[maxsolomon]

8. It made me want to visit. Expect tourism to soar.

51st State Now! Or independence if they want it...