For London’s Latin community, Bad Bunny’s record-breaking visit is not simply entertainment. It is recognition of a community that has been creating culture for decades under the surface, but still not recognised as an ethnicity in the national census.

Haringey, now hosting Bad Bunny’s record-breaking shows, was until recently at loggerheads with its Latin community who were fighting to save its “Latin Village” hub at Wards Corner, Seven Sisters. Today Wards Corner is home to a Bad Bunny “Casita” installation, organised by LatinoLife and CLAUK, and supported by Haringey Council and Transport for London.

LatinoLife is the Arts Council’s first Latina-run National Portfolio Organisation and runs LatinoLife in the Park, the UK’s largest Latin festival which will take place on July 19th in Walpole Park. LatinoLife is also the PRS Foundation’s only Latin music Talent Development Partnership, funded to nurture UK Latin talent and export it to the world.

“In a world where music in English is no longer dominant, nurturing Britain’s bi-lingual talent is not just important for the artists, it is essential for the UK music industry which needs to stay relevant in a rapidly changing global music market,“ says Jose Luis Seijas, Artistic Director of LatinoLife.

Last year, LatinoLife took British-Colombian rapper Yxng Dave to perform in Medellin, Colombia, and British-Portuguese-Angolan rapper Broken Pen to Brazil. “The experience was the most important of my career, and the best experience of my life,” said Broken Pen, who will perform on the Brazilian stage at LatinoLife in the Park Festival.

While Bad Bunny may be the headline, the real story is much bigger. It is about a community which spent decades creating opportunities and refusing to be invisible.

Jose Luis Seijas will be available for interview at La Casita installation taking place over the weekend at Wards Corner. Broken Pen and Yxng Dave will be available for interview ahead of LatinoLife in the Park.