Aitana’s fame is Span is spreading to Mexico. But she does Engish. Is the US next?
Aitana: Spain’s pop star has room to grow in Mexico
While I was cruising through the top hits in Mexico, which I do from time to time, I ran across “Conexion Psiquica” by Aitana . I was hooked. Of course, I had heard of Aitana – you can’t be in this business in Mexico and not know the name of the woman whose song “Mon Amour (Remix),” reached No. 1 on Spotify in Mexico as well as Spain. But I had not really listened to her because she was Spanish, not Mexican.
A few bars of “Conexión Psiquica led to her latest release, “Superestrella,” and her juggernaut, “Mon Amour (remix)” with almost a billion Spotify streams. So I decided to ask who this 27-year-old Spaniard is who is quickly entering the Mexican music consciousness. I discovered that she is Spain’s most successful young pop export to Mexico at the moment—well below the country’s all-time icons and current regional-Mexican giants, but now a genuine upper-tier pop draw rather than a cult import. The question is, can she last? Her history says Sí, ella puede – “Yes she can”
Aitana Ocaña Morales was born in Barcelona in 1999, and in 2017 she finished runner-up onOperación Triunfo, Spain’s long-running talent competition. She hit the ground running and showed that she was much more than TV fluff. At 27, she has grown from reality-show actress into one of Spanish pop’s most dependable young stars.
Her earliest songs were sharp, radio-ready pop: “Lo Malo,” the breakout duet with Ana Guerra, and the solo hit “Teléfono,” which reached No. 1 in Spain. By the time she released her debut album,Spoiler, in 2019, Aitana had established a sound built on youthful confessionals, polished production, and hooks designed for both headphones and arena sing-alongs – no easy trick, especially for a new entrant into the high-level music world. But one or two hits were not going to do it. She needed more.
“More” was an instinct for reinvention.Her 2020 release 11 Razones leaned into guitar-driven pop-rock, and then the following year she moved toward electronic and club-pop tunes with Alpha. Her 2025 album,Cuarto Azul, continues that evolution with an intimate set of songs about desire, heartbreak, and growing up in public. It reached No. 1 in Spain and certified triple platinum there.
But for me, the breakthrough came with Aitana’s “Mon Amour (Remix),” her collaboration with Spanish singer-songwriter Zzoilo. It reached No. 1 on Spotify in Mexico as well as Spain. She was now a cross-border streaming phenomenon.
That song demonstrated her sustainability because it also climbed to No. 34 on Spotify’s global chart and has amassed more than 914 million streams on Spotify. This is not a one-hit wonder.
And then came “Superestrella,” fromCuarto Azul, which reached No. 4 on Spotify Mexico and No. 38 globally. The ranking in Mexico is important because Mexico City is among her largest Spotify listener cities; with roughly 968,000 listeners, she has built a real urban fan base beyond Spain, and I think it is built to last.
Aitana has also been smart about collaborators. She has worked with Ana Guerra, Sebastián Yatra, Beret, Nicki Nicole, Morat, Quevedo, Myke Towers and Zzoilo, connecting her to Spanish pop, Argentine urban music, Mexican Latin pop and Puerto Rican reggaetón. “Formentera,” with Nicki Nicole, and “Gran Vía,” with Quevedo, helped confirm that her appeal extends beyond traditional pop audiences. A sure sign that she can keep adapting, changing, and drawing bigger and bigger audiences.
English may be the next frontier. Aitana has not made a full English-language album. Still, she has tested the language in selected recordings and collaborations, including a bilingual version of Sam Smith’s “Like I Can,” and has appeared on Katy Perry’s “Resilient.” I think that her rocket ship rise in Spanish can transfer to English.
Aitana is scheduled to appear in Guadalajara on October 30, 2026, at Auditorio Telmex, a medium-sized venue holding up to 9,000 people, depending on configuration, as part of Cuarto Azul World Tour. Whether or not appearing during Día de Muertos /Halloween week will help or hinder performance could depend on marketing. There will be a lot of competition, and maybe she can perform as Catrina – we’ll see. Regardless, Mexico is becoming her second musical home, and she has a lot of room to grow here. She will.
Patrick O’Heffernan
Photo: Aitana on the 11 Razones tour. Creative Commons