Agencia EFE
Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, July 25 (EFE) – Before filling stadiums and topping global charts, Bad Bunny was a quiet, studious teen from Vega Baja, a town on Puerto Rico’s northern coast. As the artist launches the third weekend of his concert residency “No Me Quiero Ir De Aquí”, the town is embracing his roots through an official tour retracing his early life and musical beginnings.
A person rides a bicycle in front of a Bad Bunny mural in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico. Jul. 24, 2025. EFE/Thais Llorca
Organized by the Vega Baja Tourism Office, the tour offers fans a glimpse of where Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, better known as Bad Bunny, grew up, studied, and worked before his international breakthrough in 2016.
“It’s a journey through the places that shaped him,” says Miguel García, Director of Tourism, Arts, and Culture in Vega Baja. “Everyone here, across generations, is proud that Benito is one of us.”
Early life: Church, school, and supermarket shifts
The tour begins in Almirante, Bad Bunny’s childhood neighborhood.
There stands the middle school where a young Benito took part in talent shows, and photos that show the artist holding a microphone even then.
The janitor of the Juan Quirindongo Morell High School, Nydia Vazquez, closes the door of the high school where singer Bad Bunny studied, in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico. Jul. 24, 2025. EFE/Thais Llorca
A short walk away is the Parroquia Santísima Trinidad, where he served as an altar boy.
“His mother is a catechist and active in the church,” García adds. “It makes sense that faith played a role in his upbringing.”
At Juan Quirindongo Morell High School, where he completed his secondary education, staff recall him as respectful and introspective.
“He was very calm, very smart,” says Nydia Vázquez, a school custodian. “He loved Spanish class. That might be where he started writing his early lyrics.”
After graduating in 2012, Bad Bunny enrolled in university while working at the Econo Plaza supermarket.
A man walks in front of a storefront with mannequins displaying merchandise alluding to singer Bad Bunny in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico. Jul. 24, 2025. EFE/Thais Llorca
A sign at the entrance reads “Where it all began.” He worked there from 2013 to 2016, first as a bagger, then as a cashier.
“He was responsible and humble,” says Adelissa Vélez, HR manager at the store. “He would sing while working, and we noticed his style evolving; he’d wear hats when he shaved his head.”
As his music gained traction, he gifted 50 tickets to his first major concert to former coworkers.
Landmarks featured in music and legacy tour
The tour includes stops at Puerto Nuevo beach, where Bad Bunny performed in 2016 at a local food festival and later filmed music videos like “La Jumpa”, “Subimos de Rango”, and “Estamos Bien”.
Photograph showing an area of the Almirante neighborhood where singer Bad Bunny grew up, in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico. Jul. 24, 2025. EFE/Thais Llorca
The beach is the only one in Puerto Rico currently awarded Blue Flag status.
Visitors also see the downtown mural “Gente de Vega Baja”, painted by Urban Russian Doll, which honors Bad Bunny alongside other local icons such as baseball stars Juan ‘Igor’ González and Iván Rodríguez, and Olympic swimmer Vanessa García.
Vega Baja, a town of 52,000 residents, will celebrate its 250th anniversary in 2026.
Once known as “the orange grove village,” it later became “the city of melao melao” due to its sugarcane heritage.
“The Conejo Tour connects fans to the real Benito,” García says. “It’s not just tourism, it’s storytelling.”
EFE / By Marina Villén
