Singer Julio Iglesias faces Spanish inquiry into sexual assault allegations

Two women have accused Spanish singer Julio Iglesias of sexually assaulting them while they worked for him, claiming he “normalized abuse” in a coercive, threatening and violent environment.

The allegations in the news of the Spanish news site elDiario.es and the US broadcaster Univision are being investigated by the Spanish judiciary.

The singer employed the two women on his properties in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic and Lyford Cay in the Bahamas. According to their statements, the sexual assaults took place in 2021.

Iglesias, 82, has been a household name in Spain since the 1960s and has sold millions of records worldwide.

Iglesias and his lawyer did not respond to repeated requests for answers before the allegations were published, elDiario.es and Univision reported.

But a woman identified as the manager of one of the singer’s Caribbean properties said the allegations were “ridiculous”.

The BBC has attempted to contact Iglesias’ representatives for comment but has yet to receive a response.

One of the women interviewed, a domestic worker whose name was changed in the reports as Rebeca, said that he regularly called her to his room at the end of the day and touched her inappropriately with his fingers without her consent.

“He used me almost every night,” she said. “I felt like an object, a slave.”

Rebeca, who is Dominican and was 22 at the time of the alleged incidents, also alleged that Iglesias forced her to have a threesome with another female staff member. She also described the singer slapping her in the face and grabbing her genitals.

The other woman, a Venezuelan physical therapist identified in the article as Laura, said Iglesias touched her breasts and kissed her on the mouth against her will. She added that he constantly threatened to kick her out, checked how much she ate and asked when her period would come.

“He would always tell me I was fat and that I needed to lose weight,” Laura said, describing a work environment with “normalized abuse.”

Although he said he often rejected his sexual advances, “there were girls who couldn’t say no. And he did what he wanted with them.”

elDiario.es and Univision, which jointly investigated the incident over a three-year period, say the allegations are supported by documentary evidence such as photographs, phone records, text messages and medical reports.

Their reports include other former employees of Iglesias describing a threatening, highly stressful atmosphere for those who worked for him.

It was revealed that Rebeca and Laura filed a legal complaint against Iglesias on January 5, accusing him of sexual assault and human trafficking, to the national court investigating alleged crimes committed outside Spain.

Jaime Peñafiel, a former friend of Iglesias, called the accusations “an absolute lie.”

Another ally, journalist Miguel Ángel Pastor, said he had never heard “any suggestion that he might have committed this type of action.”

But Ana Redondo, Equality Minister in Spain’s Socialist-led government, said she hoped the case would be investigated “fully”.

“When there is no consent, there is assault,” he shared on social media.

Ione Belarra, leader of the far-left Podemos party, called for an end to the “silence” in cases of sexual assault by “famous attackers protected by their money”.

Last month, a woman filed a legal complaint alleging that former prime minister Adolfo Suárez, revered for his role in Spain’s transition to democracy, sexually harassed her starting when she was 17.

Conservative Suárez, died in 2014 and the police are investigating. Judge Jesús Villegas said the case against Suárez was unlikely to progress and that the case was politically motivated.

Conservative Isabel Díaz Ayuso, president of the Madrid region, supported the Spanish singer.

“The Madrid region will never contribute to the denigration of artists or even the most universal of all singers, Julio Iglesias,” he said on social media.

Iglesias’ biographer Ignacio Peyró and the author’s publishing house Libros del Asteroide also responded, saying they would update last year’s biography to include the allegations. They also stated that they showed “support and solidarity to the victims.”