Julio Iglesias, the internationally renowned Spanish singer, faces accusations of sexual assault from two women who formerly worked for him. The women allege a pattern of “normalised abuse” within a coercive and threatening environment.
Reports by Spanish news outlet elDiario.es and US broadcaster Univision detail the allegations, which are now under investigation by Spanish judicial authorities.
The accusers were employed at Iglesias’ properties in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, and Lyford Cay, Bahamas. Their testimonies allege the sexual assaults occurred in 2021.
Iglesias, 82, has been a prominent figure in Spanish culture since the 1960s, achieving worldwide recognition with millions of records sold.
According to elDiario.es and Univision, neither Iglesias nor his legal representatives responded to multiple requests for comment prior to publication.
However, a manager identifying herself as overseeing one of the singer’s Caribbean properties dismissed the claims as “nonsense.”
The BBC has also sought comment from Iglesias’ representatives but has not yet received a response.
One of the women, identified as Rebeca in the reports, a domestic worker, claims Iglesias routinely summoned her to his room late at night and subjected her to unwanted physical contact.
“He used me almost every night,” she stated. “I felt like an object, like a slave.”
Rebeca, who is Dominican and was 22 at the time of the alleged incidents, also alleges that Iglesias coerced her into participating in threesomes with another female employee. She further alleges that the singer slapped her and grabbed her genitals.
The other woman, a Venezuelan physical therapist named Laura in the reports, alleges Iglesias touched her breasts and forcibly kissed her. She also claims he consistently threatened her with termination, controlled her food intake, and inquired about her menstrual cycle.
“He always said I was fat and had to lose weight,” Laura stated, describing a working environment characterized by “normalised abuse.”
She added that while she frequently rejected his 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 allegations over three years, assert that their reporting is supported by documentary evidence, including photographs, phone records, text messages, and medical reports.
Their reports also cite other former employees who describe a threatening and stressful atmosphere within Iglesias’s employment.
Rebeca and Laura reportedly filed a legal complaint on January 5 against Iglesias for sexual assault and human trafficking before the national court, which has jurisdiction over crimes allegedly committed outside of Spain.
Jaime Peñafiel, a longtime friend of Iglesias, has dismissed the accusations as “absolute lies.”
Journalist Miguel Ángel Pastor, another ally, stated he had never heard “any suggestion that he might have committed this kind of act.”
However, Ana Redondo, Spain’s Equality Minister, expressed hope that the case would be investigated “all the way.”
“When there is no consent there is assault,” she posted 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 assailants who are protected by their money.”
Last month, a legal complaint was filed against the late Adolfo Suárez, a former prime minister, alleging he sexually abused the complainant from the age of 17.
Suárez, who died in 2014, is being investigated. However, a magistrate has stated the case is unlikely to prosper and is politically motivated.
Isabel Díaz Ayuso, the conservative president of the Madrid region, has voiced support for the singer.
“The Madrid region will never contribute to the vilifying of artists and even less so to that of the most universal of all singers: Julio Iglesias,” she stated on social media.
Iglesias’s biographer Ignacio Peyró and the author’s publishing house, Libros del Asteroide, have stated they will update last year’s biography to include the allegations and expressed their “support and solidarity for the victims”.