Global music icon Julio Iglesias faced serious accusations of sexual abuse from two former employees. However, the Spanish courts have just dismissed the case, citing lack of territorial jurisdiction. A look back at the case.

The name of Julio Iglesias, now 82 years old, has been splashed across the media since early January. But this time, it's not about hit songs or record sales. The Spanish singer is accused of sexual assault by two former employees, for incidents that allegedly took place in 2021, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, in his private villas in the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic. The complaint has just been dismissed by the Spanish courts, which cited a lack of territorial jurisdiction. But Spain remains divided. The singer of "Vous les femmes," a virtually untouchable figure, is seeing his myth crumble.

Attacks almost daily

The public revelations stem from a wide-ranging investigation published on January 13th by the Spanish daily newspaper elDiario.es, in collaboration with the American Spanish-language media group Univision. The article, written after three years of investigation, reported the testimonies of two plaintiffs using pseudonyms: Rebeca and Laura, aged 22 and 28 respectively at the time of the events.

It all reportedly began in 2021 when Rebeca was hired as a housekeeper at one of Julio Iglesias's properties in the Bahamas. Like Laura, she claims to have been recruited through social media. But from the very first interview, she says, the professional atmosphere took a turn for the worse. The interviewer's questions came thick and fast: "Do you like women?", "Do you like threesomes?", "Have you had breast augmentation?" These inappropriate questions, she says, immediately set the tone. According to her testimony, Rebeca then endured nearly six months of non-consensual sex with the singer, who was 77 years old at the time. She recalls being summoned to his bedroom after work. "There, he would penetrate me anally and vaginally with his fingers," reports elDiario.es. "He used me almost every night. I felt like an object, like a slave."

Rebeca claims that these assaults almost always took place in the presence—and sometimes with the participation—of another employee in a higher position. She goes on to say, "He would violently grab my genitals, and it hurt terribly." "I'm your fucking robot, your slave, your doll. And I can't move," she recalls thinking. She also describes physical violence: "He would slap me very hard, with incredible force." As proof, elDiario.es reports photos of bruises on her body.

Rebecca recounts another incident: a few days later, she allegedly accompanied her employer to his villa in New Providence, Bahamas, claiming she was summoned to his bedroom at 11 p.m., where another woman—again, a superior in the hierarchy—was waiting, half-naked. “I started work at 8 a.m. and finished at 11 p.m.,” she says, before being called to orgies in the singer's bedroom. She still remembers having to, one night when he was sick, “lick his anus and give him fellatio all night,” because it “relieved him.” According to her, these summons only ceased when the singer's wife, Miranda Rijnsburger—22 years his junior—was present. elDiario.es and Univision report having tried to contact her, but without success.

A "climate of fear"

Laura, the singer's physiotherapist who also lived among the staff, recounts similar events. She claims it all began the day Julio Iglesias allegedly tried to kiss her and touch her breast against her will. "We were on the beach, he came up to me and touched my nipples," she asserts in her testimony. The incident was reportedly repeated in the pool of the villa in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.

Beyond the sexual assaults, she describes a toxic work environment: isolation of female employees, constant conflicts due to the singer's abusive temper, and prohibitions against forming relationships or leaving the house. The investigation also asserts that their accounts are further supported by substantial evidence, including photographs, call logs, WhatsApp messages, and medical reports. Laura describes a genuine "climate of fear." "Julio is very authoritarian. He threatens to fire you and constantly tells you that working for him is the best thing that's ever happened to you," she confides.

In addition to this, there was constant control over their cell phones—which he could demand at any time—and over their food as well. “I never left anything visible on my phone. I knew he would check it.” Rebecca adds, “This house should be called the house of horrors. It’s a nightmare.” The two women also describe public humiliations. Like the day Julio Iglesias allegedly asked Laura to undress in front of his colleagues (a fact confirmed by a guest who was present at the time).

Two categories of employees

ElDiario.es has finally gathered testimonies from former employees to complete its investigation and understand how the staff operated. They described an organization divided into two categories: domestic staff, such as housekeepers like Rebecca, and the "ladies"—physiotherapists and escorts, as the other employees were required to call them. Further up the hierarchy were the supervisors, whose role was to relay orders and fulfill all of the singer's requests. The newspaper claims to have identified two women in supervisory positions who, according to Rebecca, encouraged or asked staff to go to Julio Iglesias's room for sexual relations, sometimes in their presence, as mentioned above.

Contacted before and after publication, Julio Iglesias did not respond to journalists' requests. However, he did send a statement to elDiario.es after the investigation was published, denying "having abused, coerced, or disrespected any woman," and calling the accusations "absolutely false." The case was dismissed this Friday by the Spanish courts. The public prosecutor's office dismissed the complaint "due to lack of jurisdiction of the Spanish courts," particularly regarding territorial jurisdiction, according to the public prosecutor's document consulted by AFP. "According to the National Court prosecutor's office, the specialized court for sensitive cases based in Madrid, since the victims are not Spanish and do not reside in Spain, the accused person does not live in Spain either, and the alleged events did not occur in Spain, the Spanish courts cannot have jurisdiction," reported L'Indépendant.