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Spanish prosecutors said Tuesday they were investigating allegations that Spanish singer Julio Iglesias had sexually abused two of his former employees.
The two women filed a complaint with a Spanish high court on Jan. 5, according to official sources. That same day, two Spanish media outlets published a three-year joint investigation into broader allegations of sexual assault and harassment by Iglesias.
Russell King, who on his website is listed as Iglesias’ attorney, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Sony Music, the singer’s record label, also did not immediately return a request for comment, and a message sent through the singer’s official website received no response. Spanish-speaking media outlets that conducted the investigation, the news site elDiario.es and the television network Univision News, wrote that Iglesias had not responded to repeated requests for comment.
Iglesias, 82, has sold hundreds of millions of records and achieved international success throughout his six-decade career for his love ballads, including his 1984 recording of “To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before” with Willie Nelson, which became a hit in the United States. Iglesias is a much loved figure in Spain, and his website presents him as “the most selling Latino artist in history”. He is also the father of singer Enrique Iglesias.
The prosecution did not provide further information on the allegations. The New York Times has not independently verified claims made in the joint investigation of the Spanish-language media.
Journalists included the testimonies of 15 people who worked for Iglesias between the late 1990s and 2023. None of them wanted to be identified.
The women described an environment of intimidation, abuse and harassment, which hired women for their appearance and subjected them to inappropriate questions from Iglesias about their sexual preferences and anatomy.
Two women, who did not reveal his name and who worked for the singer as a domestic worker and physical therapist in the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas, described how they were assaulted or forced by their superiors to have sex with him in 2021.
One of the women, who used a pseudonym, graphically told elDiario.es and Univision News how Iglesias sexually abused her almost every night.
The other woman, who also identified herself with a pseudonym, told the media that Iglesias had inappropriately touched her against her will.
Isabel Díaz Ayuso, conservative governor of the Community of Madrid, said on social media that the region “will never contribute to the discrediting of artists and less, to that of the most universal singer of all: Julio Iglesias.”
At a press conference in Madrid, Elma Saiz, minister of the left-wing government, said the accusations would be investigated “until the end” because there could be “no space of impunity in any area of society.” He added, “We’re not going to look the other way.”
Julio nor his family or son Enrique Iglesias have pronounced about it.
José Bautista collaborated with reporters.
Written by NYT Jason Horowitz the bureau’s chief in Rome; he covers Italy, the Vatican, Greece, and other southern European sites.
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