Julio Iglesias sex abuse case shelved by Spanish prosecutors over jurisdiction

Spanish prosecutors have shelved a sex abuse and human trafficking complaint against veteran singer Julio Iglesias, saying Spain's courts had no jurisdiction in the case. Photo / Ronaldo Schemidt, AFP

Spanish prosecutors have shelved a sex abuse and human trafficking complaint against veteran singer Julio Iglesias, saying Spain’s courts had no jurisdiction in the case.

Two women – a domestic worker and a physiotherapist – alleged they had suffered sexual and other forms of abuse while working at Iglesias’ properties in the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas in 2021.

The allegations dominated headlines in Spain after being aired last week in a joint investigation by online Spanish newspaper elDiario.es and US television network Univision.

But the preliminary investigation was dismissed because of a “lack of jurisdiction of the Spanish courts”, Spanish prosecutors wrote in their decision.

After reviewing the complaint, they said they could not open an investigation because the victims “are foreign”, “do not reside in Spain” and the accused is also outside the country.

Madrid-born Iglesias, 82, lives between Miami, the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas.

The alleged acts took place “in countries fully competent” to investigate them, the prosecutors added.

Advocacy groups Women’s Link Worldwide and Amnesty International had said a complaint filed with Spanish prosecutors on January 5, local time, outlined alleged acts that could be considered “a crime of human trafficking for the purpose of forced labour” and “crimes against sexual freedom”.

The two organisations called the prosecutors’ decision “regrettable” and said the two women “will continue fighting for justice and will pursue all available legal avenues”, in a statement published in elDiario.es.

Spanish prosecutors said their ruling does not prevent the women from filing their complaint in other jurisdictions.

Jurisdiction issue

According to testimony collected by the two groups, Iglesias subjected the women to “sexual harassment, regularly checked their mobile phones, restricted their ability to leave the home where they worked and required them to work up to 16 hours a day without days off”.

Iglesias called the accusations “absolutely false”, saying he had never “abused, coerced or disrespected any woman”.

“I have never felt such malice, but I still have the strength to let people know the whole truth and to defend my dignity against such a serious accusation,” he added on Instagram last week.

Earlier this week, Iglesias’ lawyer, Jose Antonio Choclan, told Spain’s top criminal court, the Audiencia Nacional, that the alleged acts should be prosecuted where they occurred, requesting the case be closed.

The complaint was submitted in Spain and not the Caribbean countries where the crimes allegedly took place because of the nature of Spanish legislation on gender-based violence and trafficking, Women’s Link Worldwide said.

Iglesias, father of fellow superstar singer Enrique Iglesias, is a Grammy winner with more than 300 million records sold in a career spanning decades.

– Agence France-Presse