LEGENDARY singer Julio Iglesias has threatened to sue Spain’s deputy prime minister after she called him a ‘sexual predator.’
Yolanda Diaz, of the left-wing party Sumar, also claimed that Iglesias treated his employees as ‘slaves’ and ran his estates under a ‘power structure based on permanent aggression,’ according to the singer’s lawyers.
Diaz’s remarks came amid sexual assault allegations – later shelved – made by two of Iglesias’ former employees at his Caribbean mansions in the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas.
The women, a domestic worker and a physiotherapist, said they suffered sexual abuse by the 82-year-old singer while working for him in 2021.
Spanish courts ultimately shelved the case because the alleged offenses occurred outside the country – an outcome that does not constitute an acquittal, judges have said.
Iglesias’ lawyers have now demanded that Diaz retract her remarks, acknowledge the ‘damage caused,’ and ‘pay compensation … based on the extent to which the defamatory comments were disseminated’ – all steps required before pursuing a defamation lawsuit.
READ MORE: Spain’s singing legend Julio Iglesias in shocking sex abuse allegations involving domestic staff
Diaz has since posted on Bluesky: “I defend working women against anyone who infringes on their dignity or their rights, and I will not stop.
Lawsuit or no lawsuit, women are no longer going to remain silent.”
The dispute stems from a message Diaz posted on Bluesky on January 13, shortly after the accusations were first made known by newspapers worldwide.
“Chilling testimony from Julio Iglesias’s former employees,” she wrote. “Sexual abuse and a situation of enslavement within a power structure based on constant aggression.”
“I want to thank the brave women and the journalists at elDiario.es.es for bringing this to light.”
During a TV interview the next day, Diaz added: “I believe the investigation we have been learning about in recent days is terrifying, truly frightening.
“It brings together every kind of human rights violation against women who were, moreover, in an extremely vulnerable position – extremely so as human beings, and extremely so as employees of Julio Iglesias.”
In the same interview, the minister also referred to the singer as an ‘alleged aggressor.’
Iglesias’ lawyers blasted Diaz for labelling the entertainer’s former employees as ‘victims,’ stressing that their allegations had yet to be proven in court.
They also argued that her remarks risked creating public prejudice that their client was ‘guilty.’
“Iglesias has never been under investigation, nor has he ever been considered a suspect,” said Jose Antonio Choclan, one of the singer’s lawyers.
The shelved allegations were initially filed with Spanish courts on January 23.
Following dismissal, a filing from prosecutors – seen by Reuters – stated that prosecution could still be pursued in the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas, where the alleged abuse took place.
The scandal first came to light after the claimants accused Iglesias of subjecting them to “inappropriate touching, insults, and humiliation… in an atmosphere of control and constant harassment,” including regularly checking their mobile phones and restricting their ability to leave their workplaces.
One of the women, identified as Rebecca to protect her identity, said Iglesias would call her to his room and penetrate her anally and vaginally with his fingers.
“He used me almost every night,” she told Spanish website elDiario.es. “I felt like an object, like a slave.”
Another woman, using the pseudonym Laura, said Iglesias kissed her and touched her breasts without consent.
The allegations emerged after a three-year investigation by elDiario.es, which also published documents suggesting that Iglesias – the most commercially successful Spanish singer in history, having sold more than 300 million records – required women who worked for him to undergo tests for sexually transmitted diseases.
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