SPANISH singing star Julio Iglesias has filed a lawsuit against the news portal elDiario.es for not retracting sexual assault allegations made against him in January.
The outlet’s editor, Ignacio Escolar and four journalists face libel charges instigated by the entertainer’s lawyers.
Both parties however were scheduled to meet in a Madrid court on Thursday to see if a mediated deal could be reached to avoid a trial.
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Legal sources have told the EFE agency that Ignacio Escolar and his staff have refused to retract their stories and are not keen on pre-trial mediation.
The allegations involved two former female employees at his home in the Dominican Republic, which were dismissed by the National Court in January- the same month that elDiario.es published their story.
The bench said it did not have the authority to press ahead with a prosecution because the alleged offences happened outside Spain.
Julio Iglesias’ lawyer, Jose Antonio Choclan, claimed that those responsible for the elDiario material should compensate his client jointly in a figure of ‘a significant financial amount’.
The lawsuit states the defendants are part of ‘a broader organisation, made up of a number of people who libelled Iglesias via elDiario and the Spanish-language news agency N+ Univision‘, which is also having legal action taken against it.
The lawsuit also talks about a ‘real campaign of smear and media lynching, via different concerted channels and through the systematic publication of content on successive days in which the damage caused is intensified’.
“The defendants, since the first publication of January 13, 2026, have been violating (deliberately, repeatedly and systematically) Mr. Iglesias, through false, insulting and slanderous comments with the sole purpose and intention of undermining his public image, as well as undermining the reputation – personal and professional – seriously eroding his personal consideration and esteem, as well as his stability and mental health,” Antonio Choclan stated.
To achieve ‘a greater impact and materialise the damage,’ he continued, a dedicated section called ‘Julio Iglesias Investigation’ was set up.
“This was specifically to highlight defamatory news,” the lawyer claimed.
Meanwhile Iglesias last week went through with his February threat to file a lawsuit in the Supreme Court for crimes of libel and slander against the Labour Minister, Yolanda Diaz.
She has refused to retract comments made against him linked to the sexual abuse reports.
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