Spanish prosecutors have suspended their investigation into allegations of sexual abuse against singer Julio Iglesias.
They ruled that Spanish courts had no jurisdiction and therefore no power to investigate crimes abroad involving the accuser, who was not a Spanish citizen or resident and had never traveled to Spain with the star.
Two former female employees claimed the 82-year-old Spanish superstar “normalized abuse” in a coercive, intimidating and abusive environment while working at his properties in the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic in 2021.
Iglesias strongly denied the allegations, which were first reported last week.
On January 5, the women filed a legal complaint alleging sexual assault and human trafficking with the national court, which investigates crimes committed outside Spain’s borders.
Advocacy groups Women’s Link Worldwide and Amnesty International said the actions alleged in the complaint could be considered “crimes of human trafficking for the purpose of forced labor” and “crimes against sexual freedom.”
Women’s Link Worldwide described the complainant as a young Latin American woman who “is in a vulnerable situation, heavily dependent on wages due to her economic and social conditions.”
The complaint was filed because Spain has laws protecting women from gender-based violence and human trafficking, the report said.
But prosecutors said the fact that the accusers were not Spanish citizens or residents meant the legal principle of universal jurisdiction could not apply.
They also argued that the countries where the crimes are alleged to have occurred – the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas – have a “clear and effective capacity” to investigate the allegations themselves.
“I deny that any woman was abused, coerced or treated with disrespect. These accusations are completely false and make me very sad,” Iglesias said on Instagram (in Spanish).
Several of the singer’s friends also vehemently denied that he was capable of such behavior.
Iglesias is one of the most successful Latin artists of all time, selling more than 300 million records over a career that spanned decades.
He is also the father of fellow music superstar Enrique Iglesias.
