Two ladies have accused the Spanish singer Julio Iglesias of sexually assaulting them whereas they had been working for him and allege that he “normalised abuse” in a coercive, threatening and violent atmosphere.
The allegations, made in studies by Spanish information web site elDiario.es and US outlet Univision, are being investigated by Spain’s judiciary.
The singer employed the 2 ladies at his properties in Punta Cana, within the Dominican Republic, and Lyford Cay, within the Bahamas. In line with their testimonies, the sexual assaults occurred in 2021.
Iglesias, who’s 82, has been a family identify in Spain for the reason that Nineteen Sixties and has bought tens of millions of data worldwide.
In line with elDiario.es and Univision, Iglesias and his lawyer didn’t reply to repeated requests for a response to the allegations forward of their publication.
Nonetheless, a girl recognized as a supervisor of one of many singer’s Caribbean properties stated the claims had been “nonsense”.
The BBC has tried to contact Iglesias’s representatives for remark, however has not but acquired a response.
One of many ladies interviewed, a home employee whose identify was modified to Rebeca within the studies, stated he would commonly name her to his room on the finish of the day and would contact her inappropriately with out consent.
“He used me nearly each night time,” she stated. “I felt like an object, like a slave.”
Rebeca, who’s Dominican and was 22 when the alleged occasions described occurred, additionally alleged that Iglesias had pressured her to participate in threesomes with one other feminine member of workers. She additionally described the singer slapping her within the face and grabbing her genitals.
The opposite lady, a Venezuelan bodily therapist named as Laura within the article, stated Iglesias had touched her breasts and kissed her on the mouth towards her will. She added that he consistently threatened to fireplace her, managed how a lot meals she ate and requested her about when her interval was due.
“He all the time stated I used to be fats and needed to drop extra pounds,” Laura stated, describing a working atmosphere of “normalised abuse”.
Though she stated she had ceaselessly rejected his sexual advances, “there have been ladies who could not say no. And he did what he needed with them”.
elDiario.es and Univision, which investigated the case collectively over a interval of three years, state that the allegations are backed up by documentary proof, together with pictures, cellphone data, textual content messages and medical studies.
Their studies cite different former staff of Iglesias who describe a threatening, extremely tense ambiance for these working for him.
It has emerged that Rebeca and Laura filed a authorized criticism on 5 January towards Iglesias for sexual assault and human trafficking earlier than the nationwide court docket, which investigates crimes allegedly dedicated past Spain’s borders.
An outdated buddy of Iglesias, Jaime Peñafiel, labelled the accusations “absolute lies”.
One other ally, the journalist Miguel Ángel Pastor, stated he had by no means heard “any suggestion that he may need dedicated this type of act”.
Nonetheless, the equality minister in Spain’s Socialist-led authorities, Ana Redondo, stated she hoped the case could be investigated “all the best way”.
“When there is no such thing as a consent there may be assault,” she posted on social media.
Ione Belarra, chief of the far-left Podemos social gathering, referred to as for an finish to “the silence” in instances of sexual assault by “well-known assailants who’re protected by their cash”.
Final month, a girl filed a authorized criticism alleging that Adolfo Suárez, a former prime minister who was revered for his function throughout Spain’s transition to democracy, had sexually abused her from when she was 17 years outdated.
Suárez, a conservative, died in 2014 and police are investigating. Jesús Villegas, a Justice of the Peace, stated that the case towards Suárez was unlikely to flourish and that it was politically motivated.
The president of the Madrid area, the conservative Isabel Díaz Ayuso, has come out in assist of the Spanish singer.
“The Madrid area won’t ever contribute to the vilifying of artists and even much less so to that of probably the most common of all singers: Julio Iglesias,” she posted on social media.
Iglesias’s biographer Ignacio Peyró and the creator’s publishing home, Libros del Asteroide, have additionally responded, saying they are going to replace final yr’s biography to incorporate the allegations. They’ve additionally expressed their “assist and solidarity for the victims”.
