Legendary Spanish singer Julio Iglesias sued Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Díaz on Tuesday, accusing her of violating his “right to honor” over remarks she made about sexual abuse allegations against Iglesias brought by two former employees earlier this year.
The lawsuit, filed by the Grammy-winning singer before the Supreme Court of Spain, also seeks 50,000 euros in damages from Díaz.
Julio Iglesias, 82, is described as the most successful Continental European singer in the world and as one of the best-selling artists of all time.
In January, two former employees of Iglesias filed a legal complaint for sexual assault against the singer before a Spanish court, accusing the singer of “normalized abuse” while they were working at his properties in the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic in 2021, as Breitbart News reported.
The allegations were originally published through a joint report between the Spanish outlet El Diario and Univision.
Spanish prosecutors launched an investigation against Iglesias but dropped it days later on grounds that Spanish courts had no jurisdiction on the matter, as the claimants were not Spanish nationals, did not reside in Spain, nor had they ever travelled to Spain with the singer.
At that time, Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Díaz commented on the allegations through her official account at the social media platform Bluesky, sharing a link to El Diario’s original report. The Spanish newspaper El Mundo reports that Díaz also issued remarks against Iglesias over the allegations during a January interview with the Spanish public broadcaster RTVE.
FILE/FLASHBACK — Spanish singer Julio Iglesias performing during a concert. 1980s (Alberto RoveriMondadori Portfolio by Getty Images)
RTVE, which obtained a copy of the lawsuit, explained that Iglesias is demanding that Díaz acknowledges that her statements constituted “an unlawful infringement of Iglesias’ right to honor.” The singer is demanding she retracts her statements, issues a payment of 50,000 euros in damages, and further monetary compensation for the costs of the proceedings.
Additionally, RTVE reported that the singer filed a criminal complain for libel, slander, and “offense against moral integrity” against El Diario journalists on grounds that the outlet’s original January report on the allegations contains “false and defamatory” comments.
Deputy PM Díaz has not publicly commented on the lawsuit at press time. El Diario, for its part, condemned the lawsuit, affirming that it contains “falsehoods and unfounded accusations” against the outlet and the accused journalists.
RTVE recounted that, during the January interview that is part of the lawsuit, Díaz condemned Iglesias over the sexual abuse allegations and revealed that she had spoked to Culture Minister Ernest Urtasun to explore the possibility of revoking Iglesias’ Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts — the highest cultural award that the government of Spain can give to a person or entity. Spain awarded the medal to the singer in 2010.
Ok Diario, which also obtained a copy of the lawsuit, reported that Iglesias’ legal team is “preparing an expert report” to analyze the impact that the El Diario’s sexual abuse report had on the singer’s international image and reputation. Unnamed sources consulted by the outlet affirmed that once the report is ready, a “claim for millions” will be filed against El Diario.
Iglesias previously sought a conciliation bid with Díaz earlier this year, accusing her of issuing “defamatory and slanderous” through the Bluesky post and RTVE interview. Much like the new lawsuit, the singer reportedly demanded that Díaz retracted her statements and compensated him for damages.
The Deputy Prime Minister rejected the conciliation bid, prompting Iglesias to bring the matter to the Spanish Supreme Court.
In addition to being the Deputy PM of Spain, Díaz also serves as Minister of Labour and Social Economy under the cabinet of socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.