Two women have filed a complaint with the National High Court Public Prosecutor’s Office against Julio Iglesias, accusing him of human trafficking and sexual assault.
The complaint, obtained by elDiario.es, refers to events that allegedly took place in 2021 and describes conduct that could constitute “human trafficking for the purpose of forced labor and servitude,” as well as several crimes against sexual freedom and integrity, including sexual harassment and sexual assault. It also alleges assault and violations of workers’ rights stemming from the imposition of abusive working conditions.
The filing names Iglesias as the principal alleged perpetrator and identifies two managers of his homes in the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas as accomplices. Because Iglesias holds Spanish citizenship, he can be prosecuted in Spain even though the alleged conduct occurred abroad.
Last week, an exclusive investigation by elDiario.es, in collaboration with Univision Noticias, revealed the testimony of two former employees of Julio Iglesias who say they suffered sexual assaults in an environment of constant control and intimidation while working for the singer in 2021.
Both women have filed complaints with the Spanish courts. They said the singer pressured them into sexual encounters and described penetrative acts, unwanted touching, slapping, and physical and verbal abuse. According to their accounts, they were also subjected to insults and humiliation during their workdays.
The two former employees of Iglesias filed a complaint with Spain’s National High Court Public Prosecutor’s Office with the support of the international organization Women’s Link Worldwide.
The complaint concerns events that allegedly took place between January and October 2021 at Iglesias’ residences in the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas. The two women, Laura and Rebeca (pseudonyms used to protect their identities) told elDiario.es that they are turning to the courts seeking justice for themselves and for other women who worked at the villas.
In statements to elDiario.es, Rebeca said the complaint seeks “to ensure that everything he did there does not go unpunished,” and also “to prevent him from continuing to do what he does, so that he understands there are consequences.”
For her part, Laura said she hopes the complaint will serve as a message “to all of this person’s victims, so that they speak up, believe in justice, and understand that it wasn’t something that only happened to them.”
Protective measures
In the filing submitted to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the women’s lawyers request that their identities be protected, citing their “particularly vulnerable socioeconomic situation” and Iglesias’ position of influence and power, as well as his “considerable capacity to retaliate and intimidate.” The women, the document states, “fear for their safety, privacy, security, and emotional well-being if their identities are revealed.”
For that reason, the organization has asked the Public Prosecutor’s Office to adopt “urgent protective measures for the victims.” In addition to protecting the women’s identities and those of their family members, Women’s Link Worldwide has requested measures to prevent any contact between the women and their relatives and the alleged perpetrators.
The complainants, the organization said, fear “external pressure or approaches motivated by possible threats aimed at forcing them to abandon” their legal actions.
The legal actions supported by Women’s Link Worldwide seek to ensure that the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Spain’s National High Court grants immediate protective measures for Rebeca and Laura, while also promoting a feminist approach to justice that recognizes the structural harm caused by racism, colonialism, and sexism in domestic work.
elDiario.es and Univision Noticias have attempted on multiple occasions and through various channels over the past several weeks to obtain Julio Iglesias’ version of events, but received no response to their questions.
The same was true of one of the two women in charge of the singer’s mansions. The other did not answer the questions but said she had “nothing to say regarding these accusations.”
In a public statement issued after the publication of this report, Iglesias denied “having abused, coerced, or disrespected any woman.”
Crimes against sexual freedom and human trafficking
In the complaint, the lawyers argue that the events constitute “a crime of human trafficking for the purpose of imposing forced labor or services and servitude,” with aggravating circumstances including organized crime and risk to the complainants’ physical integrity.
“The elements that constitute the crime of trafficking are evident,” the lawyers write: the typical conduct (recruitment, transfer, accommodation in the employer’s home, intensification of isolation, and exploitation); the means used to commit the crime (objective elements, such as deception and abuse of a vulnerable situation); and the intended purpose (the subjective element).
Julio Iglesias is identified as the principal perpetrator of the alleged crimes. However, the lawyers argue that the involvement of two women who allegedly collaborated with him to recruit workers and impose the conditions under which they lived and worked at the residences supports classifying the conduct as that of a “criminal group.”
“The involvement of the accused must be understood within the framework of a joint and coordinated operation, with a functional division of tasks within a criminal organization dedicated to human trafficking,” the filing states.
The complaint also alleges that Julio Iglesias may have committed several crimes against the sexual freedom of the two women under Spain’s 2021 Penal Code—that is, before the reform that eliminated the distinction between sexual abuse and sexual assault.
Under that version of the law, the lawyers argue, the alleged acts could constitute multiple sexual assaults, which at the time required the presence of violence or intimidation. Such intimidation, they note, can be environmental: a situation that creates an atmosphere of fear or coercion that restricts a person’s freedom, even in the absence of a direct threat or explicit intimidation.
This concept of environmental intimidation was applied, for example, in the well-known “La Manada” case, and the lawyers argue it is also applicable here.
One of the women alleges multiple sexual assaults, both with and without penetration, “in a context of environmental intimidation, reinforced by the presence of two superiors in the room, which increased the psychological coercion and the feeling of being unable to resist.”
In the case of the other woman, the lawyers identify a crime of sexual assault committed by “taking advantage of the defendant’s position of power.”
Women’s Link Worldwide has asked the Public Prosecutor’s Office to consider possible aggravating circumstances, including violence and intimidation that is “particularly degrading and humiliating,” the victims’ special vulnerability, the accused’s position of superiority, and the involvement of multiple perpetrators.
Harassment and injuries
The lawyers describe conduct that allegedly began at the start of the employment relationship, “with behaviors that could constitute systematic sexual harassment against both complainants, including propositions for sexual favors and humiliating comments of a sexual nature.”
In this case, they argue for the aggravating factor of abuse of power, citing the hierarchical superiority the singer held over his employees—that is, the use of a position of power or authority to take advantage of them.
In addition, the complaint includes two possible charges of assault involving one of the women. “The accused allegedly grabbed her forcefully by the hair and shook her in the presence of other employees,” it states. “According to her account, non-consensual acts of a sexual nature also occurred, which she perceived as particularly violent and which allegedly caused visible physical injuries, including bruises and bite marks.”
The complaint also identifies conduct that could constitute several crimes against workers’ rights, citing “the alleged repeated violation of labor and social security regulations to the detriment of the complainants.” These include the absence of a formal contract, “the imposition of irregular working conditions,” the denial of rest periods, and “situations that allegedly affected the women’s privacy and dignity.”
In the case of one of the former employees, the lawyers also allege a possible offense related to her recruitment without the required work permit.
“The defendant’s conduct toward the complainants—including shouting, mistreatment, humiliation, and psychological pressure, often in front of other female employees—could be considered a form of intimidation and violence,” the lawyers state.
The complaint includes the accounts of the two women, along with a detailed description of their personal and social circumstances. It also analyzes the context of their countries of origin to demonstrate their “vulnerable conditions.”
“This context is relevant to understanding the power imbalance and asymmetry that existed between the accused and the complainants, as well as the economic dependence they had on the salaries they received,” the document states.
Fact-checking and editing: María Ramírez and Natalia Chientaroli
Translation: Jessica Weiss
Read the Spanish version here
You can read more about our investigation here.
If you have experienced or are aware of incidents similar to those described in this report, we invite you to contact us. You may send a text or voice message via WhatsApp to +34 646 35 35 34 or write to pistas@eldiario.es. All testimonies will be handled with complete confidentiality.