Prosecutors in Spain End Investigation Into Julio Iglesias

Two women accused the singer, 82, of abusing them in the Caribbean and filed a complaint in Spain, but Spanish officials said that they did not have jurisdiction over the claim.Julio Iglesias performing in 2014.Credit...Samir Hussein/Getty ImagesJan. 23, 2026, 1:17 p.m. ETProsecutors in Madrid said on Friday that they had ended an investigation into the singer Julio Iglesias, saying that Spanish officials had no legal authority to examine claims that he had sexually abused two former employees in the Caribbean.The decision came nearly three weeks after the two women filed a complaint with a Spanish court accusing Mr. Iglesias, 82, of abusing one of them in the Dominican Republic and the other in the Bahamas. Mr. Iglesias denied the accusations in a social media post on Jan. 16, describing them as “absolutely false.”The prosecutors closed the case because they had no jurisdiction to proceed, given that “all of the allegedly criminal acts would have occurred outside Spanish territory, specifically in the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas,” they said in a written decision.They added that the accusers “neither reside in Spain nor maintain their center of life, interests, or activity in this country.”Mr. Iglesias made his name singing love ballads, and he has sold hundreds of millions of records over his six-decade career. He is the father of the singer Enrique Iglesias.In early January, two Spanish-language news outlets published a three-year joint investigation into Mr. Iglesias, highlighting broader allegations from 15 people who accused the singer of sexual assault and harassment.Mr. Iglesias and his representatives did not respond to requests for comment about the broader claims.In his social media post, Mr. Iglesias denied “having abused, coerced, or been disrespectful to any woman,” but he did not specifically address the journalists’ findings.SKIP Site IndexNewsHome PageU.S.WorldPoliticsNew YorkEducationSportsBusinessTechScienceWeatherThe Great ReadObituariesHeadwayVisual InvestigationsThe MagazineArtsBook ReviewBest Sellers Book ListDanceMoviesMusicPop CultureTelevisionTheaterVisual ArtsLifestyleHealthWellFoodRestaurant ReviewsLoveTravelStyleFashionReal EstateT MagazineOpinionToday's OpinionColumnistsEditorialsGuest EssaysOp-DocsLettersSunday OpinionOpinion VideoOpinion AudioMoreAudioGamesCookingWirecutterThe AthleticJobsVideoGraphicsTrendingLive EventsCorrectionsReader CenterTimesMachineThe Learning NetworkSchool of The NYTinEducationAccountSubscribeManage My AccountHome DeliveryGift SubscriptionsGroup SubscriptionsGift ArticlesEmail NewslettersNYT LicensingReplica EditionTimes Store