Spain’s Audiencia Nacional has formally closed its investigation into allegations of sexual abuse against singer Julio Iglesias, citing a lack of jurisdiction.
In a decree issued this week, it said Spanish courts are not competent to investigate the claims, as the alleged offences would have occurred in the Caribbean.
According to the prosecution, there is therefore a ‘lack of jurisdiction of the Spanish courts and, consequently, a lack of competence on the part of the National Court Prosecutor’s Office to pursue a pre-trial investigation into the reported facts’.
Legal sources confirmed to Europa Press that the decision cannot be appealed.
Prosecutors have advised the complainants that, should they wish to proceed, they must re-submit their complaints before the judicial authorities in the countries where the alleged incidents occurred.
In its ruling, the prosecution referred to Supreme Court case law, which establishes that Spain should not investigate crimes committed abroad when another state has ‘clear and effective’ jurisdiction and there is no reason those authorities cannot pursue criminal action themselves.
While prosecutors acknowledged that human trafficking offences – one of the crimes cited in the complaints – can be prosecuted extraterritorially, they stressed that this requires a Spanish suspect and a material connection to Spain, such as victims being Spanish nationals or resident in Spain.
In this case, the prosecution noted that the alleged victims are foreign nationals who do not reside in Spain – while the alleged incidents are linked to countries considered fully competent to investigate them.
The ruling adds that the National Court has consistently confirmed that Spain is not competent to investigate crimes committed abroad when there are no relevant links to the country, particularly when neither victims nor alleged perpetrators are resident in Spain.
The case relates to allegations of sexual harassment and assault dating back to 2021, which were revealed earlier this month in a joint investigation by eldiario.es and Univision Noticias.
According to that investigation, two former employees – who worked at Iglesias’ properties in the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas – accuse the artist of sexual abuse, harassment and abuse of power while they were employed in his household.
