Julio Iglesias has launched legal action against Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Diaz.
The Spanish icon is demanding €50,000 in damages over comments she made about sexual abuse allegations against him earlier this year.
The singer has filed a civil lawsuit with the Supreme Court, accusing Diaz of making statements that amounted to an ‘unlawful infringement’ of his right to honour and personal privacy.
The case centres on comments made by the Labour Minister in January after two former employees accused Iglesias of offences including human trafficking for forced labour, sexual assault, causing injuries and labour rights violations.
Those allegations were later dismissed by Spain’s National Court prosecutors, who closed the case on the grounds that Spanish courts did not have jurisdiction to investigate the claims.
Diaz accused of implying guilt
After news of the allegations emerged, Diaz wrote on social media platform Bluesky that the former employees had given ‘chilling testimony’ describing ‘sexual abuse and a situation of slavery based on a structure of permanent aggression.’
She also publicly thanked both the women who made the allegations and the journalists at elDiario.es who published the investigation.
Lawyers acting for Iglesias argue that the deputy prime minister presented him as guilty before any court had examined the allegations.
According to the lawsuit, Diaz wrongly suggested that sexual abuse had taken place at Iglesias’ home, that his employees had lived in conditions amounting to slavery and that their fundamental rights had been systematically violated.
The singer is asking the court to order Diaz to publicly retract her statements, acknowledge they unlawfully damaged his reputation and pay €50,000 in compensation for moral damages, along with legal costs.
Conciliation failed
Before filing the lawsuit, Iglesias attempted to resolve the dispute through Spain’s mandatory conciliation process.
However, Diaz refused to withdraw her comments, arguing they had not harmed the singer’s honour or reputation.
After the meeting ended without agreement, Iglesias proceeded with the civil claim.
Separate legal action against journalists
The singer has also filed a separate criminal complaint in Madrid against several journalists at elDiario.es, including its director Ignacio Escolar.
He accuses them of defamation, slander and offences against his moral integrity, alleging the publication formed part of a ‘campaign of discredit and media lynching” based on false and defamatory claims.
The lawsuit also seeks the temporary removal of articles relating to the allegations.
That conciliation process also ended without agreement, with Escolar stating that elDiario.es would defend its reporting in court, maintaining that its investigation was thoroughly verified and had been carried out over a three-year period.
