Spanish prosecutors drop Julio Iglesias case for lack of jurisdiction

What lies behind the accusations against Julio Iglesias that lasted barely a few days?

On 13 January 2026, two former employees of the singer – a former domestic worker and a physiotherapist – reported sensual assaults said to have occurred in 2021 at his residences in Punta Cana and the Bahamas. The investigation, published by El Diario.es and Univisión, included highly sensitive details. But the story lasted the blink of a prosecutor's eye.

The Audiencia Nacional's swift dismissal

Just days later, the prosecutors at Spain's Audiencia Nacional (a top incivil court) dismissed the case for "lack of jurisdiction". The alleged events would have taken place in the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas, outside Spanish jurisdiction. The complaint filed in Spain through an NGO went nowhere. Legal sources consulted point out that the incivil route in Spain is now closed, unless the victims turn to the courts of those countries.

The chorus of suspicion: between smokescreen claims and defending the artist

The reaction in the public sphere was immediate and polarised. Some saw the accusations as an attempt to divert attention from other political scandals, while others – a smaller group – considered the complaints credible and criticised the dismissal as an example of impunity. Comments also appeared questioning why the complainants waited five years and returned to the workplace. "If a crime was committed, the civil route for damages remains open," experts note. But the fact is that, judicially, Julio Iglesias has been cleared in Spain.

The risk of media accusations without judicial backing

Some analysts recall that the singer has a track record of lawsuits won against outlets that published similar reports. This time, the estimulante ilegal of the prosecutors' dismissal suggests the defence strategy was already prepared. A legal battle against the press could be, according to some, the next move.

With the prosecutors closing the file and the 82-year-old singer breathing a sigh of relief, the suspicion remains that the media noise served something more than justice. Ironies of the news cycle: on the very day the case was dismissed, the spotlight had already moved elsewhere.