Julio Iglesias sues Yolanda Díaz for infringement of honor and claims 50,000 euros

BarcelonaSinger Julio Iglesias has filed a lawsuit with the Supreme Court against the second vice-president of the Spanish government, Yolanda Díaz, for "illegitimate interference with the right to honor and personal privacy", due to publications about the singer that Díaz made on her Bluesky account; and requests that she compensate him with 50,000 euros for moral damages.

Thus, the singer's lawyers continue their legal battle against Díaz for statements made on his Bluesky account and on the program Hour 1 of RTVE, in January, after two Iglesias workers reported him for sexual abuse offenses, reports that were dismissed by the Prosecutor's Office of the Spanish National High Courtbecause he considered that they should have been presented in the countries where the crimes were allegedly committed: the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas.

In the lawsuit, to which the Efe agency has had access, Iglesias demands that the second vice president recognize that her statements constitute "an illegitimate interference with the right to honor", and that she publicly retract, in addition to paying him 50,000 euros and the costs of the process.

In parallel, the singer has filed a lawsuit in the Madrid courts for insults, slander, and a crime against moral integrity against various journalists fromElDiario.es, the media outlet that revealed the existence of the complaint against Iglesias, including the director, Ignacio Escolar. Iglesias' lawyers consider that their reports contained "false and injurious" comments that sought to "harm his public image" and "undermine" his reputation.

The complaints of the former employees

Julio Iglesias was reported by two of his former employees for the crimes of human trafficking for the purposes of forced labor and servitude, sexual assault, injury, and a crime against workers' rights, although the Prosecutor's Office ended up filing the complaint due to a lack of jurisdiction and competence of the Spanish courts.

After ElDiario.es made public the existence of this complaint against the singer, the second vice president wrote on Bluesky: “Chilling testimonies from Julio Iglesias's former employees. Sexual abuse and a situation of slavery with a power structure based on permanent aggression. Thanks to the brave women and journalists at @eldiario.es for reporting it”.

For the singer, Yolanda Díaz, “a high public official of the State, emitted to public opinion (...) clear prejudices of guilt against Mr. Iglesias, such as that sexual abuse was committed in his home, that the workers were in a regime of slavery and that their fundamental rights were systematically violated”.

After a conciliation lawsuit in which the vice president refused to retract her words because she did not acknowledge that they had caused reputational damage or harm to Julio Iglesias's honor, the singer has appealed to the Supreme Court through civil proceedings.

Iglesias has not done the same with the journalists from ElDiario.es, against whom he has filed a lawsuit considering that their publications “are part of an authentic campaign of discredit and media lynching” against him, in which he requests that their publications be provisionally removed.

After the corresponding conciliation hearing, which also ended without agreement, the director of ElDiario.es, Ignacio Escolar, assured that the newspaper would not retract the news and that they would defend themselves in court. Escolar stressed that "it is not easy to withstand these pressures, but it is our job; to publish verified and truthful information", and defended that the information published in the newspaper stems from "rigorous research that involved three years of work".