IF there is one singer who has never hidden his insatiable sexual appetite, it is Spanish chart-topper Julio Iglesias.
Not only did the 82-year-old father-of-eight estimate he’d bedded more than 3,000 women, he also said his pop star son Enrique had nothing on him when it came to the opposite sex.
Julio, who is best known for his 1984 duet with Willie Nelson, To All The Girls I’ve Loved Before, was unfaithful to his first wife, she claimed.
Now he is the latest lothario to face a #MeToo moment.
Iglesias, who has sold more than 300million records and had a UK number one with Begin The Beguine in 1981, is accused of sexually assaulting two of his live-in female staff.
They allege physical assaults, boozy threesomes involving female supervisors and sex acts that one said made her feel like a “slave” and a “doll” at his mansions in the Dominican Republic and Bahamas in 2021.
A cleaner, using the pseudonym Rebeca to protect her identity, told the Spanish publication elDiario that Iglesias forced himself on her.
Playboy image
She said it “caused her a lot of pain” and made her think, “I’m your robot, your slave, your doll”.
A physical therapist, giving the alias Laura, claimed she was ordered by the singer to show him her breasts just two weeks into her employment.
The person hiring the women allegedly asked for photos of their full bodies and Rebeca claims that, soon after being hired, supervisors told her that she couldn’t have a boyfriend.
The accusers say that shortly after beginning their jobs, Iglesias asked: “Do you like women?”, “Do you like threesomes?”, “Have you had breast surgery?”, before touching them inappropriately.
Rebeca also says she was made to pleasure him for hours, seemingly to ease the pain of back problems stemming from a 1963 car accident.
Aged 22 when she worked for Iglesias, she described his Punta Cana mansion as “the House of Horror”.
Laura claims that Iglesias would give her sordid details of what he had earlier done with Rebeca, adding: “He always made these kinds of comments and then said it was a joke.”
There is no suggestion anything with Laura developed into full sex.
Last night, it was alleged other female staff were ordered to take tests to see if they were pregnant or carrying sexual diseases — in breach of local labour laws.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office in the Spanish capital Madrid has now opened a preliminary investigation into Iglesias.
He might sing better than me, but when it comes to women, he’s nowhere near me.
Julio Inglesias on son Enrique
So far, the singer has not commented publicly about the allegations and he has not been charged with any offence.
In the past, Iglesias has played up to his playboy image.
In 2014, he berated a journalist who suggested that handsome Enrique had followed in his footsteps when it came to women.
He insisted: “No way.
“I’ve been the champion.
“He might sing better than me, but when it comes to women, he’s nowhere near me.”
Giving credence to the saying that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree is the fact that his late gynaecologist dad, Julio Iglesias Puga, conceived a fourth child aged 90.
But the twice-married medic died before his daughter was born.
As a young man, Iglesias had not expected to become a heart-throb.
He was on the youth books of Real Madrid’s B team before a car crash at the age of 19 wrecked his foot- balling dreams.
His first gig was in 1965 at The Airport pub in Cambridge, the city where he studied, and he represented Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest five years later with the song Gwendolyne, finishing joint fourth.
Shortly afterwards, he fell for his first wife, Isabel Preysler.
She was aged 18 at the time, nine years his junior, and said: “I was a convent girl who had lived all her life in her parents’ house.
“I was in fact a very innocent girl.”
They had three children, including Enrique, now 50, but that didn’t stop Iglesias seeing other women.
When asked about the 3,000 he had supposedly bedded, he once joked: “That probably was until 1976, so they didn’t count the other women.”
Iglesias, who spent much of his time touring in concerts, admitted he wasn’t a “good father”.
He said: “A good father takes the kids to school, goes to graduation.
“I never in my life did that.”
The singer divorced Isabel in 1979 and, in 2010, wed Dutch model Miranda Rijnsburger, 22 years his junior.
They sent us all to the doctor. They tested me for sexually transmitted diseases.
Carolina, former employee of Inglesias
When asked in 1995 whether he was “faithful” to Miranda, he replied: “Yes, yeah. But what’s faithful?
“It’s not a general word that you can say exactly what it means to everybody.
“I’m faithful to myself very much.’’
They had five children together and went to live in the Dominican Republic.
‘Women at his disposal’
Another female ex-employee of Iglesias has supported an allegation that staff were expected to undergo HIV and pregnancy tests.
The woman, given the name Carolina, told elDiario: “They sent us all to the doctor.
“They tested me for sexually transmitted diseases.
“They gave us ultrasounds and blood tests to see if we had any kind of disease.
“It didn’t seem normal to me.”
The news website published photos of some of the test results of five women.
Laura said: “My goal is to ensure that no woman ever suffers this kind of abuse from him again.
“I want to send the message that women are victims and survivors, not perpetrators or guilty parties.”
Although Iglesias has yet to comment, one of his female supervisors described the allegations against him as “nonsense”.
His journalist friend, Jaime Penafiel, told a Spanish TV channel: “I have lived with Julio for many years.
“It’s all a lie.
“He’s never needed to abuse women because he’s always had women at his disposal.”
He has also not yet commented on the case.
ElDiaro claimed they gave Julio Iglesias several days to respond to the allegations before publishing them.
The astonishing story has led to calls for the music legend to be stripped of titles such as the Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts.
Rita Mestre, spokesman for Mas Madrid in Madrid City Council, demanded the singer lose his “Honorary Citizen” status in the capital.
She said on X: “We ask Almeida to strip Julio Iglesias of his title as Favourite Son of Madrid.
“No one, not even the most famous or admired, should go unpunished.”
The Audiencia Nacional in Madrid, a central criminal court which has the power to try Spaniards for crimes committed abroad, confirmed they are taking the allegations seriously.
A spokesman said: “A complaint was filed with the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Audiencia Nacional on January 5.
Preliminary criminal investigation proceedings have been initiated.
“Given the nature of the allegations and reiterating the confidential nature of the investigation, and in the interests of protecting the alleged victims, it is not appropriate to provide further information.”
Iglesias does not have any more tours planned and hasn’t released a record in nine years, so the revelations will have a limited impact on his career.
Whether they are proved to be true or not, such stories inevitably tarnish an image.
Iglesias is often asked whether it is true he’s had 3,000 lovers.
Performing in the UK in 2019, he admitted: “I have many weaknesses.
“Women, obviously.
“I’m no saint.”