Alleged abuses by Julio Iglesias in the Dominican Republic generate surprise, but also claim

Punta Cana.– The paradisiacal town of Punta Cana (east of the country), where the Spanish singer Julio Iglesias has one of his mansions in the Caribbean, received with surprise the complaint filed in Spain against the famous artist for workplace harassment and sexual assault of former employees, one of them Dominican, from the Dominican feminist movement it is demanded to thoroughly investigate the cases. In the heavily guarded and difficult-to-access Punta Cana mansion, as well as in other of his properties in Spain and the Bahamas, the famous singer allegedly harassed and abused sexually two employees, according to a journalistic investigation by eldiario.es and Univision News in the United States, revealed this Tuesday.

Although the information was widely disseminated by Dominican media, residents of Punta Cana expressed their surprise this Wednesday, in statements to EFE, at this news, while others said they had not heard about this issue.

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Jhonny Atiles, a Dominican who told EFE that he had worked on the construction of Iglesias’ mansion, said he was unaware of such information, but valued his figure as an artist and his contributions to the development of Punta Cana, lands that the singer knew several decades ago through a friend, the late Dominican designer Óscar de la Renta. «This has grown, in part, because of Julio Iglesias and Frank Rainieri (founder of the Puntacana Group)», Atiles pointed out, for whom the interpreter of the hit ‘Me olvidé de vivir’ has been «good, but very good» for the Dominican Republic.

Complaints Detail Serious Assaults

It is “a serious problem” that “hopefully will be solved,” a man who identified himself as Jeison told EFE, who said he has been listening to Iglesias for several years, whom he described as “a great man.” Iglesias, with over 300 million records sold worldwide from his hundred albums recorded, has never hidden his love for the Dominican Republic, especially for Punta Cana, located about 180 kilometers from the Dominican capital. His house, whose access is absolutely private and with permanent surveillance, “it must be called the little house of terror because it is a drama, a horrible thing,” related one of the two former workers, who reported him for workplace harassment and sexual assault.

You can also read: Julio Iglesias, accused of sexual assault by two former employees of his mansions

The account of both describes sexual assaults such as non-consensual penetrations, slaps, humiliations, and systematic workplace harassment of them and other female employees. One of the women worked as a housekeeper and the other as a physical therapist. According to the information that the testimonies of both parties cross-referenced with interviews with professionals who treated them for their after-effects, and who claim to have documents that support their employment relationship with the composer.

Report to make the abuse visible

This Wednesday it was reported that the Spanish Prosecutor’s Office will take statements from the two women, who hope that this complaint will serve so that “no woman will suffer this type of abuse from him again”, according to the legal team of the Women’s Link organization. “When we are asked why women sometimes take a long time to report, the answer lies in cases like this,” Natalia Mármol, from the Magaly Pineda Feminist Forum, told EFE. For Mármol, “silence is not a choice, it is a survival strategy against a system designed to protect the powerful aggressor and destroy the victim’s credibility”, therefore “we demand a thorough investigation, because ending the normalization of sexual violence begins by demonstrating that no one, absolutely no one, is untouchable”. “It is unacceptable that public figures use their power not only to commit abuses, but to maintain a machinery of silence and intimidation that leaves victims defenseless for years,” he added.

We recommend reading: Former employees who have denounced Julio Iglesias say they have done so so that it does not happen to others

Although Julio Iglesias has investments in the country and has been granted Dominican nationality for years, his presence has diminished considerably after the pandemic.

Since then, there have only been a few reported visits, one of them in January 2024, when the authorities confiscated a shipment of fruits and vegetables that he tried to bring into Punta Cana on a flight from the Bahamas, just when the country had detected the presence of the Mediterranean fruit fly in the area.