Julio Iglesias Is The Father Of A 43-Year-Old Man, A Spanish Judge Ruled

A judge in Spain made a decades-long controversial decision Wednesday that singing legend Julio Iglesias has a 43-year-old son.

There wasn’t a paternity test, but the Mediterranean coast judge ruled in favor of Spanish man Javier Sánchez and his mother Maria Edite Santos, a former Spanish ballerina. The two have made the claim Iglesias was the father of Sánchez for 30 years, according to The BBC.

The Valencian Judge José Miguel Bort said he based his ruling on the “obvious” resemblance between the two men. He also cited a “relationship” that existed between Iglesias and Santos, which she claims was “near the date of conception,” according to Fox News. Iglesias reportedly refused to take a paternity test.

Santos alleged that she and Iglesias had a week-long affair nine months before the birth of her son. Sánchez’s lawyer, Fernando Osuna said his client had the affair in the region of Catalonia in July 1975. The affair with Edite was said to have taken place while Iglesias was married to his first wife.

Osuna argued that new DNA evidence was obtained by an investigator in the U.S., and it was a 99.9 percent match. The DNA didn’t come directly from the singer, according to The BBC, but from a “bottle of water” used by Julio Iglesias Jr., Iglesias’ son, which was left on a Miami beach.

The judge later discarded the evidence. But, tests later showed, according to Osuna, that Sánchez and Iglesias Jr. were brothers.

This wasn’t the first time all three have been in court for this issue. In 1992, a court ruled in favor of Sánchez, but it was appealed and the ruling was reversed, according to The BBC.

The singer has eight other children, including Enrique Iglesias, who has had hits like the early 2000’s “Hero.” Three of his children were born to Isabel Preysler, an ex-partner, and five to his current partner, Dutch model Miranda Rijnsburger.

Iglesias was born in Madrid, Spain. He’s best known for his ballads like “To All The Girls I Loved Before” and “All Of You.” Iglesias is one of the most successful Latin artists of all time, reported The BBC. He’s sold more than 300 records in 14 languages. He’s recorded with U.S. artists like Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder and Willie Nelson, and he sang at the White House at Ronald Reagan’s Christmas party.

There is no word yet from Julio Iglesias about the decision in the case.

Judge Jose Miguel Bort Ruiz highlighted a "very obvious physical resemblance" between the singer and Javier Sanchez-Santos, who has spoken publicly about his struggle to be recognized as Iglesias' biological son https://t.co/XNEuqS4uDr

— CNN International (@cnni) July 11, 2019