How a Spanish judge finds his way into the tabloids
Santiago Pedraz was known, now he is famous because his new girlfriend is the ex of Julio Iglesias’ ex. This is how the contagion chains of tabloid fame work in Spain. You just have to want to. And Pedraz, an attractive 62-year-old, wants. “When you love, you want to call it out all over the world,” he says. Well.
Pedraz is a judge at Spain’s National Court of Justice. This is a special court for organized crime cases; those who investigate there usually make a name for themselves quickly. Just like Pedraz’s predecessor and friend Baltasar Garzón, who achieved international fame as a Pinochet pursuer. The Pedraz cases have never been quite as headline-grabbing. But he has now made it onto the “Hola” front page. The “Hola” is something like the official bulletin of the Spanish boulevard. Appearing there on the cover is the accolade of the rainbow world. And legal success doesn’t count in this world. Amorous for it all the more.
Pedraz was divorced from his longtime wife some time ago, then linked up with a lawyer and then with a photo model, Esther Doña, the very woman at whose side he now appeared on the “Hola” title. He borrowed his fame from her. But Doña’s fame is also borrowed.
The now 42-year-old was the fourth and last wife of Carlos Falcó, the Marqués de Griñón, who was one of the first Spaniards to fall victim to the Covid 19 epidemic last year at the age of 83. Adel helps to be noticed by the “Hola”, but it helped even more in the case of the Marquis that his second wife’s name was Isabel Preysler. Everyone in Spain knows them. She was the first wife of Julio Iglesias. And what Julio Iglesias touches turns into gold.
The fact that the judge Santiago Pedraz can today shout out his love from the title page of the “Hola” all over the world is thanks to a love affair of the 27-year-old Julio Iglesias. The roads to fame are wonderful, and so are those of tabloid fame. In the National Court of Justice, some colleagues take this: inside with cheerful serenity, “El Mundo” reports, others fear for the good reputation of the judiciary. Mainly because the judiciary does not currently have a particularly good reputation in Spain. After all, everyone now knows that there is a beautiful judge working there who is successful with beautiful women.
