MADRID • A man claiming to be the son of Julio Iglesias had tried to settle the matter out of court, but the singer's lawyers were not interested.

Now, they will square up in a Spanish court which said on Thursday that it would examine a paternity suit against Iglesias brought by Mr Javier Sanchez Santosa, 41, who claims to have the results of a DNA test showing he is the singer's son.

The court in Valencia will hear the suit in September.

The Grammy Award-winning singer, 74, who is one of the biggest stars of Latin music, has 20 days to respond to the court decision.

Mr Sanchez's mother, Portuguese ballerina Maria Edite, presented a paternity suit against Iglesias in 1992, but it was dismissed because of procedural reasons.

She said she had a brief affair in 1975 with the singer, who at the time was married to socialite Isabel Preysler.

Mr Sanchez has said he has the results of DNA tests carried out on tissues and cigarette butts touched by Iglesias, which show there is a 99 per cent probability that he is his father.

The items were collected by a private detective in Miami, where Iglesias now lives, according to Mr Sanchez's lawyer.

Mr Sanchez told Spanish newspaper ABC last week that once he had the results of the DNA test, he got in touch with Iglesias' lawyers to settle the issue "in private".

"They told us they were not interested, that we should do what we had to do and that they would see us in court," he said.

Known for his romantic ballads and a prolific love life that has long been fodder for tabloid headlines, Iglesias has sold more than 300 million albums in his decades-long career.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE