The judicial war between Miguel Bosé and Nacho Palau for the custody of their four children is coming to an end. The Supreme Court has just agreed with the singer, stating in a ruling that “minors lack biological ties.” As argued in the document, “the socio-affective bond of the children with each other and with the person who was the partner of their respective father is not by itself a title for the establishment of a legal link of affiliation.” In addition, it is stated that for these cases the legal system establishes another channel, that of adoption, “which has not been wanted to be followed” by Bosé and Palau.

On Tuesday, May 16 —although it became known two days later— the first civil court of the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal that Palau had filed, and in which he requested that his paternity be declared “of the two biological children of whom was his partner, and, at the same time, that it be declared that his ex-partner is the non-marital father of the two biological children of the plaintiff himself.” That is to say: Palau wanted to be the father of Bosé’s two children and also for Bosé to be the father of his two biological children, who have always lived together and have maintained close ties until the separation of which they were a couple for 26 years, which it was made public in October 2018. In addition, Palau wanted relationships to be established between the children (all of them born by surrogacy), both with each other and “with their respective parents.”

However, and as it already happened to him after losing in October 2020, when the Court of First Instance number 4 of Pozuelo de Alarcón issued a sentence against him that the Provincial Court had already confirmed, Nacho Palau has lost again. The Supreme Court has dismissed the claim of the Valencian sculptor, 51, against Bosé, 67, assuring that they do not appreciate errors “in the conclusion reached by the judge”, that there were no problems in the previous sentences, and that what was estimated by the Provincial Court is accurate. Therefore the children, Diego and Tadeo, 12 years old, who live in Mexico with Bosé; and Ivo and Telmo, 11 years old (whose paternity Bosé denied at trial) and who reside with Palau in a town in Valencia, do not consider themselves brothers. Although Palau could appeal, the sentence is final.

In its appeal, Palau claimed that “the principle of the interest of the minor” contained in the United Nations Convention was violated. In addition, it argued that “the non-recognition of filiation in children born by surrogate motherhood affects the right to their private life and their stability, given that from birth they enjoyed the company of their siblings, and at this moment they only do so in holiday periods”. He also added that “the fact that they have recognized parentage with respect to a parent does not satisfy her interest (…). It considers that the manifestations and feelings of the children have not been taken into account, that the visiting regime can even be harmful, given the growing inequality that exists between them, and that the only alternative that safeguards respect for the enjoyment of their family life is recognition of parentage. However, from the Supreme it is argued that “the interest of the minor is not a cause that allows the judge to attribute a filiation. It is the legislator who (…) must assess in the abstract the best interests of the minor together with the other present interests (the freedom of procreation, the right to know one’s own origins, the certainty of the relationships, the stability of the child)” . In addition, it is also explained that “it cannot be taken for granted that the best interest of the minor is better protected by the fact that (…) parental authority is going to fall on two people.”

The argument on the part of the Valencian is based, above all, on the fact that “living together as brothers of the children of the litigants, who were born seven months apart” would have to be enough to consider them brothers. However, the Supreme Court is contrary to this: “The truth is that neither a previous cohabitation established voluntarily and protected by agreements reached by the parties, nor a generic and interested invocation of the principle of the interest of the minor, justify that paternity can be established , with the set of rights and obligations that this entails, which lack legal coverage”. In addition, they insist that if they wanted the four children to be brothers, they should have been mutually adopted by the other parent, something that the Spanish legal system allows, but which they did not want to do.

The ruling also states that the little ones normalize the situation, although they would like to live together, but that they maintain close and intense contact almost daily “sharing video games, by videoconference, or by phone, in addition to enjoying the holidays together”, and that the ways of life of their two parents “are different, but they like both”. It is also explained that they maintain relationships with their two families and that at no time is there “uncertainty or insecurity regarding their identity, they have the surnames of their respective biological parents and they are aware of the situation.”

A secret relationship of 26 years

Bosé and Palau met in a nightclub in Valencia, when the singer was 37 years old and Palau 19. A relationship that would go little by little until the Valencian man left everything to move into Bosé’s house in Madrid. He became the most important person in his life for two decades, but in secret, to protect the love story that united them.

Finally, they decided to be parents after more than two decades of courtship. Four children came from this decision. All of them by surrogacy, but biological children of each one of them, born in 2011 just months apart. The family moved to Panama, where love would end and where they would make the decision to separate in 2017. Palau settled near the singer’s house to continue seeing the little ones, but soon Bosé suggested that he return to Spain and be the one was in charge of raising the four children. Palau did not accept and returned to Valencia, but with his two biological children, Diego and Tadeo. In 2018, Palau filed a lawsuit against Bosé for the custody of his children and in October 2020 they met again in court. At that time, the judge ruled that both the singer and the sculptor take care of their own biological children. Trials and resources later, justice has once again agreed with Bosé.

After passing through the program survivors, where he came third and where he already began to feel bad, in August 2022 Palau announced that he had lung cancer. A piece of news that made the relationship between the two improve, but that has not stopped the judicial process in which they have been involved. In fact, the Valencian has recounted on more than one occasion the support he has had from Bosé, from a distance. In his time on the Telecinco program, the sculptor recounted the economic problems he is going through: “I am balder than the cuckoo. In the last three years I have lived with just enough money”.