Nacho Vidal

Early life

Ignacio Jordà González was born in Mataró (Barcelona) in Catalonia, Spain. When he was very young, González moved with his family to Valencia, where part of his family originated. His family was wealthy, but ended up losing all their money in the 1987 stock market crash. His nickname, Nacho, is the common nickname for Ignacio. However, it has been reported he is referred by porn insiders as "Snatcho" and that he is a fan of dips and nachos, and has consumed them during some of his sex scenes, in order to bring some levity to the porn sets.

Career

At age 14, Vidal quit school to start working to help his family. As a young teenager, he used to have a punk band. He also was a boxer and enlisted in the Spanish Legion in Melilla. Later, he started working at the age of 21 in the live porn club Bagdad of Barcelona, where he performed live sexual acts in front of an audience with his girlfriend "Jazmine". There, he met the director of the Barcelona International Erotic Film Festival, José María Ponce, who introduced him into the world of porn films.

Vidal is a protégé of Rocco Siffredi, who brought him to Hollywood in 1998. In his prolific career he has starred in more than 1500 movies; he has also produced and/or directed many others (since 2000, this has included gay titles for the Evil Angel video company). Although self-stated as heterosexual, he has directed some gay porn films.

Besides porn, Vidal has also starred in a few Spanish mainstream movies and TV shows including the Spanish TV series Los Simuladores and the Spanish movies Va a ser que nadie es perfecto, El Alquimista Impaciente and Impávido.

Legal problems

On October 16, 2012, Vidal and his sister María José Jordá González were arrested in Barcelona, suspected of involvement in money laundering and tax evasion on behalf of Chinese organized crime. When Spanish police raided over 100 businesses in Madrid and Barcelona suspected of running money-laundering and tax evasion rackets in connection with the Chinese mob, Vidal and his sister were two of approximately 80 suspects detained. Hundreds of police were involved in serving "warrants to search 120 properties belonging to those suspected of laundering money from prostitution and extortion."

While Spanish prosecutors sought to hold Vidal in jail during the investigation and subsequent trial, on October 19, 2012, National Court Judge Fernando Andreu declined their request and instead accepted the defense's contention that, "Vidal is not a flight risk because he signed a contract to participate in a reality show for the next three months." Upon his no-bail release, Vidal announced, "Thanks to everyone for their support. I've gone without any charge."

Despite personally avoiding detention during the investigation and trial, Vidal's movie studio Nacho Vidal Productions was implicated in the Spanish National Court led sting and charged with counts of flight of capital and tax evasion. The newspaper El País described Vidal as "one of the high[est]-profile suspects arrested" and explained that he was accused along with his sister of helping the ring "by issuing false invoices from his movie production company."

Vidal claimed he was innocent.

Personal life

On 31 May 2005, Vidal announced his retirement from pornography and married Colombian pornographic actress Franceska Jaimes. They moved to a mansion previously owned by his family, located in the small town of Enguera, in Valencia, recovering it after his family's financial losses. He and his wife started a family there. However, the couple divorced six weeks later, and Vidal returned to porn only a few months after announcing his retirement. He also has a daughter from an earlier relationship with Venezuelan Rosa Castro.

Vidal has stated that he is very open-minded, but is heterosexual in his personal life.

Awards and nominations