Importing file

When I import a file using the file() function it is screwing up any spanish accents and putting in some strange characters in their place. Is there something that I can do to remedy this? So for example something like 'é' is being turned into '-', or 'í' is being turned into '£' etc etc.. examples are not correct, but it's just to get the point across :) Cheers! Rick He who draws noble delights from the sentiments of poetry is a true poet, though he has never written a line in all his life. - George Sand