Around 1,000 people demonstrated outside the US Embassy in Madrid on Sunday to denounce what they described as ‘imperialist aggression’ following the US special forces operation that led to the seizure of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Protesters displayed a range of banners, including an image portraying US President Donald Trump devouring a can of oil coloured like the Venezuelan flag. Other placards bore slogans such as ‘Trump aggressor’ and ‘No to imperialist aggression against Venezuela’.
Some demonstrators waved flags belonging to the left-wing Podemos party and Spain’s communist party, while others carried Venezuelan national flags.
Following his dramatic capture, Maduro is now being held in a New York prison, where he was expected to appear in court on Monday to hear the charges against him related to drug trafficking and weapons offences.
Trump has meanwhile pledged that the United States will ‘run’ Venezuela for a transitional period and exploit the country’s extensive oil reserves.
Spain’s Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, whose government granted refuge to Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia after the disputed 2024 presidential election, on Saturday condemned what he called ‘an intervention which violates international law’ and warned it could destabilise the region. ALSO READ: As Venezuelans rejoice in Madrid, Sánchez warns against US intervention that violates international law.
Sánchez urged the establishment of a transitional phase that would be ‘just and with dialogue’.
The Venezuelan opposition insists that González won the 2024 election against Maduro.
On Sunday, Sánchez — whose minority government depends on support from left-wing coalition partner Sumar — reiterated his stance in a letter to members of the PSOE socialist party, criticising ‘the recent violation of international law in Venezuela, an act that we condemn in the strongest terms’. ALSO READ: Political reactions from Spain following United States’ air strikes on Venezuela.
Barcelona protest
In Catalonia, around 400 demonstrators assembled on Saturday evening outside the Venezuelan Consulate in Barcelona, according to local police, to protest the US military action against Venezuela.
The Barcelona protest was organised by the Bolivarian Assembly of Catalonia and backed by several groups, including Arran, a Catalan Students’ Union, and the far-left pro-independence CUP party. Demonstrators denounced the US government and what they called ‘Yankee imperialism’.
Participants chanted against Trump and also Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, branding them criminals and terrorists.
The demonstration saw intermittent moments of tension between groups supporting the military intervention and those opposing it. Police officers in riot gear were deployed, forming a cordon that prevented the situation from escalating.
These tense exchanges recurred periodically throughout the nearly two-hour protest.
Elsewhere in Europe, several hundred people gathered outside the US consulate in Amsterdam on Sunday, holding placards reading ‘Yankee go home’, ‘Stop killing for oil’ and ‘Stop Trumps Fossil Army’, according to the ANP news agency. ALSO READ: Spain offers to mediate for ‘peaceful and negotiated solution’ in Venezuela.
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Barcelona ha sido escenario de una concentración contra el ataque de Estados Unidos a Venezuela y contra el secuestro del Pdte. Nicolás Maduro y su esposa. La protesta, convocada por organizaciones sociales y políticas, tuvo lugar frente al consulado venezolano en Pza Urquinaona. pic.twitter.com/J1dBpFoA7h
— Consulado de Venezuela en Barcelona (@ConsVEBarcelona) January 5, 2026
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