Madrid, Spain – Venezuela’s opposition leader, María Corina Machado, drew thousands of supporters to Madrid’s Puerta del Sol on Saturday, telling them that they would soon be able to return to Venezuela.
“Today we begin our return home,” she said to raucous applause from the crowd.
Machado appeared on a balcony draped with the Spanish and Venezuelan flags overlooking the square and flanked by members of her team.
It was a moment that felt closer to a presidential address than a political rally, followed by chants calling for elections to vote her in and cries of “president, president, president” filling the square at various points throughout her speech.
The Madrid rally marks an attempt by Machado to build momentum, amid uncertainty over the opposition’s next steps and anticipation about when she will go back to Venezuela.
Machado won the opposition’s 2023 primary by a landslide but was barred from running in the 2024 presidential election. Edmundo Gonzalez ran in her place and is widely believed to have won.
But since the capture of Nicolas Maduro by U.S. forces on January 3, many Venezuelans want fresh elections and do consider Delcy Rodriguez, now interim president, to represent them.
A few minutes after Machado’s balcony appearance, she stepped onto a stage in her signature white top and jeans — the same look she wore during dozens of rallies in Venezuela ahead of the 2024 elections — as well as rosary beads around her neck, gifted by supporters.
Machado, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2025, lifted small children onto the stage to hug them, as various gifts were passed through the crowd towards the stage — pictures, flowers, and more rosary beads.
She said that on January 3 a huge hole opened up, and that force and energy had begun to flow: “Now, having lived through what we’ve lived through, having endured the worst repression and persecution, having overcome fear, we are now unstoppable — unstoppable.”
While she criticized interim president of Venezuela, Rodriguez, she praised the U.S. president.
“There is one leader in the world, one head of state, who has risked the lives of his country’s citizens for the freedom of Venezuela. And that is Donald Trump,” Machado said, referring to the U.S. capture of Maduro in January.
Machado also paid tribute to the city of Madrid, which she said had welcomed and integrated Venezuelans at their time of need — but said soon they would be able to go back to Venezuela.
“Today the whole world has its eyes on this Plaza del Sol, because it knows that here today we are beginning the return home,” she shouted. “Pack your bags, because we’re going back.”
Spain hosts one of the largest Venezuelan communities in Europe, making it a key base of support for the opposition abroad.
Many Venezuelans at the gathering said that they did want to return home.
“We were nurses, eighteen years of service, and we had to leave home, we had to leave work, we had to leave everything,” a woman called Nazareth told Latin America Reports. She had left with her friend in September 2025 because of persecution by authorities in Venezuela.
But she said she wants to go back as soon as it is safe enough — and believes Machado can make that happen: “I’m with María Corina to the very end and beyond. She is a warrior woman, a woman who represents all of us.”
Others who had lived in Spain for years said Madrid was now their home, although some were beginning to consider a return. Liliana Urbina came to Spain 20 ago, when Hugo Chávez was still in power. But she said the changes since January 3 and Machado’s leadership now had her considering a permanent return to her home country.
“When I arrived here, I forgot about the idea of returning, but María Corina has changed that. She has shown the world that we can rebuild the country, that we are united, and that we will move forward,” she told Latin America Reports. “So it is feasible, and it is possible, and it is a dream that we too now have — of returning.”
The event was at times more like a concert than a rally, with musical performances from well-known Venezuelan performers such as Carlos Baute and opera singer Víctor García Sierra.
Many Venezuelans had arrived as early as 2 P.M. to secure their spots, bringing supplies as well as musical instruments to play for others around them. Others dressed up as President Trump or Nicolas Maduro, and posed for photos with the crowd.
As the day progressed and the crowd increased, several people fainted due to the heat and lack of shade.
Earlier in the day, Machado had attended a second symbolic ceremony during her visit. This time, she was awarded the Medal of the Community of Madrid. Edmundo González also received the honour but was unable to accept it in person as he is currently in hospital. On Friday she received the “llave de Oro” — golden key — an honour usually reserved for heads of state.
On Friday and Saturday, María Corina met with the country’s two main opposition leaders — Alberto Núñez Feijóo of the PP and Santiago Abascal of Vox. But she did not meet with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who was hosting a conference of left-wing leaders — including Petro, Lula and Sheinbaum — in Barcelona. However, Sánchez said he had offered to meet her.
María Corina will visit the Spanish Senate on Monday.
Featured image description: Maria Corina Machado spoke to a crowd of supporters on Saturday, April 18. Featured image credit: Catherine Ellis.
