MADRID, Sept 12, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Spain wants to "maintain the best relations with the Venezuelan people" a government spokeswoman said on Thursday, after Madrid granted asylum to a Venezuelan opposition figure.

"The embassy in Venezuela is working normally", Pilar Alegria told reporters. Tensions between Spain and Venezuela have spiked after Venezuelan opposition figure and presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia fled to Madrid after weeks in hiding following a July presidential election that the opposition insists he won but which was claimed by incumbent Nicolas Maduro.