Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo González fled to Spain Saturday after he was facing an arrest warrant following a disputed election against President Nicolás Maduro. González fled as tensions deepened at a diplomatic residence in Caracas, Venezuela, The New York Times reported.

Last Monday, a court that handles “crimes associated with terrorism” issued an arrest warrant for González, alleging he was guilty of conspiracy, usurping power, sabotage and other acts against the state.

Maduro remains in the international political hot seat for insisting that he won the presidential election as he continues to violently crackdown on protests to him staying in power. It is widely believed that González won the election.

On Saturday, Vice President Delcy Rodríguez announced that González had traveled to Spain after he had moved to the Spanish embassy in Caracas. Spain has confirmed his departure, with Spain’s foreign minister, José Manuel Albares, indicating that González requested passage on a Spanish Air Force plane and that Spain has granted him political asylum.

“The government of Spain is committed to the political rights and physical integrity of all Venezuelans,” he wrote in Spanish.