Gonzalez Urrutia, 75, arrived in Madrid late Sunday after weeks in hiding following a July 28 presidential election that the opposition insists he won, but which was claimed by incumbent Nicolas Maduro.

After his arrival in Spain, Gonzalez Urrutia said he had decided to leave "so that things can change and so we can build a new stage for Venezuela".

"Asylum is a gesture of humanity, a civil humanitarian commitment of Spanish society and by extension of its government to people who are unfortunately suffering persecution and repression," Sanchez told reporters on a state visit to China.

Sanchez told journalists in Shanghai that his government "has been clear since the elections were held".

"We have asked for the publication of the results, we have not recognised Nicolas Maduro's victory.

"And we are doing something very important: working for unity in the European Union... so that we can find a way out that reflects the democratic will expressed at the ballot box by the Venezuelan people."

Spanish lawmakers approved Wednesday a nonbinding motion calling on Sanchez's government to recognise Gonzalez Urrutia "as the legitimate winner of the presidential elections" held in July and "therefore, as the elected and legitimate president of Venezuela".

The motion in the lower house of parliament by Spain's main opposition group, the conservative Popular Party (PP), was adopted with 177 votes in favour and 164 against, including those of Sanchez's Socialists and his junior coalition partners from the hard-left party Sumar.

While the United States has recognised Gonzalez Urrutia as the winner of the election, Spain and other European Union nations have so far limited themselves to refusing to accept Maduro as the victor and calling on the Venezuelan government to release the voting tally sheets.