About 40 people from the Cuban community in exile gathered yesterday in front of the Cuban embassy in Madrid, located at Paseo de la Habana 194, in solidarity with the protests that erupted in Morón, Ciego de Ávila, in the early hours of March 13 to 14.
The call was urgently launched by Lázaro Mireles and shared by activist Avana De La Torre through her social media, with the central slogan "If Cuba is in the streets, we are too". The protesters chanted "Freedom for the Cuban people," "Long live a free Cuba," and "Down with the Díaz-Canel dictatorship," and sang the Cuban national anthem.
"About 40 people in Madrid have gathered today for freedom, against harassment and abuse in Cuba, against repression, and for an urgent change of system," Mireles stated in the announcement.
The direct trigger was what happened in Morón, where dozens of residents, fed up with blackouts of up to 20 hours daily and food shortages, took to the streets banging pots and pans and shouting "Freedom!", "Homeland and Life", and "Down with the dictatorship!". A group of protesters even set fire to the municipal headquarters of the Communist Party of Cuba, burning furniture and police bicycles, and caused damage to a pharmacy and a state store.
Authorities reported five arrests and one injury, with conflicting accounts regarding whether there were police gunshots. The protests in Morón shook Cuba and were covered by international media.
Díaz-Canel responded on X threatening the protesters in Morón and warning that "there will be no impunity for vandalism and violence," although he acknowledged the "understandable discontent" over the blackouts.
From Madrid, Avana De La Torre reported that the Cuban dictatorship allegedly requested the presence of Spanish police at the site of the gathering. "They are the ones who asked for the police to be here today," she said, interpreting the situation as a sign of the regime's fear of exile activism. "If they are afraid of us, who are in exile, who are in a free country, who have the right to protest... just imagine the terrible fear they have of the Cuban people," she added.
Yesterday's protest is part of a growing cycle of mobilizations by the Cuban diaspora in Spain during the early months of 2026. Among the most recent events are the confrontation with Chancellor Bruno Rodríguez during his visit to Madrid on February 16, graffiti at the Cuban embassy on February 23, and coordinated demonstrations in Madrid, Málaga, Alicante, Barcelona, and Bilbao on February 28.
Also noted among the background is the forcible expulsion of a Cuban who shouted slogans against the regime at a concert of the duo Buena Fe on March 6 in Madrid.
The energy crisis fueling discontent on the island worsened on March 8 with the collapse of the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant, which left ten of its sixteen units out of service and extended blackouts across much of the country.
"The Cuban people do not want food, the Cuban people do not want electricity, let no one deceive us. The Cuban people want liberty," stated Avana De La Torre during the gathering in Madrid.
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