Around 250 Spanish evangelicals demonstrated in Madrid last week about the persecution of Christians worldwide.

The demonstration took place in front of Spain's Foreign Ministry building. A representative of the Evangelical Council of Madrid declared: "We are here to say: No more silence! We ask the Spanish government and the Foreign Ministry to denounce the situation of the persecuted Christians because of their faith, to the European Union and to global organisations like the United Nations."

The violence against Christians "is not only unjust, but also clearly undermines the human rights we have invoked in so many other situations", the representative said.

According to Evangelical Focus, many participants held banners which read: "No more killings!" and "No more churches set on fire." Others were wearing the Arab "Nazarene" symbol, which declares solidarity with Syrian and Iraqi Christians.

One speaker, Ted Blake, director of Open Doors in Spain, also focused on those persecuted in Nigeria by Boko Haram and other terrorist groups.

Open Doors figures show that the persecution of Christians has worsened signficantly in recent years.