SUPPORTERS of Clara Ponsati mobbed the 61-year-old as she left Edinburgh Sheriff Court a free woman – anywhere except in Spain.

Among those who greeted her was SNP MSP Sandra White, who said there was a party atmosphere outside the court: “We had the pipes and the placards and it was everything we had hoped for – democracy and justice won.

“It’s not the end for Clara, though. She has her passport back but Interpol, which is quite bureaucratic, has still to remove the red line which means her name would be flagged up if she tried to travel anywhere, but hopefully her lawyer will get that sorted out quickly. It means she’ll be able to travel – not into Spain but closer to it – so she can arrange to see her mother, who’s in her 90s.”

Ponsati’s solicitor, Aamer Anwar, said the warrants were a “monstrous distortion of the truth”, and Spain’s legal strategy had backfired spectacularly in Belgium, Switzerland, Germany and Scotland.

He said: “The withdrawal of the warrants is a tremendous victory, but there can be no mood for celebration while nine Catalans are held as political hostages and Clara remains a political exile unable to return home for at least 20 years.

“If [Spanish] Prime Minister [Pedro] Sanchez is not dictated to by the ghost of Franco and is genuinely interested in a political solution, then he must move to release all political prisoners and allow the return of all exiles without condition.”

Elisenda Paluzie, president of the pro-independence Catalan National Assembly (ANC), said Spanish courts were misusing the European Arrest Warrant mechanism in an unprecedented manner.

She told The National: “These withdrawals show that legal instruments are being politically manipulated, that the Spanish courts do not recognise their European equivalent, and that they don’t mind discrediting Spain’s institutions when the goal is to put an end to as peaceful and democratic a political movement as is that of Catalan independence.

“Political prisoners should be released immediately, those in exile should be able to return and the case should be dismissed. Moreover, self-determination should be the principle to follow to solve the political conflict.

“Anything short of it will mean Pedro Sanchez is just a softer version of his predecessor Mariano Rajoy and the Catalan conflict is here to stay.”