MADRID: The sacked speaker of Catalonia`s parliament left a prison near Madrid on Friday hours af ter supporters posted her bail of 150 000 euros ($175,000), ending her brief detention over the region`s controversial independence drive.

A judge at the Supreme Courtin Madrid on Thursday had ordered Carme Forcadell to be held on charges of `rebellion` which carries a maximum jail term of 30 years as Spain`s worst political crisis in a generation rumbles on.

Forcadell was one of several dismissed Catalan officials to be detained after their shock decision last month to declare the region of 7.5 million people independent from Spain.

A source said Forcadell arrived at the Alcala Meco prison near Madrid after midnight on Thursday. A court spokeswoman said thatthe 150,000-euro bond had been paid.

`Returning home... with the calm confidence of having acted correctly, Forcadell posted on Twitter af ter her release.

The Catalan crisis has caused shock waves across the European Union (EU), prompting nearly 2,400 businesses to move their legal headquarters and re-register outside of the wealthy northeastern region.

Lawmakers opted to split from Spain, claiming they had a mandate after a referendum on October l in which 90 per cent of voters backed secession.

But less than half of the electorate took part in a vote denounced as illegitimate by Madrid, and Catalans themselves remain deeply split over whether their region should break away from the eurozone`s fourth-largest economy.-AFP