The dissidents' families had been told to prepare to leave at short notice A group of political prisoners freed by Cuba are on a flight bound for Spain to start a new life in exile.
The seven dissidents were driven to Havana airport, to be reunited with family members leaving with them.
They are the first of 52 detainees set free under a deal brokered last week by the Roman Catholic Church and Spanish diplomats.
The Cuban authorities have promised to release all 52 dissidents, but it is not known how many will go to Spain.
Officials say they will not be required to stay in Spain and will be free to head elsewhere. Both the US and Chile have offered them asylum.
Elizardo Sanchez, the head of the Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation (CCHRNR), has said at least three prisoners have told the Church that they want to remain in Cuba.
Continued protests The former prisoners were re-united with their wives and children late on Monday. Spanish consular officials at the airport interviewed them one by one and then granted them visas.
One of the freed men, Omar Ruiz, contacted on his mobile phone by the Associated Press at the airport, told the news agency: " I won't consider myself free until I arrive in Spain."
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In the hours before their departure, relatives had been told to prepare to leave Cuba at a moment's notice.Irene Viera Wife of Julio Cesar GalvezI'm very nervous about all of this. I can finally see him without it being in prison for the first time in years
"Sunday they performed medical check-ups, did paperwork for the passports and told us to be ready starting today," Irene Viera, the wife of community organiser Julio Cesar Galvez, told the Associated Press.
"I'm very nervous about all of this," she said. "I can finally see him without it being in prison for the first time in years."
The seven men are travelling on two flights. One, operated by Air Europa, is due in Madrid at 1300 (1100 GMT), while the second, operated by Iberia, is expected to touch down an hour later.
The wife of the journalist Ricardo Gonzalez told the BBC that one of the first things they would do after arriving would be to go for a long walk together.
Earlier, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said up to 11 prisoners and 65 family members might arrive on Tuesday.
The prisoner release announced last Wednesday could become the biggest this decade on the communist-ruled island.
The Ladies in White's fight to secure the release of all dissidents goes on Under the agreement, 52 political prisoners should be freed in the coming months.All were part of a group of 75 dissidents rounded up in 2003 and sentenced to jail terms of between six and 28 years. The other 23 have already been freed.
On Sunday, a group of the wives and mothers of the political prisoners - known as the "Ladies in White" - staged their weekly march through Havana calling for the release of all political prisoners.
The leader of the Ladies in White said their marches would continue.
"While there is one political prisoner or prisoner of conscience, there will be Ladies in White," Laura Pollan said.
Before Monday's releases there was a total of 167 "prisoners of conscience" in Cuba, according to the CCHRNR.
Cuba has always denied that it has political prisoners, describing them as criminals paid by the US to destabilise the country.
Just hours before the dissidents left, ailing former President Fidel Castro appeared on state television for the first time in 11 months.
The 83-year-old spoke at length on international affairs - including North Korea and Iran.
BBC
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