Spain's interior minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, has told reporters that 70,000 of the estimated 72,000 migrants who crossed into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta have now returned to Morocco.
Remaining migrants to be returned
Grande-Marlaska said Spain is "in the process of resolving" the status of the remaining individuals, and those who do not have the right to remain in the country will be returned to Morocco.
Schengen area 'not compromised'
He went out of his way to make it very clear that the EU's Schengen area "was in no way compromised" by the crisis, with "no secondary movement, nor even the possibility of any."
Ceuta has a special status under Schengen rules, meaning that all entries and exits to mainland Spain or the EU still require full border and document checks.
Grande-Marlaska said today's meeting was "satisfactory" in recognising Spain's work on irregular migration.
