Spain says 70,000 out of 72,000 migrants that entered Ceuta in mass border crossing have returned to Morocco

Spain’s interior minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska is also briefing the press right now.

He says all countries were “constructive” and acknowledged Spain’s immediate response.

He tells reporters that 70,000 of the estimated 72,000 that crossed in Cueta have now returned to Morocco.

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, he says.

But he goes 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.”

As we explained on Europe Live on Friday, Ceuta has a special status under the Schengen rules, meaning that all entries and exits to mainland Spain or the EU still require full border and document checks.

He says today’s meeting was “satisfactory” in recognising Spain’s work on irregular migration.