ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The European Union will convene a meeting Tuesday to discuss the recent developments in Ceuta, after tens of thousands of illegal migrants stormed the Spanish exclave earlier in the week, Micheal Martin, Ireland’s prime minister said.

The Irish taoiseach, whose country currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency, said in an X post that Dublin will convene a meeting of the EU’s Justice and Home Affairs Council to “discuss developments in Ceuta.”

Over 60,000 illegal migrants crossed into the Spanish exclave of Ceuta from Morocco. The massive influx equalled roughly 70 percent of Ceuta’s population. Nearly all the migrants have since returned to Morocco.

Ceuta and Melilla, another Spanish territory in North Africa, constitute the only two land borders between the EU and Africa.

The meeting will be convened by Irish Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan, who said on X that the meeting will “follow a meeting of the Integrated Political Crisis Response mechanism which my Department hosted earlier today [Saturday], and a meeting of EU Ambassadors planned for Monday.”

O’Callaghan reaffirmed his country’s support for the Spanish government.

Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said that they had “reversed the situation within 24 hours,” as the great majority of the migrants either returned to Morocco of their own volition or were sent back by Spanish authorities.

Marlaska praised some European countries for their solidarity and hailed Morocco as a “reliable partner,” while calling on others to show “more solidarity, more responsibility, and certainly less selfishness.”

Relations between Madrid and Rome came under strain after Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani called on Thursday for the closure of the EU's Schengen free-travel area to Spain, writing on X that "irregular and uncontrolled immigration poses a danger to national security."

Madrid countered by summoning Italy’s ambassador and accusing Rome of exploiting the crisis for political mileage.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanches also complained in a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, noting that he had “serious concern” about some European governments, Euronews reported.

Criticism also poured in from other fronts, as Finland supported the push to suspend Spain from the Schengen zone, the French interior minister ordered an immediate border clampdown, and Trump administration officials pointed to the footage from Ceuta to reinforce their own hardline immigration policies.