Interior ministers from EU member states held emergency talks by videoconference on Tuesday, called at the request of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and organized by Ireland, which holds the rotating EU Council presidency.
The meeting came after roughly 72,000 people entered Ceuta, a Spanish enclave on Morocco's coast, last week in one of the largest such crossings in years.
Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska told reporters afterward that 70,000 of them had already been sent back to Morocco, with the remaining cases still being processed.
He said the crisis had "in no way undermined the functioning of the Schengen area," and blamed people-smuggling networks for the surge.
EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Magnus Brunner described the episode as "a test of European resilience and external border security," saying it had nevertheless been brought under control quickly.
Ministers, he said, backed a five-point plan unveiled a day earlier by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, covering tighter cooperation with migrants' origin and transit countries, faster deportations, reinforced external borders, new disinformation-monitoring systems, and a stronger crackdown on smuggling networks.
Brunner said Frontex had already sent more than 30 officers to Ceuta and pledged further EU financial support for border protection, returns and migrant reception.
Irish Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan, who chaired the meeting, said member states were unanimous in backing Spain.
"The external borders of the EU are our shared responsibility, and migration requires a common European response," he said, adding that there had been no significant onward movement of migrants from Ceuta to mainland Spain or elsewhere in the bloc.
According to EU diplomats, no country raised the idea of suspending Spain from the Schengen zone.
Italy, which had criticized Spain's migration policy in recent days, adopted a more conciliatory tone.
Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said temporary checks Rome had imposed on arrivals from Spain were not aimed at Madrid, and focused instead on pushing Italy's proposal to process some asylum claims outside EU territory.
Poland, represented by Deputy Interior Minister Maciej Duszczyk, pointed to its own experience securing the border with Belarus and offered support to Spain.
Duszczyk said ministers had agreed on the need for full control of external borders, effective deportations, and greater EU budget support for border infrastructure.
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Source: PAP, Polish Radio
Click on the audio player above for a report by Marcin Matuszewski.