Did the Ebro basin connect to the Mediterranean before the Messinian salinity crisis?

The connection of the Ebro basin via the Ebro River to the Mediterranean Sea is supposed to have played a major role in the rejuvenation of relief of northern Spain and especially of the South Pyrenees from the Neogene by lowering the initial base level of the Ebro internal drainage area down to sea level. However, the timing and causes of this connection are still debated. A fundamental issue is whether the Ebro basin became connected to the Mediterranean before or after the Messinian salinity crisis? Morphological analysis and numerical modeling of landscape evolution show that this connection did not exist before the Messinian salinity crisis but is effective from the Pliocene because of progressive regressive erosion.