Current consensus on the Messinian Salinity Crisis In 1973, Hsü et al. explained the findings of a large evaporite deposit during the Messinian (Latest Miocene stage, ca. 6Ma) in the Mediterranean by a basin-wide desiccation event. It has been speculated later that it was due to the closing of the Gibraltar strait.
Much research has been done on the subject since then, generating controversies on whether the entire basin became totally or partly desiccated, on the actual cause of the event, on whether the Strait closed because of tectonic activity or because of sea level drop, etc.
Hence my question: What is the current consensus on the extent of that event and its causes?

Hsü, K. J., Ryan, W. B. F., Cita, M. B. 1973. Late Miocene Desiccation of the Mediterranean. Nature, 242: 240-244.
According to palaeoclimatic records modelled from sediments studied at Monte dei Corvi, in the paper Reconstructing the temperature and salinity of the Mediterranean Sea through the Late Miocene (13 Ma - 6 Ma) prior to the Messinian Salinity Crisis (Alexandrina et al. 2014), that using alkenone paleothermometry, there was a cooling trend starting at 8.1 million years ago, developing a cold period around 7 million years ago and continuing to the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC) as evidenced by a disruption in marine sedimentation (and changes to the surrounded flora and desertification in the Sahara).

Research presented in the paper The Onset of the Messinian Salinity Crisis along the offshore Betic Range (Ochoa et al. 2014) suggest that tectonic processes along the offshore Betic Range in southern Spain may be a trigger for the closure (see tectonic map below for the relevant area).



Image source: Wikipedia

The MSCis described in the paper Modelling global-scale climate impacts of the late Miocene Messinian Salinity Crisis (Ivanovic et al. 2014) as being the result of the influences of climatic change as observed in sedimentary strata described by Alexandrina et al. 2014 and of tectonic activity of the offshore Betic range, as detailed by Ochoa et al. 2014.  They also suggest that during the MSC, there were intermittent outflows of saline water into the Atlantic - causing disruptions to the thermohaline circulation.

Dr. Iuliana Vasiliev of the University of Utrecht, suggests that one possible influence during the MSC was interactions with the closing remnants of the Paratheys Ocean, as shown in the map below: