Originally Posted by
kenparry
Perhaps not welcome in Spanish controlled ATC space ?
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Not exactly. You don't need Dip Clearance to go through somebody's FIR, just through their territorial airspace. And yes, the Spanish are sometimes "difficult"; back in the 60s when Franco was rattling the fence at Gib and we had a standing detachment of Hunters there, we would avoid Spanish territory but talk to Seville Centre for clearance. They were fine - as long as we avoided their territorial waters/airspace.
Your experience significantly differs from mine. Sevilla used to pointedly ignore us on HF when we were inbound to Gib. One day after repeatedly trying to raise them we slipped in the call “ Sevilla Speedbird xyz at 55” We got an immediate response of “ Speedbird xyz, Sevilla?” When we then continued, “ Speedbird xyz relaying for Rafair 123...” comms failed again, go figure.
YS