Originally Posted by Fullwings
so I presume at least some of the restrictions are due to the proximity of Alicante’s approach and departure lanes, and that was the concern of the controller, not an imminent CFIT?
Any altitude assignment by ATC must be cognisant of/take into account the terrain. Clearly, judging by the reaction of the ATC in this instance, they thought the crew did the wrong thing crossing DIXIR at "only" 6000ft. Why did they think that? ATC obviously has a view that 6000ft at DIXIR is too low (even though it is pretty close to a standard profile at that distance). Perhaps they were, incorrectly, assuming that 7500ft, which only applies to the STAR. was the general limit. There is nothing on the AIP charts that places any restriction at DIXIR.