Hi old fart,
First of all, that they did not acknowledge your pan straight away is unforgivable. The conditions surrounding a pan should be well known with all controllers.
Having said that I was just wandering who your were talking to before then. Were you just handed over to this non english speaking controller? It all sounds a bit strange to me. I have been flying in Spain for four years, speaking in English, and I never had a controller who did not speak English at all.
It would be good to realize though that we do not all speak English as well as somebody who is born with it. And for the Spanish it is not as easy as for some other countries. English was not mandatory in schools until very recently, so English with limitations can be expected. Which is why we should stay away from any slang and use the standard r/t. Personally I have never heard of the word jetty myself, and I have quite a fair level of English. Yes the Spanish seem to use finger, but the icao approved word GATE will do the trick for sure.
I have had a number of chats on R/T in the UK where I just coudn't understand a word of what the controller was saying, just because of accent and non standard r/t. The issue of standard phraseology was recently raised again in a safety publication from NATS and as it appears quite rightly. Please don't point the finger only to the Spanish, they try and give it there best.
I do am sorry you did not get a warmer welcome in my fine home city. Hope you enjoyed the night downtown though...
