Tigger4me
FlyZB - Thank you for your reply. I cannot speak for the charter arrangements as we only have an allocation of seats on the scheduled service ZB737. I have spoken to Monarch in Luton and they have confirmed that passengers checking in at AGP for Monarch flights should not be restricted with their hand luggage other than the usual sharps, etc. They did say that they would speak to the handling agent so hopefully the pax will not be inconvenienced again.
When we checked in at LTN for the outbound flight we were asked all the usual questions and had to show the hand luggage at the desk. The point I was trying to make was that check in staff just asked if I had hand luggage (they didn't even ask to see it).
Also at LTN, we had to remove our shoes and put them through the scanner, this didn't happen at AGP.
I suppose it's horses for courses and whilst it was annoying to queue at LTN, I'd rather do that and feel a little safer than encounter the rather lax attitude of the Spanish staff.