Close Call
I am the Capt. of the Vueling flight in question. Since having started with Vueling I have had an almost daily "situation" with ATC in Madrid and Barcelona. Non standard phraseology is the norm and the insistence on many controllers to speak Spanish causes a loss of situational awareness. The fact that both myself and the F/O were fresh in on our shift, vigilant in our cross checks and extra careful when operating in LEBL meant that despite having an awkward viewing angle from taxiway "D" across R20, and being on Ground Frequency, we had enough time to stop before Click could have potentially hit us.
My initial feeling about this situation was, "oh, good grief not another unprofessional situation where pilots have to cover for poor ATC performance". I see no benefit in over analysing this matter. A revamp of the entire system is needed here and this matter should serve as a BIG wakeup call. I bear no malice nor harbor ill will to any one at ATC in Barcelona and only want a lesson to be learned here before another Tenerife type of disaster occurs.
Lets all keep the vigilence going and our heads up. I hope that once the investigation is done we will all see and benefit from a more professional approach to aviation in this part of the world.
Flytelaws