I'll say, from TOD for Barcelona to around FL200 it's manic, probably 5 frequencies in roughly 10 minutes!
Personally I've never had that at Barcelona, it's always been 2/3 frequencies all the way down from TOD to final and never seemed particularly rushed. If you want a good example, try asking them if they would let you shortcut across 25R on the taxi out to 25L rather than going all the way round. The amount of hassle and faff that creates is unbelievable...