EGGW, with regard to your comment about the Spanish looking after their own, I have to say that it is only (as usual) the UK who are impartial to the nationality of the aircraft that they're dealing with....
The standing joke in our company is that Dublin ATC will stick you in the hold at TULSO so as to accomodate a Shamrock who's just departed CDG,AMS,JFK etc and make sure he gets in first...And that kind of thing happens everywhere in Europe.
Give me London ATC any day of the week, although I have to add that I love the way the Yanks do it......