I distinctly heard a vuvuzela in the background while talking to Madrid ATC this afternoon. Watching re-runs of the World Cup?
That said, my last two flights through Spanish airspace have seen an improvement. Today we actually got to cruise at a level higher than filed!
ATC even prompted us to request higher by asking if the ride was a little choppy, implying that they would give us a climb if we gave them an excuse.
In the meantime relax, and accept that the ATC system is no longer there to serve you, as an individual pilot, but rather to try to serve the (sometimes conflicting ) needs of the whole aviation community.
Amazing how busier ATC in the rest of Europe manages to serve the needs of the 'individual pilot'.