BAA is owned by Spaniards. Well, by a Spanish-registered company. They bought BAA in a highly-leveraged deal and now all they can do is pay the whopping interest on their debt. They have no money for improvements in service or infrastructure.

Meanwhile, in Spain, the airports authority is controlled by the Spanish State. Things work pretty well and security check queues are nothing like LGW or LHR.

Its enough to make a Socialist out of you!