Spain also has a serious terrorist problem and unlike UK also have a nationalistic group based in Spain.
As a former senior UK police office, not providing a facility to hold a hand bag at reception, has nothing to do with security.
Likewise, the unfriendly approach of the staff is inexcusable, particularly as it must often leave Filipino citizens waiting outside.
When I visited I had a document case with a pile of papers and that was allowed in. My fiancée with a very small clutch bag (with time of the month necessities) as I said was made to wait outside.