I went to the Spanish consulate 12th April 07, which was a simple strajght forward procedure, took just 10 mins with no wait & free to boot. !!
This of course is assuming you have filled out the form correctly.
The problem is even for the Spanish their manyana attitude has gone to far.
Here we are 24th of Aug and the NIE has still not arrived at my solicitors in Los Alcazares. What a waste of time, good job i work in London 2 days a week, so at least it wasnt a complete waste of a day out.
In the end i had to ask my solicitor in LA to go down to Cartegena, which took 7 days, cost 150 euros.
D&G