What's the name of the sound common in German and Spanish that sounds like you're clearing phlegm?

I'm writing a paper for my History and Structure of the English Language cl about the phonetic and grammatical differences between English and Spanish. I've noticed that native Speakers, especially from Spain, seem to make that sound--the one where you're coughing up phlegm--when they pronounce the "soft" [g] sound. What is the name of that sound? Germans also use it in their soft [g]'s and [ch]'s. Help?