Taxi Service Spain

About in Spain: Taxist strike throughout Spain after discussions with Spanish authorities continued| In English

Taxist action continues throughout Spain after industry leaders did not agree with leaders at a four-hour summit on Monday. Taxis said they were not happy with the government's proposal to delegate authority to delegate licences to local authorities and said this would just widen the issue to 17 areas rather than solve it.

People' s Party (PP) and Ciudadanos said they would ask the Minister of Works, José Luis Ábalos, to come to Congress to declare the "chaos" created by the interruption taking place at the height of the tourism holiday period in Spain. Earlier this month, the Spaniards initiated a round of talks to end the current strike in Barcelona, Madrid and other towns for "unfair" car service practices such as Uber and Cabify.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the impact of the Spanish high seasonal strike has been felt by tens of millions of passengers a year. Taxis said they hoped for a better suggestion when they returned to the Ministry of Public Works this afternoon to restart discussions. The taxi industry meetings will then have to determine whether or not to cancel the current nation-wide strike.

Last Wednesday the protest was fierce as some striking Uber and Cabify cars encircled and stepped onto the roads of the Catalan city. Unauto, the cycling and hauling company federation, has notified these and other occurrences. Pedro Saura, Permanent Secretary in charge of Infrastructures, Transport and Accommodation, on Monday held a meeting with the most important Spanish trade organisations - Fedetaxi, Élite Taxi and Antaxi - to hear their requests.

Saura will be meeting with members of ride-hauling federations operating under specific licences for chauffeur-driven hire cars known as VTC on Tuesday. Taxis said Saura was benevolent to their cause and wanted the Act to be enforced, which states that only one VTC licence can be issued for every 30 taxis.

Last Wednesday the protest was fierce as some striking Uber and Cabify cars encircled and stepped onto the roads of the Catalan city. Unauto, the cycling and hauling company federation, has notified these and other occurrences. A number of riders from ride-hauling service said they had fellow riders who had chosen to remain at home instead of risking damages to their cars or face-to-face attacks.

"You have the right to go on strikes and claim what you think your right is, but without becoming violence against us," said Abdel Ghani, an over-driver who says his vehicle was littered with balls in O'Donnell St. in Madrid later Friday evening. Calling for "rest" over the week-end, the Department said that taxi federations in Barcelona and Madrid must revert to normalcy as a "necessary step" towards a common approach that will allow "balanced coexistence" between taxi and carpooling.

Violence began on Wednesday last weekend when Barcelona taxi riders heralded a two-day strikes in Barcelona to endorse a municipal decree passed at the instigation of Mayor Ada Colau that limits the room for manoeuvre for businesses such as Uber and Cabify. Following this ruling by the Higher District Tribunal, taxi riders in Barcelona began an open-ended strikes on Saturday 28 July, which was soon supported by the Madriders.

Meanwhile, the protests have spread to other parts of Spain such as Malaga, Seville, Valencia, Alicante, Zaragoza and La Rioja, where the ban will continue until Tuesday of this week. Taxi riders in Barcelona also obstructed inner cities and approach routes to the airports.

Her Madrid counterparts followed this example and left Barajas International Airfield and Atocha Railway Station.