24-hour national taxi strike in Spain

IF you need to hail a taxi in Spain on Wednesday, November 29 you might have a long wait.

Spain’s main taxi drivers’ union, Fedetaxi, has asked its members throughout the country to strike for 24 hours from 6am Wednesday until 6am Thursday over the issuing of new private hire driver’s licenses (VTC).

Taxi unions in Spain have been fighting for restrictions on companies such as Uber and Cabify who they claim provide unfair competition. 

Fedetaxi president Miguel Angel Leal assured customers that minimum services will be guaranteed, especially in certain sensitive areas such as train and bus stations, airports and hospitals.

He said the Ministry of Development’s proposed regulations on VTC licenses were “insufficient.”

The Secretary for State Infrastructure and Transport, Julio Gomez-Pomar responded, saying the Ministry of Development would not change the regulations, which include a register for all private hire car drivers, and “anti-fraud measures.”

Two weeks ago Supreme Court case allowed Madrid to issue a further 80 VTC licences for their region a ruling that is likely to give approximately 10,000 more applications the green light across Spain.