Uber rides Malaga

Ride-hailing services, such as Uber or Bolt, have reached a record number of licences in Malaga province almost equaling Taxi licences.

The Malaga province has already conceded 2,600 licences for car ride services that use an app and charge on distance and depending on demand. Known in Spain as VTCs (Vehicles of transport with driver), their demand has grown exponentially in recent years. Currently there are 2,720 taxi licenses demonstrating that they are being chased by the alternative VTC service.

Most VTC cars serve Malaga airport and train station

President of the VTC Andalucía association, Pablo García-Trespalacios, states that they concentrate around 60% of the volume at Malaga Airport and Maria Zambrano train station and points to chauffeur-driven transport vehicles as one of the possible ways of moving around the region in the absence of other alternatives such as a coastal train. And still García-Trespalacios explained to press, that the Malaga province lacks enough transport especially in the summer months.

The busiest customer pick-up point is Malaga Airport even though the VTC cars do not have access to the regular taxi rank. Nor, like taxis, do they have a fixed rate as journey prices are affected by demand and so more expensive at the busiest times.

‘Pirate’ taxi cabs becoming problem a airport

While taxi operators are unhappy about the massive influx of competition from the app-hailed VTC cabs, both groups are complaining about the rise in unregistered cabs at the airport that they call ‘taxi pirates’, who lure customers at the arrivals hall into taking their more expensive service to locations including Estepona, Gibraltar and Sotogrande.