Lately, a few taxi drivers have been roaming the streets of Barcelona hunting for other professional colleagues who try to swindle tourists every morning, mainly tourists, who with great impunity charge them fifty or sixty euros for rides that the taximeter leaves ten on a daily basis. . From the nightclubs on the Paseo Marítim to Plaza Catalunya, to give an example. And when they find them, the alleged scammers, they try to punish them by spraying the interior of their vehicles with fire extinguishers.
A video illustrates one of these alleged mockery. The recording does not spread like wildfire through the networks. Only a few taxi drivers have it on their mobile phones. Other professional colleagues criticize these methods. Apparently it was recorded during the early hours of this Saturday, in the surroundings of the large esplanade of the Fòrum, where the latest edition of the popular electronic music contest Brunch Electronik took place. And they also assure that they found one who wanted to take advantage of two Brazilian tourists eager to return to their hotel, that the indicated taxi driver intended to leave the meter off and negotiate the price of the ride, that he wanted to charge them close to one hundred euros or It costs 25 to take a taxi to the center! Then suddenly, after talking to the Brazilian tourists, after a brief exchange with the driver, two men dressed in black take out a couple of hidden fire extinguishers and spray the interior of the vehicle. The truth is that Brazilian tourists do not come out of their astonishment. Then the recording is interrupted.
This is an old problem that tends to rebound as soon as the number of visitors to the city grows and the supply of taxis seems insufficient, especially during summer nights. The union itself denounces that for some time now these bad practices have not ceased to grow in Barcelona, that the alleged scammers form more or less organized groups, that are stationed at dawn in front of the W hotel, in the surroundings of the discotheques on the promenade Marítim, at the same stop that is right next to the Port Olímpic, in the departure areas of the concerts and the most massive super music festivals... In fact, a few weeks ago, shortly after Jaume Collboni was sworn in as a new mayor of Barcelona, La Vanguardia asked the representatives of the different sectors of the city what their main request was. Those of the taxi drivers then responded that they put an end to these scams that so cloud the image of the profession.
Elite Taxi, the main association of taxi drivers in the metropolitan area, says that it is organizing a few patrols that will try to prevent these deceptions, that at the moment they are finalizing the shifts, since they have to go out at night... "These patrols will go well-identified, such as the ones we deploy at the airport against pirates -adds Elite Taxi-, and its main function will be to inform users. We want the administrations to immobilize the vehicles of those who carry out these scams, take them to the warehouse and fine them 4,000 euros”.
