Hundreds of taxis have gathered this Wednesday in Barcelona to start a slow march through the city center in order to avoid the liberalization of authorizations for services of tourist vehicles with driver (VTC) in interurban areas after the recent ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).
The mobilization has been "a successful call", according to Élite Taxi, the sector association in charge of organizing the protest, with taxis arriving from different cities in Catalonia and other autonomous communities, such as Madrid or the Basque Country. The spokesman for Elite Taxi, Tito Álvarez, has threatened a "collapse in all cities and airports in Spain" at the gates of summer if the "wild release" of this type of vehicle is not prevented.
Álvarez sets June 30 as the deadline to "bring order" to the law that regulates the sector. "All the big cities in the national territory are about to explode. Right now we are in a situation stuck to that of July 2018, when everything exploded and Barcelona began an indefinite strike that spread like an oil stain," he stated. .
The CJEU ruled that limiting the number of VTC licenses based on those granted to taxi services is contrary to EU law. However, Elite Taxi expressed its satisfaction that the European court endorses that in the metropolitan area of Barcelona the city councils can restrict the number of VTC licenses for reasons of traffic congestion, environment, occupation of public space and road safety.
The taxis have left after 10 in the morning from Plaza España along the Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, where they have occupied three lanes of the street, with the aim of reaching Passeig de Gràcia, where at the intersection with Rosselló they have cut this central Barcelona artery.
Then the march began on foot to the Government delegation (on Mallorca street) to demand a rule that protects taxi drivers from outside the metropolitan areas, since it is the Ministry of Transport that has powers over interurban transport . They consider it essential that the number of licenses for each taxi be limited (1/30) as it was until the sentence released last week.
Álvarez has asked the ministry, and has directly questioned Raquel Sánchez, to include the regulatory framework that allows the sentence in the land transport law and to transfer powers to the autonomous communities and local entities.
The spokesperson for the taxi drivers' association explained that yesterday they met with the General Secretary for Transport, María José Rallo, and stressed that the Government has shown its predisposition. In addition, he has explained that next Tuesday, at 4:00 p.m., they have a new meeting at the ministry where "we will try to close the deal."
