Taxi protest in Barcelona for limits on private-hire vehicles following European ruling

Barcelona taxis are taking part in a slow drive protest through the city to call for limits on ride-hailing services such as Uber and Cabify to be upheld following last week's Court of Justice of the European Union (CJUE) ruling, giving authorities a June 30 deadline to regulate the sector and warning of further unrest if it is not met. 

While the magistrates said the Barcelona Metropolitan Area had not provided sufficient rationale for the 2018 regulation limiting ride-hailing services to one vehicle per 30 cabs, the ruling did open the door to such limits if "they are justified by an overriding reason relating to the public interest" such as "the objective of sound management of transport, traffic, and public space" or "protecting the environment."

Because of this, and spurred to action by the Élite Taxi union, taxi drivers gathered at Plaça Espanya square at 9 am before slowly and loudly making their way to the Spanish government delegation building in the Eixample Dreta district.

They demand that the authorities prevent the private-hire vehicle sector, which they say Spain has jurisdiction over, from being completely liberalized and "destroying the Catalan taxi sector."

Taxi drivers also argue that Spain should grant Catalonia and local councils the authority to place limits on up to 9-seat private-hire vehicles.

If these demands are not met by the end of the month, "all of Spain's taxi drivers will inundate the streets," Élite Taxi spokesperson Tito Álvarez said. "All major cities across the country are about to explode."