Striking taxi drivers demand solution

As the sixth day of Barcelona taxi drivers' strike comes to an end, with no end currently in sight, Catalan News spoke with a representative of the strikers. "We want a solution," said Yasar Idrees.

Negotiations with the Spanish government on Monday failed. Idrees expressed regret for people who have been disrupted by the ongoing industrial action, but said it's a matter "of our children's and families' future." 

Barcelona taxi drivers decided to maintain a strike to demand regulation against car-hailing companies after the Spanish government failed to fulfil their demands in a meeting on Monday.

In the sixth day of the strike, two of Barcelona's main streets remain occupied by thousands of cabs. They have also threatened to block the French border and the port.

They are calling for limit to the number of licences made available for car-hailing services. Companies such as Cabify and Uber put their jobs in danger, they say. As Idrees said, it is a matter of their livelihood. He highlighted that everyday taxi drivers are striking, they are not earning money. 

A ratio of one license for every 30 taxis is envisioned in the current regulation. Taxi unions claim this ratio is much higher, and want all of Spain’s regional governments to commit to respecting the ratio.