Travel headache caused by Barcelona taxi strike

Barcelona (ACN).- Taxis in Barcelona are on strike to protest online platforms such as Uber or Cabify, which they consider to be unfair competition. Commuters and tourists at Sants, Barcelona’s main train station, or El Prat, the city airport, had to face long queues to take the bus or alternative transport methods because the taxi stands were completely empty. The strike, which started at 6am on Tuesday, will last for 24 hours. Up to 20,000 taxi drivers are expected to take to the streets in a big rally in Madrid, with more than 2,500 drivers from the Barcelona’s Metropolitan also attending. 

Alberto Álvarez, the spokesman for the Elite taxi union, warned that online platforms such as Uber or Cabify “have their days numbered” because they have taken advantage of “legal gaps” to “make money” but things will change soon. Álvarez said that the recent decision by the European Court of Justice, suggesting that Uber or Cabify drivers should have transportation licenses, is a “strong blow” against them. “These companies will have to comply with the laws of EU member states,” he said.

However, so far, taxi driver unions are not satisfied with the reaction of either the Spanish or the Catalan governments, and are threatening with more mobilizations beginning June 29th. They are also even weighing the possibility of an indefinite strike starting on July 31st, just at the peak of the holiday period. They consider that their demands are not being listened to by the government and that online platforms such as Uber are “destroying” their business while they operate “illegally”.