The association that defends the interests of taxi drivers in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area, Élite Taxi, held a general meeting of the sector throughout Catalonia on December 9th. This scope will affect all services “including airports, train stations and bus stations” and, according to Tito Alvarez, the leader of taxi drivers, only free services that deal with “medical emergencies” will be allowed. Moreover, Álvarez announced that, as part of the most difficult protests in this sector, hundreds of taxis “rolled” and stopped along the Gran Via de Barcelona, between Plaza Tetuan and Entensa, as well as on Paseo de Gracia, between Rosselló and Plaza Catalunya. This protest, which I called “irreversible,” according to Alvarez, came a few weeks after the parliamentary committee discussed the future law of the taxi sector (known as the law antiuber), which will significantly reduce the number of vehicle transportation licenses (VTC).
Why are taxi drivers moving now? Last September 25, the PSC, ERC, CUP and Commons and Joints registered a proposal for the future law on transporting people in vehicles to the new plazas. The deputies, together with Tito Álvarez, presented the law to Parliament and announced that parliamentary discussion would begin in a few weeks. The regulations have enough support to make them a reality in 2026.
This project decapitates VTC services that mostly fall into the hands of Uber and Cabify. Nothing more than the entry into force of the standard (if the current article is maintained), it would mean the cancellation of 600 of the 990 VTC licenses currently in force in Barcelona (where there are 10,517 taxi licences). In addition to the reduction of licences, when it is necessary to authorize new permits, the administrations will give priority to the creation of taxi licenses and if new VTC licenses are needed, they will only grant short licenses (from two years), which will not be automatically renewed and will disappear as they expire. Moreover, once the project is approved, the challenge process becomes so long that the taxi industry believes that when Uber gets a European ruling against the law, many years will pass and most of the licenses will disappear.
Faced with this situation, Uber quickly realized that it had to lobby before the bill was approved to try to save the furniture. On November 12, he began his attack. Uber, with its employer Foment del Treball, organized a trip in which it criticized the bill, asserted that it would harm mobility in Barcelona, and showed that it was not alone, although it was an ally of the city’s main lobby groups: the Resturación association, the Barcelona Uberta merchants, the Mou-te of Barcelona and Barcelona Global business groups.
Now the taxi also wants to show its strength in front of the parliamentarians who will discuss the law. Alvarez explained that the conference that was called was due to “the practices of large companies and business sectors that give them legitimacy.” “Uber is allied with associations that meet with representatives, and from Parliament, we believe that the matter is not clear,” denounced the leader of taxi drivers to El Pais newspaper. Élite Taxi’s goal is to demonstrate the strength of the sector to parliamentarians. “We will push until the law is approved before the end of February, and motorists finish their job,” Alvarez said.
“Catalan Taxi will work forcefully within the framework of the law to clarify these facts and publicly condemn them, without violence or threats, but with the determination to defend our way of life and the way of life of thousands of working families,” he added. He also highlighted the following: “From Élite Taxi Catalunya, we want to make it clear that we are not responsible for any quarrel that may occur outside our control.”
Álvarez has described Foment del Treball as “siding” with large multinational corporations rather than allying itself with workers and the Catalan productive fabric. The goal of taxi drivers is to achieve the image of hundreds of vehicles parked in the center of Barcelona. There will be a meeting to determine the procedures that will be implemented during the match. Demonstrations in Parliament, Plaza Sant Jaume or Camp Nou are not excluded. Élite Taxi announced that more than 300 information pickets will be deployed throughout Catalonia until the number of services is complete and there are no taxis spread throughout the city.