Groups of highly organized taxi drivers are expelling unlicensed pirate drivers from Barcelona airport who try to steal customers from them with bad tricks. They approach them, right there, in the arrivals area of ​​Terminal 1. The taxi drivers to the pirates, at least who they think they are, with a whistle in their mouths and… “Attention, pirate! piii, piii…”. They have been like this for a week now. They exchange insults, threats and accusations all the time. Some take it very badly.
And taxi drivers also warn clueless travelers who want to get out of the airport as soon as possible and let themselves be trapped by these drivers who put themselves in the hands of a driver who in principle does not have the corresponding permits to transport passengers, that that vehicle it’s not a real taxi, these people don’t have a meter or anything like that, they’ll charge you whatever they want.
And the taxi drivers also hand out leaflets to all those who push their suitcases through the terminals, in which they complain that those responsible for the Ministry of the Interior and Aena, the state manager of this infrastructure, are not making as much effort how should they stop these alleged intruders who make them unfair competition. These days the airport is overflowing with tourists, as much as the city itself. The temptation is obscene.
“Let’s see – say these taxi drivers, with their whistles at the ready, stationed in front of the arrivals area – here at the airport you find pirates all your life. We are talking about individuals who park their car in the car park and then go around to offer themselves as taxi drivers to arriving travelers and charge them what they want. But the problem is that this year everything is going away. Some have a VTC license, but even so they cannot attract customers in any wayâ€. Élite Taxi, the main association of taxi drivers in the metropolitan area of ​​Barcelona, ​​and Alberto Ãlvarez, aka Tito, its leader, organize the shifts in question to maintain tension throughout.
“What’s happening – say other taxi drivers on duty, also very aware of everything – is that during the last year some of these pirates have become very professional. Some have several rental vans with tinted windows and corresponding drivers. They want to look professional. Then they capture the people, take them to the van and charge them right there, in the parking lot, whatever they like if they see that they are from the United States; maybe eighty euros to go to Plaça Espanya in Barcelona!â€.
“And if they are caught, it is nothing more than an administrative offence…”. “Yes, because in order to give them a real fine and immobilize their vehicle they have to catch them starting the car, with the customers sitting and then the passenger says that he has been caught, and also that… it is very difficult! They can actually do whatever they want.” “Also, no one said anything to them until now, they thought they could do whatever they wanted… they stood right here, at the barrier in the arrivals area, yelling if anyone wanted a taxi, to fuck us and everything, in our face”. But all that is over. Now they will find out.”
“What we are asking the administrations is that this form of intrusion be considered a minor crime. And also that the Generalitat provides the Mossos d’Esquadra with the necessary resources to stop it”. “Yes, these days the airport is full of cops very interested in this whole issue, but normally…”. “And let them signal this as God commands, that travelers don’t see where they can take a real taxi; that they warn of the presence of pirates by public address, in the same way that they warn of thieves”.
The taxi drivers dressed in yellow reflective vests walk in groups of three or four, mainly around the arrivals area of ​​Terminal 1 and through the accesses to the car park. Terminal 2, much smaller and also glazed, is easier to control. Many tourists think that these taxi drivers are airport informants, and ask them all kinds of questions. The fact is that not a few taxi drivers make good use of their rudimentary knowledge of English, and also of the infrastructure, and are very diligent. “Right here, until a couple of weeks ago, you could easily count forty or fifty pirates. This week, on the other hand, you find barely half a dozen, depending on the moment. But we can’t let our guard down. The truth is that they are waiting for the moment when we relax. They will not give up their business just like that. Some have been living on this for many years.”
Some of them, in order to mislead taxi drivers, are more discreet than ever, and try to take advantage of the fact that many travelers do not notice the discreet sign indicating where the taxi waiting area is, since many travelers they lose track of the infrastructure while pushing their trolleys crammed with suitcases. The thing is that we all know each other here. “Will you follow me all the time? Do you want to annoy me or what?”. Taxi drivers blow their whistles when suspected pirates try to accost a passenger. Meanwhile they simply follow them. “What do I think? That taxi drivers are all children of…! leave me alone!”. The situation and the words, on one side and also on the other, get tougher as one and the other get lost in the less traveled areas of the airport. This alleged pirate declined to give further explanations.
“We have been like this for almost a week. If the administrations fail to enforce their own rules, we will have to give them a helping hand”, quips a taxi driver. “We are nearly 200 taxi drivers who make up shifts of between fifteen and thirty people to have the two Prat terminals controlled all day.” “We have set up a super effective system. Instead of standing in the waiting grid of taxi drivers waiting for a customer to call us, we go around the terminals. A colleague tells us when it’s our turn to work. That way we don’t lose money.” “And so we can continue here, pressing, until these people decide never to return.”
