The representatives of Elite Taxi and Antaxi announced on Tuesday that they are maintaining the mobilizations this morning after the meeting at the Ministry of Transport to request that it avoid the total liberalization of VTCs for interurban journeys. The meeting took place at noon and also served to assess the ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union, published last week.
According to sources in the sector, the meeting was “cordial” and the ministry conveyed its “great concern” over the content of the sentence. As they added, the taxi drivers transferred a battery of measures that the Spanish government promised to study. Both parties have been summoned next Tuesday to continue dealing with this issue.
After the meeting, the representatives of the taxi drivers explained that the analysis of the sentence during the summit has shown that it will be especially the Autonomous Communities and the entities that will have to carry out impact assessments on the VTC authorizations at the regional level and decide the need, or not, of own regulatory changes.
Elite Taxi and Antaxi called on taxi drivers to participate in the mobilization this Wednesday, which will begin at nine in the morning in Plaza España and plans to move slowly to the Spanish government delegation.
According to the organizers of the march, taxi drivers from Playa de Aro, Lloret de Mar, Tossa de Mar, Malgrat de Mar, Pineda de Mar, Canet de Mar, Santa Susanna, Mataró, Sitges, El Vendrell, Vilanova and la Geltrú, San Pedro de Ribes, Infant Hospital, Olivella, Canyelles, Lleida, Sabadell and Girona. “While there is uncertainty, the demonstrations will continue,” added the spokesman for Elite Taxi
Last week, the taxi sector positively assessed the content of the European court’s resolution, understanding that it legitimizes city councils to set limits for various “objective” reasons and added that in Barcelona there are already official reports that conclude that no more can enter VTC in the city. However, he regretted that the ruling opened the door to liberalizing the sector in the rest of Catalonia, which is why the protest was called. “Taxi drivers in the Barcelona metropolitan area are armored but those in the rest of Catalonia are not,” stressed the spokesperson for Élite Taxi, Tito Álvarez.
