They like to drive, talk to people, be independent and their own boss, and manage their schedules. More and more women decide to get behind the wheel of a taxi and Yurena Suarez Fernandez and Maria Victoria Quintero Rodriguez are between them.
They are the only two drivers in Tacoronte of this public means of transportationa sector dominated mostly by men and in which they have carved out a niche for themselves, although they run, in number, with a clear disadvantage: 30 against 2. They have no complaints about their professional colleagues, quite the contrary, they ensure that women they clothe very well.
And it is that for these two women, the taxi is not unknown but quite the opposite, because both come from families in which this vehicle was the main or only means of work, since both are daughters, granddaughters, mothers and wives of taxi drivers.
Yurena is 42 years old and grew up listening to stories and anecdotes of passengers and the changes that the municipality has undergone that her father told her, from whom she inherited the license.
Her grandfather, whom she hardly knew, was also a taxi driver and her husband also does the same thing, but his workplace is in the neighboring municipality of La Laguna, where she also took her first steps.
Same as them, Yurena lends her ears every day to the dozens of stories she is told on her trips. “We are like a kind of psychologist, because everyone tells us about their lives as soon as they get in the car, mostly sad things and family problems,” she says.
Yurena confesses that sometimes she doesn’t feel like hearing any comments “because you also have your problems, but you assimilate it and you’re left thinking that there are people who are worse off. Even sometimes when you don’t feel good.”
After working in a toy store and a pizzeria, she decided to dedicate herself to raising her children who were still young. A year and a half ago, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, decided to join the job and chose to continue with the license that his father had. In this context, her beginnings were quite complicated but she faced them without hesitation and she has no regrets. And although she can do without the mask, for her protection, she continues to use it.
For Yurena there are many advantages that her job offers her. “The first one is that I am my own owner, I am autonomous and I can organize myself with the family and the house”, she certifies. While she drives or is in the vehicle waiting for a trip, she listens to the music she likes and stays informed through the radio. The disadvantage of it, she adds, is that “you have to spend many hours on it.”
Proof of this is that there were three women who arrived before her but “did not last” because it is a very sacrificed job “and whether you like it or not, you have to be there,” she stresses. mary victoria.
At 68, he is twice the age of his partner, whom he saw grow up and even “changed a diaper,” he jokes. She and her husband were very close friends with Yurena’s parents when they were young. Years later, she worked with her father and now fate has matched her with her daughter. “Although we never see each other, because when she enters I leave”, she qualifies.
driving at night
He says this because he doesn’t work at night, he never did, except on the day that it’s his turn and he has no other choice, but only until midnight. Yurena, on the other hand, likes the night, he affirms that he works well and is calmer because there is less traffic. The word fear is not even taken into account.
María Victoria was born in Santa Cruz but has been living in Tacoronte for almost 60 years and since 2005 with a taxi license. She was the same one she shared with her husband, with whom she took turns serving and when he passed away, she kept it.
Her two sons are also taxi drivers and share the same stop with her, located a few meters from the Plaza de La Estación, in the heart of the municipality. The motto at home is not to talk about workand despite the fact that it is sometimes difficult, it is tried, because they do not always agree on everything.
Her beginnings were different from that of her partner because she was the only woman. “I did feel a little discriminated against because she was also of a certain age, she was not young,” she points out. They didn’t tell her anything in particular, “but her attitude was that she wanted my life.” Afterwards, everything changed.
Older people who used to get into the taxi were also amazed that it was a woman who was behind the wheel, but then they got used to it and nowadays they don’t even flinch.
Yurena has not gone through a compromising situation nor has she had the discomfort of having to run into passengers who have asked her for “something unusual”.
María Victoria has hundreds of anecdotes, she suffered threats, they have insinuated things to her, but she always survived. “We don’t have to show weakness, we have to overcome ourselves and be strong, even if inside you are saying, my God, what do I do?”
His motto is see, hear and shut up. And he follows it to the letter because in the same way that she does not like that they “get involved” in her problems, she does not do it with others. Sometimes, if she knows the person, she dares to give advice, but in general, she acts like “a priest, you keep silent and if you take him to bad places you have to keep quiet and don’t comment on what they tell you.” In short, “make your own”, she sums it up.
Of course there are times when it is inevitable to think “with all the problems I have I have to go around listening to this”. But he puts up with it, because he is clear that it is part of the job.
The two agree that their work allows them to live without financial shocks, but they regret that they have to pay so many taxes, in addition to being self-employed. “With the ERTE they gave us some aid but then the Treasury gave us a stick”complains María Victoria.
To this is added the car maintenance, a Skoda Octavia in the case of Yurena and a Dacia of María Victoria. The latter indicates that he has renewed two or three in the 18 years he has been behind the wheel. And he prefers to do it this way to prevent it from starting to cause problems because also, if the vehicle is more than five years old by law, it must pass the ITV every six months and they demand a lot of requirements.
They are also the ones who are in charge of vehicle maintenance “because it always has to be impeccable”.
They have never been involved in an accident nor have they been offered anything unusual, but there were passengers who left them without paying for the trip.
The truth is that with more and less years, Yurena and María Victoria are delighted with their work and proud to be taxi drivers, a profession that is also for women. For this reason, in addition to the stop and the passion for their work, they share the certainty that they are going to retire behind the wheel.
