Last weekend, coinciding with the festivities in Santa Cruz of the I Love Reggaeton and Love the 90’s festivals, alongside the arrival of several cruise ships to the capital’s harbour, the city faced a shortage of taxis. This situation resulted in extensive queues of patrons who, following the concerts, waited for over an hour due to the virtually non-existent public transport service at that hour of the night.
After what were termed “images of disgrace” by the La Gremial del Taxi association, its president, Zebenzui Pérez, condemned “the inadequate management being executed by the local council and the dominant employers’ association, represented in Élite Taxi, who have sanctioned a schedule of mandatory halts that responds to a whim costing dearly to users, drivers, and municipal licence holders.” He further remarked that “queues to serve citizens at the Plaza España stop and hundreds of unanswered calls over the weekend by radio stations operating in the capital only pave the way for disruptive platforms and VTCs, detrimental to public service.”
Moreover, the president of La Gremial emphasised that “we must acknowledge that taxis serve more than just the urban core, and that users require them throughout the municipality, at any hour and day, not exclusively for attending events. After more than a decade of operational hours, we must emerge from the garage.”
On her part, the Councillor for Mobility, Evelyn Alonso, reminded everyone that €1.23 million has been allocated “to enhance the taxi economy, a commitment in which the Cabildo participates with 45% of the total funds.”
This plan “aims to gradually remove 151 taxi licences from the streets by 2026, so the council’s contribution will amount to €2.718 million over the four years of the inter-administrative agreement,” she indicated.
Mobilisations
The councillor addressed the Elite Taxi employers’ association, which has declared mobilisations from the 26th of this month until December 30th, in protest against the “inefficacious” rescue of licences and the removal of stops along the cycle lane. In this matter, Alonso stated that “the commitment to rescues upholds its agenda and the timeline presented in the Taxi Table. Last year, 36 licences were rescued for a total of €1.332 million, and so far this year, there have been 22, amounting to €814,000, plus those that may be included in a third list.” Specifically, she explained, “there have been 28 applications submitted in 2024, of which 16 licences originate from the 2023 reserve list and 12 from this year.”
Additionally, there are currently 12 taxi licences adapted for People with Reduced Mobility (PMR), indicating that of the 695 taxi licences in Santa Cruz, 41 have been suspended for various reasons, leading to 654 municipal offices currently operational and offering services.
