Cabify’s confident it’ll have 250 taxi licenses in Barcelona until 2038. The ride-hailing company’s Spanish director Alberto González shared this news at a press meeting in the city on Thursday.
However, González reckons that number’s ‘totally insufficient’. With just 250 vehicles, Cabify says it can’t do much in Barcelona. They’d be operating at the same level as cities with populations of 150,000 to 200,000.
The Generalitat is finalising a new taxi law. This legislation will gradually phase out VTC (vehicle transport with conductor) licenses across Catalonia.
Cabify’s keeping the courts as an option. The company, which has been around for 15 years, hopes parliamentary amendments can fix things before they need legal action.
González sees a ‘great opportunity’ to add ‘certain modifications’ and resolve the taxi-VTC conflict in a ‘coherent’ way. The company currently employs about 1,000 drivers in Barcelona, whilst the whole VTC sector has around 4,000.
According to González, removing 4,000 VTC licenses from the market isn’t a solution for citizens or Catalan mobility. He reckons the new rules leave both the sector and the public without proper service.
That said, Cabify supports some parts of the law. They’re on board with sustainable fleet requirements and basic Catalan language standards.
The company warns 4,000 direct jobs are at risk. ‘We’re committed to everyone, but we especially need to protect those with direct employment through our fleet,’ said Fernández.
The new taxi law has backing from PSC, Junts, ERC, Comuns and CUP in the Catalan Parliament. Meanwhile, Élite Taxi spokesman Tito Álvarez praised the chamber’s ‘courage’ in pushing forward regulations to ‘bring order’ to the sector.
Taxi drivers have called a slow march for 15 October. They’re demanding local police in Barcelona’s metropolitan area enforce the Generalitat’s decree on VTCs. The convoy will travel through various Baix Llobregat towns, from Splau shopping centre in Cornellà to Castelldefels and back to El Prat.
If you want news on a more convenient platform, you can follow us on Reddit, X or our WhatsApp broadcast channel.
