Barcelona’s VTC sector has escalated its protests against the Catalan government’s proposed new taxi law, warning that it could trigger the city’s largest ever redundancy plan. On Tuesday afternoon, a convoy of black cars gathered outside the Department of Territori, blocking parts of Avinguda Josep Tarradellas while a key meeting on the draft law took place inside.
The legislation, set to reshape passenger transport in the city, would eliminate urban VTC services within Barcelona and reserve the market exclusively for taxis. VTC operators would be restricted to interurban routes and forced to pre-contract rides, which drivers argue will leave vehicles idling and polluting without serving customers.
Union representatives say the impact will be devastating. José María Cazallas of the Sindicato Libre de Transportes (SLT) described it as ‘the biggest redundancy plan in Barcelona’s history’, estimating that 4,000 drivers could lose their jobs within a year. Protesters carried banners blaming regional minister Sílvia Paneque for the potential mass layoffs.
The demonstration, called by industry groups Unauto and SLT, drew around a hundred drivers, many of them from immigrant backgrounds. Muhammad Ad Bidal, spokesperson for the Aurora union in Catalonia, criticised the bill as anti-competitive and discriminatory, noting that it would disproportionately affect workers of Pakistani, Moroccan, Indian and Bangladeshi origin.
Unauto’s president, José Manuel Berzal, accused the government of striking the deal with taxi lobbies, while insisting that the VTC sector remained open to dialogue despite preparing legal challenges. Drivers at the protest voiced frustration at being denied the right to work. One held a sign reading: ‘Work is work, every job is dignified.’
With PSC, ERC and CUP backing the measure in Parliament, few expect major concessions. Yet Tuesday’s scenes outside Territori underscored that the fight between taxis and VTCs, long a flashpoint in Barcelona, is far from over.
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