The Parliament of Catalonia is processing a bill to regulate the economic activity of taxis and vehicles for hire with a driver at a time of strong tension between both sectors in Barcelona. The text proposes the progressive elimination of VTCs in the Catalan capital as their licenses expire.
The initiative has the backing of PSC, Junts, ERC, Comuns and the CUP. The proposal opens a new front in the debate on urban mobility and the distribution of the passenger transport market, with opposing positions between taxi associations, VTC employers' associations and sector platforms.
Head-on collision between taxi and VTC
From the VTC sector, the reaction has been immediate. Boubekri Mohammed Yasser, from the Sindicat Lliure de Transport de Barcelona, has warned of the labor impact that the norm may have and has recalled that "We are talking about 6,000 families who are dedicated to this sector".
The employers' association Unauto maintains that the future regulation is illegal. Its president, José Manuel Berzal, assures that a study by the Universitat de Barcelona commissioned by the organization concludes that the law favors a taxi monopoly.
In the same vein, Pablo Álvarez Pire, representative of Cabify, has called for a negotiation to "lay the foundations for a law that is fair and provides legal guarantees" for all operators. He has also warned that, if the processing continues under the current terms, an appeal before the courts could be considered.
The taxi defends that the norm orders the sector
The taxi associations support the proposal and reject that it implies a direct expulsion of VTCs. Olivier Contel, president of Élite Taxi, has summarized that position with a direct message.
"Leave the mantra that we want to kick you out. This law does not expel VTCs, it orders them" - Olivier Contel, president of Élite Taxi
In this block is also Antoni Servós, from the Sindicat del Taxi de Catalunya, who maintains that taxi licenses in Spain "are oversized". The sector's argument involves defending a stricter regulation of supply and a differentiated framework for each activity.
The debate on mobility in Barcelona
The VTCs maintain that they cover a part of the transport demand that the taxi cannot absorb in Barcelona, especially in moments of high user pressure. Faced with this, the representatives of the taxi insist that the public service already has a sufficient structure in the city.
Barcelona currently has 10,500 vehicles with a taxi license, a figure that once again places itself at the center of the debate about whether there is a real balance between supply, demand, and coexistence between models.
The parliamentary processing will now mark the next step. While the groups promoting the proposition defend a reordering of the sector, VTC companies and associations prepare their political and legal response to a norm that can profoundly redefine the map of urban transport in Barcelona.