Soller taxis

I have been following the debate in our letters to the editor section regarding the Soller taxi service. I will relate an experience which happened to me last summer. I was returning from a reception in Soller and decided to take a taxi from the main rank in the port. Initially, it was empty so I telephoned the taxi company, only to be told that they were all busy and I should wait. Which is what I did. When a cab finally arrived I asked the driver to take me to Palma. Initially he said that it was too far and that would mean that he would be out of the busy Soller area, for a while. It was hot and I was pretty bored of the whole discussion so I told him that taxis were a public service and it was his duty to take me where I wanted to go, afterall, the fare to Palma isn´t cheap. He said he would call his controller who agreed with me and said that he would have to take me into Palma. The journey to the city was conducted in complete silence. Obviously the cabbie was not too impressed at leaving lucrative work behind and having to go to Palma. But that is the point. Taxis ,offer a public service and to maintain their licence, they must provide a service. I was rather amused by his attitude. It was the first time that a taxi driver had thought twice about accepting my fare. During the trip to Palma his radio was busy with callers wanting a cab in Soller . But that it is, just, hard luck. Some days you win, other days you lose. So I don´t think I will be catching a Soller cab, again.