01/08/2016 00:00
Every time take a taxi during the winter months, the cab driver always moans about the lack of work. From October to April it is their chief complaint. But they are not moaning now. In fact I would say that there is a severe shortage of taxis in Palma at the moment. The problem is so pronounced that sometimes you have to wait long periods even in the city centre. A sizeable number of cabbies head to the airport in search of the lucrative fare to Alcudia, Cala Ratjada or Pollensa, and I sometimes get the impression that the majority of Palma's cabs are at the airport, leaving the city without any service.
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Hi Mike (below) - thanks for that info. with which I have no dispute whatever, although the ones I saw were definitely lining up waiting for customer calls while newly arrived taxis came in at the back of the queue.
You reported a few days ago that suddenly Mallorca has 20K more rental cars than in recent years. Perhaps all those 'illegal' cab drivers have simply gone into long-term private hire rental. :-)Steve; I always arrive at the airport on that back road. Many of the cab drivers there are re-fuelling or, due to restrictions, are taking their enforced two hour break after four hours of driving. Their repair shop is also located there, as is the taxi valeting facility. You can't simply observe drivers 'standing around' and assume they're doing nothing. They want to be out there earning money.
Then regulate their airport days and town days just like their days off days. Or get rid of the town hall taxi boundaries.
Absolutely correct, Jason. While Palma is often short of taxis, you will see scores of them in the waiting sheds at the airport in the knowledge they will get the fewer but more lucrative fares from tourists arriving at the airport. As I went past their waiting area last week I saw over 60 taxis there, mant of which could, in the public interest, have been making shorter journeys elsewhere. This vast group of waiting transport cannot normally be seen unless you drive the back road of the airport perimeter and see the drivers all standing around.
Jason - the cab drivers and their union have put a severe block on 'illegal' taxis with the cameras at the airport, therefore adding to the problem of taxi shortage. They have to either accept the illegals or make the council give them more licenses. They obviously can't funcion without them. If not, nothing will ever be resolved.