Palma taxi drivers wilt in August heat

PALMA
TAXI drivers in Palma had a decrease of nearly 30 percent in business during the last two weeks of August.
The cause of this has so far not been established, and the drop was offset by the increase in fares during the Eurobasket tournament in Palma Arena which took place from September 1 to 3.

This was announced by the President of the taxi sector of PIMEM (the small and medium sized businesses association), Biel Moragues, who said that “the Summer has been bad and August was awful”, as taxi drivers had a turnover more equivalent to Winter, when a third of the taxi fleet in Palma (composed of 1'426 vehicles) does not work.

Moragues said that during the second half of August “work just dried up”, especially during the afternoons when “in the early hours there was nothing”, and it only began to pick up a little from 8pm.

He said it is hoped that this situation will improve this month and during the first two weeks of October.
In his opinion, the present Summer season “has not been comparable to last year”, mainly because the cruise ships which had arrived in the Port of Palma during the last few months “had gone unnoticed” because “they brought passengers who had hardly any money”, he said.

Moragues confirmed that there was “worry” among the professionals he represented because of the traffic jams on the entrance roads to Palma, and some other main roads, during Summer when the weather is bad. Bad weather means that the tourists can't go to the beach so they decide to visit the city “en masse”. In addition to this, in his opinion, the new regulations from Palma council which, according to Moragues, will force drivers to extend their service during the night and at weekends, will not help to improve the situation. He added that the Government's plans to create new tramways between the capital and the airport and the Playa de Palma wouldn't help either.