Heated discussions at the airport in the summer about pirate taxis.

Heated discussions at the airport in the summer about pirate taxis. | MDB

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPalma20/12/2017 00:00
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Seventy-eight "pirate" operators at the airports in Palma and Ibiza were fined during the summer. At a meeting of the Balearic Transport Council, the regional transport minister Marc Pons reported that 48 of these had been in Palma and 30 in Ibiza. He believed that the "fight against piracy" had been satisfactory. It resulted in fines totalling 133,000 euros; 80,000 of these applied to Palma.

Pons added that the ministry and the Council of Ibiza are "on the right track towards eradicating" pirate activity. This was defined as companies with vehicles with drivers for hire (a separate category to taxis) and taxi companies without permission to operate at the airports.The minister explained that actions against these pirates will continue.

The situation with pirate operators prompted one spontaneous protest by taxi drivers with airport permits. They stopped work for several hours, an action that created some chaos at Palma airport.

The meeting also offered the minister the opportunity to explain changes to the public bus service from 2019. The number of bus operators with concessions is to be reduced to three; there will be a 50% increase in the distance travelled by buses and in the frequency of service; there will be four hubs (Palma, Inca, Manacor and Campos); and the whole fleet of buses will undergo comprehensive renewal.