Taxi rank at Palma Son Sant Joan Airport, Mallorca

A shortage of taxis has been a theme of the summer. | Archive

Andrew EdePalma09/08/2022 07:52
TW
3

Arnau Bisquerra, the president of Radio Taxi, the largest of Palma's taxi dispatchers, says that the phone service has been collapsing every day.

There are days when it receives more than 11,000 calls. "With the number of tourists that we have - there are days with more than two million people on the island - it's impossible to attend to all the requests as we would like."

The service is being overwhelmed on a daily basis, Bisquerra noting that it has been reinforced, but stressing that Palma needs another 400 taxi drivers. He adds that operators' mental health is being affected by the strain.

As it is, there can be great difficulties in being able to book a taxi. If callers manage to get through to an operator, which isn't always the case, there are occasions when taxis don't show up because of the excess demand.