Carlos is an Uber driver. Shortly after 6.30am on Tuesday, he was waiting to pick up by BCM in Magalluf. He was approached by a man in a pink t-shirt who asked if he was on duty and how much he would charge to take him to Santa Ponsa.
He replied that a booking needed to be made via the Uber app and that this would indicate the price. At that moment, the people he was waiting for appeared. Their reservation was validated on his phone.
He and the passengers got into the car. The driver's window was down. The man in the pink t-shirt demanded that Carlos show him his route sheet. "Are you a police officer?" Carlos asked the man to show his documentation. He turned to check on the passengers in the rear seats, at which point he was punched by the man. His nose began to bleed.
He called emergencies. Calvia police located his attacker shortly afterwards. It was established that he was a taxi driver. Carlos subsequently denounced the facts to the Guardia Civil.
"There is a spiral of violence. We don't know how it will end. We are just workers like them (taxi drivers)."
6 comments
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The Taxi mafia in Mallorca have been ruling the streets forever here. This kind crap has been going on for a long time. Remember the tourist bus issues? The rickshaw issues? Ever wonder why its near impossible to get a bus to the airport from your area? Just to name a few. It's really time that the politicians of Mallorca joins the free market and start to crack down on the taxi mafia and start to think about the us. The people.
Horrible this sense of entitlement and years of being spoiled by mass tourism. Total scumbags. Really hope they make the guy pay and suspend his license for a long time. Shows how totally backward this place is allowing this sort of culture to persist.
From I will only use Uber when I need a taxi. The maffia taxidrivers needs to accept their world is changing. Bully boys with threats and violence should be avoided at all cost, in my view.
Disgusting. I hope these drivers at least lose their licenses after committing violence.
The monopoly mob shows their true colours.
It's outrageous that some new fangled taxi service is affecting the ability of normal taxii drivers to stick to their 25 hour a week routine and not working after 10pm.