Mobility in the archipelago is once again at the center of public debate. After years of regulatory containment and intense mobilization of the taxi sector, the implementation of Vehicles for Hire with Driver (VTC) and the arrival of international platforms are experiencing decisive days marked by strategic moves by companies and key judicial decisions.
The most recent development focuses on Tenerife, where Uber has begun to position itself to consolidate and expand its model in urban areas such as Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
The multinational has initiated contacts with taxi professionals in the capital of Tenerife. The platform's objective is to replicate the strategy it already uses in other major Spanish cities, allowing local taxi drivers to receive direct requests through its application to increase their travel volumes without giving up the regulated fare.
This step seeks to overcome the historical reluctance of the island's professional sector, in a context where tourist demand and transport saturation at critical points in the archipelago continue to increase pressure on public discretionary transport services.
The general scenario in the Canary Islands is marked by legal uncertainty. While a very small number of VTC authorizations currently operate in the archipelago (around two hundred throughout the territory compared to thousands of taxi licenses), thousands of blocked applications are accumulating in the courts.
The judiciary must determine the validity of decrees and moratoriums to limit the massive entry of platforms against the principles of freedom of establishment set by European regulations.
The taxi sector in the Canary Islands maintains a common front in defense of regular public passenger transport. They argue that an excessive influx of VTC fleets would precarious the service, collapse the already saturated road infrastructure of the islands, and destroy the local taxi economic fabric.
However, the platforms insist that their presence responds to a real need for complementary mobility, especially during peak tourist influxes.
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