The president of the San Marcial de Lanzarote Taxi and Tourism Cooperative Society, Manuel Guillén Guerra, states that "the poor service being provided to taxi transport users is due to the fact that we have vehicles but no drivers."
This is due, he points out, to the fact that "the Arrecife City Council has not issued the necessary calls to obtain the Municipal Taxi Driver's Permit (PMCT) and to the difficulty of the exams themselves, when they have been called on occasion."
“We cannot meet the demand we have right now due to the shortage of drivers and the City Council, with Mayor Ástrid Pérez at the helm, does not seem interested in improving the service,” says Guillén, who, on the other hand, points out that “there are also many taxis that have been in garages for years due to the death or retirement of the owners, without providing municipal services, and the City Council does not seem interested in putting them into circulation.”
Another of the problems facing the sector is "the lack of taxis adapted for the transport of people with reduced mobility and the cost that such adaptation entails," the taxi drivers point out.
“We have not received any type of help from the Arrecife City Council in the more than 13 years that I have been in charge of this cooperative to alleviate the costs of this service or for the Radio Taxi service, which we are providing to the City Council itself,” Manuel Guillén emphasizes.
Regarding this last service, Guillén clarifies that not all Arrecife taxis are in the Radio Taxi fleet management. “It belongs to the members of the Cooperative. It is a private company and we are the ones who are maintaining all the services and paying for both the devices and the breakage and replacement of all the computer equipment it carries.”
Finally, the president of the San Marcial de Lanzarote Taxi and Tourism Cooperative Society adds that “our objective is to offer a good service, but right now we are tied hand and foot when it comes to mitigating the inconvenience that the shortage of taxis is generating for users.”
