The 122 taxis in the capital will be concentrated at the stops and will pick up passengers at the same, but from 6:00 a.m. on Monday they will be disconnected, indefinitely, from the Radio Taxi system that manages around 1,200 calls a day, according to the president of the Autotaxis and Autoturismo group, José Ramón Parrilla, who has asked users for understanding and apologies for the inconvenience that the measure may cause.
"Given the economic recession that is occurring in all sectors in general, taxi drivers are also suffering from it," explained the president of the Association of Auto Taxis and Autoturismo, who assures that they are noticing a decrease of up to 40 percent in recent months, of the 1,300 euros that a taxi driver can obtain as average monthly revenue, according to their version. Therefore, the group does not believe that the upcoming approval of ten new licenses for as many vehicles that the Arrecife City Council has in sight, through the Councilor for Transportation, Víctor Betancort, is convenient. According to the taxi drivers, Betancort "has been stalling us until next Friday", which is when he has said he will communicate the adopted resolution, although according to them it is the Commonwealth presided over by Marcial Martín that has the last word.
Instead, the taxi drivers proposed, in the meeting held last Monday with the head of the area in the City Council together with the mayor, Enrique Pérez Parrilla, the creation of a maximum of four new licenses, two of them for vehicles adapted for the disabled, and postpone the other eight remaining "until there is an improvement in the general economy of the island", explains the president of taxi drivers. Something that has so far been rejected "outright" by the councilor, according to the association.
Thus, the professional group demands "a positive response" from the head of the Transportation area of the capital, who has transferred them to next Friday, as the deadline, to give the resolution. Meanwhile, they believe they have the right to demonstrate by disconnecting from the Radio Taxi switchboard. Therefore, no resident of the capital will be able to get a taxi by calling by phone from Monday if a solution to this problem is not reached.
