- Title: Tourists struggle as Madrid taxi drivers strike over Uber
- Date: 30th May 2017
- Summary: MADRID, SPAIN (MAY 30, 2017) (REUTERS) TAXI AND BUS LANE EMPTY TAXI AND BUS LANE/ CIBELES FOUNTAIN IN BACKGROUND PEOPLE CROSSING STREET, SOME OF THEM PULLING WHEELED SUITCASES VARIOUS OF EXTERIOR OF ATOCHA RAIL STATION WITH EMPTY TAXI LANES FOREIGN FAMILY WITH BABY AT BUS STOP (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) TOURIST FROM THE UNITED STATES, GREG NOLAN, SAYING: "We prepaid for our taxis before we left America and now we don't have one. So we are using public transportation right now." POLICE OUTSIDE ATOCHA RAIL STATION STRIKING TAXI DRIVERS STANDING NEXT TO THEIR VEHICLES TAXI DRIVERS PROTESTING OUTSIDE ATOCHA STATION (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) TAXI DRIVER FROM BARCELONA, JOSE TOMAS HERNANDEZ, SAYING: "We want them to adjust the same rules we have to follow. We are obliged to apply for permits, we have to pay certain taxes, we have to pass certain revisions for the vehicles, etc. And they don't have do any of that. We have to pay taxes in Spain whereas all their taxes go to fiscal paradises." POLICE WATCHING TAXI DRIVERS PROTESTING PUBLIC BUS ARRIVING, PROTESTERS POLICE VEHICLES ON STREET PROTESTERS WITH FLAGS AT THE BEGINNING OF DEMONSTRATION
- Embargoed: 13th June 2017 11:37
- Keywords: Madrid taxis Uber protest strike tourists
- Location: MADRID, SPAIN
- City: MADRID, SPAIN
- Country: Spain
- Topics: Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA0016J15VLZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Spanish taxi drivers went on strike on Tuesday (May 30) protesting against what they call unfair competition from private shared ride businesses like Uber and Cabify.
Travelers arriving at Madrid's Atocha rail station found none of the usual lines of taxis waiting to pick them up.
In Spain's capital city, as elsewhere, Uber's service of matching private car owners with passengers has prompted anger among the heavily-regulated taxi sector.
Regulation and hostility from local taxi firms drove Uber off Spanish streets at the end of 2014 after a Spanish judge ruled the company did not comply with the country's laws and represented unfair competition. But it returned to Madrid in April last year with UberX which, unlike its previous UberPOP service, used professionally licensed drivers.
The strike was expected to last from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. in Madrid, and until midnight in Barcelona. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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