The regional transport ministry will not give licences for VTCs (vehicles with drivers) to Uber and Cabify. The ministry's rejection is for the whole of the Balearics and it is in response to requests made by the company Ares Capital. This is a business run by Juan Ortigüela Tellería and his brother Ramón. They have filed claims for VTC licences (thousands of them) in Madrid and Barcelona. These would be worth a fortune if they were then sold on to Uber and Cabify.
The Balearic High Court has issued various rulings turning down the Ares Capital requests, while the government has no wish to see this type of VTC transport increase. It has agreed with the Balearic Transport Council that there won't be an increase.
There are at present 211 VTC licences in the Balearics, 155 of them being in Majorca. The taxi-driver associations are of course opposed to Uber or Cabify services being available in the Balearics and were represented at the protest against them in Madrid on Tuesday.