All is not well at the taxi ranks at Palma airport. A sluggish start to the season has done little to boost taxi-driver spirits and it appears that a fresh war against pirate/illegal taxi drivers is brewing.
Last year, the regional government approved a decree aimed at illegal, "pirate" taxis. A specific committee was unveiled to tackle the problem, with the main focus being on pirate taxis operating at the airports. Increased controls and inspections were supposed to have been introduced, while there was to be a monitoring of websites through which illegal transport services were offered.
Fines ranging from 6,000 to 12,000 euros for advertising illegal services faced offenders between June and September. There was also to be a change of emphasis where controls were concerned. Rather than have these in different parts of the island, they were to be concentrated on access points for the airports, which is where most pirate activity occurs.
Salvador Servera, the manager of the Balearic transport operators' federation, and Gabriel Moragues, the president of one of the taxi-drivers' associations, both welcomed the government's initiative. "Everything that can be done to fight this ‘intrusion’ is good."
The new legal device was expected to increase the time that vehicles used for illegal activities can be immobilised and it also included improvements to the regulation of services provided by coach operators. The aim was to provide legal cover to contracts when there is unplanned demand in the peak season. Companies will be able to subcontract services in future. There was also going to be a greater control of companies offering hire cars with drivers that are based outside the Balearics.
National regulations already stipulate that such companies can only have 20% of their business outside their own territories. A register is to be made of all these vehicles. And this year, the Balearic government is working hard to crack down on illegal hire companies operators and those which are not officially registered.
But while all this is going on and more inspectors are out and about keeping an eye on the car rental companies, registered airport cabbies have realised that there is a loophole in the law which pirate cabbies are cashing in on. Registered taxi drivers claim that there are more pirate cabbies than ever operating in and out of Palma airport and some form of protest action is being planned unless the authorities step in.
Every summer, the pirate taxi conflict crops up. Clashes between the two parties have turned violent and this summer could prove no different. More CCTV cameras have been installed, but taxi drivers have come to realise that they have little or no effect. And while there are more government inspectors on site, they - being civil servants - knock off at 5pm, leaving the door open to a flood of pirate cabbies catering for evening and night flights.