The Balearic Government and transport associations are together examining ways of preventing expansion by Uber and similar operators. This united front follows a Balearic High Court ruling ordering the government to re-process 600 VTC licences that were denied to Moove Cars by the previous government. Moove Cars operates under an Uber umbrella; the VTC licences - Vehículo de Transporte con Conductor - are those used by Uber.
An appeal against the ruling is planned, while legal means of making expansion more difficult are being studied. The Balearic Transport Federation and one of the taxi associations - Taxis-PIMEM - are to the fore in seeking legal challenges. Gabriel Moragues, president of Taxis-PIMEM, describes Uber as a "cancer" that has no wish to coexist with the taxi sector, but rather to wipe it out.
The federation draws a distinction between chauffeur services operating with VTC licences in the luxury end of the market - to which no-one objects - and the likes of Uber, which is not subject to the same government regulations as apply to taxis.
Uber isn't the only player. Bolt, the Estonian-based ride-hailing service, is seeking to get a foothold in the Balearics. The high court's ruling has given the necessary impetus to try and do so. The transport federation says the company has made contact with it. In Spain, Bolt currently has a strong presence in Madrid and in parts of the Costa del Sol. It is understood that Cabify, a Madrid-based operator, is also looking at entering the Balearic market; it has neither confirmed nor denied that it is.
The government considers the ruling to be "unfair" to the taxi sector, which is why it will appeal. The federation's manager, Petra Mut, says that a mass influx of these types of company "would have a major impact on all passenger transport".
At present, there are 360 VTC-licensed vehicles in Mallorca and 750 in the whole of the Balearics. The Mallorca number does increase because of demand; vehicles are transferred from Ibiza, which is where most of the others are based. Uber first arrived in Mallorca in June 2023. At the time, it was denied that this had anything to do with the Partido Popular's May 2023 election win. If it did, Uber has since discovered that the PP are as on the side of the taxi drivers as the previous government was.