Anna NicholasSoller01/03/2024 13:08
TW
1

Last year a British friend visited us. She managed to get a taxi to our home in Soller from a rural village but was refused the return journey. That’s because of a draconian law in Mallorca that insists that local taxi drivers get business in their municipalities over those from other districts. Our local taxi service was flooded, so we had to drive her back to her rural hotel ourselves.

Of course, this is utterly ludicrous and impractical, and something I raised recently with the new president of the regional government who is only too aware of the issues concerning taxis here. Hoteliers and restaurateurs have become increasingly desperate over taxi matters. Some sneaky properties are clandestinely running their own minibus service for guests, others even taking the risk of driving clients in their own cars to and from restaurants because of the dire situation. And can you blame them?

Taxi licences cost a fortune so it’s nigh impossible for young Mallorcans to take up the profession unless they are prepared to be in debt for decades or borrow their parent’s licence and car, which many do. There are purportedly going to be about one million extra foreign visitors this coming summer season. How many are going to want taxis? How is the island going to deal with the situation? Taxi-ing times indeed and as I see it, there’s currently no solution in sight.