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STAFF REPORTER

LOCAL Police in Calvia are continuing their crackdown on minicabs and illegal coach tours, the regional Ministry for Transport said yesterday.
Officers, said a ministry source, will be checking on whether drivers have the required authorisation to carry fare-paying passengers or to take parties of tourists on excursions.

Last Friday, checkpoints were set up at three separate spots in Calvia, each controlled by an official inspector, other Transport department staff, and Local Police officers.

Police later reported that 26 coaches were stopped, four taxis and a private car.
Legal action was taken against the driver of the latter because he was acting as a taxi without the appropriate license. The paperwork to impose a fine will be arranged by the Ministry of Transport.

The driver of a coach carrying schoolchildren was also fined because the license he held was from a non-European Union country and did not permit him to use it to act as a school bus driver in Spain.

In previous spot-checks, Local Police had stopped a vehicle which had been carrying fare-paying passengers from a location in Calvia to the airport.
The driver was found not to have had the appropriate license as a taxi driver and was fined as a result. Furthermore, police had also learned that certain businesses in the area are apparently recommending unauthorised drivers to act as taxis to their clients, particularly on runs to the airport for previously agreed fares.