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Costa del Sol taxi driver strike expected to cause travel disruption
Only minimum cab services will run on Wednesday January 29 in Malaga
Taxi drivers in Malaga have organised a march through the city on Wednesday January 29 that will take workers on a demonstration from the Martín Carpena Sports Palace to the doors of the City Hall. Arranged alongside industrial action called by the National Taxi Association (Antaxi), the strike will mean far fewer cabs on the roads from 11am to 2pm.
Their main gripe is against the insurance companies, who they claim have increased prices “unjustifiably.” Among the drivers, there is widespread worry that these costs will continue to climb in the future, eating into their profits.
“We cannot sit back and do nothing in the face of this situation. It is time to act,” according to the Unified Association of Self-Employed Taxi Drivers (Aumat).
The workers will drive through the streets in a caravan and present a manifesto to the mayor, Francisco de la Torre, to explain their concerns.
"Although we have been working on this issue with the administrations for some time, the time has come to show our firm position. We will not allow any more abuses," the spokesperson stressed, adding that all the drivers are asking for is "a fair price for taxi insurance."
According to Aumat, many insurance companies are now asking Malaga taxi drivers to pay up to 8,000 euros per year, and the national organisation said it’s not unheard of for premiums to cost upwards of 14,000 euros in other parts of the country.
But on the whole, most Costa del Sol taxi drivers have seen their insurance rise by around 2,000 or 3,000 euros, which is nevertheless an unprecedented increase that workers claim is threatening their “survival”.
The insurance companies insist that the premiums have been raised because of the high rate of accidents among taxi drivers, but Mr Martín pointed out that every cabbie is being penalised for the carelessness of a few. Today, younger drivers in Malaga are even being refused insurance outright, he said.
Meanwhile, over in Alicante, TRAM drivers began a series of strikes on Monday January 27. The industrial action will last throughout the month of February and will result in drastically reduced services on lines 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 for the next five weeks.
Image: Archive
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