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Four Irish tourists arrested for attacking Spanish taxi driver
The holidaymakers assaulted the driver who was called to transfer them to Barcelona airport
Four Irish tourists have been provisionally released by the courts after assaulting a taxi driver they called to transfer them from a Barcelona hotel to the airport.
The four young men had been sightseeing in the Catalan capital and were staying in a hotel on Rambla del Ravel. At the end of their stay, on Monday April 15, the Irish holidaymakers phoned a taxi to take them to Barcelona Airport to catch their flight home.
However, they changed their minds at the last minute and asked the Barcelo Raval hotel receptionist to call them a VTC instead. VTCs are private hire vehicles like Uber and Cabify and conventional taxis have long been protesting their presence on Spanish roads since they frequently undercut their prices.
VTCs are heavily regulated in Barcelona and many continue to operate outside the legal guidelines, according to taxi sector sources.
In this case, the original taxi driver pulled up to the hotel just as the boys were loading their luggage into the VTC. He became angry and stood in front of the VTC to prevent the tourists from driving off. Then, according to Catalan police sources, the holidaymakers jumped from the car and beat up the taxi driver.
The VTC drove the young men to Barcelona Airport, where they were promptly arrested for assault. The four appeared in court on Tuesday April 16 but have since been released pending a full investigation into the incident.
On Wednesday morning (April 17), the ANGET and Elite Taxi BCN associations called a rally at the doors of the Barcelo Raval hotel to demand an explanation as to why the receptionist contacted an illegal airport transfer company instead of a conventional taxi.
According to sources from the taxi sector, several similar incidents have occurred at this particular hotel, where the receptionists allegedly receive a commission for booking VTCs.
In other news: Witness the spectacular Pink Moon this April in Spain
Image: Freepik
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