Tenerife: Taxi drivers sue over changed protest route
Tenerife taxi drivers have sued a government agency over a change to the route of their protest against the city authorities, accusing them of mismanagement and ignoring their rights.
The Élite Taxi Tenerife association, which represents the majority of taxi drivers in the Santa Cruz city council, has sued a government agency (the Subdelegation). Miguel Ojeda, the head of the association, reported that their lawyers have challenged the change in the demonstration route they had planned for the 23rd in San Andrés. The taxi drivers are protesting against the poor management of the city authorities and want to defend their rights.
Élite Taxi Tenerife wanted 150 taxis (out of 675 in the city) to drive from the roundabout at the entrance to the fishing district to the roundabout near Las Teresitas beach from 10:00 to 12:00. But the Subdelegation did not approve this route, citing safety concerns. They claimed that there would be too many cars there on weekends in the summer, especially considering the heat.
Ojeda is outraged that the Subdelegation changed their route, even though they allowed the demonstration. He considers this illegal because they have no right to dictate where they can drive. Now they are only allowed to drive from the Juan Sebastián Elcano roundabout (near the Palmetum) to the lower part of Avenida 3 de Mayo and back. But the taxi drivers disagree with this.
Ojeda says that the authorities think they are fools because they are offering a route three times longer with the same number of cars, but they are not allowed to drive where they want. That is why they filed a lawsuit, and they are waiting for a decision by Saturday, when the demonstration is scheduled. For now, the protest remains in effect.
Ojeda accuses the city council, and especially the transport councilor, Evelin Alonso, of forcing them to resort to such radical actions. He says that Alonso has done nothing for the taxi drivers. They are protesting about the same problems as always: the redemption of licenses, the lack of parking spaces near hospitals and in squares, the chaos with bicycle lanes and electric scooters that take customers and parking spaces.
The taxi drivers are also unhappy that the authorities are not helping them when private companies such as tourist buses and tuk-tuks appear. They believe that this is unfair competition, but no one is doing anything to stop it. Ojeda says that no politician defends taxi drivers, and they will put pressure on anyone who does not support them.
Ojeda is particularly critical of Evelin Alonso, and has repeatedly demanded her resignation. He believes that she is mismanaging the transport sector and has done nothing useful for taxi drivers.
He also mentioned the situation with parking in Plaza de España, where the city council removed two taxi spaces without warning. According to him, this was done to make it easier for a tourist bus to turn around. He called the mayor, and the taxi spaces were repainted. But due to the bicycle lane and the tourist bus, the number of taxi spaces in the square has more than halved. The taxi guild also raised this issue, and they managed to partially restore order to the parking lot.
The mayor of the city, José Manuel Bermúdez, does not understand why the taxi drivers are complaining, and believes that their demonstration could threaten the safety of people going to the beach.