Santa Cruz buys out taxi licenses for 37,000 euros.

The Santa Cruz de Tenerife City Council has allocated almost €1.4 million to buy back licenses from the city's taxi drivers. The money will be received by those drivers who voluntarily wish to give up their license. The decision will take effect after publication in the local newspaper.

For each license, the authorities promise to pay €37,000. The mayor of the city, José Manuel Bermúdez, emphasized that participation in the program is voluntary.

Currently, 632 taxis operate in Santa Cruz. The City Council plans to buy back 151 licenses over four years, i.e. a maximum of 36 licenses per year.

Evelyn Alonso, the councilor for transport, reminded that this is the last year of the agreement with the local authorities of Tenerife. In total, more than €5.5 million is earmarked for the buy-back of licenses, of which the City Council allocates 55% and the island authorities 45%.

She also added that no one will be forced to give up their license. Applications will be accepted until October 15, or until the money runs out. An announcement about this will be posted on the City Council's website.

Applications can be submitted to the City Council office at Avenida Tres de Mayo, 40, or to any other branch of the City Council. The opening hours can be found on the City Council's website. It is also possible to use other methods of application provided by law.

If there are errors in the application or documents are missing, the taxi driver will be asked to correct this within 10 days. If this is not done, the application will be cancelled.