Santa Cruz Taxis Plan January Strikes Over Unmet Demands
Santa Cruz taxi drivers will resume protests on January 2, 7, and 26, accusing the City Council of failing to address their demands regarding taxi stands, illegal tuk-tuks, and license issues, following the breakdown of a truce.
The truce is over. Taxi drivers in Santa Cruz are planning new protests because the City Council hasn't acted on their demands. Their key issues include a lack of taxi stands in the city center, the presence of illegal tuk-tuks, the need for a license buy-back scheme, and outdated fares.
Miguel Ojeda, president of Élite (the main taxi association on the municipal Taxi Board), has confirmed that taxis will "paralyze the capital" again on January 2, 7, and 26. These three protest days will take place on Tres de Mayo Avenue, outside the City Hall, and in Plaza de España, respectively.
Ojeda explained that they previously called off a planned protest on the 19th as a "gesture of goodwill" to start talks with the City Council. However, he says there's been no real progress, only a meeting with Security Councilor Gladis de León. He believes Mayor José Manuel Bermúdez doesn't care about the taxi industry and continues to break promises, such as setting up a taxi stand outside the Inside hotel on El Pilar street.
He argues that "poor municipal management" forces taxi drivers to drive around constantly, 24 hours a day, just to find customers. This leads to high costs for fuel and car maintenance because there aren't enough well-placed taxi stands in the city center.
Ojeda also pointed out that "nothing has been done about the tuk-tuks." He claims they continue to pick up tourists illegally without the necessary permits, yet the Local Police haven't issued any reports against them.
Regarding the Taxi Board meeting scheduled for January 7, Ojeda said they won't attend. He called it "a mockery" by Mobility Councilor Evelyn Alonso, explaining that she scheduled it for 12:00 p.m. on their busiest day, making it impossible for them to work. Instead, he warned, "what she will have is a mobilization for that day."
Meanwhile, the Popular Party (PP) in Santa Cruz has suggested an alternative for the City Council's taxi license buy-back scheme. If no taxi drivers use the plan, they propose that the 600,000 euros set aside for it should instead go towards direct subsidies to help cover taxi drivers' running costs in the city.
Carlos Tarife, spokesperson for the municipal PP, explained that Santa Cruz has around 640 taxi licenses. Buying them back would cost the city nearly 600,000 euros.
He noted that the private market value for licenses is between 55,000 and 60,000 euros, making the current buy-back plan unattractive to drivers. To ensure this public money isn't wasted, he suggested converting it into direct annual aid of about 700 to 800 euros per taxi driver. This money would help cover costs like insurance, self-employment contributions, and other regular operating expenses.
The PP's proposal is for the Mobility department to issue this call for aid, following an agreement from the Taxi Board.