Tenerife: More than 3,000 VTC licenses still not issued, tuk-tuks cause controversy
On Tenerife, authorities are developing new rules for issuing VTC licenses due to the large number of unissued permits and the emergence of unregulated tuk-tuks, which is causing concern among taxi drivers.
In Tenerife, over 3,000 licenses for vehicles with drivers (VTC) have yet to be issued. Currently, there are only 117, and most operate in the south of the island. Recently, the rules changed, and now local authorities will decide how to regulate this rapidly growing market. For comparison, in Las Palmas, there are as many as 4,400 applications for every few vehicles.
Eulalia García, who is responsible for transport on the island, explained that under the new law, they must develop clear rules for issuing permits for such vehicles. They are currently working on this. She says they are waiting for the government of the Canary Islands to conduct a study and determine which indicators need to be considered.
García added that her team is studying data from across the island, especially in certain cities, to establish objective criteria for regulating these permits.
Two VTC companies currently operate in Tenerife: Sixt Ride (registered in Valencia) and Moove Cars, which partners with Uber. Another major company, Cabify, has not yet entered the local market, but is likely to have applied for one of the 3,000+ licenses that have not yet been issued.
Uber says that after two years of operating on the island, where they have been working since August 2023 in several cities (Arona, Adeje, Granadilla de Abona and Guía de Isora), including Tenerife South Airport, their business is doing well. A company representative stated that they could not disclose the number of licenses they operate with in order to avoid harming competition. He assured that Uber does not own any licenses in Spain, but works with companies that obtain them. Uber is simply a technology platform that connects drivers and passengers.
Felipe Fernández Aramburu, General Manager of Uber in Spain and Portugal, emphasized that they came to Tenerife to help improve transport on the island, and their company continues to grow. According to him, in the last year alone, more than one and a half million people have opened the Uber app on the island to order a ride. Most trips (77%) are ordered by foreign tourists, especially from the USA, Great Britain, France and Italy.
In addition to regular vehicles with drivers, another type of transport has appeared in Santa Cruz de Tenerife - tuk-tuks, six-seater auto rickshaws that are common in Asia. At the next Taxi Board meeting, they will discuss whether they interfere with taxi drivers' work. Evelyn Alonso, who is responsible for security, confirmed that the authorities of the Canary Islands did not allow tuk-tuks to be used as VTCs. She added that they have been seen with blue license plates, which indicate public transport, and may be subject to Spanish laws.
Alonso explained that tuk-tuks can drive because they are certified, but they cannot pick up passengers, as they are more of a tourist transport. Local police will fine offenders. She recalled that in November 2024, they received a request to park a tuk-tuk on the street, but refused because there was no permit.
Tuk-tuks already operate in Adeje and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, but in some places, such as Maspalomas, they quickly disappeared. Gremial del Taxi complains that tuk-tuks are waiting in garages until they receive the necessary permits, and are using "loopholes" in the laws to circumvent the rules.
Miguel Ojeda from Élite Taxi believes that tuk-tuks are direct competitors that are not regulated by anyone and can do whatever they want. He emphasizes that all modes of transport need to be regulated: "We have been asking the authorities for two years to bring order to all these vehicles." He adds that there are more and more of them on the island, and no one knows what permits they operate with. Ojeda also believes that there is some confusion with VTCs, although they are not the main problem. He is more concerned about rental cars, which compete with public transport and cause traffic jams. Regarding the rule that there should be one VTC vehicle for every 30 taxis, he says that it is supposedly followed, but there are suspicions that some VTCs are operating illegally. If this proportion is maintained, then everyone will be able to coexist, but if it is exceeded, problems will arise.