“Operation padlock”. Thus, in reference to the police operation when they want to close the city, the cab drivers of Barcelona have baptized the slow march they have launched today to demonstrate for their rights.
The protest plans to collapse the two Rondas, the de Dalt and the coast, with a tide of slow cabs that close, de facto, the two main entrances to the city.
During what hours will there be a slow cab march along the Rondas?
The demonstration will start at 10 am with two columns of cabs leaving from the terminals of Barcelona-El Prat Airport. Each column will travel along one of the main roads, crossing and returning to the starting point by the other route.
The mobilization, which will last until 14:00 hours, seeks to block strategic areas such as Port Olímpic, Diagonal Avenue and the port truck exits and close, in short, the main accesses to Barcelona.
What are the claims of the cab sector?
According to Tito Álvarez, leader of the Élite Taxi union, the protest is organized in response to the “abuses of insurers” and the presence of illegal VTCs, a common debate in the sector, which criticizes the inaction of the Ministry of Transport and Minister Óscar Puente in the face of these issues.
The cab drivers’ demands include:
- Regulation of insurance prices.
- Strict control over VTCs
- Creation of a special insurance for cab drivers
- Government subsidies
- Improvements in occupational safety
The sector is eagerly awaiting the new law on transport with vehicles with up to 9 seats that Territori is preparing, which would regulate these demands, and the demonstration is intended to be a show of force in the face of this wait.
The sector is immersed in the countdown to the new law of transport with vehicles up to nine places that Territori prepares and the call is a demonstration of strength. “We have been very patient, but the situation that our families are suffering is unsustainable. They are forcing us to return to the streets,” argues Álvarez. “Even though we know that there is a new law on the way, this does not justify not completing the current regulations,” he adds.