Undercover inspectors continue to crack down on the dozens of British cab drivers who have been working illegally in the Costa Brava area and undercutting the income of Spanish cab drivers
Apparently, the British drivers are charging up to 30 percent less than the Spanish drivers are to take tourists during the holiday season to the airports at Girona and Barcelona from resorts like Blanes, Malgret de Mar and Lloret de Mar. Sometimes, they even cram passengers into Transit vans.
Authorities are saying that since the illegal drivers are not paying fees, they do not have official permits. They say that these drivers are always looking to make shady deals with some of the hotels to get passengers.
A worker at Calella confirmed that most of the illegal taxi cabs are offering a 10 percent discount for calling them instead of those that have proper permits.
The Spanish taxi cab drivers are losing their patience as the fleet of pirate taxi cabs have risen to almost 100, most of which come from the UK. They are furious that they need to pay high fees and take and pass several tests to insure and register their taxi cabs only for their business to be taken away by pirates.
One of the members of the Malgret de Mar taxi drivers’ guild, Bienvenido Amate, said that the illegal British drivers come during the holiday season when tourists are pouring in, take most of the passengers and then leave when the season is over.