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Portuguese taxis fined for collecting passengers in Spain
An outcry has erupted after Spanish Guardia Civil police fined a Portuguese taxi driver over €1,000 for going across the border to collect three fishermen from La Coruña (Galicia – Spain) who wanted to go to Vila do Conde, Portugal, where they lived.
Portuguese taxi driver José Pereira was fined €1,501, which he was asked to pay on the spot or have his taxi immediately confiscated.
At the forefront of the debate is a Spanish law that does not allow Portuguese taxi drivers to collect passengers in Spain despite there being regular sightings, which Portuguese taxi drivers allege are on a daily basis, of Spanish taxi drivers at Oporto’s Sá Carneiro Airport, waiting to collect fellow nationals.
José Pereira queried “is this a Europe without frontiers”.
The incident that provoked the debate occurred on Sunday when, after picking up his passengers José Pereia was pulled over by Guardia Civil officers.
“They asked me what I was doing and I responded, quite naturally, that I had gone to fetch some clients and I was taking them home, to Portugal.
“They said it was against Spanish law and then fined me €1,501, which I had to pay then and there so my car wouldn’t be confiscated”.
“This is a law that I am totally unaware of and is completely absurd. I can go to France or any other European country to pick clients up, except Spain”, he complained.
Another Portuguese taxi driver, Alexandrino Rodrigues, owner of the Táxis Rápidos from Valença, was also recently stopped and fined in Galicia after picking up Portuguese clients whose car had broken down across the border.
He was fined the exact same amount, €1,501.
“I was contacted by road assistance services and asked to pick the clients up, but even that was overlooked. It turned out to be a costly trip”, he said.
The head of the National Passenger Vehicle Association (ANTRAL), Florêncio de Almeida, has threatened to organise a blockade if Portuguese authorities do not take action to resolve the situation.
Florêncio de Almeida said the Portuguese Government “must put pressure on the Spanish Government” to eliminate a scenario of dual criteria, a situation that has, over the past three months, resulted in the confiscation of three Portuguese taxis by Galician police.
The current situation is thought to be caused by the need to harmonise Portuguese and Spanish laws.
“What we are looking to do is to agree that we can go and pick up Portugal-bound clients in Spain, or they can not come here, and our intention is to seal off the border to Spanish taxis until the situation is resolved”, said the head of ANTRAL.
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