the accusations of the Proderechos Association of the Autonomous Taxi Driver in the Canary Islands (ASPROTAC) in which they pointed out the lack of licenses in the municipalities of Ingenio and Telde
Taxi drivers in Ingenio have responded to accusations made against them by ASPROTAC. In these statements, they, along with taxi drivers from Telde, were accused of not having enough vehicles to avoid waiting times at the airport during peak passenger traffic. As reported by Maspalomas24h on Tuesday, ASPROTAC cited the lack of licenses in both municipalities to provide pick-up service at the arrivals terminal as the main reason for the delays. They also took the opportunity to request that the authorities eliminate the requirement for 20 monthly transfers of taxi drivers from other municipalities to operate within Ingenio.
From the Telde Taxi Cooperative they were the first to come forward and defend themselves against these accusations. Its president Lorenzo Rodríguez denied ASPROTAC's accusations and stated that what happened on Sunday night was exceptional due to the cancellations and diversions of flights suffered by the closure of the César Manrique Airport, in Lanzarote, due to low visibility. The president of the Telde cooperative thanked the exceptional work of the taxi drivers from both municipalities and highlighted that the licenses of Ingenio and Telde total 327, of which more than 180 operate daily at the airport.
Sources from the taxi sector in Ingenio have contacted Maspalomas24h and have confirmed Lorenzo Rodríguez's version, stating that the airlines had to offer bus services to passengers to accommodate them in a hotel until activity was resumed at the Lanzarote airfield; a service that was delayed and caused passengers to flock to the stop in search of a taxi. From Ingenio they point out that overtime was done so that no passenger was left stranded in the terminal, a specific issue that, due to occurring at night, caused a longer waiting time.
Taxi drivers in the municipality of Ingenio claim that ASPROTAC has exploited the situation to pressure the Transport Councilor into eliminating transfer services, a proposal they consider abusive since many taxis seek to profit by operating longer hours at the airport than in their own municipality. According to sources in Ingenio, this proposal responds to the demands of “no more than 40 taxis from the capital that want to operate more like ride-hailing services than taxis.”
