Crazy queues in Orihuela Costa as taxi shortage worsens
Customers are waiting more than an hour for a cab from Orihuela Costa beaches, bars and shopping centres
Frustrations are reaching boiling point on the Orihuela Costa among tourists, locals and taxi drivers alike over the desperate shortage of licensed cabs, a problem that has persisted in one of Alicante’s busiest coastal resorts for years.
Back in December, the drivers themselves warned the council about a situation of absolute collapse, with a scant 42 cab licences on the coast to deal with a booming summer and year-round population. That gloomy prediction has come to pass, and customers are complaining about waiting more than an hour for taxis from the shops, beaches and bars.
Alejandro Gea has been working as a taxi driver in Orihuela Costa since 2002. He says he is fed up with having to apologise to those customers he cannot serve.
“The last license was granted in 2005. With everything that has been built, it is impossible to meet the demand with the same number of taxis as 20 years ago,” he said, completely overwhelmed.
Frustratingly, ten minutes down the road in Torrevieja, almost 100 drivers are operating but further south, the Orihuela City Council is holding out on a mere eight additional licenses that should already have been granted.
A plan was in the pipeline to transfer the management of the taxis to the Generalitat which would make the granting of new permits more straight-forward. However, for the initiative to be pushed through, 50% of the population of the Vega Baja is required to agree and Torrevieja, the most populated city, has withdrawn its support.
In the meantime, the Orihuela Costa has become a hotbed for pirate taxis.
In a desperate attempt to get the ball rolling, a group of licensed drivers is taking legal action against the council in the hope of at least being awarded the promised eight permits.
Last month, stranded passengers were offered a glimmer of hope when it was announced that ride-share services Uber and Cabify would be allowed to operate at Alicante-Elche Airport for the first time. However, there’s been no hint of this alternative spreading to the coast.
Image: Archive
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