Illegal taxis have always been viewed seriously in Almeria but now this has been bumped up to being a very serious offence .The regional and local governments have reached agreements about how this should be done.
The Junta de Andalucia ,the Almeria council and the sub-delegate have all agreed that the fine for driving an illegal taxi should increase from 1500 euros to 4,601 euros.It also gives the authorities the right to impound vehicles that are being used in this way.
The taxi driver federation in Almeria have voiced a very positive reaction to the moves as these taxi’s are destroying the livilihoods of many businesses.He has said that all his members wish to do is do their job without any hassle from anyone.Taxi drivers are already seeing their takings down by 30% because of the crisis but with illegal drivers the takings are down by 50%.Many are feeling the effects to such an extent that they are actually selling their licenses.One man has had to do this because he did not have enough money for petrol.
Another quite understandably said that the law is good but it will only be effective if the police use it and that they are backed up by the council.In the past the illegal drivers have been denounced and nothing has happened.
The new law has come in because a Spanish taxi driver reported two Moroccans for driving an illegal one and he was then beaten up by them.So far this year there have been 98 complaints made to the police about this issue.
