Diari Catalunya reported that Mossos d'Esquadra, Catalonia's regional police, had identified an alleged illegal taxi operating between Empuriabrava and Girona-Costa Brava Airport.
The report does not give a date for the incident, the identity of the driver or details of any penalty. Passengers travelling between Empuriabrava and the airport should be aware that transport offered outside authorised taxi services may not be licensed.
Previous concerns over unlicensed vehicles at Girona Airport
A separate report published by the Sindicat del Taxi de Catalunya (STAC) described longstanding concerns about unlicensed passenger transport at the airport in Vilobí d'Onyar.
Josep Carreras, president of the Vilobí taxi sector, said the sector had recorded 40 vehicle registration plates linked to alleged unlicensed taxi work. The figure was twice the number of taxis authorised to work at Girona-Costa Brava Airport throughout the year, according to the report.
"We have recorded 40 registration plates of vehicles providing taxi services without a licence," Carreras said.
STAC said Mossos had detected 19 drivers working without a licence across Catalonia during the summer period covered by its report. It said such vehicles could wait in the airport car park rather than outside the terminal, where they approached travellers who appeared to need transport.
- 40 vehicle registration plates were recorded by the Vilobí taxi sector.
- The total was said to be double the number of taxis authorised at the airport year-round.
- Mossos detected 19 unlicensed taxi drivers across Catalonia during the summer period cited by STAC.
The STAC report said shortages of authorised services had, in some cases, enabled illegal operators to charge inflated prices. It cited a reported charge of €159 for a return journey to Lloret de Mar.
Reported by admin2, altaveu.com, Germán González, transferbus.com, Chus Heredia, Alex Trelinski, Laurence Dollimore, Emily Chaplin, Sonia Sharma, Roser Albertí, Erica Carter, lavozdelanzarote.
