The Socialist Group Proposes Regulation of Tuc Tuc Activity

The Socialist Municipal Group has submitted a proposal to the council to urge the government team to regulate the activity of tourist tuc tucs, which currently operate outside municipal ordinances, as well as to exercise much stricter control over vehicles for hire with driver (VTC). This will require the mayor's executive, Luis Barcala, to act urgently against the encroachment affecting the taxi sector in Alicante.

The proposal, to be debated in the June plenary session, suggests the approval of a specific ordinance to regulate the use of tuc tucs with the aim of "preventing transport services from continuing to be provided outside regulation," according to the socialists. "This is a practice that has been repeated outside the usual tourist routes, creating an unsustainable unfair competition that further squeezes the taxi sector. Moreover, the lack of regulation on these vehicles allows them to operate by picking up customers anywhere, without having to start from a base establishment, leading to continuous images of tuc tucs parked even on sidewalks waiting to pick up new customers," explained Councillor Raúl Ruiz.

Additionally, there is a demand for increased control over platforms like Uber and Cabify, which "sometimes operate without respecting regulations, with licenses from other autonomous communities and conducting trips without the required pre-booking." The initiative suggests intensifying inspections and "restoring the operational capacity of the police unit against encroachment, equipping it with real means to monitor compliance with the rules," especially during the busiest hours and days.

"Right now, our Local Police do not have sufficient means to combat these practices, and the 18 officers announced by the councillor for the unit against encroachment are completely absent. It cannot be that during nights, holidays, and weekends not a single inspection is carried out when it is the time when most services are provided outside the law," they indicate.

Moreover, the socialists are calling for the creation of a permanent dialogue table between the City Council and the taxi sector, with a schedule and specific objectives, as well as the implementation of municipal and regional aid to ensure that Alicante has the number of adapted taxis required by European regulations. "This Hogueras there will only be nine adapted taxis, compared to the 27 required by Europe. An absolutely insufficient number that reflects the neglect suffered by taxi drivers and users with disabilities. Public transport in this city is an increasingly big problem for the mayor, but he remains determined that his issues will resolve themselves. We must urgently restore the taxi adaptation aid that Barcala eliminated," said Ruiz. It should be remembered that the Socialist Municipal Group already tried to recover these aids in the budget amendments, "but the alliance of PP and Vox prevented it from being approved."

With this institutional declaration, the Socialist Group reiterates its commitment to "a regulated, sustainable, fair urban mobility focused on the general interest of the people of Alicante." In this way, the mayor is urged to "act once and for all in defense of the taxi, an essential public service for this city that increasingly suffers from having a mayor incapable of doing anything to support it."