I've been a frequent taxi user for years and have no reason to stop using them in the future. I know of companies that offer efficient service, with professional drivers in the best sense of the word, who drive clean and well-maintained vehicles. But I think the taxi drivers who went on strike yesterday, led by Élite Taxi, are aiming in the wrong direction.

The executive president of Unauto – the VTC employers' association –, José Manuel Berzal, has stated that they intend to take the Generalitat's taxi bill, known this Tuesday, to court, and that could mean the gradual disappearance of this type of vehicle in Catalonia. The sector, he said, "will not allow itself to be killed," during a meeting with journalists alongside José María Cazallas, the organizing secretary of the Free Trade Union of Workers (SLT). Both entities have unveiled their alternative proposal, which proposes sustainable and mobility measures.

The draft of the new taxi law, which the Generalitat will present this Wednesday to the Taxi Council and must be submitted to Parliament next week, provides for the elimination of the thousand or so urban VTCs currently operating in the Barcelona metropolitan area as their licenses expire, and the creation of a new category of VTCs called "high two-hour" and a service duration of at least one hour. The Generalitat estimates that 600 urban licenses will expire with the law's entry into force, although the intention is to make a "smooth transition," and another 300 will be able to continue operating for a while longer, in compliance with court rulings, until they also expire. The new text also includes a data platform that will use geolocation to monitor taxis and VTCs for irregularities.

This Monday, when the power outage brought the entire country to a standstill, one of the most direct consequences was widespread mobility chaos. With no subway or trains and few taxis, which could only be paid for in cash, the only options left for getting around the cities were two: walking or taking the bus. However, the inability to use a cell phone created a new problem. "I could take the bus, but in the end I walk because without Google Maps I don't know how to get anywhere and I don't know how to check which bus to take," a girl in Barcelona's Plaza Catalunya admitted with some embarrassment.

Change of hands in the on-demand taxi and VTC platform sector. Lyft, one of the leading US platforms and Uber's main competitor in the United States, announced this Wednesday the definitive agreement for the acquisition of Freenow, one of the largest mobility applications in Europe. The purchase price will be €175 million in cash. The agreement aims to increase gross bookings to €1 billion annually, diversifying revenue sources and supporting the company's multi-year objectives. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2025.

On March 30th, the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar will end. From that day on, Muslims will once again be able to drink, eat, and have sex during daylight hours. Ramadan, which commemorates the month-long revelation of the holy book, the Quran, by God to the prophet Muhammad in the desert, will end. During this March, more than 600,000 Muslims living in Catalonia, primarily from the Maghreb, sub-Saharan Africa, and Pakistan, will change their daily habits: they wake up earlier than usual and force themselves to fast and abstain for much of the day.

A taxi driver was robbed of his vehicle on Thursday morning in Barcelona. According to the ARA, at around 12:15 a man threatened a taxi driver and the female customers he was carrying at knifepoint and threw them out of the vehicle. He then took the taxi and fled. The incident occurred at the intersection of Calle Mallorca and Paseo de Sant Joan, in the Eixample district. The Mossos d'Esquadra have opened an investigation and, after suspecting that the vehicle was already in Catalunya Nord, have notified the French police authorities. At around 6 p.m., the gendarmerie intercepted the vehicle on the A9 motorway, near Montpellier, and arrested the alleged perpetrator of the robbery, who had managed to flee the country.

Barcelona City Council and the Generalitat have agreed to ban rickshaw cabs throughout Catalonia through a modification of the taxi law. The new legislation will exclude bicycles and tricycles from the characteristics required for a vehicle to be a taxi (article 20.1) and is expected to come into force in early 2023. The announcement was made this Tuesday by the first deputy mayor, Jaume Collboni, and the secretary general of the department of the Vice-Presidency and Digital Policies and Territory, Ricard Font.