The images we see of the current taxi strike in Barcelona are absolutely unacceptable. And so is the use of permanent blackmail to achieve taxi drivers' goals, the threats of leaving the Catalan capital as a city where mobility is impossible when major events are on (such as the Mobile World Congress) or the use of intimidation to prevent the authorities from finding a formula for coexistence between the taxi and the new transport vehicle with driver (VTC, in its Catalan acronym) services, which include platforms such as Cabify and Uber. There are surely very few people, taxi drivers included, who have not been taken aback by the shocking images of assaults on VTC drivers in central Barcelona [link in Catalan]. Whatever argument you have for taking a stand is lost through such incidents, and this is unfortunately not the first time they have occurred. The Catalan government would do well to remain firm in its positions, if it considers them fair and balanced, in a dispute that must also take into account the public. Or rather, in this case, the users, by providing them with different options.
The conflict between the conventional taxis, the VTCs and the administration has been deadlocked for some time now. The taxi drivers' demand that VTC orders be placed at least twelve hours in advance consolidates the current situation. It is obvious that the taxi sector has made improvements in recent years. And it has tried to reinvent itself by making major investments to become as competitive as it can. But the system which, in practice, is one of monopoly, must give way to another based on greater competition. Preserving the current reality, but not closing one's eyes to new realities.
Barcelona cannot be different from Paris, Brussels, Berlin or so many other capitals where a reasonable coexistence has been achieved; from there, it is the user who ends up making the choice. This process can be staggered and can preserve rights that currently exist. But, although protest is legitimate, violence can not only undermine positions, but can mean that the demands made are not even considered. You only have to look at the reaction on social media to the assaults against the Uber and Cabify drivers, which quickly went viral, showing one driver on the ground having to be aided by city police officers with a defibrillator, after his vehicle had been attacked violently by pro-taxi protesters in a scene of terror.
The truth is that, in view of what happened, the taxi sector has used up a lot of the credit it previously possessed. The sooner it rectifies the situation, the better.