On March 7th, 2019, Cabify stated that it would make its return to Barcelona just one month after it halted its services due to the strict regulations Barcelona has enforced. On January 31st, 2019, the government of Catalonia passed new regulations, which required customers using services, such as Uber and Cabify to request their booking at least 15 minutes before they wanted their ride to pick them up. These were put into place because the government felt pressured by the taxi drivers’ protests requesting more regulations. The taxi drivers feel that these ride-hailing services have an unfair advantage over taxis because they can be called quickly by the customers. Cabify stated that they would reinstate their services with approximately 300 cars. The company claimed that it had changed its business model that would meet the new regulations that were put into place by the government. With Cabify coming back in Barcelona, Spain estimated that about 3,000-4,000 jobs would be at risk.
I think that Cabify should not have stated that they were going to resume its services in Barcelona. After hearing about why the taxi drivers were truly going on strike, it became evident that the other ride-hailing services had a clear advantage over them. Many taxi drivers explained the process they had to go through in order to become a taxi driver, a process that Uber and Cabify drivers did not have to partake in. With that being said, I believe that what the government of Catalonia did was justified because it is helping their local taxi drivers and not a huge company.
Barcelona Past and Present 