The Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the TSJC has dismissed the appeals filed by the Cabildo, the Telde City Council, and the Regional Federation of Taxis of the Canary Islands (Fedetax) against a previous ruling that annulled the Cabildo's resolutions from 2021 and 2022. These resolutions established a maximum quota of 20 monthly transfers per license for taxis not operating in Telde and Ingenio, a restriction that had been in place for five years, even after the recovery of air traffic post-pandemic.
The key to the judicial decision, according to rapporteur magistrate José Suay Rincón, lies in the fact that "restrictions on the exercise of freedom of enterprise based exclusively on economic grounds cannot be introduced." The TSJC considers that the Cabildo has acted in this manner by maintaining the limitation despite the normalization of mobility and passenger traffic, without justifying a change in circumstances compared to the pre-pandemic situation, when such limitations did not exist.
The ruling, which relies on European and Supreme Court jurisprudence regarding VTC and transport licenses, states that exceptions to free access to the road transport market must be "defined and strict" and not based "exclusively" on economic criteria. The court considers the Cabildo's measure to be disproportionate and that less restrictive options exist.
Restrictions on the exercise of freedom of enterprise based exclusively on economic grounds cannot be introduced.
The Association for the Rights of Autonomous Taxi Drivers of the Canary Islands (Asprotac), which appealed the Cabildo's resolutions, has welcomed the ruling with "absolute satisfaction." Its vice-president, Gorki Bethencourt, reports that the collective is now considering filing a judicial claim for damages caused during the five years of restrictions, which they deem unjustified. "If they have money to go to court to deny us rights, they will have it to compensate us," stated Bethencourt, who also highlighted that these restrictions have affected both taxi drivers and users, and urged the Cabildo to comply with the ruling.
Asprotac recalls that they have won similar legal battles before and that this resolution allows them to maintain the value of their licenses. They emphasize that taxi drivers provide a public service and that, despite the "brutal harassment" suffered from "police officers and inspectors," they do not consider themselves "enemies of the administration," although they regret that the Minister of Mobility, Teodoro Sosa, has never received them.
