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La Voz Canaria

New Legal Battle in Gran Canaria Over VTC Licenses

A Cabify subsidiary has appealed the Cabildo's refusal to grant 1,200 concessions, adding to similar ongoing disputes.

Generic image of a judge's gavel on a desk in a courtroom.
IA

Generic image of a judge's gavel on a desk in a courtroom.

Miurchi Car, S.L., a company linked to Cabify, has initiated a new legal process in Gran Canaria by appealing the Cabildo's refusal to grant 1,200 vehicle for hire (VTC) licenses in 2023.

This conflict adds to a series of similar lawsuits that have arisen on the island. The Official Gazette of the Province (BOP) published on April 15 a summons for potential interested parties in ordinary procedure 188/2026, which is being processed in the Contentious-Administrative Court number 2 of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. This announcement, issued at the court's request, grants a nine-day period for entities with a legitimate interest, such as taxi associations or other operators, to join the case.
The origin of this dispute dates back to a June 2023 resolution by the Department of Presidency and Sustainable Mobility, led by Teodoro Sosa, which rejected the mass granting of authorizations requested by several companies. The Cabildo's decision was based on regional regulations, which set a limit of one VTC authorization for every 30 taxi licenses, aiming to maintain market balance. At that time, the maximum quota was 102 VTC authorizations, already covered, compared to 2,656 taxi licenses.
However, the regulatory framework has undergone significant changes since then. Following the 2024 ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), which overturned the limitation of one VTC license per 30 taxis, the Government of the Canary Islands modified the law through a decree. This introduced environmental, sustainability, and traffic management criteria as requirements for new licenses, leaving their application to the island councils (cabildos). Furthermore, in June 2025, the Parliament extended the moratorium on granting authorizations for one year, with 9,000 pending applications across the archipelago.
In parallel, also in June last year, the Supreme Court admitted an appeal by the Cabildo against a ruling by the High Court of Justice of the Canary Islands that obliged it to process ten VTC licenses, questioning its interpretation based on the ratio. Councilor Teodoro Sosa has repeatedly stated that the institutional priority is to protect the taxi sector, rejecting numerous requests to curb the expansion of the VTC sector. Sources from the department indicate that Law 04/2025 on Transport Regulation of the Government of the Canary Islands currently maintains a suspension of licenses for both VTCs and taxis.
The new legal challenge by Miurchi Car intensifies pressure on the current model, as the 1,200 licenses in dispute would multiply the existing VTC fleet on the island by more than tenfold, substantially altering the transport supply. This case joins at least seven other appeals filed by companies in the courts of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria up to 2024, challenging the Cabildo's refusal to grant more authorizations.

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