Taxi drivers in Spain protest against Uber

The Spanish police have clashed with taxi drivers who held nationwide protests against unfair competition from the US-based private ride-sharing company Uber.

Hundreds of drivers gathered in the Spanish capital Madrid on Thursday and partially shut down a central boulevard while beeping horns and setting off fireworks.

They urged the Spanish government to restrict the expanding activity of companies like Uber, saying that has cost many drivers their jobs.

“If the transport sector is liberalized it will be in the hands of lobbies and multinational companies, driving more than 70,000 families to bankruptcy, families that make a living from the taxi,” said Maria del Carmen Navarro, the president of a taxi association.

The drivers said they are in an unfair competition with private businesses like Uber and a new plan by the government to liberalize the market would make the situation even worse.

“They only want to liberalize our sector. What is happening is that they want to give it to big companies, Uber and the one or two big multinational companies,” said a taxi driver during the protest.

The demonstration was sparked after it was reported that Spain's regulatory agency CNMC is going to pass a ruling next week which will ease restrictions in the transport market, allowing companies like Uber to enter competition.

The move will certainly pitch heavily regulated taxi drivers in Spain who are required to obtain licenses and are constantly watched and controlled against untested drivers involved in Uber services.

Similar protests were held in Hungary last month, with hundreds of cabbies sparking traffic chaos in the capital Budapest by blocking a city center junction for four days. They drivers demanded the government take action against Uber.

Hungarian officials have announced plans to introduce tough new legislation aimed at cracking down on the service. However, Uber vowed Thursday to continue its business in the country.

“Uber is staying in Hungary, stands by its drivers, and will do its best to comply with all regulations, although that takes time,” Zoltan Fekete, Uber's head in Hungary, told a press conference in Budapest.

Worth an estimated $50 billion, Uber has become one of the world's most valuable startups in a matter of few years, with the company providing internet rides now to more than 50 countries.

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