Still facing what they consider to be too many foreign and pirate taxis taking business away from them, Elche taxi drivers operating and licensed at Alicante-Elche airport have taken the unusual step of hiring a private detective to carry out surveillance at the airport, recording and reporting suspicious vehicles.
The taxi drivers are concerned about official and legal taxis from other areas picking up too many passengers from the airport, as well as private cars who also collect passengers in exchange for money, the definition of a pirate taxi which has no insurance and does not follow the same strict maintenance schedule that the official taxis have to.
It was hoped that new screening facilities at the airport would reduce the problem, but the taxi associations are still not satisfied with the number of other vehicles still flouting the rules and the law.
