The radical taxi drivers of Barcelona have announced strikes and demonstrations with the aim of “collapsing the entire area surrounding the Camp Nou” ensuring that “there will be no (taxi) service anywhere in the city.” Unfortunately, that is no longer news, because Barcelona residents and users are sadly used to the abuses of a few who block traffic at will.
However, this time there is something new, The protest is not directed against the authorities, but against a commercial agreement between private entities.
The transcript of the announced strike is based on an agreement between Uber and FC Barcelona by which the digital platform will develop mobility services for the Club.
Although in the face of an agreement of this nature any third party should remain on the sidelines, the taxi radicals in Barcelona act as if they owned the streets and will once again kidnap the city of Barcelona to preserve their privileges in the face of a society that seems anesthetized.
It is worth clarifying that the majority of taxi drivers deserve respect and professionalism; Among them I have good friends. But a radical faction, backed by the Catalan ultra-left, It considers itself the owner of public space and is on a permanent crusade against everything that threatens its status.
These radicals impose their law of fear and threaten the entire city because they do not tolerate FC Barcelona collaborating with a multinational
Privileges that have gone so far that, at the request of this group – after having broken the will of the Generalitat -, the Catalan Parliament is currently processing a law aimed at eliminating all its competition in urban transport.
These privileges are specified in the mobility monopolyin the tax subsidy derived from the “modules” regime, in the maintenance of a speculative licensing system and in the reservation of lanes and exclusive stopping areas, removed from the general use of public space.
The profile of these radicals is markedly statist, collectivist and ultra-left, convinced of possessing the absolute truth and willing to impose it through coercion.
Their victimist and arrogant attitude leads them to believe themselves infallible and even to present themselves to their “followers” as “beings of light” who fight evil “for the good of all,” when in reality they defend their own interests.
Fortunately, many other taxi drivers understand the value of the market and competitionand they work every day to offer the best possible service.
These radicals impose their law of fear and threaten the entire city because they do not tolerate FC Barcelona collaborating with a multinational, although they remained silent regarding the club’s advertising agreement with one of the most corrupt regimes in the world, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Maybe the “democratic” thing confused them.
While citizens are in favor of “making taxi regulation more flexible so that it is more similar to VTCs”, politicians and related taxi drivers prefer to tighten it
That same ultra-left does not hesitate to veto a transversal entity of Catalan society like FC Barcelona. The veto -from Latin to forbid“I prohibit” – is a form of unilateral power.
But what legitimacy do these taxi drivers have to decide who Barça can or cannot contract with? At what point did a society that tolerates such totalitarian acts lose its way?
Vetoes on expression, on free enterprise, on symbols, languages and flags. When some believe they are bearers of revealed truth, boycott and censorship become their methodand the general interest is relegated.
Installed in the totalitarian discourse, the freedom of others matters little to them. It is useless to remind you of Hayek’s words when he noted that “Freedom consists in the individual being able to act according to his own plans, and not according to those imposed by authority.” (The Way of Serfdom) or Adam Smith’s “Every man, so long as he does not violate the laws of justice, is perfectly free to pursue his own interest in his own way.” (The wealth of nations).
His reply fits more with Mao Zedong’s “Freedom only exists within the limits of revolutionary discipline.” This is how they demand that FC Barcelona “immediately rectify and break any agreement with Uber,” company that, according to them, “has been attacking public transportation for years.”
Nor do they seem to care about reality, since citizens have the exact opposite opinion of those taxi drivers. According to a recent Metroscopia survey (July 2025), 67% of Catalans oppose the restrictions that taxi radicals promote together with the president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa. Measures that, applied with absolute indolence, could lead to the dismissal of more than 4,000 drivers of rental vehicles with drivers (VTC).
Specifically, while citizens are in favor of “make taxi regulation more flexible so that it is more similar to VTCs,” Politicians and related taxi drivers prefer to tighten it and further limit this mode of transport.
The result of tolerating or remaining silent in the face of the coercive attitudes of radical taxi drivers is to give in to the extortion of privileged people with totalitarian aspirations, whose influence extends and contaminates different areas of society.
The Catalans have enough to endure this drift in politics without also suffering it in football. Will we continue to allow the targeting and coercion, or will society decide to put a stop to it?
***Emilio Domínguez del Valle is an expert lawyer in mobility and transportation.
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