Caleta de Fuste Antigua taxi drivers demand a correction from the Town Council: “Our president did not make the quoted statements”

The Taxi Association Caleta de Fuste Antigua I has demanded that Antigua Town Council publicly correct statements attributed to its president, Ladislao Francisco Vera Pérez, in a municipal press release about the definition of taxi fare zones. The association says its representative did not make the quoted remarks and objects to its name being used to support political assessments of the current and previous administrations.

In an official statement dated 20 October, the association expressed its discontent with information issued by the Town Council and reported by various media outlets, including La Voz de Fuerteventura, which published the story under the headline “Antigua taxi drivers thank Mayor Juan Cabrera for limiting the urban zone”.

“Our president did not make the quoted statements that appear in that publication,” the association said. It objected in particular to remarks presenting the measure as an achievement solely of the current municipal administration and containing negative assessments of the previous administration.

The municipal press release attributed statements to Francisco Vera thanking Mayor Juan Cabrera and Transport Councillor Agustín Rodríguez for resolving a situation that had been harming the sector for years. It also included criticism of former mayor Matías Peña’s handling of the issue.

The association has now explicitly distanced itself from those claims and asked the Town Council to issue a correction through the same official channels used to distribute the original information, and to send it to the media outlets that reproduced it.

“Our association does not take part in party-political disputes, does not represent the interests of any political party and does not authorise the use of its president’s name to support political positions he has not expressed,” it stressed.

“The previous administration began the procedure and the current one completed it”

The association also used its statement to explain how the procedure to define the fare zones unfolded and to emphasise the role of taxi professionals in an initiative it says was proposed and funded by the association itself.

It says the sector had been calling for more than thirteen years for taxi fares to be updated to reflect rising fuel, insurance, maintenance and vehicle costs.

With no progress on that demand, taxi professionals consulted the authorities responsible for transport, including the Guardia Civil and Fuerteventura Island Council. During those discussions, the association says, they were warned that applying fare 3 to certain journeys might lack legal backing unless the Town Council formally defined the urban zone.

They then decided to put forward a proposal distinguishing Antigua’s urban centre from the tourist areas and other population centres in the municipality. This would allow fare 3 to be legally applied to certain journeys that had previously been charged at fare 1.

To do so, they hired Campanario Abogados and used their own funds to pay for legal advice, technical reports and the engineering work required to prepare the boundary maps.

“We took the initiative, hired specialist professionals and used our own financial resources to cover the studies and work needed to make the proposal viable,” they said.

The documents were submitted to the Town Council during the previous administration, when the administrative process began. According to the association, the procedure lasted more than a year and required meetings, site visits, changes to the maps and constant monitoring of the case.

When the municipal administration changed, the association says, the process was at an advanced stage, although more than three months of further work were still needed to complete it.

“One administration began the procedure and another completed it. But the initiative, the funding for the preparatory work and the sustained efforts to achieve this solution came from our association,” it stressed.

The association acknowledged and thanked Mayor Juan Cabrera, Transport Councillor Agustín Rodríguez and the current administration for completing the process. However, it said the previous administration’s involvement and the professionals’ work should not be ignored.

“We do not believe it reflects reality to present this measure as an initiative conceived and resolved exclusively during the first hundred days of the current administration,” it warned.

The association also questioned the time taken by both administrations to process the matter, saying they could have acted more quickly.

General fare review still pending

The association also clarified that defining the fare zones does not amount to a general increase in taxi prices.

“No increase in the official taxi fares has been approved. What has been achieved is a change to the geographical area in which they apply, allowing fare 3 to be used on journeys that were previously charged at fare 1,” it explained.

The change will improve professionals’ earnings on certain journeys, although the association stressed that it is a temporary solution while the general fare-review process remains pending a court ruling.

Taxi drivers say fares have not been reviewed for more than thirteen years to reflect the actual rise in operating costs, and are calling for work on an update to continue.

“We are not looking for credit, but we will not accept our work being ignored”

The association stressed that its statement was not intended to start a dispute with the Town Council or any of the political representatives involved in the process.

“We are not seeking attention or credit. Our aim is to secure improvements for taxi drivers. But it would also be unfair for the work and resources contributed by professionals in the sector to go unrecognised,” it said.

It is therefore calling for a public correction of the statements attributed to its president, recognition of the technical and financial work carried out by the association, and respect for its institutional independence.

The association says it will continue working with the Town Council to improve working conditions, taxi ranks and the organisation of the service.

“We are pleased that the fare zones have finally been defined. But expressing our thanks does not mean giving up the right to explain how this was achieved or accepting statements we never made,” the statement concluded.