The VTC-Gran Turisme de Catalunya Association rejects the B2 Catalan requirement and describes it as a “regulatory and unnecessary patch”
The traditional VTCs, which offer luxury transport services to international customers, have expressed their displeasure at the “new discriminatory restrictions on the VTCs as a whole”, referring to the Catalan B2, which will be mandatory for the drivers of the VTCs and the taxi drivers In a statement, the VTC-Gran Turisme de Catalunya Association states that in other “unforced circumstances” they would not have opposed it, but that they do not understand that it is approved “through the back door” a few days before the start of Mobile and at the request of the taxi sector.
The traditional VTCs, which differ from the platform ones – which work for Cabify or Bolt, among others -, warn that congresses can be lost due to “excessive zeal in inspections”. In addition, they hint at possible mobilizations during Mobile and other major events in the city, such as the America’s Cup. “This association is ready to boycott them, from the inside and from the outside, because our people want to live from their work,” they warn.
The association considers that the B2 Catalan requirement “has no logic” and that it affects professionals with years of experience
The statement comes after the agreement to make the B2 Catalan degree a mandatory requirement for VTC drivers and taxi drivers. According to the association, this requirement “has no logic” and they refuse to demand this qualification from professionals with years of experience and who “in 95% of cases” are focused on international clients whom they address in English. The sector’s employers warn that “the hole is being dug to definitively bury a subsector of mobility” and that it is “basic” for the economy of Barcelona as a welcoming city for large conferences and for other sectors, such as the hotels and restaurants.
The association regrets being “collateral damage” between taxi drivers and platform VTCs and asks for their differentiation
On the other hand, the VTC-Gran Turisme de Catalunya Association insists on differentiating itself from platform VTCs. “We don’t do taxi work, we can’t assume restrictive regulations designed from a sector like the taxi and designed towards another that does its job [with reference to the platforms] and that have nothing to do with the activity of Gran Tourism”, notes the entity, which regrets being a “collateral damage” between taxi drivers and platform VTCs. In this sense, he regrets the administration’s “punitive and disproportionate regime” and that the inspection protocol “criminalizes the driver before verifying the alleged irregularity” and all of this, he adds, with the customers inside the vehicle.
However, the association has been open to “negotiate” and “go head to head with the administration”. “We have been promised our differentiation, we do not accept any more deceptions on the part of the Parliament”, adds the statement, which hints that they will be “felt” during the Mobile as well as in other major events in the city.