Official taxi rank at top end of Avd Mediterraneo

The police in Benidorm are certainly keeping very busy - last week they announced a crackdown on the free bus trips and now they are targeting pirate taxi's! Looks like the new Police Commissioner, Juan Carlos Hernandez is definately trying to clean the town up and taking crime and security seriously, which has been a concern over the last few years for the British - and not a moment too soon in my opinion.

Javier Matias, President of Radio-Taxi in Benidorm has said that his drivers will be willingly co-operating with the police, as they, more than anyone else know who they are where they are operating from. They will be targeting those drivers in particular who are doing airport runs and even stopping cars in the Benidorm area who are seen to be carrying passengers with luggage to ask for their relevant papers! He said that the majority are ex-pat English, but now the Romanian and Bulgarians are starting to join in this practice.

The fines are harsh if caught - up to 1500 euros, so be warned. If your vehicle is pulled over and the driver found not to be legally authorised you would be asked to vacate the car and then be potentially stranded - which isn't a good idea if you are on the way to the airport to catch a flight! So think carefully about who you are using....

There is also a second catagory that the police have been asked to monitor - they are legal taxi's BUT they drive around the street looking for business, much like minicabs do in the UK. Taxi's are not allowed to do that here in Spain - they have to be hailed from a taxi rank or if you telephone for one, they drive to the pick up location. But remember, the meter starts ticking the moment he leaves the taxi rank so you may find that there is already 7 or 8 euros charge already on the clock by the time he arrives!  There are also legal private taxi firms which carry no advertising on the doors but they are a telephone request only service... they would have to prove to the police that they are on an official legal call out.

The police have also been asked by the Councillor for Mobility, Carmen Martinez, to enforce the "no suitcases" policy on public buses - with the obvious exception of the Alsa airport bus. So if you are planning on taking the bus to the airport from your hotel then you may need to get a taxi to get you to the bus station - rather than using the local Llorente buses.

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