MALAGA’s taxi drivers are up in arms after two of their own were ambushed by violent robbers in attacks less than a week apart.
The assaults were allegedly carried out by young men, with one driver threatened with a firearm and another attacked with a large knife.
The incidents, which took place in the Palma-Palmilla barrio, have sparked alarm across Malaga’s taxi community, which is now demanding financial support from authorities to install surveillance cameras in vehicles.
Each camera costs around €800, and some drivers have already paid out of pocket to ensure they can work safely.
Taxi associations, The Costa del Sol Taxi Confederation and the Malaga Unified Association of Self-Employed Taxi Drivers, have appealed to the Junta and Malaga city council for help.
They are requesting subsidies for cameras and better protection from the police.
Highlighting the psychological impact of the robberies, a spokesperson explained that drivers work ‘alone, at night and in vulnerable conditions.’
He said: “When a customer gets in and says they’re going to a socially isolated area, our bodies tense up, especially if they then point a gun at us.”
The sector says it is not asking for a radical change, only for Malaga to catch up with other regions.
Galicia has already provided public funding for cameras, and Finland requires them in every taxi, a level of protection drivers in Malaga say they urgently need.
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