They’re suspended. For now.
BY DAVID FLORES
Last week, the local transport authorities took to the streets at the behest of taxi leaders to inspect tour vehicles. They discovered five vehicles with outdated permits and promptly impounded them. This sparked a dramatic response from the tour companies: dozens of their vehicles orchestrated a ‘slow drive’ protest along the fourlane, bringing traffic to a standstill for four hours.
Feeling targeted by what they perceived as harassment favoring taxi groups, these tour operators staged a second protest and planned further disruptions. They shut down the Fonatur roundabout in San Jose and the intersection near the old bullring at the entrance to Cabo San Lucas. But a day later, Federal, State, and City officials along with the local hotel association and the powerful Los Cabos Coordinating Council were able to get both parties, taxi owners and tour operators to sit down to talk.
Tour operators must prove that their services are pre-arranged by tourists coming to Cabo, or the tourists have to use local taxi services. Taxi fleet owners claim tour operators are cheating, and so on. But a truce has been agreed upon, there will be weekly meetings to review permits and good behavior, all to protect our precious tourists. Stay tuned.
