Airport Transfer legalities??

 Hi guys and gals,

I'm moving to Costa del Sol in May and I need a bit of advice:

I own a transit minibus and I was thinking of doing airports transfers with it. What kind of insurance would I need and where would I get it? Also would I need a special licence, like a taxi licence?

I would only be doing it on a private basis, with certain home owners/holiday lets, so Joe Public wouldn't be able to phone me and book me, but it would still be using the vehicle for "hire or reward" and I presume there will be a similar clause in Spanish insurance documents?

Any help or info would be greatly appreciated :)

Regarding insurance, maybe have a chat with our friend Debbie at Hamilton Insurance.  I'm sure she can advise you.

And I do think you will need a licence to operate.  Many taxi drivers lose a lot of business to illegal airport transfer services so you will need a licence...even if it's just to stop you getting beaten up by taxi drivers at the airport

Justin

if it's RHdrive ,you've no chance. It can't be re-registered  & it's illegal to use a foreign registered vehicle to  run a business.

As far as I know you do need a licence but it's a different licence to street taxis.

The problme is you will stick out and I have heard of some in this line of work having run-ins with taxi drivers.

 Well, it would appear you may now want to kick this idea into touch.  If the replies so fair haven't put you off, have a read of this:

Eye on Spain taxi blog

 The vehicle is left hand drive or else we would not be taking it anyway, It will be registered in Spain as soon as possible.

Does anyone know where I can find out what kind of licence is required?

Smurf,

Sorry I can't directly answer your question on what licence you require or where you may require it from. I anticipate that you will be dropping off/picking up at Malaga Airport.  As I understand it from people I know who do the odd drop off/pick up of friends the situation at Malaga is that whilst fully licenced taxi's from other municipalities can drop off at the airport they cannot collect passengers. It seems only Malaga City taxi's have the monopoly on taking passengers out of the airport. I once saw a Benalmadena taxi drop off at departures and I asked if he'd take me back to Arroyo de la Miel but refused as he said that he wasn't allowed to and only Malaga City taxis could do that. It seems crazy in these days of trying to reduce emmissions etc.

I also know that the Malaga City taxi drivers work hand in glove with the police to try and identify people trading illegally. If the police can't deal with the issue some taxi drivers have a reputation for taking matters into their own hands. Things can get particularly fraught when their is industrial action at the airport.

It may well be therefore that you would be unable to get a licence to operate legally in the way you have indicated. Sorry I can't be more help but being forewarned is beter than making a commitment you later regret?

I would not try this without a licence and a LH drive car/transit. An associate had a keyholding business and he would drop off and collect as required for his apartment/villa owners for a small fee. Whilst it would be wrong to suggest he was beaten up he did get caught up in a loud and fairly aggressive barrage of intimidation from a number of taxi drivers and on driving away from the airport saw that his reg number was taken by several of them. As he's not usually one to shy away from awkward circumstances I have to say that the experience was enough to stop him continuing. He did later point out that in fairness it is their livlihood and they have taken the trouble to go through the proper processes and pay taxes. He'd thought it nothing more than a few bob in his pocket and helping a few people out but of course its dodging paying taxes and your insurances are invalid.

 I think some people might have got the wrong end of the stick here, I'm not trying to do anything illegally which is why I posted the thread in the first place.

I wouldn't try and do this without a left hand drive vehicle, which I have GOT, or the correct licences, hence the thread.

I'm not trying to be an illegal taxi, I am willing to go through the proper processes and pay taxes, I want to do it properly which is why I asked the question.

You'd probably need to run this past a "gestor" or talk to someone like Myra at Costa Advice Bureau who could help you out with this.

Best of luck.

Justin

 Thanks for the link Justin, I'll try them :)

Speak to a gestor, as Justin advises, but I can tell you from my own personal enquiries on the subject, that you will need a licence similar to that required to operate a hire car biz, except obviously your vehicles will be with "chauffeur", not self-drive. You will need a minimum of (I think) 10 vehicles in order to obtain such a licence. You may be able to include self drive cars in your fleet and do it all on the one licence. The vehicles will be required to be of a high standard (probably maximum 3 years old), you and all your drivers will be required to pass a test, and I forget what else.

There are countless illegal operators who literally take their life in their own hands on a daily basis - I personally know of people being physically assaulted at the airport. IMHO, really not worth it. If you can afford to and are prepared to go through the rigmaroll of doing it legally, which to all intents and purposes for a sole operator is impossible, then you will also discover that there are already quite a few such operations set up who probably have the market pretty well sewn up.

But don't take my word - do speak to a gestor, who should advise you free of charge, and if you're still not put off........good luck, and PLEASE come back and let us know how you get on!

I believe the licence requirement would be D1 which you probably already have if your licence was issued in the UK pre 1997.

However, Groups C and  D are classed as vocational licences and a UK Issued Vocational licence cannot, to the best of my knowledge be used in Spain for any Hire or Reward Operation nor can they be transferred to a Spanish Issued licence without taking the Spanish Test for the particular group. Minibus and Bus and Coach drivers are subject to Annual Medicals and regular 'continuation training' for which completion certificates are issued.

Vehicles are subject to annual ITV inspections irrespective of the age of the vehicle and the test for all forms of public service vehicles is far more stringent than the routine vehicle inspection carried out on private cars.

Vehicles are also subject to roadside spot checks by the Spanish equivalent of VOSA backed up by two GC Trafficos. I was aboard one of ALSA's coaches at Malaga airport when the guys pounced on the vehicle and went through it and the drivers documentation with a fine tooth comb. The coach was 30 minutes late leaving as a result...

At both Malaga and Alicante Airports privateers have had their tyres slashed and the GC have taken various privateers to court generally turning a blind eye to the taxi drivers responsible.

fb

This guy will put you straight, he certainly does on other forums I read.

http://www.clydegrovegolf.com/

His signature is 'YOU ARE NOT INSURED IF YOU USE ILLEGAL TAXIS OR MINIBUSES
Many in the Costa Blanca have quality websites or state they are legal to transport passengers.
Only Companies with a *Tarjeta De Transporte* for passengers may transport clients

Email clydegrove@clydegrovegolf.com

Ring 0034 965708061 (Alan I think he's called).

Yes, get proper advice- things can get a bit random on here. Good luck hope it works out.

(Not sure about having to have 10 vehicles though, what about those people who do trips and also airport transfers I know they dont all have 10 vehicles and those I personaly  I know  are properly registered for tax)

Very good point about things getting a bit random. My own enquries were a while ago, and I forget the exact details, which is why I too suggested getting proper professional advice. I was simply trying to illustrate that it's nowhere near as straightforward as being registered for tax (which is an altogether seperate issue to licencing a business operation) and owning a Transit van.

The 10 vehicle minimum may have been for self-drive. It may only be 5 for hire vehicles with driver! Check with a profesional gestor!! Either way, you can be registered as autonomo (self employed) for tax purpoes, but I believe the tarjeta de transporte that Morerosado mentions will be issued to a registered company, not an individual, so it's the licencing requirements of such a business that need to be checked before anything else.

I know Alan, called 'Orange' in forums in my area, always tells people asking about 'taxi' services that whoever transports them MUST have a 'tarjeta de transporte' to be 100% legal in order to transport anyone who pays. He also says this when someone posts a post such as 'can someone pick me up from Alicante airport, I'm not going to pay 60€ for a proper taxi' so just be careful.

As I said Alan will advise (freely). People who do not have the correct licences take his livelihood away so he gets incensed does Alan!!

To clarify Roberto's point about the requirement for 10 cars.

In order to obtain an opening licence to provide car hire, there is a minimum requirement of 10 cars before the licence will be issued.

Noreen

I did actually mean registered for tax and with other appropriate licences, which for anyone who's still interested, the advice seems to be  to get a Servicio Publico  similar to Private Hire in UK. An associate has one mini bus and does excursions, trips and airport collection. He doesnt run as a regular 'take me wherever' taxi service.

It may be possible for certain businesses, such as hotels, to obtain a licence for a vehicle to transport their customers, solely as an added service to their main business (i.e. to and from the hotel), but as far as I know, a one man - one vehicle enterprise is not do-able. Otherwise I'd be doing it. So if I'm wrong on this, please let me know exactly how to go about it. My enquiries led to a dead end.