Another Council Blunder Delays Eight New Taxi Licences in Orihuela

Orihuela City Council has been forced to amend the rules for awarding eight new taxi licences for a second time, reopening applications and raising fresh concerns over delays to a service already struggling to meet demand, particularly on Orihuela Costa.

The council has announced a new 20-day application period after errors were discovered in the selection criteria, despite the process having been underway for more than a year and a final list of 28 accepted applicants already having been published.

The latest setback adds to a licensing dispute dating back to 2015, with Orihuela having issued no new taxi licences since 2005.

The municipality currently has just 42 licensed taxis serving approximately 86,000 registered residents, despite legislation establishing a ratio of one taxi per 1,000 inhabitants.

The process to award eight additional licences was finally approved in May 2025, following a court ruling requiring the council to issue at least one new licence.

Errors Force Second Rule Change

The competition rules were first amended in September 2025 after several appeals challenged the allocation of points for professional experience and language qualifications.

When applications closed in November, 33 people had applied. By March, the council had published its final list of 28 accepted candidates and five exclusions.

However, in July, the evaluation committee identified further problems with how applicants’ qualifications and circumstances should be assessed.

These included uncertainty over the calculation and verification of professional experience, language skills and unemployment status.

A subsequent technical and legal report concluded that the problems were serious enough to affect candidates’ scores and potentially change the final ranking.

More remarkably, the report discovered that the published rules still contained the original criteria, without incorporating the amendments approved following the earlier appeals.

As a result, the department headed by PP councillor Víctor Valverde has been forced to issue another correction.

Although the main assessment criteria remain unchanged, the revised rules clarify how qualifications and circumstances must be documented, calculated and assessed.

Candidates Question Fairness

The council has reopened applications for 20 calendar days, allowing new candidates to enter the competition while existing applicants can amend, supplement or replace their documentation.

Officials argue that applying the revised rules only to those who had already submitted applications would breach principles of equality and fair competition.

The council also maintains that the changes are not intended to benefit or disadvantage any individual, pointing out that the evaluation committee suspended the assessment before final scores were awarded.

However, some existing candidates have questioned both the timing and fairness of the decision.

They argue that allowing new applicants into a process that already had an approved list of candidates could unfairly change the outcome.

“It’s not normal that those who didn’t apply before can now do so and present qualifications they perhaps didn’t have at the time,” one applicant complained.

Others highlighted the significant weighting given to unemployment status.

Under the scoring system, an applicant who was unemployed when the original competition opened but has subsequently found work could lose 100 points, while a newly eligible unemployed applicant could potentially gain those points.

Candidates also questioned why the problems were not identified earlier, given that council technicians had originally prepared and approved the rules.

“The City Council’s technicians drafted and validated the rules, and now they say there are deficiencies,” one applicant said.

With a fresh application period now underway, the council must draw up another list of accepted candidates before the assessment and scoring process can begin again.

Some applicants fear the additional bureaucracy could delay the arrival of new taxis until after next summer.

“At this rate, we won’t make it to next summer,” one frustrated candidate warned.

Orihuela Costa Continues to Suffer

The delays come at a time when Orihuela’s existing taxi fleet is widely regarded as insufficient for a municipality covering such a large geographical area.

The problem is particularly acute on Orihuela Costa, where the resident population increases dramatically during the tourist season.

In practice, approximately 23 taxis normally operate along the coast, leaving residents and visitors struggling to find transport during busy periods.

By comparison, neighbouring Torrevieja has around 90 taxi licences and has already completed two licensing rounds during the current council term.

Disabled Passengers Face Additional Problems

Of the eight new licences proposed for Orihuela, four are reserved for wheelchair-accessible vehicles designed to carry passengers with reduced mobility.

However, disability support organisation Orihuela Sin Barreras has warned that the shortage of adapted taxis is already causing serious difficulties.

The association says it has received numerous complaints from residents unable to arrange essential journeys because of mechanical breakdowns affecting the municipality’s limited accessible taxi fleet.

Only three adapted taxis currently serve Orihuela city and most of its surrounding districts, making the service particularly vulnerable when vehicles are unavailable.

Belén Cascales, president of Orihuela Sin Barreras, has called for more accessible taxi licences and the introduction of a comprehensive municipal taxi ordinance.

“Both taxi professionals and our association are demanding a taxi ordinance,” Cascales said, stressing the importance of ensuring that suitable vehicles are consistently available throughout the municipality.

The association has also highlighted the contrast with Torrevieja, which is expected to have 16 accessible taxis following its latest round of licence awards.

For Orihuela residents, particularly those living on the coast or depending on wheelchair-accessible transport, the latest administrative setback means further uncertainty over when the long-promised improvement to taxi services will finally become a reality.

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