Portuguese taxi drivers have responded en-masse to the latest call for action over the existence of low-cost internet service Uber in Lisbon, Porto and Faro.
As we wrote this story as many as 5000 drivers were clogging the streets of the capital, demanding action by the government, sounding their horns and giving interviews to journalists from their open windows, while a similar protest was ongoing in Porto.
Two hundred taxi drivers had used the morning to stage a protest in Faro.
But their case – put repeatedly since Uber arrived in Portugal – is not winning support from outside.
Various national papers have published pro- Uber articles in favour of the concept of healthy competition.
And according to a study undertaken by Eurosondagem, “72.3% of Portuguese agree with the operation of platforms like Uber in Portugal”.
As Dinheiro Vivo explains: “The Portuguese have no doubts”: Uber offers a level of technology that its customers value.
Indeed, 94.1% of those questioned rated their experience with Uber as either “good” or “very good”.
Thus, with the service now in operation in “hundreds of cities throughout the world” it remains to be seen what concessions traditional taxi drivers in Portugal can achieve.
