UberPOP suspended in Spain: Monty Python was right… nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!
Uber has finally decided to suspend its UberPOP service in Spain following a court order at the beginning of December issued by a judge on the instructions of a taxi association. Such precautionary measures are only usually ordered in matters of extreme urgency: in this case, the judge neither listened to Uber before doing so, and then didn’t even bother to inform the company, alleging that he couldn’t do so because it was based in the “tax haven” of Delaware, even thought the company’s website includes contact details in the Netherlands, as well as Barcelona.
Uber’s statement, signed by its director in Spain, Carles Lloret, has had to be published on blog.pidetuviaje.com, because the corporate web site has been blocked by Spanish internet providers. The Uber app that appears in the illustration provides access to the entry.
We should be deeply concerned here in Spain that a judge is able to issue an order banning a company from operating simply on the say so of a competitor without undertaking any further investigation, and that furthermore, telecommunications companies can take it upon themselves to block access to a business’ website and app on the same grounds. Anybody reading this who is thinking of launching a business that is in anyway innovative or disruptive should think seriously about whether Spain is the country to do so in. Anybody in Spain reading this with the same idea might want to consider emigrating. The Monty Python were exactly right: nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!
Uber’s presence in Spain prompts a number of questions: firstly, whether the current regulations governing private passenger transport are of benefit to anybody other than those who currently hold the monopoly on it. Instead of doing that, the authorities here decide to take measures that are clearly exceptional in their scope, as though the presence of this company represented some kind of threat to public order or safety, which is clearly not the case.
Secondly, why did Uber decide only to launch UberPop in Spain, rather than its iconic Uber Black, or any of the other services it operates? Quite simply because it is so hard to in this country to get a taxi license. That doesn’t mean that now it won’t consider doing so.
If I were the owner of Uber — and I should point out here that I have no axe to grind, and my only knowledge of the company is having discussed it via case studies on my Innovation course at the IE Business School in Madrid — I would open up every kind of service I could in Spain, even if largely on a symbolic basis. Furthermore, I would appeal against the court ruling, something that Uber says it intends to do. Given the circumstances, with an office already up and running here, the logical thing for the company to do would be not only to invite job applications from drivers with a taxi license, as well as introducing services still in the test phase in other countries, such as goods delivery; all with the aim of maintaining brand awareness, while at the same time as questioning the obstacles put in the way of entrepreneurship through out-of-date regulations that prevent job creation and opportunities in a country like Spain, which has one of the highest rates of unemployment in the developed world.
We will have to see what the company does next, aside from taking the obvious legal action. In other countries, court orders requiring Uber to cease its activities have last just a few days, until the judge has been able to hear the company’s arguments.
Meanwhile, if you want to keep up to date on what is happening in Spain, don’t bother looking on GoogleNews, which is no longer available, thanks to collusion between the government here and the Spanish newspaper owners’ association. Brand Spain now seems to be about avoiding innovation at all costs. Any day now, they’ll shut down the internet.
(En español, aquí)
