Ok, the price of fuel is more expensive in Ireland, but that’s where the comparison ends. The taxi that took me home from Charlie´s last night at 04.29 am charged me €2.70. The drive is approx. 7 minutes or 3 km. If I got the same taxi in Ireland, it would cost me at least €8.

The Irish taxi drivers tell you that the Canarian taxi drivers are picking up €3 every 10 minutes, but that’s simply not correct. Any night that you want to look out the window of Charlie´s you will see at least twenty taxis waiting for a fare, and if you watch the last one to join the queue, they are waiting at least 40 minutes before moving, and most of the time even longer.

This is a crazy situation where the Irish taxi is way overpriced and the Canarian taxi is way underpriced. If a person sits for a minimum of 45 minutes on a rank at 4am to get a €2.70 fare, there is something seriously wrong! It’s an embarassment to hand a man €2.70 at this hour of the morning, when he drives you home in a spotless Mercedez Benz. I’m not encouraging inflation or ripping people off, but every man is entitled to make a living, and especially those who are working at 4 am in the morning. Why can’t both the Irish taxi driver and the Canarian charge €5 for the fare, with some little adjustment for the price of fuel up or down as appropriate?

There was a time when the Canarian taxi driver was picking up fares every second minute, but that´s history now. The reasons are either because they issued more taxi licences, or there are less tourists around. They may have issued more licences to cover peak times, but I still got a taxi on the last day of July (peak season) at 4 am for €2.70.

This is simply not right. Can someone fix this, please? I have Charlie´s Bar here in Lanzarote and I don’t want to see prices going up on anything for tourists, but I also don’t want to see people’s souls being broken while trying to make a living to support their families.

Charlie´s is the best live music venue on all the Canarian islands and we don´t rip people off with the price of drink. ENJOY!

Someone wake up fast please, both in Ireland and the Canaries….