Just back! I think!

Taxis:
I arrived at the airport undecided on what method of transport to use and I wanted to get out of there as rapid as possible. The 'old' bus service was there in front of me, with the other options being the shuttle bus or taxis. I took a quick turn about looking for the shuttle bus but there was no obvious sign of it or a checkpoint. Although, I must stress that I made no big effort to find it and in fact on my exit from Madrid I did gain sight of the bus arriving with clients.
All around me there were people fighting there way to the taxis and this seemed the most convenient way to the centre. I reflected on the stories of £200 charges to the centre and the more frequent ones of £20 etc.
My attention was drawn to an English party of three women, one woman had taken the lead role and set about arguing with and bartering, in English, for a ride costing 2500 pts but the taxi driver was not having any of this and was shocked by her confidence, in short he was not very keen on this particular ‘client’. Anyway I didn’t notice how much she eventually agreed but I remain confident that with her plucky spirit she was not ‘done’. I was proud of her!

Anyway, I can speak Spanish well although I still don’t pronounce my vowel sounds sufficiently 'hard', I am told, for instance, I can say a long set of words and impress but if I ask for a cerveza I usually get a bewildered look or even spoken to in English which really annoys me, even though I understand why. So I usually ask instead for a caña or better still for a doble, anyway where was I? yes, taxis. So I had no fear of communication problems, so I asked how much would it cost me to the Puerto del sol (cuanto me costaría hasta el Puerto del sol, por favor) to which the driver replied “depends on the meter” so I asked the next driver and he seemed more willing to communicate on price issues. We agreed no more than 4000 pts max.

Anyway, we set of for the centre of Spain like a bat out of hell and with one hand on the wheel and travelling like something out of car chase film, narrowly avoiding collisions and negotiating traffic, we arrived at the centre and I was duly charged 3500 pts which I considered very reasonable for the distance and moderate traffic encountered. Also, when you think that there could have been four in the taxi for presumably the same price or not much more. This was about 5 in the afternoon. Anyway, I did some time later hear one person recount how he was charged 6000 pts for the same journey.

My return taxi was from the centre of Spain but with a taxi stationed in the centre queuing and waiting for clients. I again enquired for the price and talked around the 4000 pts mark and I nearly got my head bit off.
This chap wanted to know where I got that kind of idea from. He said expect 2500 pts max. Well on arrival at the airport the price was 1500 pts with a 500 pts charge extra. I was pleased.

Conclusions on taxis: the Spanish people arriving at the airport are not afraid to use the taxis in fact they fight to be first in the queue. The amount you get charged depends on how ‘tough’ you are and generally how you conduct yourself. Arrive wearing shorts and an orange tea shirt and you then start to struggle against that first impression. If you can speak Spanish reasonably well you shouldn’t have to pay much more than I did. If you can’t speak Spanish and hold up 4000 pts and make it clear you don’t have any more and are not going to pay more anyway then I think you’ll get your journey ok.

On leaving the city the taxi service is excellent quick and convenient.

I was happy with the taxis.

I’ll return with more drivel soon providing I don’t get to much abuse for the long-winded stuff.

For instance: last person standing, apart from street cleaners, well only just standing as it happens, on returning from the Berlin Cabaret on a Tuesday in Madrid.



[This message has been edited by steveaqui (edited 10-23-2000).]