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I am arriving in Malaga, Spain, on 22nd of Sep. My destination is a small resort 100km away from Malaga.

After some research on Google map, there is no train or bus that can take us from Malaga. It seems driving is the only way.

How does Taxi work in Spain?

  • Where I can book a taxi ride on line? To my knowledge, there is no Uber in Spain.
  • Does a taxi driver have the right to reject me? (It may sound ridiculous, but based on my cultural background, I have met a number of taxi drivers that refused to take me in)
  • Do I need to tip the driver once we get there?
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    It might be worth asking the resort what they recommend. You surely aren't the first person to want to get there from the airport, and they likely have suggestions to consider.
    – Zach Lipton
    Commented Sep 18, 2016 at 23:05
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    @YuZhang: Also important possibly is where/how you are arriving in Malaga? By plane at the major airport or another way?
    – hippietrail
    Commented Sep 19, 2016 at 1:16
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    Google transit is very incomplete in Spain. There are many buses and trains near Malaga and it is very unlikely that you really have to take a taxi for 100 km. Certainly, many local buses are not covered by Google Transit. Once I took a taxi from a train station to a bus station, with the clever taxi driver asking me to where I was going to take a bus, then claiming there was no bus there. I showed him my ticket and he acted surprised, of course he would have liked a 100 km journey rather than a 4 km one…!
    – gerrit
    Commented Sep 19, 2016 at 11:18

3 Answers 3

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i'm pretty sure there's a train / bus there.

If you can't find the exact location name, look on google maps for the nearest big town.

trains:

http://www.renfe.com/EN/viajeros/index.html

buses :

https://www.alsa.es/en

map showing every official intercity bus station in Andalucia.

enter image description here source: official andalucia government site HERE

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    because i live on the country and if there's something we have is a complex inter-town network of buses that links any minor (<1000hab) with eachother since the 80s. there's a chance , but bets are that google didn't show them. i linked the major bus contractor's site, but there are more.
    – CptEric
    Commented Sep 19, 2016 at 17:08
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    well, it's an answer on how to get to their destination. added a map of each official government bus station. there are even more privately-run.
    – CptEric
    Commented Sep 19, 2016 at 17:11
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    problem is : bus system is so common that there are usually not even ticket vending places. where i live, north-east of the country, you just wait for it and pay the driver, and timetables are hand-written. there's no way a search engine will be able to index that.
    – CptEric
    Commented Sep 19, 2016 at 17:13
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    @gerrit it's only every official intercity bus station, not every local bus station.
    – CptEric
    Commented Jan 25, 2017 at 12:33
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    @gerrit official from the damn government page. juntadeandalucia.es/fomentoyvivienda/portal-web/web/areas/…
    – CptEric
    Commented Jan 25, 2017 at 14:20
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It would help if you were to name the resort you are going to.

Malaga airport has a taxi rank that operates 24 hours a day. You will be able to take a metered taxi. The cost would be high. Ronda which is just over 110 km away would cost approximately 150 euros as detailed on the Malaga airport website mentioned in another answer

http://www.malagaairport.eu/es/servicio-de-taxis.php

It might be cheaper to prebook a shared shuttle bus service. There are many different ones, and ones that I am aware offer services from Malaga airport include www.holidaystaxis.com and www.hoppa.com. There are many others and I offer no opinion on the reliability of any,those are the two I have used from that airport.

Malaga airport is on the main costal train line, and it might be possible to save money by taking a train from that station, to a closer town, and then onward taxi. Again the destination you are visiting would help so we can offer ideas.

A tip in a taxi is normal, but not compulsory, approx 10%. But your journey is quite long so 10 euros would be acceptable. For short journeys, I would round up to the nearest whole euro.

Malaga is a holiday and cosmopolitan town, and sees holidaymakers from around the world, so you should have no issues based on your background, however all Licenced Spanish taxis have a complaints book. And if you have problems you can request to write a complaint in the book, which is reviewed by the licencing authorities

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  • And what if the driver refuses to give you the complaints book? :)
    – JonathanReez ♦
    Commented Sep 20, 2016 at 9:17
  • @JonathanReez then you can call the police so you can exercise your rights.
    – orique
    Commented Sep 20, 2016 at 9:28
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It is not clear where are you takin the taxi from, so I'll assume it will be directly from the airport.

  1. If you google "taxi malaga" you will find some companies offering their services. Note that some are not offering metered taxis but actually rent a car with driver services (taxis must offer the stablished fares)1.

  2. That said, if you arrive at the airport I would expect taxis to be available at the taxi stop unless you arrive really early or late. Check your destination to confirm that.

  3. Taxi licences are based in a municipality (town), and fares too (so a taxi fare may vary from town to town). Also, taxis are barred from serving in other towns; if you pick a taxi in Malaga it can give you a ride to Marbella, but a Malaga taxi cannot pick you in Marbella unless you have booked it expressly to ride you to Malaga. Which is a justification for having to pay the return trip to your taxi if they ride you to another town, even if it goes empty.

  4. Take into account that picking a taxi and going to another town means that you will have to pay for the taxi to ride back to its town, even if it is not used (as the taxi driver cannot pick anyone in town Y).

  5. Legally they cannot refuse you entry, but there is always the taxi driver who refuses to obey the law.

    That said, you have to look terrible for the taxi driver to refuse a 100km drive. Also, if you have booked the taxi and they refuse you entry, they would lose not only the money for the drive but also the time they spent waiting for you.

    I would say it could be more of an issue (if at all) for picking up taxis once you are at your destination.

  6. Tipping is not mandatory but appreciated.

Malaga airport has a web (only in Spanish, of course!) and gives a list of approximate costs for reaching several of the nearby towns. Note that "Tarifa 1" is working days between 06:00 and 22:00 and "Tarifa 2" is the rest of the week. Note that for a metered taxi the "valid" cost will be the one metered by the taxi, the fares listed in the page are orientative.

As one of the comments said above, calling your destination about the alternatives could give you more detailed info (if there are alternative transportation means, if there is a need to book or if it is better to book at your destination or at the airport, etc.). If there are no better alternatives, you are not going to stay long and you are comfortable with driving in unknown roads, I would consider the option of renting a car.

1I have never used one of those so I cannot say which are their pros and cons.

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    They can refuse you under some common sense circumstances, for example, if you're drunk. But not on prejudices.
    – orique
    Commented Sep 20, 2016 at 9:23

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