In Lisbon, “Uber is illegal and a crime in Portugal” came the calls as the taxis massed for a slow drive that would take them from the airport to parliament with the police having warned citizens to avoid using cars in the capital throughout the morning.

Lusa spoke to taxi driver Pedro Lopes who expressed his satisfaction at the level of turnout and said that “there are ever more cars working illegally” in a situation that required resolving.

Police sources said Friday morning that the protest had remained calm with a positive ambience.

Friday’s protest comes after a week of actions taken by the aforementioned associations to pressure the government to suspend Uber’s activities in the national market on the grounds that Uber’s drivers do not meet the legal requirements in effect for taxi transport.

The protest gained the backing of the Portuguese Confederation of Micro, Small and Medium Companies that sent a statement to Lusa on Friday stating that the taxi sector “features the activities of thousands of micro and small companies (in the majority family owned) that engage in an activity of public utility that cannot be destroyed by the greed of any multinational or the inaction of the national government.”

The Confederation backed the position taken by the demonstration organisers that Uber did operate outside of the legal framework handed down for the sector and “therefore should be sanctioned as with any other organisation that fails to respect the laws of the Portuguese Republic.”