The action has been described as “the biggest ever demonstration against Uber and its services.”
Last month a Portuguese court upheld a ruling passed earlier this year in April which stated that the app – which promises to find private taxis, cars or rideshares anywhere in the world within minutes – should be banned in Portugal.
In upholding the ruling, last month’s court decision also upholds an injunction sought by the national taxi drivers’ association ANTRAL against Uber, which was accepted in April and suspends any company activities.
ANTRAL said at the time that the court had taken into account “solid and very strong arguments both with regards to the illegal nature of such competition, the risk to the public in general, the payment of the taxes due and the opaque manner in which the service is made available.”
But, this week the country’s taxi drivers amped up their campaign after what they see as a tolerance and a lack of action by authorities against Uber.
As well as staying away from the country’s main airports, the taxis also gathered and staged slow-drives throughout the cities of Faro, Oporto and Lisbon to raise awareness about their battle.
In a statement ANTRAL explained the protests aimed to “draw attention to the effects of the law being violated, the non-compliance with judicial decisions, constituting in this case a crime”, to protest against “the tolerance of decision-makers” and the “inaction of fiscal inspectors in using the skills and obligations that they are bound to.”
ANTRAL accuses Uber of “working in the same way” it did before court action was taken.
Speaking on Tuesday the president of táxi association ANTRAL, Florência Almeida, told Lusa News Agency the drivers were protesting against Uber which they believe is operating illegally in Portugal.
“The government must uphold the constitution and the decisions of the courts, but it has done nothing“, he added.
Florêncio Almeida also insinuated that “there is the possibility that there are politicians connected with Uber” and “with some interest” that the status quo is maintained.
Their action comes just days after footage of taxi drivers at Lisbon airport preventing an Uber driver from leaving the airport with a passenger went viral on social media.
The video, which shows a group of taxi drivers blocking the path of the Uber car, was uploaded by a young Ukrainian national who claimed it was filmed while he was also waiting for an Uber ride to arrive, and that he was surrounded in the same manner.
Uber, meanwhile, has said it does comply with Portugal’s law and pays its taxes.
In a statement sent to Lusa the company stressed that it fulfils “all the laws in force” and makes sure that its collaborators are all properly licensed and pay taxes.