Taxi practise by Portenos

There's something that doesn't quite add up here with the taxi business.

ALL locals will make a point of telling you that you must only use Radio Taxi services, not the gypsy cabs that are available everywhere around the city. For a Radio taxi you must call 1 of the many Radio taxi companies to book a cab (which inherently requires fluent Spanish) & wait for that specific cab. This implies you have access to a hotel Concierge, an office receptionist or a bilingual friend able to call 1 for you. If not, you are in trouble & best take your chances out on the street by hailing 1 down.

There is only a subtle visual difference between the Radio Taxi cabs & the gypsy cabs. They're painted the same black & yellow colours, with their similar logos in the same positions, so visitors will not pick the difference. The Radio Taxis by law must have their cab licence number painted on both their passenger-side front door & their boot/trunk door. Gypsy cabs often also paint their cab licence number on the passenger front-door (to mimic the 'authentic' look of the competition?) but rarely on the boot door .... are you following this? The 1 big difference is whether or not the cab has a rooftop sign ... & if so, exactly what it says! If it says RADIO TAXI then, by law, it can only be an authentic Radio Taxi. The gypsy cabs that invest in this aspect of mimicry can only say TAXI on their rooftop signage. And all this you have to observe as the vehicle is approaching you, usually at a fair speed!

Now that I feel more confident with my "travellers' Spanish" after 4 weeks of catching taxis daily, I have hailed a few of these gypsy cabs (admittedly, only in the daylight & only the one's driven by older, harmless-looking men) & cannot understand what the anxiety is about?

I can only surmise that 'during the troubles' (as the period around the 2001 currency crisis here is referred to) when there was a very real desperation that led to a dramatic spike in the city's crime rate that many incidents of muggings must have gone down in taxis? Or in association with catching taxis? And the locals have not gotten over it yet, clearly.

*Note to self: don't get too bold about ignoring local practices until you really speak the lingo & have been here at least a year - 'where there's smoke, there's fire'?