Taxi driver protests continue in south and Paris: weekend disruption expected
Major demonstrations planned in prime minister鈥檚 hometown of Pau
Drivers have been protesting for a number of weeks. Photo shows drivers in Paris on May 27, 2025
Abaca Press / Alamy Stock Photo
Protests by taxi drivers are poised to continue into the weekend in several cities including Paris and Pau after meetings this week between unions and the government failed to resolve disputes over hospital transport fees.
A major demonstration is planned in Pau on Saturday. Pau 鈥� in the Pyr茅n茅es-Atlantiques 鈥� is a focal point for protests as it is the home of prime minister Fran莽ois Bayrou, and alongside Paris and Marseille has seen the brunt of action.
Around 100 taxis are already maintaining demonstrations in the city, with a further 100 or more set to arrive over the course of today.
It comes after drivers blocked roads in Biarritz and other areas of the south-west in recent days.
Drivers have been engaging in protests for several weeks over planned changes to hospital transport fees 鈥� which could see income for taxi drivers who take patients to appointments halved 鈥� as well as the presence of ride-hailing applications such as Uber and Bolt.
鈥楶erhaps just the beginning鈥� of strike action
The protests look set to continue. 鈥淲e are continuing to take action in order to raise awareness. Perhaps this is just the beginning,鈥� said president of the taxi driver鈥檚 union in the Pyr茅n茅es-Atlantique department Jean-Marie Tourr茅 to AFP (quoted in ).
鈥淯ntil we have had further meetings and made further progress, there will definitely be more action,鈥� he added.
In Paris, action is mainly concentrated near the offices of the Ministry of Transport around Boulevard Raspail.
鈥淭he taxis [outside] are taking turns, it's a revolving door,鈥� one driver told AFP.
鈥淭here were more than 100 [protestors on Thursday]. We will continue in the coming days,鈥� he added.
Stopping ride-hailing drivers
Protesting techniques mostly consist of 鈥榮nail operations鈥� 鈥� driving extremely slowly and blocking major roads 鈥� or checkpoints outside areas frequented by drivers of ride-hailing vehicles.
Protesting drivers outside of the Pau airport set up a checkpoint yesterday.
鈥淲e let people through, but for private hire vehicles [drivers working on apps such as Uber or Bolt], we asked the police to check that everything was in order. There were several fines [for drivers not correctly following regulations],鈥� Mr Tourr茅 added.
A private hire vehicle driver rammed protesting taxi drivers at a blockade in Marseille during protests last week, injuring several taxi drivers.
