If you’ve applied for a new private hire licence in recent years, you’ll have heard the standard response: ‘rejected’. The reason could be summed up in a fraction: 1/30 — state regulations allowed new ride-hailing licences to be refused when there was already more than one for every 30 taxi licences in the region, a threshold exceeded in virtually the whole of Spain. That rule explains how this market came into being. And from 2024, it can no longer be applied as it has been: the Supreme Court has overturned its automatic application.
Where the rule comes from
Transport in vehicles with up to nine seats is regulated by the LOTT (Law 16/1987) and its implementing regulations. The 1/30 ratio was established as a national criterion in 2015 (Royal Decree 1057/2015) following a brief period of liberalisation between 2009 and 2015. That temporary gap is significant: during this period, tens of thousands of authorisations were applied for, which the courts subsequently recognised, one by one, because there was no legal basis for refusal at the time of application. A large proportion of the ride-hailing services operating today came into being in this way: through court rulings, not through administrative channels.
In 2018, RDL 13/2018 (the ‘Ábalos Decree’) transferred the power to regulate the conditions of urban operations to the autonomous communities and local councils. The result: an uneven landscape, where the value of the same licence varies depending on the jurisdiction governing it.
What the regulation did whilst it was in force
- It effectively closed the application window. Applying for a new licence invariably resulted in a refusal due to the quota, and legal proceedings took years.
- It turned the secondary market into the only option. Anyone wishing to operate or invest would buy an existing licence. That is why there is a market: the licence is transferable with the approval of the transport authority.
- It put a price on scarcity. A licence in Madrid is valued at around €145,500 and in the Balearic Islands it is close to €198,000 (VTC360 index, July 2026), whilst in provinces with low demand for ride-hailing services, they can be found for €15,000–25,000. The same administrative authorisation; yet very different levels of scarcity and income expectations.
First, the CJEU ruled…
In June 2023, the Court of Justice of the European Union (Case C-50/21, Prestige and Limousine, concerning the Barcelona metropolitan area) ruled that restricting ride-hailing services with a 1:30 ratio without sound justification conflicts with the freedom of establishment (Article 49 TFEU). It did not overturn the system outright: it obliged the authorities to justify their limits and passed the buck to the Spanish courts.
…and the Supreme Court overturned it
In January and February 2024, the Supreme Court applied this doctrine to the national system. The judgement of 17 January 2024 (ECLI:ES:TS:2024:96) upheld the appeal against the refusal of 1,000 licences in the Community of Madrid, and Supreme Court Judgment 230/2024 of 12 February did the same for a further 50. The legal principle: refusing a licence solely on the basis of the 1/30 ratio is contrary to European law, unless the Administration can demonstrate that the restriction is appropriate and proportionate for overriding reasons of general interest. The Supreme Court did not grant the licences directly: it referred the cases back for resolution without automatically applying the ratio.
The practical consequence: the ratio remains in the regulations, but no longer in itself justifies a refusal. New applications are decided on a case-by-case basis; any limit requires substantiated justification; and litigation continues to unfold region by region.
At VTC360 we track the status in each province — application channels, criteria and official authorisations — with sources and dates on the regulatory map.
What a buyer should do with this information
Firstly, understand what you’re buying: a legacy shortage that is no longer protected. The housing stock continues to grow slowly — obtaining a new authorisation remains a lengthy process with an uncertain outcome — but the underlying trend points to increased supply, and this must be factored into the price. Secondly, look at the location before the price: a licence based in Madrid is not the same as one in an area subject to restrictive regulations or legal proceedings. Thirdly, demand data: a price index based on a sample, a verified income history and a transfer with escrow.
The ‘1/30’ story explains why this market exists. The data explains how much each licence is worth within it today. The former is history; the latter you can check on the index before signing anything.