Electric scooters banned: Madrid answers residents' protests

In many countries globally, electric scooters have become a standard part of the urban landscape. Many people have become accustomed to seeing these modern devices. However, there are countries where residents are not positively inclined towards scooters.

We live in a time of rapid technological development. If someone had said a dozen years ago that electric scooters would be on the streets, many people probably would not have believed it. However, reality has disproved the sceptics. These modern, self-driving devices have become popular in many places on Earth, including Poland. However, there are cities whose residents do not speak positively about scooters.

Residents of Madrid have little good to say about both electric scooters and the people using them. For many months, protests have been taking place in the capital of Spain. Demonstrators have emphasised that those who choose to ride these modern devices do so recklessly and irresponsibly. Additionally, attention has been drawn to the fact that they leave scooters scattered everywhere, even in places not designated for that purpose. The local authorities have listened to the protesters and made important decisions.

The authorities of the Spanish capital have heeded the voices of protesting residents. In September, licences were revoked from three foreign operators (Lime, Dott, and Tier Mobility). The condition for recovering them was the introduction of parking controls and restrictions on customer movement. According to the mayor, this could not be implemented. As reported by polsatnews.pl, scooter rental operators have until 25 October to remove all their mobile devices from the streets of Madrid.

Representatives of Lime and Dott stated in official communications that they have not received any deadline information. Lime indicated that the corporation will take appropriate steps once it receives official notification. Dott mentioned that it will assess operational and legal possibilities once it reviews the document from the mayor's office. The representative of Tier Mobility did not comment.