Gran Canaria’s island government is pushing ahead with linking taxi panic buttons straight into Local Police control rooms, so officers can see and hear inside a cab in real time when a driver hits the alert.
The Cabildo de Gran Canaria confirmed the move after a coordination meeting with taxi cooperatives and Local Police forces. When the button is pressed, control rooms would get live image and sound, judge the threat, and — under the planned system — talk back into the vehicle.
Cameras already widespread
The panic link builds on a three-year Cabildo-backed camera programme. So far 1,160 taxis have been fitted with surveillance cameras funded with Cabildo support and rolled out through cooperatives. Footage is stored on sealed cards under data-protection rules. Police and courts already pull recordings regularly — about two requests a day, according to Canarian Weekly and Spanish coverage.
Until now that has been after-the-fact evidence. The panic connection is meant to turn the kit into a live emergency channel.
More subsidy coming
The Cabildo is preparing a further subsidy of almost €500,000 to extend security kit, framed as about €450 per municipal taxi licence, with cooperatives applying and distributing funds. It has also offered technical help and computer equipment to municipalities that lack the gear to receive the feeds.
Spanish outlets including elDiario.es, La Provincia and Canarias7 report the same brief from mobility councillor Teodoro Sosa: help the trade and Local Police get real-time connectivity, especially where towns lack infrastructure. Drivers’ title Gaceta del Taxi has separately said some panic functions were still not live earlier, with drivers blaming a lack of a managing company — a reminder the September announcement is about advancing the link, not claiming every cab is already live-connected.
For UK drivers, the interest is practical: island authorities treating in-cab video plus a panic button as a police-facing safety stack, not only a recording box.