Everything about taxis on the island
Without a car of your own, the island gives you three options: the bus, a hire car and the taxi — there is no metro and no train. This page collects what matters before you start moving: how the service works, the number to ring in each municipality and the rules that apply. After that come the questions readers ask most. Nothing is sold and nothing is booked here, so it reads in any order; first-timers should open the first two sections.
How it works on the ground
The meter is compulsory on every car, and most take cash and card alike. You get one at a signposted rank, by ringing the dispatch of your municipality, or by flagging down a car that is going by with its vacant light lit. There is no app covering the whole of Lanzarote and no single company working the island: each municipality has its own dispatch.
Where you will find a rank
A fixed rank is marked with the black and white "Taxi" plate, and the ranks gather in the towns, around the large hotels and along the beaches. In the small villages that plate is often missing altogether, and the answer there is to ring the dispatch of the municipality or ask at your accommodation.
What the regulations require
The meter has to be running on the first fare the moment you get in and stopped when you get out. The driver must hand over a receipt, and may carry no more passengers than the figure on the vehicle's plate. Hold on to that receipt: it is the strongest thing you have if you ever need to make a claim.
Where to start
How to catch a taxi in Lanzarote, step by step: where the ranks are, how the queue runs, how to flag one down in the street, and what happens once you get in and out. Then the radio-taxi numbers: how a dispatch works, why there is one per municipality, and how to work out which is yours from where you set off.
Comparisons that say when to skip the taxi
Taxi or hire car, depending on the sort of trip, the runs you will make in a day and where you sleep. Taxi or Intercity bus, depending on the line that passes your accommodation, your bags and the hour you move. Both pieces say plainly when the other option wins.
The apps, and what they offer here
Uber or Cabify in Lanzarote: why neither works here, and what turns up instead when you look for a car from your phone. Plus how to tell a rank taxi from a pre-arranged transfer — and from an app promising something it cannot give you on this island.
Frequently asked questions
Is there any need to book ahead? ＋
For most journeys, no: at the airport and at a signposted rank you take the first car in the queue. For a large group, a night departure or a very early transfer, ring a few hours ahead — each municipality has only so many cars.
Will the driver take my card? ＋
In most vehicles, yes: they take card as well as cash, though it is not a general obligation. On a short run it is worth saying so when you get in, in case the machine needs topping up.
Where should I start if this is all new to me? ＋
If it is your first time on the island, the guide on catching a taxi; if you are going to be ringing dispatches, the one on radio-taxi numbers. The comparisons begin to pay off once you know how many runs you will make in a day and how well your accommodation is served.
Is anything on these pages paid for? ＋
No. Lanzarote.taxi takes no money to appear, has no agreements with taxi, hire or transport companies, and charges no commission on anything. Where the bus or a hire car is the better answer for you, the guide says so.