Uber in Spain, by Hannah Ervey

One thing that I definitely did not expect to be different when I came to Spain is Uber. As an international company, I expected it to be standard no matter where you are. Although, as most of us have learned with KitKats or Coke, just because it comes from the same organization does not mean that it will be produced similarly everywhere. For Uber, the fundamentals are all the same, like the concept and the app’s function, but differences are seen in the superficial aspects.

The first time I used Uber here in Spain was when my mom came to visit and we used the service from the airport to her hotel. We found it interesting that our driver was wearing a suit and had a sleek black car. In the U.S., I’m used to being picked up by people in casual clothes and normal vehicles, so in this situation I felt like we were important arrivals getting a personal car service to our residence. However, as we took more Ubers throughout her stay, I began to notice that every driver was dressed to the nines, and even more surprisingly, everyone drove a black Fiat Tipo.

At first, I thought these differences were related to the fact that Spaniards generally take more pride in their appearances than Americans do. I did some research, and the vehicle requirements are pretty strict. All Uber vehicles must be black, less than 6 years old, and in perfect condition. These guidelines may exist to keep the taxi culture alive and help those drivers stay on their feet. This is a major difference than in the U.S., since taxi protests usually have no effect. Moreover, I’ve taken some pretty grungy Ubers at home, so we definitely do not have these same regulations and push to keep the taxi system thriving.

As for the suits, I could not find any requirement of this from Uber. This may well just be cultural. Perhaps they just believe that nice dress goes with a nice car. Maybe they want to feel more important. Whatever the reason, you will rarely see an Uber driver in the United States pull up in a BMW, sunglasses, and a sharp suit.