Simões & Oliveira, Lda., located in Vila das Capelas, is a company that offers an efficient and professional cab service, guaranteeing comfort and safety for its passengers.

Filipe Gouveia, 46, is in charge of this company, which has existed for half a century.

With five cabs, Simões & Oliveira, Lda. It offers local trips, airport transfers, and personalized services. Our interviewee says, “This is an activity that has seen better days. In almost 20 years, there has only been one price update, and diesel fuel keeps going up.” Cabs are usually available in Largo do Rossio, one of the busiest places in Capelas, because there are a large number of stores and services nearby. Filipe Gouveia was born in Ponta Delgada, in Ramalho. He was once a secondary school teacher, but at some point, he committed himself to the cab service because “it was a family business,” he explained.

Of the five cabs, only four are in service.

Simões & Oliveira, Lda. has five cabs, but only four are in service. “I’ve had a lot of difficulty finding trained drivers because to access and exercise the profession of cab driver, it’s compulsory to hold a Taxi Driver’s Certificate.” The Instituto da Mobilidade e dos Transportes, I.P. is the competent authority for issuing this certificate and certifying training providers.

However, this training is paid for and is valid for five years, renewable for equal periods from the date of passing the exam or renewal, as the case may be. According to the Portuguese Taxi Federation, “the Taxi Driver Initial Training Course lasts 125 hours (approximately 5 weeks) and comprises the Theoretical and Practical Training components”. In addition, the theoretical component of the training should enhance the acquisition of skills considered essential to the Taxi Driver profile, “such as English”, legal driving rules, safety and health in cab transportation, emergency situations and first aid, communication and interpersonal relationships, among others.

Filipe Gouveia has lived in Capelas for around 20 years, and he says the town has many advantages. “There are lots of services here, and there aren’t many waiting lists, which is good, but it’s also a relatively quiet place.”

Electric vehicles

Having been in the business for a long time, he says that the sector is affected by seasonality, although he also says that “hikers are excellent customers at this time of year.” On the other hand, some changes are taking place. “I bought an electric vehicle at the beginning of the year, and I’ll probably buy another one by the end of the year, so I can start circulating as early as January.”

Filipe Gouveia first opted for a “Peugeot electric vehicle,” but he also said that his next one will be from another car brand. However, he won’t have two costs because his “vehicles will have the colors that cabs have had in the past, namely black and green.” More tourists means more work, and “summer was no exception”, but Simões & Oliveira, Lda. doesn’t forget that “citizens are highly valued as customers, every month of the year”.

“This year we had a lot of Spanish tourists, but also from Central Europe, namely Croatians, Germans, Slovenians, Swiss, among others,” he added.

Free time is spent at Rocha da Relva

In his few spare moments, Filipe Gouveia never misses an opportunity to go to Rocha da Relva, where he has a house with a vineyard. “It’s hard work, but it’s worth it. I couldn’t produce wine this year because the weather didn’t allow it. I usually have wine and make brandy.”
Regarding Rocha da Relva, he says there’s nothing like it because “as well as being surrounded by natural landscapes, it’s the ideal place for those who value peace and quiet and direct contact with nature.”


Marco Sousa is a journalist for Correio dos Açores-Natalino Viveiros, director.

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance) at California State University, Fresno, PBBI thanks Luso Financial for sponsoring NOVIDADE.