Taxi drivers in Athens started a 48-hour strike Wednesday demanding free access to bus lanes and asking the government to delay a law requiring all new registered taxis to be fully electric.

More than 500 taxi drivers drove their yellow cabs through Athens city centre, some waving flags and setting off yellow smoke flares through their windows.

The drivers said they were also protesting a lack of infrastructure as well as a new Greek climate law which stipulates that all new registered taxis in Athens must be electrically powered starting on 1 January 2026.

They demand the transition period be more gradual, and the deadline be moved to 2035.

Protesters were also asking the government to raise the sector's tax-free income threshold.

Kostas Sakouli, a taxi driver and member of the Athens taxi union, said the decision to bar taxis from bus lanes was "ridiculous", adding that taxi drivers "can’t go on without a different tax treatment for the sector."

AP video shot by: Srdjan Nedeljkovic