I’ve got a long layover in Barcelona and I was looking for a taxi to go in to the city. The signs all say AMB instead of Taxi. Apparently AMB is an acronym for the city administration which regulates the taxis, amongst other things.

But nobody knows this arriving at the airport who needs the taxis, because they aren’t locals who take the metro.

The solution is there are a ton of scruffy guys with taxi jackets who’s job is to tell people who are lost that they should follow the AMB signs. The funny thing is in airports everywhere else the sketchy guys pitching taxis are scam artists. Since Barcelona is famous for pickpockets and scammers, you’d think the city wouldn’t try and make things even more confusing.

I’m sure there is a story as to why they didn’t just put up a sign labeled Taxi. The paid guys are clearly a fix for broken UX.