In December 2014, Uber, the ride-booking company that has dealt with constant opposition from taxi companies and policy makers worldwide, stopped operating in Spain. Now, the app-based transportation network has sidestepped their strictures and are back on Spanish streets, delivering prepared meals to people, rather than getting them around.

Last year, a commercial court judge in Madrid, siding with a taxi association complaint, ordered that Uber must cease driving in Spain until a lawsuit contesting its right to operate could be heard.

Uber announced on Thursday that it has opened a food delivery service called UberEats in Barcelona, which is based on the service the company offers called UberFresh in California. The Uber vehicles are set up with up with prepared meals, and the meals are sold for about €10 plus the cost of a €2.50 delivery fee, which amounts to about $14.

"This is the first thing we've launched that allows us to get back up and running in Barcelona," Ben Novick, company spokesman, said according to the Wall Street Journal.

According to Novick, delivery time would be 10 minutes.

Founded in 2009, the U.S.-based company has been actively trying to expand into other countries, starting with France in 2012.

Last year when the Spanish court shut down the transport service, it also ordered telecom companies to block online connections to Uber.com, which included connections made through Uber’s app.

Once the Spanish telecom companies started to comply with the order, Uber released updated versions of their app that included workarounds which routed users through a different web address. Through this technicality they have remained connected.

Investors and bond-holders, which which have funded the company with more than $4 billion, have valued Uber at $41 billion. A main reason for the investment stems from the belief that Uber, which has experimented with bike messengers and shopping delivers, can one day become a full-fledged logistics and delivery operation.

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