Ibiza is hiring foreigners 'aged between 30 and 40' to go undercover at parties that flout the island's COVID restrictions

• The Spanish police force is looking for foreigners aged between 30 and 40 to form a party-crashing crew.
• They will be tasked with infiltrating Ibiza's parties to crack down on raves that flout COVID rules.
• Ibiza is facing an alarming surge in COVID cases after the island opened up to tourists in June.

Want to get paid to live out your James Bond dreams by going to raves on the party island of Ibiza? Then there's a job for you, but it's got a pretty major catch. You can get paid to party in Ibiza, but you'll be working as an undercover agent for the Ibiza police, reporting back to the government on gatherings that flout COVID regulations.

According to local news outlet Diario de Ibiza, the Spanish police are looking to set up a "party-tracking" crew to help them crack down on illegal parties. They need foreigners because, they say, locals have already been tipped off about what local police look like.

Ibiza imposed a blanket ban on inter-household gatherings between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m. last month in an effort to curb the island's surging COVID case numbers. The island saw an alarming rise in COVID cases in July after it opened up the island to tourists in June.

As of August 4, Ibiza recorded a 14-day case average of 991 daily cases, up from an average of 40 to 50 cases a day in May.

"It is not easy as the profile we're looking for are foreigners between 30 and 40 years old, but we have been working on it for two weeks," local official Mariano Juan told Diario de Ibiza.

Billboard reported in June that the Spanish government was mandating that establishments like bars and clubs in the party zone stay shut between 9.30 p.m. and 8. am. Business owners who organize parties and flout the regulations could be fined up to $676,000, per a government press release.

The fines have not stopped the parties, only moved them to private homes, per the Guardian, despite the government also banning inter-household gatherings.

Juan added that the number of parties springing up across Ibiza is starting to stretch the police force's resources.

This is not only because of the number of illegal gatherings that are happening but also because the Ibiza police find it "difficult to infiltrate" the parties when locals know who they are.

"(These parties) not only an issue related to public order, which they have always been but now they pose an obvious risk to people's health," Juan said. "I have no doubt that (the party tracking crew) will be up and running this summer. It's a necessity to safeguard the health situation in Ibiza."