A VIP hotel guest leaves his accommodation, ready for a night out in Ibiza. He drives his high-end car to a nearby gas station, oblivious to the fact that a gang specializing in the theft of luxury watches is on the prowl. In a matter of seconds the Rolex he wore on his wrist, valued at half a million, is snatched from his possession euros, and disappear on his moped at full speed. “Fast money,” says an undercover agent of the UDYCO, the central drug squad of the National Police, to the influencer and presenter Zara McDermott while showing him the images of the robbery.
This is one of the scenes that BBC will show its viewers in the documentary ‘Ibiza: Secrets of the party island’ (Ibiza: Secrets of the party island), which the network BBC Three premieres next Sunday, April 21. British television centers this production, taped throughout 2023, on the luxury, drugs and crimeshowing this side of the island to the young audience targeted by the third channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation.
Throughout four 45-minute episodesmcDermott goes deep into the bowels of the island, accessing luxury parties, the island’s nightclubs, yachts or villas where he follows the work of the concierges and accompanies the police, private detectives and emergency services in their work, always heavily influenced in summer by tourism.
Unlimited prices
In the first episode, as detailed by the BBC on its official website, you will be able to see, for example, the activity taking place in OBeach, where “Wayne and his partner, Tony Trumanhave become wealthy by offering clubbers a daytime pool party to see and be seen, before moving on to the infamous nightclubs”. A party where they detail that 1,300 euros are paid for a deck chair and “the privilege of rubbing shoulders with personalities such as Ed Sheeran, Conor McGregor or Jack Grealish.
The documentary series also delves into nightlife, with “entry to trendy nightclubs starting at 70 euros and glasses of wine that can cost 60.” The British public broadcaster also points out that there are villas costing up to 150,000 euros a week. “It seems that there are few limits to the prices that some people pay to savor the Ibizan experience,” the writer of the promotional text says.
Overwhelming” pressure from security forces
The documentary’s presenter explains in an interview with the BBC herself how she came to empathize with the people of the emergency services and the police and Guardia Civil, whom he followed closely, because of “how overwhelming” their work became. “One night, I went out with the local police to Platja d’en Bossa, the heart of the island’s nightclubs. During the summer season there are up to 30,000 party-goers a night, and often as few as four policemen. It felt like the pressure on them was immense. I was left wondering whether how will the emergency services with the growing demands of tourism and I wondered if anything could or would change,” he says.
McDermott assures that he loves the island, where he has been several times, and appreciates that Ibiza is “one of the most amazing places in the world where you can have everything just a step away”. He indicates that in the documentary he presents the “lights and shadows” of Ibiza. He assures that it is not a strictly pessimistic visionbut it does not avoid “the fact that drugs are a major problem on the island and the enormous pressure on the emergency services in the context of the incredible parties that take place. You really see both sides of the island.”
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.