Spain is said to be experiencing its fifth wave of Covid-19 as case numbers continue to remain high.
As of August 2, the country has a 14-day Covid-19 incidence rate of 783.67, more than double that in Ireland.
Despite the threat posed by the Delta variant, Irish holidaymakers are continuing to jet off by the planeload to Spanish resorts.
Restrictions in the country tend to vary by region, but most tourists have been enjoying the bars, restaurants and beaches with relative freedom this summer.
However, one island seeing soaring Covid rates is looking for visitors for a very different reason.
Ibiza, known for its nightclub scene, is asking people to swap partying for patrolling.
Covid incidence rates have climbed to 1,814 cases per 100,000 of the population over the last fortnight, despite most of the clubs remaining closed.
Instead, large crowds have been meeting for illegal gatherings to make up for the lost nightlife.
Spanish officials have been battling to stop illegal parties which they cite as the root cause of the increasing cases.
Restrictions in Ibiza put a ban on mixed-household gatherings between 1am and 6am, with organisers facing fines of €600,000 if caught.
Police are also struggling to keep the gatherings, which often take place in people's homes, under control.
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But now officials have found a novel way to tackle the surge.
In a bid to crack down on the revellers, they are hoping to put together a team solely tasked with detecting and infiltrating these parties.
Foreigners aged between 30 and 40 are asked to apply for a role in the party squad, an initiative which police say is "a necessity to safeguard the health situation in Ibiza".
The illegal gatherings are "not only an issue related to public order, which they have always been, but now they pose an obvious risk to people’s health,” Mariano Juan, a local official, told the Diario de Ibiza newspaper.
“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," he said.
However, he added: “I have no doubt that it will be up and running this summer."
It comes as the influx of people to some holiday hot spots may have sparked Covid outbreaks in Spain and Greece as they are now marked as red zones.
Ibiza, Minorca and Palma in Spain and Mykonos, Santorini and Rhodes in Greece have all been marked as red zones meaning the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) do not recommend non-essential travel to these regions.
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