Influencers like me have sold the Ibiza dream for too long, but the club hotspot hides dark secrets, says Zara McDermott
INFLUENCERS pack out the poolside bar of Ibiza’s O Beach as a celebrity DJ takes to the stage.
But former Love Island star Zara McDermott isn’t there to party, instead she’s busy uncovering the good, the bad and the ugly of the world’s most famous party island.
Zara, 27, is no stranger to a summer holiday – or an influencer brand trip – on the Mediterranean Island, having worked in the public eye since 2018 and visited the island repeatedly.
Having showcased the glitz and glamour of life in Ibiza, she’s aware she’s been part of a problem that encourages youngsters to flock there and splash, and flash, their cash.
But with an increased amount of organised crime – from high-worth watch theft to the trade of pink cocaine, which often isn’t even made up of the Class A drug – there are reasons to be wary.
She says: “The island has a little piece of my heart – if you go down my Instagram feed, you will see plenty of photos of me in Ibiza over the years – I’ve been there before as an influencer.
“But I’ve noticed Ibiza is elevating – now you can be in the same area next to big A list celebrities, and that’s a big draw – to be able to rub shoulders with these people, and have a taste of luxury.
“On social media, it looks accessible, it looks like it’s easy for everybody to enjoy this lifestyle – with its VIP culture, but actually, you could break the bank if you’re not careful.
“There’s a cycle going on there, with so many people out there showcasing the dream of this island of beautiful people, but we are all – including me – part of this selling machine.”
Her new four part documentary series, Ibiza: Secrets of the Party Island, uncovers how some young people are having to make ends meet in unconventional ways to keep up with the ever-luxurious island.
With locals forced out of their homes due to soaring rent prices, and over half-a-million tourists flocking to the island a day in the high season, there’s big competition to stay on top.
But with more and more social media content flaunting the lifestyle that the super rich and famous can obtain on the island, it’s encouraging the everyday glam-seeking tourist to fly over.
In one episode, Zara meets a young OnlyFans creator called Bailey, who signed up to the X-rated site in order to keep up with the money she spends living on the increasingly-expensive island.
She tells Zara: “I’ve been coming here for the last eight years – it’s a home from home, but the lifestyle, with the incline of influencers like you [Zara], people see that and want to be involved.
“But unless you’re doing something illegal, you can’t keep up with the cost of the lifestyle – the next best thing is to do something online sex work, and I gave OnlyFans a go.
“I did full nudity, though it wasn’t like full legs spread, it was done modestly, but what I really wanted to do was work in hospitality with high-end clients, so that didn’t really work collaboratively.
“I was making thousands, I lived off the money from OnlyFans, it funded my whole season here.”
While other young women, including travel ambassadors Belle and Liv, are hired by brands like Party Hard Travel, to showcase their lifestyle on social media to attract more visitors.
Zara explains: “There are increasing big displays of wealth – and not just from the huge celebrity yachts and the designer stores – but at the clubs and parties, much like you’d see in London.
“But that image that you see only exists if you have enough money, or you know the right people. That kind of lifestyle can’t actually be real fr the vast majority of people.
“Still, visitors are aspiring to be able to get into the top clubs, to go to these £35,000 a night villa parties, to take a trip out to sea on a yacht even though it’s not attainable.”
Nonetheless, the number of the small minority of holidaymakers that can afford the high life heading to Ibiza as their holiday destination of choice is increasing.
From the Beckhams to Leonardo DiCaprio, Jade Jagger and footballers like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo – there are many famous faces being spotted each summer on the island’s shores.
But with wealthy clients comes an influx of crime.
From the theft of expensive watches off the wrists of their high-profile owners in clubs and hotels, to drug kingpins wanting in on the high life, the underground scene in Ibiza is booming.
In her documentary series, Zara discovers that the police force minimal, designed to look after the island’s 130,00 residents outside the party season, is struggling to keep up.
She says: “Like me, I think a lot of people are naive to the organised crime on the island, because that’s not really something that you focus on, not at least how it all happens.
“But there are gangs flying in from abroad and targeting people – and that’s their whole career – and there aren’t always enough police, they have to brace themselves in the high season for the onslaught.”
Heading out for a night with the specialist UDECO crime unit, which bust organised crime gangs coming over from Europe’s mainland to cash in by exploiting the islands’ guests, Zara witnesses it first hand.
She watches on as one man details to police how his £10,000 watch was stolen off his wrist, before finding illegal Class A drugs hidden in bushes by drug dealers in another bust.
A policeman explains: “We’re a small town with the problems of a big city, where criminals take expensive cars, watches, and trade drugs.”
Zara responds: “The level of wealth in Ibiza is shocking – and working with the police, it was clear that where there’s wealth, there’s crime – and it’s a crime hotspot.
“The police are dealing with huge masses of people – there are thousands of people, and then two officers stood on the street, and they just have to do their best.
“Standing on that exact spot where there had been gangs watching people and looking at their jewellery, it felt quite eerie, you never know who else is being targeted or watched.
“And at three o’clock in the morning, when people have taken drugs or consumed a lot of alcohol – people are vulnerable, and you can see how easy they can be targetted.
“It was so eye-opening and having been to the island many times before, I certainly now look over my shoulder a bit more. But for the police, that’s just a day in the life.”
Nonetheless, it won’t stop Zara from heading back for more in Ibiza – though this time she feels she will be more wary of the goings-on around her, and plans to stay away from the infamous club strip.
Instead, when she travels to the island with boyfriend Sam Thompson this summer, she’s planning on staying away from the crime-packed tourists hotspots altogether.
Though, there will be no second thoughts about showing her glamorous trip on social media.
Zara concludes: “I’m not one of these people who are partying on a big yacht or splashing cash on a £100,000 villa for a party – if I was, I’d probably scale my social media back to not flaunt it.
“But wherever you go, you’re going to be sold something online that is never truly reflective of the real experience, especially if you’re not at that really high, super-wealthy price point.
“There’s no denying that social media shows off our best lives, but I don’t think it’s an Ibiza problem.
“People should just know what to expect, to be realistic – that is, you can run out of money very easily because everything has become so expensive, and that some valuables will be safer left at home.”
Ibiza: Secrets of the Party Island airs on BBC Three on April 21.
