The hunt for a clandestine party in an Ibiza villa

At 6 a.m., as Ibiza’s clubs close, Sant Josep local police chief José Granados sends a message to Telegram groups asking, in colloquial Manchester English, whether anyone knows of a decent after-party. He does not expect much. “Tonight has been quiet,” he says. When his fake Manchester profile receives no reply, he takes a patrol car instead.

The groups are open to anyone and hide behind combinations of words such as “after,” “villa,” “party,” “private” and “Ibiza.” They advertise discounts for tickets, drinks and VIP tables at clubs including Pachá, Hï, UNVRS and Amnesia. The same users often promote illegal parties in private homes. The chats also carry housing notices, drug offers and warnings about scams.

People looking for parties that continue after licensed venues close are usually told to send a direct message. Organizers then provide a meeting point, directions to a parking area or taxi location, and private transport to the villa. Many prospective guests are left without a response, however, and police say the events are increasingly difficult to locate.

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Tonight has been quiet.

As dawn breaks, Granados checks familiar meeting points around the municipality: a vacant lot beside the cemetery, the area near the wastewater plant and the parking lot of an isolated restaurant. The most frustrating location is the village school car park. “Sometimes people heading to after-parties, completely high, cross paths with the children at summer school,” he says. Parents are fed up.

Earlier that night, French superstar DJ David Guetta performed for 7,500 fans at Ushuaïa. Mirto, a 35-year-old mechanic from Turin, says he plans to leave early after two days of nonstop partying, including an after-party at a villa. He cannot remember whether he paid to enter, but laughs that it was worth it. He also says there seem to be fewer such parties this year, and that finding one increasingly depends on knowing someone.

Before Telegram, private parties spread by word of mouth through nightlife areas. Promoters still recruit there, including by bringing attractive young women to villas, where they may pay little or nothing. The illegal parties are now moving online and into increasingly hidden spaces as fines and evictions rise.

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Sometimes people heading to after-parties, completely high, cross paths with the children at summer school.