BERLIN (AP) — The German government has acknowledged that it picked up the tab when the country's spy agency recently took dozens of foreign agents on a trip to the Munich Oktoberfest.

News of the spies' visit to the world-famous beer festival came to light in a government response to an opposition lawmaker's questions and was first reported over the weekend by German weekly Bild am Sonntag.

A spokeswoman for Germany's BND foreign intelligence agency declined Friday to comment on the trip, which reportedly involved more than 100 German spies and their guests, and cost over 30,000 euros ($33,460).

It was unclear whether the entire sum went toward beer, which has a reputation for loosening tongues.

Left Party lawmaker Diether Dehm, who had requested the government's response, called the spies' Oktoberfest excursion "cheeky."