Swimmers have been advised to stay out of the sea at two Marbella beaches over potentially dangerous bacteria levels.

Warning signs were erected at Los Monteros and El Cable-Rio Real, where authorities have warned beachgoers not to enter the water following recommendations from the Junta de Andalucia.

It comes after two beaches in Malaga city reopened on Friday afternoon, less than 24 hours after an E. coli contamination scare.

However, unlike in Malaga, the beaches in Marbella have not been closed, no red flags have been raised and swimming has not been formally banned.

According to Marbella Town Hall, its own water analyses found no evidence of E. coli contamination or bacteria levels high enough to justify restricting bathing.

Officials said the warning signs were installed as a precaution after separate analyses by the Junta produced different results.

The advisory comes as Malaga City Council reopened Pedregalejo and El Palo on Friday after fresh water tests confirmed that Escherichia coli (E. coli) levels had returned to within the legal limits set by Spain’s bathing water regulations.

Red flags have been removed and the precautionary swimming ban lifted.

In Malaga, the beaches were closed on Thursday after routine testing detected elevated levels of E. coli – a bacterium used as an indicator of faecal contamination – at the Acacias sampling point in Pedregalejo and Casa Pedro in El Palo.

Alongside the regional government’s testing, Malaga’s municipal water company, EMASA, carried out its own inspections and additional sampling.

The company said it found no evidence of any sewage discharge or leak that could explain the brief contamination episode.

Health authorities have stressed that the elevated readings appeared to be an isolated incident and that the closure of the Malaga beaches was purely precautionary.

However, the Junta’s investigation into the source of the contamination remains ongoing.