The partner of a tourist found stabbed to death on a Huelva beach has been released by the Guardia Civil.

The woman, 47, was found dead on La Gaviota beach in Isla Cristina on August 28, with wounds caused by a bladed weapon.

Her 60-year-old Italian partner was subsequently arrested and the case was initially treated as a suspected gender-based killing.

But police have now announced that evidence gathered at the scene, together with preliminary forensic findings, has ‘ruled out the hypothesis that prompted officers to detain him’.

A judge has consequently ordered his release.

Sources close to the investigation told regional newspaper El Correo that there is currently no hypothesis pointing towards the involvement of a third person.

The Guardia Civil said its Judicial Police team carried out a detailed forensic examination.

‘The evidence gathered at the scene and the analytical results rule out the initial hypothesis that led to the man’s arrest,’ the force said.

Police have not publicly explained how they now believe the woman suffered the fatal injuries, leaving significant questions surrounding her death.

The couple were Italian nationals who were residents in Germany and had been travelling around the Iberian Peninsula in a campervan.

The man had no previous criminal record.