The headless body of a man wearing a flotation ring has been recovered from the sea off the Costa del Sol.

A Guardia Civil maritime patrol found the corpse in open water on September 26.

The remains were reportedly missing the head and other body parts due to the length of time they had spent in the sea.

Investigators have found no initial evidence of criminal involvement and believe the man may have died while attempting to reach mainland Spain by swimming.

It is the third body of a suspected migrant discovered off the coast of Malaga province in less than a month.

Officers transported the body to the port of Fuengirola, where the formal recovery procedure was completed.

It was taken to Malaga’s Institute of Legal Medicine at the Ciudad de la Justicia for a post-mortem examination.

The flotation ring has led investigators to suspect that the victim was a migrant attempting to make the dangerous journey through the sea.

The advanced deterioration of the remains has left open the possibility that he was among the young migrants involved in the mass sea crossings into Ceuta earlier this year.

However, the deceased has not been formally identified and the exact circumstances surrounding his death remain under investigation.

The Guardia Civil is also investigating the discovery of two other suspected migrants whose bodies were recovered from the Malaga coastline earlier in September.

The first was found off the western Costa del Sol on the afternoon of September 15.

A second young man was discovered dead near Nerja just 24 hours later.

That victim was wearing a wetsuit and swimming fins and was carrying a flotation device. Several mobile phones and an amount of Moroccan dirhams were also reportedly found among his possessions.

Both of the earlier victims showed signs consistent with drowning.