GRUESOME DISCOVERY

dia Civil spokesman told the Olive Press. “He was a Spanish national who was 21 at the time he disappeared.

“His body was found further down a nearby cliff in January 2022 and next to it, there was a credit card that allowed us to know his identity.”

Despite the victim's head being separated from the body, Lopez says the autopsy did not reveal any signs of violence.

“We closed the investigation because the autopsy revealed he died of natural causes, with a hypothesis being an accident.”

The claims fly in the face of the Romanian expat whose dog Dragon found the head on November 18, 2021. She revealed she had been taking a walk around the alternative community of Beneficio, near Orgiva, when the animal dug up the skull by the main car park. She first linked the discovery to the Spanish Civil War, but soon dismissed the idea as the smell was very strong.

“Nothing like this has ever happened to me before and I knew straight away I needed to call the police,” she told the Olive Press

At the time the discovery led to considerable speculation that it might have belonged to a Dutch expat woman who had lived in the community years before. The Guardia Civil is unable to reveal the identity of the deceased, as the family has not given them permission to do so.

ALICANTE province is dealing with the hottest July nights for a century, according to weather agency Aemet.

The worst affected areas didn’t see temperatures go under 25 °C on Monday.

Xabia recorded 27°C, Orihuela 26.4 °C and Alicante city 25.2 °C that night.

“These are abnormally hot nights, mostly on the coast, due to the high sea temperature,” said Aemat Valencia boss Jose Angel Nunez.

The average temperature during the first 25 days of the month was 28.3 °C. This is 2.5 °C higher than the average temperature between 1991 and 2020.