The gruesome discovery occurred yesterday by a man described locally as a foreigner who was walking on the sand in the resort of Playa d’en Bossa (Picture: Getty Images)

A foot has been found on a popular tourist beach in Ibiza by a four-star hotel.

The gruesome discovery occurred yesterday by a man described locally as a foreigner who was walking on the sand in the resort of Playa d’en Bossa.

Police are trying to establish if it belongs to a man or a woman as part of an investigation to determine whether the victim could have died as a result of a crime.

The results of DNA tests are expected to take several days to complete.

The alarm was raised around 8am yesterday.

Three days earlier a decomposed body was recovered from the sea in Talamanca Bay north of Ibiza Town and brought to shore by coastguards.

There was no immediate suggestion this morning if the foot could belong to the dead person.

Footage published by local press showed police on the shoreline looking it after they were mobilised following an emergency call and using a stick to prevent it being washed out to sea.

Officers ended up having to block off the street above the beach after tourists and residents gathered at the scene to see what was going on.

Some were staying at the four-star Vibra Algarb Hotel near the spot where the foot was found and others were on their way to a nearby gym.

The horror find is being linked to storms and recent freak flooding said to have washed the foot up on the sand.

Ibiza was battered by torrential rain last week and there were fresh downpours this week after Storm Alice hit the Balearic Islands and the Costa Blanca.

Local newspapers are already speculating the person the foot belongs to could have been murdered,although police have yet to determine when death occurred and whether the human appendage belongs to someone who had already been reported missing.

One said: ‘The incident has caused great commotion among residents and tourists who were walking along the beach at the time. The authorities are not ruling out any hypotheses and are continuing to work to clarify the facts.’