The bodies were found at Cap Blanc,an exclusive residential community near Valencia (Picture: Google Maps)

An investigation has been launched after an Irish couple were found dead in a hot tub at a rented villa on the Spanish coast.

The bodies of a man and a woman,aged 50 and 45 respectively,are understood to have been found by their teenage children on Tuesday.

They then alerted the owner of the rented property they were staying in the residential estate of Cap Blanc in Cullera,around 25 miles south of Valencia.

Spanish police are now investigating whether the deaths were caused by foul play,although it is possible they may have suffered an accident while they were in the hot tub.

The civil guard in Valencia said: ‘The bodies of a man aged 50 and a woman aged 45 were found yesterday at a residential property in the municipality of Cullera. Both were Irish.’

The family were renting a villa (Picture: Solarpix.com)

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Start your day informed with Metro's News Updates newsletter or get Breaking News alerts the moment it happens.Pablo Cea,a spokesman for the civil guard,added that though a local homicide unit is handling the case,‘that does not mean this was a homicide’.He told the Irish Times: ‘It could be an accident or suicide – every hypothesis is open for investigation.’The couple’s children,aged 14 and 16,are being looked after by social workers with assistance from a psychologist.Cap Blanc is an exclusive residential estate with a golden sand beach,near Cullera’s lighthouse. Properties in the gated community look out onto the Mediterranean Sea.