THIS is the horror moment the sea off a popular Costa Del Sol resort turned a stomach-churning brown as a huge pipe burst just metres from Brit tourists’ balconies.

Jaw-dropping footage shows torrents of water gushing down towards the shore from a cracked underground pipe in Benalmádena.

Moments later, a thick brown stain begins to creep across the surf in front of stunned holidaymakers.

A Spanish-speaking tourist filmed the blast from a beachfront balcony near the Globales Los Patos Park Hotel.

She could be heard gasping: “What’s that, are they cleaning something?” before pointing out the disturbing trail of bubbles at the centre of the discoloured water.

The man with her grimly quips, “The beach of the tourists,” as lifeguards rush to usher sunbathers away from the tide below.

Town Hall authorities raised a yellow flag warning just after midday on Monday as the brown blotch spread across the shallows near the Hotel Spa Benalmadena Palace.

Officials blamed the murky mess on a ruptured high-pressure water pipe, claiming it spilled “clean, drinkable water” that dragged mud and sediment into the sea – insisting there was “no contamination” or danger to public health.

Benalmadena Town Hall said in a statement: “Public water firm Acosol reported an incident that occurred around midday yesterday in its upstream drinking water supply network in the municipality.

“After detecting the incident, the water leak was immediately stopped before the impact of the incident was studied and repair work began.”

Describing the burst pipe as “quite old and deteriorated”, the council added: “It is drinking water and the image it produced is the result of the natural dragging of earth towards the sea, without any type of contamination.”

A green flag was hoisted later in the day after conditions returned to normal – though not before locals blasted the mishap on social media.

One angry resident fumed: “How many litres of water are going to be lost before the problem is fixed?”

Another raged: “And the council turns off the beach showers to raise awareness among people.”

A third added:  “Wastewater does not have or should not have that pressure, but I disagree that it is not partly faecal water that you see in the sea.

“That water carries excrement from the road and especially the waste dog walkers leave on the beach.”

The surreal incident has sparked outrage in a region already hit hard by drought warnings, with fears over water wastage and potential hygiene risks just as the summer tourist season kicks off.

Earlier this month, tourists in a string of Spanish beach resorts were told to stay indoors after a huge fire at a chemical plant sent a toxic chlorine cloud billowing over the area.

Holidaymakers in five popular towns near Barcelona were among 160,000 people ordered to shut their windows and stay inside as emergency services scrambled to contain the blaze.

The fire broke out during the night at a factory storing 70 tons of swimming pool cleaning chemicals in the seaside town of Vilanova i la Geltru, just 25 miles south of the Catalan capital.

The blaze caused a massive chlorine smoke plume to spread across a wide area.

It triggered an emergency lockdown across Vilanova i la Geltru, Cubelles, Les Roquetes de Sant Pere de Ribes, Cunit and Calafell.

In a stark warning on social media, Spain’s Civil Protection service said: “If you are in the affected area, don’t leave your house or your place or work.

“An alert will be sent to mobile phones to inform people about the lockdown.”

They added: “Don’t travel to the affected areas.”

The fire was later brought under control but Catalan president Salvador Illa warned the stay-at-home order would remain in place until there was “no risk to the population”.