When the INE published the 2021 census, one figure stood out for Guardamar del Segura: only 26.7% of its homes are somebody’s main residence. No other municipality in Spain with more than 10,000 people has a lower share. The other three in four are second homes, holiday flats and houses waiting for a buyer.
For a locksmith, that figure explains most of the calls between March and June. Locks do not like being left alone.
What happens to a lock nobody uses
The grease hardens. A cylinder is lubricated when it is made. Used every day, the key keeps it spread. Left for months, it thickens and gathers dust, and the first turn in spring is stiff.
Sand settles in. Guardamar is a town of dunes; the pinada was planted between 1897 and 1929 to stop them moving into the streets. Fine sand still blows in from the beach and finds its way into keyholes, street gates and the tracks of terrace doors. With nobody turning the key, it sits there and packs down.
Salt works slowly. Eleven kilometres of coast means salt in the air. On a door facing the sea, the brass face of a cylinder dulls, and the steel parts of a padlock or a gate latch start to rust.
Batteries run down. Keypads, smart locks, electronic safes and key boxes all draw a little power, even idle. Six months is often enough to empty them.
Doors move. A door that is never opened is never noticed. If it drops a little on its hinges, the bolt stops meeting the keep squarely, and the lock feels “wrong” the first time it is used.
Before you leave in the autumn
- Lock every door with the key, and turn multipoint locks fully, so the bolts sit in their keeps all winter.
- Sweep the terrace door track and its drain slots; sand left in there sets hard. The guide on sand in a door cylinder explains why oil is the wrong answer.
- Fit fresh batteries in keypads and smart locks, and write down where the emergency key is kept.
- Make a list of who holds keys. If it is longer than you would like, read who else can open your door before you go.
Before you come back
Ask whoever holds a key, your agency, a cleaner or a neighbour, to open up a week ahead and try every lock: front door, street gate, terrace doors, garage. Anything stiff can then be dealt with before you are standing at the door with your luggage. A cylinder past saving is replaced on a booked day; see the lock change page.
The day you arrive with your suitcases
Turn the key gently. If it will not go, do not force it: forcing is how keys snap inside cylinders. Try the other doors, ring whoever holds a set, and if nothing works, ring for help rather than reaching for pliers.