Calpe is the only large municipality in Spain where foreign residents outnumber Spanish nationals, according to INE data for January 2024. Many of the homes here have been bought and sold by people moving in from abroad, sometimes more than once, and let out in between. When you get the keys at the notary, you get a bunch of keys. You do not get a list of everyone else who has one.
Who may still have a key
Think of everyone who needed to get in over the last few years:
- Estate agents, sometimes more than one, for viewings.
- Cleaners and property managers, especially if the home was a holiday let.
- Former tenants, long-term or holiday.
- Neighbours who kept a spare “for emergencies”.
- Gardeners, pool maintenance, builders who worked while the owner was away.
- Family of the previous owner.
Almost all of them are honest. That is not the point. Keys get lost, left in cars, handed on. If you do not know how many copies exist, you do not know who can open your door.
What to change first
The front door cylinder, on day one. It is the single most effective thing you can do, and on most doors it is a short job. If the door has a euro cylinder, this is also the moment to fit an anti-snap one if it does not already have it.
Back and terrace doors with a key. Kitchen doors, garage doors that lead into the house, and any terrace door that locks with a key.
Then, as needed: storage rooms, garages, letterboxes and garden gates, depending on what is behind them.
What you should not change yourself
The street door of the building and the lift or garage fob system. These belong to the community of owners. If you think their keys have gone astray, raise it with the administrator.
The key box, if the home was a holiday let. Change its code the day you take over, and remove it if you are not going to let the property.
Other things worth checking in the first month
- Does every door actually lock? On many resale homes one slider or back door has not locked properly for years.
- Do all the keys you were given work every lock they should? Label them.
- Are there locks nobody gave you a key for? Better to know now.
- Does the front door cylinder stick out of the handle plate? If so, it is vulnerable to snapping.
If the home was empty for a long time
A home left shut for months by the sea often has stiff or seized locks. If a key already needs a wiggle, have it looked at before it snaps. Why salt air does this in Calpe.
For cylinder changes and upgrades, see lock replacement in Calpe. If a slider or a multipoint door does not lock, that is a different mechanism: uPVC and aluminium door repairs.