Guides
Field notes from a town built over ravines
Practical notes for homes in Alcoi and El Comtat: what to do while you wait, what to check before you ring, and when a problem does not need a locksmith at all. Each guide points to the service that deals with it, if you get that far.
Ravines, bridges and snow
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Above or below the bridge
Alcoi is built across ravines, and a map pin does not know which level you are on. What to say on the phone so the van reaches the right street and the right door.
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When it snows above Alcoi
Snow is not rare in the hills round Alcoi. If you are shut out of a house in one of the urbanisations on a cold night, this is where to wait, what to say on the phone and what not to do to a frozen lock.
Old houses, old doors
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Damp in the old town and a sticking street door
The same wooden door that closes with one finger in July has to be shouldered shut in January. What is going on, what you can safely check yourself, and when it is a job for a locksmith.
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First week in an El Comtat village house
You have the keys to an old house in one of the 24 villages of El Comtat. Before the boxes are unpacked, walk round every door with this list, and find out who else may hold a key.
Flats and shared buildings
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Bedroom locks in a shared student flat
You have a room near the campus and flatmates you met last week. Which bedroom locks make sense, who has to agree, what fire safety asks of them, and what happens to every key in June.
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Cabalgata night and the balcony door
On 5 January the pages of Alcoi’s Cabalgata climb ladders to the balconies. The morning after is a good time to check that your own balcony door really locks, and to know what to do if it does not.
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The street door of a 1960s block
The street door of the building swings open, or the entryphone buzzes and nothing happens. Why it happens in older blocks, who decides and who pays, and what a locksmith can and cannot fix.
Rather ask than read?
Send a photo of the lock and a line about the problem on WhatsApp.
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