El Comtat has 24 municipalities, from Cocentaina, the capital, and Muro d’Alcoi, with around 11,500 and 9,400 people, down to Famorca and Tollos, with a few dozen people each. Estate agents describe what draws buyers here plainly enough: space, quiet and authentic village life at lower prices than on the coast, with big houses in the village centres and country houses on large plots in the hills.
What none of the listings mention is how many doors an old house has, and how many people have held keys to them over the years.
Day one: find out who has keys
Before you look at a single lock, make a list of everyone who might have a key:
- the previous owners, and their children and grandchildren;
- the neighbour who “kept an eye on it” while it was empty;
- the estate agent, for viewings;
- builders, a cleaner, a gardener, anyone who worked on the house.
Ask the seller and the agent for every key they have, and label them. Assume that anything not on your list is still out there.
The doors, one by one
Walk round the house with the bunch in your hand and try each key in each lock, from both sides.
The street door. Often a heavy wooden door with an old lever lock, sometimes with a later cylinder lock added, and bolts on the inside. Does each lock work smoothly with the door open? Does the bolt reach the keep with the door shut? The guide to damp and sticking street doors explains what to look for.
The back door, or the door to the yard. Usually the weakest door in an old house: lighter, less looked at, and out of sight of the street.
Outbuildings. An old stable, a store, a garage. Many are shut with padlocks and hasps whose keys went missing years ago, and a padlock you cannot open is one you also cannot lock.
The roof terrace. If the house has a door onto a flat roof or a terrace, give it the same check as the street door: a terrace can sometimes be reached from the roofs next door.
Gates. On a country house, the gate to the plot and the gate to the yard. Check the padlock or lock, and the hinges: a gate that can be lifted off its pins is not locked.
What to do about what you find
- Modern doors with euro cylinders: change the cylinders. It is the simplest way to make sure the only keys are yours.
- Old wooden doors with lever or box locks: have them serviced, and consider adding a modern lock while keeping the old one. That is what the page linked below is for.
- Padlocks without keys: open and replace them.
- Anything you cannot open at all: leave it for the locksmith rather than forcing it.
If the house came to you through a family rather than a sale, the guide to inheriting a house in Alcoi covers the paperwork and the locked safe.
Before the first winter
Winters in the hills are cold, and padlocks and gate locks can freeze. Note where each one is, and keep a lock de-icer in the car. When you ring for help in a small village, give the village name, the street and a pin: the list of every town covered uses the same names you will see on the signs.