Parts of Alcoi are getting older. In El Partidor, in Zona Alta beside the Molinar ravine, the population is ageing and some of the housing has deteriorated. At the same time the town as a whole is growing again: 61,613 people on 1 January 2025, more than at any time since 2008. Between the two, a lot of houses are passing from one generation to the next.
When that happens, the family usually inherits more than a house. It inherits a drawer of keys nobody can match to anything, a locked room or two, and sometimes a safe that only one person ever knew how to open.
First, the paperwork
A locksmith will not open a house, a room or a safe for somebody who cannot show they have the right to. That protects you as much as anyone. Before you ring, gather:
- your ID;
- the death certificate;
- the will or the declaration of heirs, or the notary’s documents that name you;
- the deeds of the house, or a recent utility bill in the deceased’s name at that address.
If there are several heirs, have their written agreement that you can open the house and its contents, or arrange for them to be there.
Then, in this order
1. Make the house secure. You do not know who else has keys: carers, neighbours, cleaners, relatives. Changing the cylinder of the street door is the quickest way to know that the only keys are the family’s. On an old wooden door, a modern lock can be added without removing the old one.
2. Sort the keys. Empty the drawer onto a table. Try each key in each lock in the house and label what it opens. Keep the ones that open nothing in a separate bag: they may belong to a garage, a storeroom or another property.
3. Open what is locked. Rooms, cupboards, desks and chests can usually be opened without damage. Do it with the other heirs present, or at least with their knowledge.
4. Open the safe last, with everyone there. Whatever is inside is part of the estate. Opening it with all the heirs present, and making a list of what is in it there and then, avoids a great deal of later suspicion.
The safe
Before the visit, take a photo of the front of the safe: the keypad or dial, the handle, and any label with the maker’s name. Look for an emergency key, often in an envelope with papers, or a sealed code in the drawer of a desk.
Most safes can be opened through the manufacturer’s override or emergency lock. Those that cannot are drilled at one precise point, and the lock is replaced so the safe can be used again. The price is agreed once the safe has been seen, before any work starts.
If you plan to let the house
If you plan to let the house, perhaps to students at the campus, read the guide to bedroom locks in shared flats. If the inherited house is in one of the villages, the first-week lock check for a village house goes door by door.