Protection against squatters

An empty home attracts attention. Shutters always down, the garden unwatered, nobody coming or going for weeks. In Torrevieja and right along the Vega Baja coast there are a great many houses like that: second homes used in summer, inherited flats, properties for sale or waiting to be renovated. These are the ones that worry their owners most when squatters are mentioned.

Our job here is very specific: to put physical obstacles in place so that opening that home is difficult and slow. We do not give legal advice and we cannot guarantee that nobody will try. What we can do is make sure your house is not the easiest one on the street.

The measures that work

High security lock cylinder

This comes first. Many entries start with a basic cylinder that opens leaving hardly any marks, which is then swapped for another. A cylinder protected against the usual opening techniques and against snapping closes off that door. If you want to know more, there is the page on security cylinders.

Security escutcheon

The escutcheon protects the cylinder against force: pulling, levering or drilling. In a house that goes months with nobody there, anyone who wants to get in has all the time in the world to try. A sturdy escutcheon, ideally one that covers the cylinder completely, makes that attempt much longer and noisier.

Additional deadbolt

A second locking point, independent of the main lock, means two obstacles have to be beaten instead of one. For a home that is left empty it is one of the best investments. We explain it in security deadbolts.

Roller shutter reinforcement

In bungalows and ground floor flats the way in is often not the door, but a window with the roller shutter down. An ordinary roller shutter can be lifted from outside with little effort. With our roller shutter reinforcement we reinforce roller shutters so they cannot be lifted or bent. If you want to know whether yours can be reinforced, send us a photo.

Do not forget the back entrances

The kitchen door to the patio, the terrace door, the door from the garage into the house. There is little point in reinforcing the front entrance if the back door closes with a thirty-year-old bolt.

Tips that cost nothing

• Make the house look lived in. Ask a trusted neighbour to call in from time to time, pick up the junk mail and raise a shutter if possible.
• Do not leave a key hidden outside. Not under the flowerpot nor in the meter box. It is the first place anyone looks.
• Keep track of who has a key. If in the past you gave keys to former tenants, cleaning companies or builders, change the cylinder before you leave.
• Do not post on social media that the house is empty. Nor photos of holidays far from home while you are still away.

If you arrive and your lock is not yours

It is one of the worst situations. You arrive home and the key will not go in, or you see the cylinder has been changed. The most important thing is not to force anything or try to get in on your own. Contact the police and a lawyer, who are the people who can advise you on your particular case.

We do not open a home with people inside. If the police step in and require a locksmith, we can attend to do the work in their presence. On the page about a home occupied by squatters there is more information on what to do.

Lock change after recovering possession

Once you have recovered your home, whether because whoever was there has left or after a court-ordered eviction, the first thing is to change the lock. You do not know how many keys there are, or whether the mechanism has been tampered with. We make the change and, if needed, add the measures the house was missing so it does not happen again. If it follows court proceedings, you have the details in lock change after eviction.

We always check the right to enter

On any job at a home, we first check that the person calling us has the right to ask for it. We explain how to show this when you get in touch. It is a safeguard for you: the same care we take with you, we take with anyone claiming to be the owner of your house.

Ask for your quote

Message us on WhatsApp, in your own language if you live outside Spain, and tell us what the home is like. We give you a fixed quote before we start, measure by measure. We are locksmiths from Torrevieja, local born and bred, with 15 years of experience, and we work right across the Vega Baja.