Guides
Short guides to the doors, gates and locks of Mutxamel
Each one answers a question people in Mutxamel actually ask: which town hall a plot in Valle del Sol belongs to, what to do when a Riodel unit will not open, how to tell an old lock from one somebody has tried. When the answer is “call someone”, the guide says so and says who.
Addresses and directions
- 3 min read From the riverbed to the Sabinar: finding a house by its partida Mutxamel spreads 28 population nuclei over 47.7 km², and out in the partidas a house is known by name rather than number. How to describe where you are so help reaches the right gate.
- 3 min read Valle del Sol and Monnegre: which town hall is your plot in? Two urbanizations sit across the line between Mutxamel and Alicante, and the two councils have had to agree who does what. What that means for your address, and how to describe it when you need someone to find you.
Shut out
- 3 min read Keys left at work in Alicante, and home is ten kilometres away Plenty of people in Mutxamel work in Alicante. When the house keys stay behind on the desk, is it quicker to drive back for them or to call someone out? A short way to decide.
- 3 min read Keys in the boot at the Bonalba car park, and a tee time waiting Clubs out, boot shut, keys inside the bag. What to try in the Bonalba car park, what not to do to a modern car, and what the person who comes to open it will ask you for.
- 4 min read Unlocked, yet the door will not give The key turns all the way and the door stays exactly where it is. The usual culprits, from a dropped door to a multipoint that never let go, and what is safe to try before calling.
Owning the locks
- 4 min read Bought a chalet? The gate, the front door and the annex, in that order A resale chalet in Bonalba-Cotoveta, Valle del Sol or Monnegre comes with locks other people may still hold keys to. Which ones to change first, and which can wait a month.
- 3 min read Nobody in the house remembers the safe code Everyone was sure someone else knew it. What to try first, what the maker can and cannot do, and how a locksmith opens the safe if it comes to that.
After a scare
- 4 min read Home after weeks away, and the lock feels wrong A stiff key, fresh scratches round the cylinder, a door that shuts differently. How to tell ordinary wear from an attempt, what to photograph, and when to ring the police before anyone else.
- 5 min read Snapped, bumped or picked: how front doors are forced Snapping, bumping and picking are three different attacks on a cylinder, and each is stopped by something different. What to look for on your own front door, in plain words.
No guide for your door?
Describe it on the phone or send a photo on WhatsApp, and you will get a straight answer.
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