Pinoso is wine and marble country, west of Elda, and a quarter of the people who live there are foreign nationals. At the start of 2026 the town had 8,854 residents, from 60 nationalities: 777 of them British and 302 Dutch. If your home is one of the country properties among those vineyards, or around Monóvar and Salinas, or in the hills of Petrer, this is for you.
Buy a finca and you usually get a bunch of keys that nobody has labelled. This is a way of working out which lock each one belongs to, and which of those locks deserve attention.
Walk the boundary first
Start at the road and work inwards, in the order a visitor would meet them.
The drive gate. Swing or sliding, usually steel, sometimes motorised. Look for a lock that turns stiffly, a bolt that no longer meets its keep because the gate has dropped, and rust where water sits. If it is motorised, find the manual release and check that you have its key.
The pedestrian gate. Often older than the drive gate and forgotten. Check that it locks at all; plenty only latch.
Chains and padlocks. On field gates, the wellhead, the pool pump cover. A padlock that has sat in the sun and rain all summer can seize completely. If nobody has the key, it can be cut off and replaced; there is no point in keeping a padlock nobody can open.
Then the outbuildings
The shed or garage. Often the oldest lock on the land, and the building with the most valuable things in it: tools, the mower, the bikes.
The well house or pump house. Small, out of sight, and rarely checked until the water stops. Its lock needs to work when you need it, which is usually in a hurry.
The casita or guest annex. Treat it as a second house: front door, windows, any grilles.
Then the house
Window grilles. Many country houses have grilles on the ground floor, some with a section that opens. Make sure any opening section can be opened quickly from inside, and only from inside. In a fire, a grille that only opens with a key nobody can find is a trap.
Terrace sliders. Check that the latch of each aluminium sliding door still catches. A slider that does not lock is a door left open.
The front and back doors. Last, because by now you know how many other ways in there are. If you have just bought, change the cylinders: you cannot know who else has keys.
Weather is the enemy here
The valley is dry and inland, with about 345 mm of rain a year, hot summers and cold winter nights. Outdoor locks get all of it. Dust works into cylinders, steel gates grow in the afternoon sun, and anything left unturned for months stiffens. The guide on wooden doors through the seasons explains the same effect on doors.
Once or twice a year, turn every lock on the property, including the ones you never use. Clean off dust and use a dry lubricant meant for locks, not household oil, which holds grit.
If you are away for part of the year
- Leave a full set of labelled keys with someone you trust nearby.
- Give that person written permission to deal with tradespeople on your behalf, so they can let a locksmith in without you having to fly back.
- Ask for photos of any work done.
Being found
Country addresses can be little more than a partida name and a number. When you call anyone out, send a WhatsApp location pin; the guide on describing where you are has more on getting help to the right place.