In March 1829 an earthquake shook the Vega Baja. In Guardamar it brought down the old village and much of the castle above it. What replaced it was not rebuilt where it stood but planned: the engineer José Agustín de Larramendi drew a new town of straight streets crossing at right angles, running north to south, with low houses and deep patios. He wrote that Guardamar would be “the prettiest town in the kingdom”. The ruined castle was used as a quarry for the new houses.
Many of the houses in the centre of Guardamar still follow that pattern, rebuilt and extended over two centuries. If you own or rent one, you have more doors to think about than a flat has.
The door onto the pavement
It opens straight onto the pavement. On older houses it is often a solid timber door with an old mortice lock that takes a long key, and a newer cylinder added later above or below it. Two locks, two keys, and often only one of them is actually used.
What fails: the old mortice lock, when someone turns it after years of leaving it alone. Or the cylinder, if it faces the street and collects grit.
Worth doing: decide which lock you use. If it is the cylinder, make sure it is a good one; the old mortice lock can stay as it is, unused.
The doors onto the patio
Between the house and the patio there is usually a glazed door or a pair of them, often with a simple lock or a bolt on the inside. They matter less for keeping people out, as long as the patio itself is closed, but they are the doors that warp and stick after a wet winter.
The back gate
Where the patio has a gate or door to the back, it is the one most often forgotten. It may have a lock nobody has turned in years, and a key nobody can find. It is also the door a burglar finds quietest.
Worth doing: find out whether it locks, with what, and who has the key. If nobody knows, change the cylinder or fit a lock you control. Who else can open your door helps you count keys; the lock change page explains a booked change.
When it is the old lock that has jammed
Do not force a long key in an old mortice lock: they bend and snap. Ring, say it is an old timber door with a mortice lock, and send a photo. Grit is as much a problem in the centre as on the beach front: sand in the cylinder explains what to do about it.