Most burglars in Spain are not masterminds. They are opportunists who walk past a home, spot an old lock, a shutter they can lift or a letterbox overflowing with leaflets, and take their chance. Locksmith Torrevieja, a 24-hour locksmith serving Torrevieja and the Vega Baja, has put together ten measures that genuinely stop them, with no gimmicks and nothing you do not need.

The Valencian Community has the highest rate of home burglaries in Spain: 2.47 per 1,000 inhabitants in 2025, according to Spanish Interior Ministry figures, compared with a national average of 1.51. The province of Alicante alone recorded 677 burglaries in homes. Holiday homes are a favourite target, because they stay closed for months and nobody notices anything until the owner comes back. In Torrevieja, the Guardia Civil has broken up gangs that specialised precisely in holiday homes.

The good news is that opportunists want an easy job. Make your home slower, noisier and riskier to enter than the one next door, and they move on. These are the ten measures that make the difference.

1. Fit a high-security cylinder

The cylinder (the part of the lock where the key goes in) is where most break-ins start. Many homes on the Costa Blanca still have the basic cylinder the builder fitted twenty or thirty years ago, which can be defeated in minutes and almost silently. A modern high-security cylinder is built to resist the most common opening techniques: bumping, snapping, drilling and picking. Many models also come with a key control card, so nobody can copy your keys at a corner shop. This is the single measure with the best ratio of cost to protection. See our cylinder replacement service.

2. Protect the cylinder with a security escutcheon

The best cylinder in the world is useless if it sticks out of the door and can be gripped and snapped from outside. A security escutcheon is an armoured plate, fixed from the inside, that covers the cylinder and leaves only the keyhole visible. Together with a good cylinder, it is what sends most opportunists to the next door. See our security escutcheon installation.

3. Check the whole door, not just the lock

A door is only as strong as its weakest point. A lock with a single bolt, a loose strike plate in the frame or hinges without anti-lift pins can let the door give way through the frame even if the cylinder holds. Often it is enough to reinforce the strike plate or add an independent deadbolt, which also stops anyone opening the door from inside if they get in through a window. Our security upgrade starts with a review of the whole door from photos you send us by WhatsApp.

4. Armour your roller shutters

Roller shutters (persianas) are everywhere in Spain, and so is the trick of lifting them from outside. On ground floors, bungalows and terraces, a shutter that can be pushed up a few centimetres is an open invitation: the burglar lifts it, breaks or forces the window behind it and is inside without touching the front door. Locksmith Torrevieja fits a shutter armouring system that locks the shutter so it cannot be raised from outside. It is one of the most effective measures for homes that stand empty for long periods. Ask us about it through our contact page.

5. Secure sliding doors and ground-floor windows

The aluminium sliding doors that open onto terraces and solariums are, in many homes, easier to open than the front door. Auxiliary locks on the frame and bars or locking devices that stop the sliding panel from moving or being lifted out of its track close one of the most common entry points.

6. Give the back door the same standard as the front door

In bungalows and townhouses, the patio door, the solarium door and the internal door from the garage often have much weaker locks than the main entrance. A burglar does not choose the front door if the back one is easier. Every external door deserves the same cylinder and the same protection.

7. Change the cylinder when you buy, and after every tenant

Nobody knows how many copies of the keys exist for a home that has been through several owners, agencies, cleaners and summer rentals. Changing the cylinder on the day you get the keys, and again after a tenant leaves or a key is lost, is the only way to start from zero. A key control card ensures that only you can order new copies.

8. Do not advertise that the house is empty

Opportunists choose from the street. An overflowing letterbox, shutters in exactly the same position for months, a dark house every evening, a neglected garden or a social media post saying you will not be back until Easter all say the same thing: nobody is home. Ask someone to empty the post, leave shutters at different heights, put a lamp on a timer and keep your travel plans off social media.

9. Combine a monitored alarm with someone who checks

An alarm with cameras warns you the moment someone enters, which is exactly when the police can act fastest, and gives them images as evidence. It should be installed by an approved security company. The alarm warns; the door holds while help arrives. Add a neighbour, a friend or a property manager who visits regularly, because a home that is checked is a home that is not chosen.

10. Keep your home insurance up to date

Even the best door can be forced, and that is when your insurance has to work. Check that your policy covers theft in a second home, how long the home can stay empty without losing cover, the sums insured for contents, and whether it covers the emergency locksmith and the replacement of locks after a break-in or loss of keys. Some policies require signs of forced entry or specific security measures to pay out for theft, so read the conditions before you need them. You can compare home insurance policies and coverages with Seguros Generales.

If the worst happens

• Do not go inside if you think someone may still be there. Call 112.
• Do not touch or tidy anything until the police have seen it.
• File a police report (denuncia) with the Policía Nacional or the Guardia Civil. Your insurer will ask for it.
• Photograph the damage and make a list of what is missing.
• Have the door secured the same day. Locksmith Torrevieja works 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and can replace the cylinder and the lock so the home is not left exposed overnight.
• Notify your insurer as soon as possible, with the police report and the locksmith’s invoice.

How Locksmith Torrevieja works

You send us photos of the door from outside, the cylinder and escutcheon close up, and the edge of the open door where the lock and bolts can be seen. We explain the options that are compatible with your door, what each one adds and its price, with VAT shown separately, before we start. If anything changes during the job, we do not continue without your agreement. When we finish, we test everything with you or with the person you authorise and hand over the keys. You do not need to be in Spain: many of our clients are owners who live abroad.

We work 24 hours a day in Torrevieja and 17 other towns of the Vega Baja, including Orihuela Costa, Pilar de la Horadada, San Miguel de Salinas, Guardamar del Segura, Rojales and San Fulgencio, with a travel supplement outside Torrevieja that we confirm before you accept. See all our locksmith services and the brands we work with.