Alcoi’s Cabalgata de Reyes is the oldest Three Kings parade in Spain, held every year since 1885, with records going back to 1866. One of its traditions is unlike anything elsewhere: on the evening of 5 January, the kings’ pages climb ladders up the fronts of the buildings to hand presents over the balcony rail.
It is a wonderful sight. It is also a once-a-year reminder of something easy to forget the rest of the time: a first-floor balcony can be reached from the street, and the door behind it is a door into your home.
Why balcony doors get forgotten
A front door gets a good cylinder because everyone thinks about it. A balcony door is opened every day to hang washing or let air in, closed with the handle, and rarely locked with anything else. In many flats it is an aluminium door, sliding or hinged, whose lock is a small hook or latch worked by the handle.
Over the years those catches wear, doors drop slightly in their frames, and the hook stops reaching the keep. The handle still moves, so the door feels locked. It is not.
A five-minute check
Do this in daylight, from inside:
- Close the door and lock it as you normally do.
- Try to open it without touching the handle: push, pull and, on a sliding door, lift. A sliding door that can be lifted out of its track is the most common weak point.
- Look at the catch. On a sliding door, watch the hook as you turn the handle with the door open: it should come out fully and firmly. On a hinged door, check that all the locking points move.
- Look at the keep on the frame. Loose screws, bent metal or a keep that has slipped all mean the hook may not hold.
- Check the handle. If it is loose or turns too far, the mechanism behind it is worn.
What can be done
Most of the time the door does not need replacing:
- the keep can be adjusted or replaced so the hook catches again;
- a worn handle or lock mechanism can be changed for one that fits the same profile;
- a sliding door can be stopped from being lifted out with an anti-lift block in the top track;
- a second, separate lock can be added to a sliding door, keyed or with a thumb turn inside.
The aluminium and PVC side of this, adjustment and new mechanisms, is covered on the page about lock changes and repairs. If the door shows signs that someone has tried to force it, start with the break-in page linked below.
The rest of the building
If you live in a block, the street door downstairs matters as much as your balcony. If it no longer latches, read the guide to the street door of a 1960s block. And if you ever need help in a hurry, the guide to telling a locksmith where you are in Alcoi will save time.