The beach at l’Albir is a pebble beach, about 500 metres long, with the Passeig de les Estrelles behind it. It is the kind of beach you arrive at with too much to carry: towels, a parasol, shoes for the stones. Somewhere between the boot and the sand, the keys go down on top of the bag, and the boot comes down on both.
First, check the obvious
- Every door, and the boot. Some cars lock only the doors you closed last.
- The other key. Is there a second key at the house, with a friend, in the hotel safe? A taxi to fetch it may be the quickest way.
- The hire company. If it is a rental car, look at the agreement: some include a lockout service of their own.
Leave the coat hanger at home
- A coat hanger or a strip of metal down the window. Modern doors have airbags, wiring and rubber seals in the way. The damage usually costs more than the call-out.
- Breaking a window. Unless someone, a child or an animal, is in danger inside a hot car. Then ring 112 first, and break the window furthest from them.
The four things you will be asked
- Where the car is: the street, or the car park, and the nearest landmark on the seafront.
- The make, the model and the colour.
- Where the keys are: on the seat, in the boot, or still in the ignition.
- Whether the house keys are on the same ring, so the front door can be opened on the same visit.
Have the registration papers or the hire agreement ready. If they are inside the car, they are checked once it is open.
What the locksmith does, and does not do
The door is opened with tools made for the job, without damage to the lock or the frame. That is all: nothing is done with car keys themselves, of any kind. If the keys are lost rather than locked inside, a dealer for your make is the right call.
More on the service on the car lockout page. If the keys went missing on the cliff walk instead, see back from the lighthouse path, and for the rest of the seafront, the Albir page.