Is My Holiday Home in Spain Safe When I’m Not There?
It is a question that crosses the mind of almost every holiday home owner on the Costa del Sol at some point — usually somewhere over France on the return flight home, or late on a Sunday evening back in the UK when the reality of leaving the property behind begins to settle in. The shutters are down. The door is locked. The neighbour has a key. But is it actually safe?
The honest answer is that an unoccupied property carries a higher risk than one that is lived in full time. This is not cause for alarm — the vast majority of Costa del Sol holiday homes are never broken into — but it is cause for thought. Understanding the specific risks that apply to unoccupied properties, and addressing them with the right combination of security measures, makes an enormous practical difference to both the safety of your property and your own peace of mind while you are away.
Security of Spain has been working with holiday home owners across the Costa del Sol for over fifteen years, and this is one of the conversations we have most regularly. This guide addresses the most important questions honestly and practically.
📞 Call or WhatsApp: (+34) 636 770 865
📧 admin@securityofspain.com
🌐 https://securityofspain.com/
📍 La Cala de Mijas, Mijas Costa, Málaga.
Why Unoccupied Properties Are at Greater Risk
The appeal of a holiday home on the Costa del Sol is also its principal security challenge. A property that stands empty for weeks or months at a time sends a set of signals that experienced opportunistic criminals are very good at reading. Closed shutters that never open. Post accumulating at the door. A garden that looks a little more overgrown than the neighbours’. Lights that never come on in the evening.
These signals identify a property as unoccupied — and an unoccupied property offers something that an occupied one does not. Time. A burglar who knows that nobody is coming home tonight, or this week, or this month, has considerably more opportunity than one working against the uncertainty of an occupied home. They can take their time. They can be more thorough. And the risk of discovery is considerably lower.
This does not mean that holiday homes are constantly targeted. It means that the absence of occupancy removes one of the most powerful natural deterrents — the simple presence of people — and that the security measures in place need to compensate for that absence.
The Most Common Vulnerabilities in Holiday Homes
In over thirty years of carrying out security assessments on the Costa del Sol, the team at Security of Spain has seen the same vulnerabilities appear again and again in holiday properties. The good news is that every one of them is addressable.
Outdated locks are the single most common issue. Many properties on the Costa del Sol — particularly those purchased resale, or those that have not been significantly updated in recent years — still have their original lock cylinders, which in many cases are standard euro profile cylinders that offer very limited resistance to modern forced-entry techniques. Anti-snap cylinders, which are specifically engineered to resist the most common attack method used by burglars on this type of lock, should be considered the minimum standard for any external door.
Poor key control is the second most frequently encountered problem, and it is particularly prevalent in holiday homes. Over the course of a property’s life, keys are distributed for entirely legitimate reasons — to cleaners, maintenance contractors, letting agents, friends, and family members. Over time, the number of outstanding key copies can become genuinely unknown, and any one of those copies represents an uncontrolled access risk. Rekeying the property periodically — and always when a keyholder relationship changes — is simple, inexpensive, and eliminates the risk entirely.
Unprotected windows and secondary access points are the third major vulnerability. Many holiday home owners focus their security attention on the front door — understandably so — while leaving windows, back doors, and terrace access points with significantly weaker protection. Burglars are very well aware of this tendency and consistently target secondary access points precisely because they receive less attention. Security shutters, rejas, and scissor gates on these points close the gap effectively.
Non-functioning or poorly maintained shutters present a particular risk that is easy to overlook. A shutter that does not close completely, or that has a compromised fixing or locking mechanism, offers the appearance of protection without the substance. On the Costa del Sol, where salt air accelerates corrosion and UV exposure degrades materials over time, shutters that worked perfectly a few years ago may have deteriorated significantly without the owner realising — particularly if the property is only visited a few times a year.
What Good Holiday Home Security Looks Like
The most effective approach to securing a Costa del Sol holiday home is layered — a combination of measures that work together to deter, delay, and detect any attempt at unauthorised entry.
At the door level, quality anti-snap lock cylinders on all external doors are the starting point. These should be specified to the TS007 3-Star standard or equivalent European rating. Door frames and strike plates should also be assessed — a high-quality lock in a weak frame offers limited real protection.
At the window level, motorised security shutters on all main windows provide the most comprehensive protection — a complete physical barrier that significantly increases the time and effort required to gain access through a window. Where shutters are not feasible, security grilles or rejas provide an effective alternative.
At the perimeter level, scissor gates on side access points, terrace doors, and secondary entrances close the vulnerabilities that external observers know to look for. A property that is fully secured at every access point, rather than just the front door, is a fundamentally different proposition to one that has focused security in only one place.
Key control should be treated as an ongoing discipline rather than a one-time decision. Know exactly who holds a copy of your key at all times. Use a high-security, patented key profile that cannot be copied without authorisation. And rekey the property if there is ever any doubt about the integrity of key control.
Before You Leave — A Simple Checklist
However good your security measures are, they only work if they are properly deployed every time you leave the property. Before locking up and heading to the airport, it is worth running through the following:
- Every shutter is fully closed and correctly locked.
- Every external door has been checked, not just pulled.
- Every window is closed and latched.
- All key copies are accounted for, or a rekeying is overdue.
- Any visible signs of long-term absence. Accumulated post, overgrown garden, empty appearance have been addressed as far as possible.
The Free Security Site Survey — Before You Leave This Season
If any part of this guide has prompted a question about the security of your own Costa del Sol holiday home, the most useful thing you can do is arrange a free security site survey with Security of Spain before your next departure.
We will visit your property, assess every access point and security measure honestly, and tell you clearly what is working and what needs attention. There is no charge, no sales pressure, and no obligation to proceed with any work. Just honest, professional advice from people who have been looking after Costa del Sol properties for over thirty years.
Contact Security of Spain today.
📞 Call or WhatsApp: (+34) 636 770 865
📧 admin@securityofspain.com
🌐 securityofspain.com
📍 La Cala de Mijas, Mijas Costa, Málaga, Spain
Security of Spain — Keeping Costa del Sol holiday homes safe since before most people knew where Mijas was. 😊
