Ibi grew fastest in the years of the toy factories: 6,129 people in 1960, 19,846 in 1981. About a third of all the floor area built in the town dates from the 1960s and 1970s. Many of the flats in those blocks are now being bought by new owners who want a small safe for documents, jewellery or cash.
The safe is the easy part. The question is what it is bolted to.
What the walls of a flat are made of
In Spanish blocks of flats of that period, inside walls between rooms are usually partitions of thin hollow brick, plastered on both sides. They carry no load, and a drill goes through them easily. Anchors set into hollow brick grip only the thin skin of each brick.
The parts of a flat that do hold an anchor are the concrete floor slab, the pillars and beams, and the thicker outer walls. They are also where water pipes and cables are least likely to be hidden, though that still needs checking before drilling.
Three ways to fit a safe
- Bolted down into the floor slab. For most flats the best option. The safe stands in a wardrobe or a cupboard, and its floor bolts go into concrete.
- Built into a solid wall. Possible in an outer wall or beside a pillar, not in a partition. It needs building work and making good afterwards.
- Free-standing and heavy. A large safe can rely on its own weight, but a light one standing loose is carried off under an arm.
Before you buy one
Measure the cupboard or the corner you have in mind, find out what the floor is made of, and check whether the flat has underfloor heating pipes. A short visit to look at the floor and walls before buying saves a safe that has nowhere good to go.
Safes opened and fitted in Ibi. If the safe is part of tightening up a flat after a break-in, see also high-security locks and guard plates. And if you have just bought the flat, start with the lock check when you move into a resale home.