--- title: "Keys Lost on the Romería Up to La Mola on 20 July" description: "The walk from San Pedro to the sanctuary is about 3 km, at night, in a crowd. Where keys go missing on 20 July, where to ask first, and when to stop looking." url: "https://locksmithnovelda.es/door-notes/keys-lost-on-the-romeria-to-la-mola/" business: "Locksmith Novelda" --- # Keys lost somewhere between San Pedro and the sanctuary On 20 July the saint goes in procession between the sanctuary of La Mola and San Pedro, some 3 km, after dark and in a crowd. Where keys tend to go, where to ask first, and when to stop searching. 6 November 2026 · 4 min read Every year on 20 July the image of Santa María Magdalena makes the journey between her sanctuary on the hill of La Mola and the church of San Pedro in the centre, with a long trail of people on foot behind. The fiestas run from the 19th to the 25th, with the Moros y Cristianos parades on top. It is a lovely week. It is also a week of light clothes, shallow pockets, crowds and late nights, and that is when keys slip away. ## Where keys usually turn up Think back along the evening rather than along the route. Most keys are not lost walking; they are lost when something else comes out of the same pocket. - **Where you sat down or stopped to eat or drink.** Ring the bar or the house you were at before you do anything else. - **Where you took out your phone** for a photo of the procession. Keys on the same ring as nothing else fall without a sound. - **The car,** if you drove part of the way. Look in the footwells and between the seats. - **The pocket of whoever you were with.** It happens more than anyone likes to admit. Keys found in the street are often handed in rather than kept, so it is worth asking at the town hall and the Policía Local in the days after the fiestas. ## When to stop looking and ring If it is late, you are tired and nobody else has a key, stop. Searching a 3 km route in the dark rarely finds a single bunch of keys, and nothing is lost by having the door opened and carrying on looking in daylight. Before you ring, check the obvious things: a back door or a window that was left on the latch, a neighbour or relative who keeps a key, the landlord if you rent. Then call, and say where you are and what kind of door it is. If it was only pulled shut, not locked with the key, it is usually opened through the latch, without damage. How each kind of door is dealt with is explained in [the note on period doors in the centre](https://locksmithnovelda.es/door-notes/opening-a-period-door-in-the-modernist-centre/), for the houses round San Pedro, and the urgent side of it on [the emergency page](https://locksmithnovelda.es/emergency-locksmith-novelda/). ## Do you need a new cylinder? It depends on what was on the ring. - **Just keys, no tag, no address:** whoever finds them has no idea which door they open. Many people simply have the door opened and wait to see whether the keys turn up. - **A tag with your name or address, a car fob with the number plate, or post in the same bag:** change the cylinder once you are inside. It can be done on the same visit or booked for a day that suits. ## If something is waiting inside A pan on the stove, a pet, a child with a sitter who has gone home: say so at the start of the call. And if there is any smoke, or anyone at risk inside, ring 112 first. There is a separate note on [what to do when the door shuts with something cooking](https://locksmithnovelda.es/door-notes/locked-out-with-a-pan-on-the-hob/). **Still outside your door after the procession?** The phone is answered at any hour, fiesta week included, and you hear an honest drive time before anyone sets off. [Emergency locksmith Novelda, with a voice on the line at four in the morning](https://locksmithnovelda.es/emergency-locksmith-novelda/) Two more notes from Novelda - [A hundred-year-old door, shut, and the wood worth keeping](https://locksmithnovelda.es/door-notes/opening-a-period-door-in-the-modernist-centre/) · 4 min - [The door shut, and something is still cooking inside](https://locksmithnovelda.es/door-notes/locked-out-with-a-pan-on-the-hob/) · 3 min - [Every door note](https://locksmithnovelda.es/door-notes/) ## Prefer to describe it on the phone? Ring or send a WhatsApp with a photo of the door or the lock, and you will hear what it needs. Open 24 hours · 7 days [+34 678 583 290](tel:+34678583290) [WhatsApp](https://wa.me/34678583290?text=Hi%2C%20I%20need%20a%20locksmith%20in%20Novelda.%20Where%20I%20am%20(street%2C%20or%20the%20partida%20and%20the%20name%20of%20the%20house%3B%20or%20the%20unit%20on%20El%20Fondonet%20or%20Santa%20Fe)%20and%20what%20has%20happened%3A)