portero, vigilante, casero: building life Spanish

Start with usted, and let them decide when it changes

Foreigners often default to tú because it feels friendlier. With building staff it usually reads as the opposite: a small assumption of familiarity that was not offered. Usted is the safe opening with a portero, a vigilante or a casero, particularly with someone older than you, and the shift to tú happens when they make it.

The job is wider than a doorman's. Porteros take deliveries, hold keys, let in plumbers, know which apartments are empty and often live in the building. That is why ¿llegó un paquete para mí? and viene una visita, ¿le puede avisar? are the two sentences you will use most - you are asking them to run systems they already run.

Small courtesies do a disproportionate amount of work here. Greeting them every time you pass, saying que tenga buen día, and knowing whether the person you are talking to is the portero, the vigilante or the casero - these are the things that decide whether your package is waiting for you or somewhere else.